Identifier

etd-11122012-085034

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Human Ecology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Research on religion and family in the United States has increased in the last two decades. With the increasing immigrant population, studies on minorities including Chinese immigrant families are also important. Religious faith has significant influences on some Chinese immigrant families. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between Christianity and Chinese immigrant families. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-two highly religious Chinese Christian couples in the Southern United States. Twenty-two open-ended questions were asked to understand their conversion processes and how the Christian faith influenced the participants’ marriage and family life. Most of the participants held advanced graduate degrees. Their ages ranged from 28 to 66, and the number of children ranged from one to four. Grounded theory methods including open coding and axial coding were applied to analyze the data. Three major themes emerged and were identified in the interview data: 1) Conversion to Christianity, 2) Faith practice: to learn and to change, and 3) Faith and parenting. Several subthemes are also addressed, and supporting qualitative data is presented in connection with each theme. Implications for theory, practice, and research related to Chinese immigrant families in the United States are discussed.

Date

2012

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Marks, Loren

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2077

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Human Ecology Commons

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