The Coontz pop quiz was criticized on several blogs (example) for having an agenda, and a pop quiz by Maggie Gallagher about marriage soon popped up on the Internet.
Maggie Gallagher is also an author of books on marriage and is the president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.
Difference of Opinion
We looked at similar questions/statements on both quizzes. We noticed that in quite a few instances the writers disagreed.Most of the differences on the marriage issues come from a subtle difference in their interpretation of statistics and resources.
Express Your Opinions
Form your own opinions, express your thoughts on our polls on these same True/False statements, and then take a look at both quizzes to see how your answers compared with the answers of the experts.
Paraphrased True/False Statements and the Marriage Experts' Mostly Differing Answers:
Women are more eager to get married than men.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.Society today has more long-term marriages that in past years.
Coontz: True.
Gallagher: True and False -- she had two questions that look at different years.Americans are more tolerant of all sexual activity.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: False.The growth in cohabitation reflects a major change in tradition.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.Mothers today want to stay home and not have a career.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.Philosophers and theologians have always placed marriage as the foundation of a society.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: False unless talking about Christian philosphers.Divorce hurts women and children emotionally and financially.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.Throughout the ages marriage between one man and one woman has been preferred.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.Divorce rates are lessened when a couple is religious.
Coontz: False.
Gallagher: True.
