Can a magic wand plausibly be used in serious psychological research? The complications of researching the ideal age at which to be a parent through the eyes of the child

• Authors: Hana Konečná , Jiřina Kocourková , Boris Burcin , Tomáš Kučera , Karolína Davidová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

There is a growing trend in European countries for childbearing to occur later in women’s lives. The recent increase in the use of ART, together with the long-term trend towards later childbearing, raises questions as to the acceptable age of childbearing in contemporary society. ART legislation varies considerably across Europe and age limits for access to fertility treatment are rarely defined. The legislation takes into account the preferences of potential parents; children’s preferences, however, are not ascertained. The article discusses a research method used in a survey of older children and young adults. The objective of the survey was to answer the following questions: What age would children prefer their parents to be if they could choose? What are their reasons? Respondents were asked the following question: “How old would you like your mother and father to be when you are 20 (version for respondents younger than 16) or 25 (version for those older than 16) if you could wave a magic wand?” Furthermore, their reasons for wishing a change were identified through an open question, “Why would you like to change the age of your parents?”

Keywords

EN

ART age limits; fertility, children’s preferences of parent’s age; research methods; projective techniques

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 354-362

Dates

published

2014-07-01

online

2014-06-26

Contributors

author

Hana Konečná

author

Jiřina Kocourková

author

Boris Burcin

author

Tomáš Kučera

author

Karolína Davidová

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13374-014-0233-x