Questionnaire for Married Couples

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This anonymous questionnaire is part of a research study on marriage being conducted by Dr. Keith Sanford at Baylor University. If you take the questionnaire and submit your answers, your data will be used in this research. You will also immediately receive your scores on 17 scales regarding different aspects of your marriage and you will receive information on how to interpret your scores.

The scores you receive after completing the questionnaire are intended to provide you with useful and interesting information about how you view your marriage. Although the questionnaire has been developed on the basis of previous research, there is no guarantee that your results will be accurate. Thus, your scores should not be trusted as a basis for making any important life decision. They are not a substitute for a psychological assessment, and are not valid for use in a clinical or legal setting. The results will reflect your own, personal responses, and it is possible for you to give responses that do not accurately reflect your marriage. The actual scores you receive are determined by how your responses compare with other people that have taken the questionnaire, and it is possible that this comparison group is different from the general population.

The questionnaire is part of Dr. Sanford’s research program seeking to understand why some marriages become stable, loving partnerships, whereas other marriages turn sour or end in divorce. Dr. Sanford has been conducting research in this area for several years and has published a number of articles regarding previous findings from this program of research. The questionnaire on this web site is specifically part of a study focusing on situations involving conflict in marriage. All married couples experience conflict from time to time, and conflict can lead to many different outcomes. In normal marriages, conflict sometimes is resolved quickly and conflict sometimes leads to arguments that are difficult to resolve. The purpose of this research is to understand how conflict leads to a variety of different outcomes.

The questionnaire will ask you about your marriage, and about what you think and feel when there is conflict. You should be aware that the feedback you receive could potentially make you aware of something about your marriage that is negative, or the feedback could be inaccurate, or completing the questionnaire could bring to mind unpleasant memories of times when there was conflict in your marriage. Otherwise, there are no foreseeable risks to completing this questionnaire. It is estimated that the questionnaire will take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

When you complete the questionnaire and submit your answers, your responses will automatically be added to a database. The questionnaire does not request identifying information. Thus, the data you submit will be anonymous and it will not be possible for Dr. Sanford or members of his research team to identify who you are. As you may be aware, data sent over the internet may be subject to interception. Therefore, it is possible that the data you send might be seen by another party, and Dr. Sanford cannot control whether this happens. Although none of the information requested will make it possible to determine your identity, if you are concerned about the security of the data you send, you should not participate in this research. When a sufficient number of couples have completed the questionnaire, a computer will be used to conduct a statistical analysis of the database. Only Dr. Sanford and his students will use this database; the database will only be used for research and teaching purposes, and the database will not be given or sold to another person or organization.

By completing the questionnaire you will be participating in research. Participation in this research is voluntary. There is no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled if you refuse to participate. You indicate your voluntary agreement to participate in this research by completing the questionnaire.

If you have any questions or concerns about the study or any problems that result from participation, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Sanford by phone at (254) 710-2256 or via e-mail at Keith_Sanford@baylor.edu. You may also mail correspondence to Dr. Keith Sanford, Baylor University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, One Bear Place #76798. If you have questions regarding your rights as a participant in this research, you may also contact the Baylor University Committee for Protection of Human Subjects in Research, Dr. Matt Stanford, Chair, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798. Dr. Stanford may also be reached at (254) 710-2236.

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