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Research Proposal:
Title:
Background:
bias within the Family Courts of England and Wales upon the Lesbian mother. The
research will seek to assess the impact of the sexual orientation of the parent on the
custody decisions rendered by the Family Courts. This research is complicated by the
fact that the Family1 Courts of England and Wales are sealed and the records are not
The motivation for this work stems from previous review of custody disputes
involving the sexual orientation of the parent in the United States3. The previous
work however was greatly unstructured and left many avenues to explore involving
the actual bias that may be present within the court system of the United States4.
However, the Family Courts of England and Wales provide a wonderful opportunity
to take this research beyond the participants in the process to question the structure of
the judicial process in general. The significance of closed courts is that the public or
other similarly situated individuals have limited information on these issues and
1
See: Lowe, N & Douglas, G, Bromley’s Family Law10th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007.
2
Note: Contrary to the statement above concerning the courts in England and Wales the courts in the
United States do not have sealed files unless it is deemed necessary for the protection of the child or
individuals involved in the dispute. Therefore access to court documents and pleadings is less of a
barrier to research.
3
See Bottoms v. Bottoms 444 S.E. 2d 276 (Va. Ct. App. 1994) rev’d 457 S.E.2d 102 (Va. 1995).
4
Note: This statement does not imply that there is a federal or universal level of courts for family
disputes in the United States. Family matters are handled by the individual State courts of the United
States. Therefore there are possibly 50+ different states or territories to conduct research.
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therefore a lack of resources to bring to the child custody hearings to ensure equal
This work has real world relevance and as well is a means not only to address
bias within the courts when it comes to lesbian mothers but as well provide a research
the relevance of this work is a letter to the editor of DIVA in the May 2007 issue
which asked about the resources for a mother seeking to deal with a custody dispute
concerning her children as she sought to leave a previous marriage where her husband
was telling her GP and other individuals of her sexuality and seeking to use it as
Research Questions:
1. Is there quantifiable bias present within the Family Courts of England &
Wales which would adversely impact the lesbian mother?
2. Does this bias stem from a larger social stigma or bias towards the sexual
orientation of the parent?
3. Does this bias impact younger or older lesbian mothers and as such is this
variance quantifiable with the chosen research methods?
4. Does the closed nature of the family courts provide an access problem to the
information sought and would research involving exclusively the parents be
viable if access to court files proves impossible?
5. Should the structure of the family courts be called into question concerning
access to information versus the overall benefit to other similarly situated
parents?
5
Note: Concerning the limited information available to lesbian mothers it would be inappropriate not
to mention the book by Harne,L and Rights of Women, Valued Families: The lesbian Mothers’ Legal
Handbook, Caledonian International, 1997. This books provides a beneficial resource to lesbian
mothers and does cover some aspects of the current legal state of Family law in England and Wales the
only limitation is that it has not been updated since 1997.
6
See Anon, KID CRISIS, pg 9 in Czyzselska, J, DIVA, Issue 132, May 2007, Millivres Prowler
Publication, website located at http://www.divamag.co.uk
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The desired outcome of this research is to flag possible problem areas within the
courts and to look for solutions to remove bias based on sexual preference or lifestyle
Research Methods:
The goal of this research is to bring a personal side to the custody disputes
between parties within the Family Courts of England and Wales. The most beneficial
means of bringing such a personal side to any socio-legal matter is provide evidence
through actual individuals involved and to find these individuals it will be necessary
to utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods. Through the use of a combination
in England and Wales. However, it remains that one of the most challenging aspects
Access
Access to actual lesbian mothers that have had custody disputes or are in the
research. However, there are many possible pitfalls that arise when trying to gain
access to such a group of individuals. The most obvious access issue as suggested by
many academics in the field of gender studies is the biological sex of the researcher7.
In the interest of full disclosure in this proposal the biological sex of the researcher is
male. This has provided many questions concerning access to lesbian groups and
7
Note: The reference to academics in the field concerns correspondence between the author of this
proposal and Leanne Smith at Cardiff, Carol Smart at Manchester, Judith Masson at Bristol, and
Gillian Dunne at Plymouth.
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lesbian mothers in general. I do not dismiss these claims however I would suggest
that through the use of gatekeepers and an online survey I believe locating
Locating Participants
attitudes towards the courts system and as well identify immediately respondents by
their past, present, or future history within the Family Courts of England and Wales.
The questionnaire would be structured with mostly closed ended questions. These
questions would be used to gain demographic data on the respondents allowing for a
more focused approach on the regional spread of issues. The questionnaire would be
conducted via the internet8 and participation would be encouraged through the use of
outlets such as the Venue10 in Bristol. To further increase the number of respondents
the survey would be solicited to the various gay & lesbian parenting organizations
around the United Kingdom including but not limited to Pink Parents11 and the
Stonewall Foundation12. From the survey results the respondents would be selected
and then approached concerning their interest to continue the research in a more
8
See Riggle, E et al, Online Surveys for BGLT research: Issues & Techniques in Journal of
Homosexuality Vol 49 Issue 2, 2005 pg 1-21. This article provides insight to the benefits of
conducting online surveys as a means to encourage greater response amongst a under-represented
community.
9
Note: DIVA magazine is available for review at the following website http://www.divamag.co.uk it is
published and available across England.
10
Note: The Venue weekly magazine is published in Bristol and can be reviewed at the following
website http://www.venue.co.uk it is published for the Bristol and Bath region of the Southwest.
11
Note: Pink Parents is a parent support group of the United Kingdom to assist gay and lesbian parents
in issues concerning parenting and legal issues and can be found at http://www.pinkparents.org.uk
12
Note: The Stonewall Foundation is the UK organization fighting for equality and recognition of
rights of homosexual individuals and is concerned with issues such as civil partnership located at
http://www.stonewall.org.uk .
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participatory role13. The goal of this selection process would be to locate a total of 10
Once participants have been located the research would switch to a more
questionnaire. The goal of this next phase it to take the 10 to 15 participants down to
a total of 5 individuals for focused case studies. To narrow the group from 10 to 15
down to 5 focus groups will be used. The outcome of these case studies would be to
provide insight through the voice of these individuals which would bring to light any
evidence of bias within the family court system targeted at the sexual preference of
the participants. The overall goal of these case studies and the combined quantitative
questionnaire is to be able to present the findings to bring to light any bias and suggest
The methods chosen above include an online survey, focus groups, and case
studies. The mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches should be able to
produce a sufficient data pool for the research and also allow for a greater diversity
However these methods are not the only means of gaining participants for the
The benefit of the online survey as the first step in locating ultimately the 5
13
Note: For more information on the benefits of participatory research consult Truman et al, Research
and Inequality, UCL Press, 2000 especially Dockery, G, Participatory research: whose roles, whose
responsibilities? Pg 95.
14
Note: For more insight and greater detail into qualitative research methods refer to Berg, B.L.,
Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences 6th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc, 2007.
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would most likely have barriers to access. The benefits of online survey as well are
the ease of access the respondents have to participate in the research. The internet and
access to a computer connected to the internet is more prevalent today than in the
past. With this understanding the use of internet survey would seem the most
beneficial to reach the largest number of respondents and as well to negate the impact
of the biological sex of the researcher. The online survey as well allows for the
surveys which are handled by teams of interviewers across a city or a region. The
highly personal nature of this topic and of legal matters concerning children makes
the use of the internet the most likely to receive the most responses.
There are limitations with online surveys and these can range from false or
invalid responses to the overall lack of response to the survey. Even with the use of
advertising and media outlets such as magazines and foundations this can not
greater response to the survey. This could range from a tangible prize to say a gift
certificate. With the use of incentives however comes the even greater issue of false
responses or incomplete responses and this must be weighed against the overall
survey raises questions concerning the handling of data and as well the access to the
data from locations off campus. These are mostly logistical questions however they
could prove to be an issue if the survey is brought down by the number of responses
or in other ways is attacked. The ultimate issue surrounding the use of an online
survey is the gathering of informed consent from the participants and at the same time
not dissuading the respondents with lengthy legal language and information. This
most likely would be resolved through a informed consent disclosure which would be
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completed by the respondent typing their name and clicking a button to signal
consent. There still remain issues surrounding the collection and storage of data;
however these will be addressed in the ethical considerations section of this proposal.
utilize gatekeepers and the technique of snowballing15. However with the previous
information gathered from members of the academic community that work in this
field it would seem that the use of gatekeepers and snowballing may prove difficult
and greatly hindered the scope of the research. This technique has many benefits and
it as well may be used as a backup means of finding participants if the internet survey
Once the internet survey is completed the responses will be quantified to allow
for analysis of the attitudes of the respondents to the family courts in England and
Wales. These responses will then be used to identify individuals according to the
involved in more in depth focus group16 interviews. The use of focus groups can
prove to be very beneficial in light of the common ground shared by the participants
however it can also present a situation in which a more dominant individual or group
may take control away from the interviewer. The goal of a focus group is then to
identify the commonality shared amongst this smaller pool of respondents and then to
identify individuals for further interview and a possible case study. The focus group
15
See Berg, B L Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences 6th Edition, Pearson Education,
Inc, 2007 at pgs 185-186. This section discusses the use of gatekeepers in qualitative research as well
as the technique of snowballing.
16
See Berg, B L, Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences 6th Edition, Pearson Education,
Inc, 2007 at pgs 144 – 155 focusing on the table concerning benefits and negatives of focus groups on
pgs 148-149.
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respond to each question and the responses will be limited by the interviewer. If the
individuals.
There are limitations to the use of focus groups and the most major limitation
is the lack of equal response time outside one on one interviews. However, this
limitation must be balanced with the need to discover the 5 individuals to conduct in
depth case studies. With Reference to the benefits and negatives of focus groups as
listed in Bruce Berg’s book Qualitative research methods for the Social Sciences, 6th
edition it is clear that the major issues surrounding focus groups is that the responses
gained are not individualized and as such insight into individuals is limited. As well
focus groups rely on the strength of the moderator to control outcomes and also if
different moderators are used the data gathered and the group dynamics may be
changed dramatically causing the results of the focus groups to not produce
identifiable participants for the case studies. These limitations do cause one to think
about the benefit of using a focus group as a means to find individuals for case studies
however the ability to have group responses and data collection outweigh the need for
The final steps of the research involve the use of 5 participants in case studies
surrounding their personal interaction with the Family Courts of England and Wales.
The benefit of the “collective17” case study method in this analysis is to look for
shared events or commonalities in the five studies and this method has also been
17
See Berg BL, Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 6th Edition, citing Stake
(1994,2000) pg 292.
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regarded as more robust.”18 The rationale behind my choice of case studies is that the
data gathered by either the online survey or the focus group does not provide that
The case study method however is quite time consuming and as such it is
limited by the resources available to the researcher including but not limited to team
size, financial constraints, and as well availability of the participant. These are all
eventualities of using case studies however the biggest return on this research can be
gained through the use of a small core group of stories to bring about larger systemic
change.
Ethical Review:
The issue of research ethics remains a high level concern within the University
of Bristol and other research institutions within the UK. Therefore this research
proposal must anticipate the possible ethical issues surrounding research on human
subjects. The most appropriate means of reviewing the ethical consideration involved
in this research is through an ethics risk assessment. The risk assessment will involve
(1) identification of the possible hazards involved in the project, (2) identify who
might be harmed, (3) consideration of means to control risk, and (4) proposal of
18
See Berg BL, Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 6th Edition, citing Yin (2003,
p.46) pg 292.
19
These risk assessment criteria are provided by the University of Bristol, Faculty of Law Research
Ethics Committee and taken from the application form. Available on Law School intranet.
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Identification of Hazards
The possible hazards associated with this research range from personal injury
to a cause of action against the University and Faculty of Law. The biggest pitfall is
the handling of personal data and this is especially crucial when involving the use of
the internet and either in house or third party vendors of survey software. The reason
why this is such a hazard is because the majority of data to be acquired in this survey
would fall under the heading of sensitive personal data. This type of data requires
extensive informed consent on the part of the University as well as guarantees that the
data will be kept secure. The need for security surrounding the data collected as well
Violations of the act would make the researcher as well as the research institution
open to legal liability for non-compliance with the Act. The biggest issue when it
comes to personal risk on the part of participants or the research author is the activity
involved with the research that would not otherwise be undertaken. However, this
activity is not dissimilar to the risks that are presented in day to day life.
include the participants and the University. The participants could be harmed by this
research if there are issues with the security of the data collected as well as possible
Where the University and the researchers are concerned the harm could be
substantial if the ethical protocols are not followed according to the research
20
See Data Protection Act 1998 available at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm#aofs
accessed on 22 June 2007.
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guidelines or where the third party or in-house provider of data storage and analysis
The largest risk in this research is maintaining the security of the data as well
investigating the companies that provide online survey tools and as well by making
sure that all identification information is kept separate from the files that contain the
results of the focus groups and the case studies. The coding of individuals to protect
privacy will be done at all three levels of research (internet survey, focus group, case
Conclusion
The goal of this research is to bring to light any bias within the Family Courts
of England and Wales as it relates to the specific case of lesbian mothers and child
custody with an overall desire to provide a model for future work on under-
represented groups.
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1. Berg, B.L., Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences 6th Edition,
Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.
2. Bottoms v. Bottoms 444 S.E.2d 276 (Va. Ct. App. 1994) rev’d 457 S.E.2d 102
(Va. 1995).
5. Harne, L. & The Rights of Women, Valued Families: The Lesbian Mothers’
Legal Handbook, Caledonian International, 1997.
6. Lowe, N. & Douglas, G., Bromley’s Family Law 10th Edition, Oxford
University Press, 2007.
7. Riggle, E.et al., Online Surveys for BGLT Research: Issues & Techniques,
Journal of Homosexuality, Vol 49, Issue 2, 2005, pgs 1-21.
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