Moving beyond the household: Innovations in data collection on kinship.

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Demography
• Anthropology

Background:

• Co-residential households are insufficient for measuring family structure and support.
• Traditional population data collection relies on household rosters, overlooking non-residential kin.
• Accurate assessment of kinship networks is vital for understanding social support systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and test the Kinship Support Tree (KST) instrument.
• To collect data on kinship structure and support among co-residential and non-residential kin.
• To address limitations of traditional household rosters in capturing comprehensive family support.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Kinship Support Tree (KST) instrument.
• Testing the KST on 462 single mothers and their children in Nairobi, Kenya.
• The KST uniquely incorporates non-residential kin, distinguishes potential from functional kin, uses geospatial measures, and collects child-specific kin data.

Main Results:

• The KST provides richer data on kinship structure and support compared to household rosters.
• The instrument successfully collected data on a wide range of kin relationships.
• Feasibility and challenges of administering the KST were assessed in a slum community context.

Conclusions:

• The Kinship Support Tree (KST) is a novel and effective instrument for capturing complex kinship structures and support networks.
• The KST offers a more holistic understanding of family support beyond co-residence.
• This instrument has significant implications for research and policy in understanding family dynamics and social support.