Additional Social Trends Books & Monographs
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The Future Families Project:
A Survey of Canadian Hopes and Dreams.
Ottawa: Vanier Institute of the Family, 113 pp., softcover, 2004.
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| Canadians are well served by a rich and detailed body of knowledge produced by Statistics Canada and academics that describes the fundamental changes in family forms and functions that have taken place in recent years.
However, in maximizing personal and social life in Canada, it is important to know not only what individuals are experiencing in the way of family life but also to know what they would like to be experiencing – their aspirations, hopes, and dreams.
With such a goal in mind, the Vanier Institute of the Family in Ottawa teamed up with Professor Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge to carry out a major national survey in 2003 of close to 2,100 Canadians. The survey has many surprising and important findings – including the widespread value people are placing on fairly traditional family arrangements, and the reality that many of these same individuals are not experiencing what they want. The survey finds Canadians as a whole to be highly respectful of people who cannot and in some instances choose not to live out family life in traditional ways.
Overall, this reading of Canadians documents the central importance that most people place on family life. The report concludes by discussing ways that family life – however conceptualized and experienced – might be elevated for all Canadians.
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From Bibby's Backlist
Four important volumes have provided some important data on Canadian young people in the 1980s and 1990s. Three were co-authored with Don Posterski, and have been widely circulated and widely read.
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Canada’s Teen’s. The wealth of information in this book resulted in its receiving front page coverage from Maclean's when it was first released in April of 2001.
It is no exaggeration to say that Canada's Teens probably contains more data on social trends in Canada than virtually any single publication to date.
The reason is that this book pulls together no less than three major national surveys of the country's 15-to-19-year-olds that were completed in 1984, 1992, and 2000, and proceeds to integrate those findings with findings from six national surveys of Canadian adults that were carried out in 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 2000.
The result is incredibly rich data on both young people and adults, that are woven together to provide an in-depth look at teenagers today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Far from a dull compendium of lifeless numbers, Canada's Teens exudes personality, energy, and humour, and is packed with illustrations from Canadian life that make the findings come alive.
The data on which the book is based have been described by observers as nothing less than "a national treasure. " As a result, this book is an invaluable resource on Canadian life, and will be for decades to come.
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The Emerging Generation was published in 1985. The book summarized the findings of one of the first Canadian national surveys that included teenage attitudes, beliefs, and values. The sample consisted of some 3,600 15-to-19-year-olds who were still in school. Beyond reporting important data, the authors offered a stimulating thesis. Conflict between adults and teenagers, they wrote, need not be inevitable. On the contrary, much of the reason for conflict lies not so much with young people as with adults. To the extent that adults can find a balance between giving teens direction and giving them room to emerge as full-fledged adults, the teen years can be enjoyable years for everyone involved. More than 30,000 copies of the book have been sold.
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Teen Trends was the official follow-up to The Emerging Generation. Released in 1992, it focused on areas of change and continuity that since 1984. The book was likewise received with enthusiasm, with sales exceeding 20,000. What the findings documented was the pervasive level of concern that young people at the time had about social issues generally and the future of the country more specifically. In lieu of seeing Canada as having much of a future, many appeared to be opting for American culture. The book identified two areas of particular distinctiveness that called for responses: Quebec versus the rest of the country, and young women versus young women.
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Canada's Youth "Ready for Today" was a less publicized but widely distributed research monograph released by the Canadian Youth Foundation in 1988. This study of 15-to-24-year-olds was conducted by Bibby and Posterki with the Gallup Organization carrying out the data collection, interviewing 2,033 young people in late 1987. Its contribution lies in the fact that, unlike most surveys of youth, it also probed ideas, including attitudes toward family, education, work, government, media, religion, and Canadian society as a whole. More than 20,000 copies were distributed across the country by the CYF.
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More from Bibby's Backlist
A succinct summary of trend data spanning 1975-1995,
as well as an analysis of the divisive times in the late 80s and early 90s.
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| The Bibby Report was intended to disseminate a lot of survey data with minimal editorial comment – a decision that drew mixed reviews. It provided comprehensive and, data-wise, a pretty spectactular look at the kind of society we had been creating since the 1970s, as seen through the lives of some 6,000 Canadians over twenty years.
The book drew on our Project Canada national surveys of 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1995 to sketch where we had come from, where we were, and where we seem to be headed.
All aspects of Canadian life were examined...
* what we want * our concerns * our likes and loves * leadership * values * sex * crime * pro sports * youth * capital punishment * greatest Canadians * our heroes * fear * leisure * multiculturalism * spirituality * racism * health * abortion * TV * bilingualism * sexism * religion * our favourites * Americanization * the police * the CBC * Quebec's future * the mosaic * homosexuality * family life * nationalism * political views * young offenders * time pressures * deviance
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| Mosaic Madness has been seen as a highly provocative book, written at a time when it appeared that Canada was breaking apart. As indicated in endorsements from Michael Valpy and Carol Goar as the book went into its second printing, it struck a responsive chord with many observers.
The book attempted to interpret the turbulent times. It tells the story of a Canada that had pursued the goal of a just society, and had succeeded in providing individuals, groups and institutions with unprecedented freedom.
But emancipation had not led to integration. We appeared to have been left with isolated tiles rather than a mosaic art-piece. Canada seemed to have become a fragmented society where personal and group rights were being valued over the collective good, where sheer expression of viewpoints was being valued over the thoughtful evaluation of what is accurate and best.
We were a society badly in need of better balance between the individual and the group, between choice and discernment. The good news, proclaimed the book, is that it was still possible.
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