ABSTRACT
This chapter critically reflects on how social science research may have contributed to the construction of teen pregnancy and parenting as a social problem, with a goal of redirecting research efforts to more beneficial approaches. It focuses on longitudinal research study, the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project (NDAPP). Lydia and Damon were participants in the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project a longitudinal research study that began in 1984. The chapter briefly considers the philosophy of science more generally, and then turn to the functions and stakeholders of the research process from a systems perspective. It describes that five overarching issues may hinder the effectiveness of the research process in illuminating important truths: reliance on averages, confusion between significant and meaningful findings, the file-drawer problem, how questions are framed, and eterminism. The chapter attempts to extol the potential benefits of the research process to generate knowledge in support of pregnant and parenting teens and for society more generally.
