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Sheff, E. (2011). Polyamorous Families, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Slippery Slope. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 40(5), 487–520.

Description: This article extends sociological knowledge by detailing characteristics of relatively unknown family form; comparing original data on polyamorous families with published research on same-sex families instead of heterosexual families, a contrast that decenters heterosexual families as the sole measure of legitimacy while simultaneously expanding knowledge about same-sex families and explaining how polyamorous families’ differences have implications for the same-sex marriage debate and how these shifting social norms implicate changes for the field of family studies and larger society

Coontz, S. (2010). Why American Families Need the Census. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 631(1), 141–149.

Description: Coontz makes the argument that researchers need Census data to continue to understand the changes that have occurred in the family.  In her argument she presents many examples of such changes in the family.