I would be interested to hear how you think technology plays a part in enabling parents (mothers) to remain significant in children's lives into adult life? Just resolving this article The Tethered Generation located at http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/0507/0507cover.asp and your findings, raises some interesting thoughts....

103 is a lot, but it would be interesting to know what these students thought of their fathers, particularly the 1 in 4 who were only allowed to see their fathers every second weekend.

Or to put it another way, the 1 in 4 children in Australia who have been abducted from their fathers

What baloney! The simple fact is that most 19yo students are still financially dependant on their parents, so of COURSE their parents will be a significant influence on their lives. The study would be far better conducted on 25-29yos, who have had a chance to shape their own destiny.

Secondly, mothers probably rank higher, as most kids will ring their mums for extra money - thereby making mum a bigger influence than dad. This may account for the importance of fathers in this study, if dad pays the bills.

To be fair, those that have seperated or single parents should be excluded from the study, as the results will be skewed towards mother or father, and wont give a true reflection.

Certainly mre study could be done in this area, but lets hope anyone that undertakes it gives more than passing consideration to how the results might be affected by their focus group dynamics before they waste time and money on it.

Country Gal,
I certainly think the relevance and usefulness of social science research in Australia should actually undergo a full government enquiry. So many social science studies involve small numbers only (such as this study), and often a social science study deals heavily in qualitative research, which can become easily biased.

The usefulness and relevance of social science research at present in Australia is totally questionable.

However, I don’t think that children from separated parents should be excluded from studies, as there are now so many of those children, and the majority of them (90%) have been abducted from their fathers

So I think that excluding such children from studies would be a serious form of bias against those children

I just don't understand why anybody would be shocked or suprised that such numbers would choose their mother.

Mothers bring children into the world, they nuture them, feed them, care for them and protect them and often give them money. Sure the fathers do that to but generally the fathers tend not to have as much say in relation to things to do with the children so the children soon learn that they may as well go to their mother first. Unless of course Daddy is a pushover.

That is why mummy is a very significant other.

HRS

You are so obsessed with gender that its rendered you incapable of being objective on any subject that might include women.

Go off and get yourself a social science degree. It will broaden your mind. God only knows you need it.