We collect data from both the parent (or parents) and the child. We come to the family’s home, at a time convenient for the family to conduct our study. We send as many research assistants as there are participants so we can concurrently interview family members. The process from start to finish takes between 1.5 and 2 hours.

Child

Because we want to understand what children think about ethnic identity, family and adoption, we use a semi-structured interview with age appropriate questions on those topics. In general, the interview lasts about 20 to 40 minutes.

We also use a questionnaire entitled, “What I am Like.” The interviewer reads the questions out loud to the child as asks her to pick the answer that she thinks, is most like her.

Finally we have a series of four drawing tasks. We ask the child to draw a picture of: a man, a woman, herself and her family.

Parent

We are also interested in understanding what parents think about ethnic identity, family and adoption, so we use a semi-structured parent interview. This interview closely mirrors the child interview. It takes between 1 hour and 1.5 hours to complete.

We also ask parents to complete four questionnaires which are designed to elicit responses about parenting, parenting in a trans-racial adoptive family, family relationships and adoption.