Obstacles to Ethnic Diversity in Marital Research: On the Failure of Good Intentions

Despite a consensus that marital research would benefit from more ethnically diverse samples, most marital research continues to address samples composed primarily of middle-class Whites. The goal of the current study was to identify reasons that attempts to recruit ethnically diverse samples may fall short. Analyses of data from couples responding to solicitations to participate in a longitudinal study of newly-weds revealed that, relative to White couples: (i) non-White couples were less likely to respond than would be expected given their representation in the local population; (ii) non-White, and especially Black, couples were more likely to be excluded by eligibility criteria; and (iii) non-White, and especially Asian, couples were less likely to participate after being told they were eligible. These results suggest directions for new procedures to address diversity at every stage of the sampling process.