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Why was the survey conducted?

In an effort to understand the state of marriage and divorce in Oklahoma, a demographic foundation was necessary to provide programming and services to meet the needs of Oklahomans now and in the future. In partnership with Oklahoma State University's Bureau for Social Research and a group of nationally renowned researchers and sociologists comprising the OMI Research Advisory Group, the OMI designed and completed the first, state-of-the-art, comprehensive statewide survey on marriage. The survey instrument was developed and included 123 questions on the following topics:

  1. attitudes about intimate relationships, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation,
  2. demographic data on marriage, divorce, remarriage, patterns of cohabitation, and intent to marry/remarry,
  3. qualitative information on couples' relationship quality,
  4. knowledge and acceptance of prevention education,
  5. religious involvement,
  6. utilization of government services, and
  7. other demographic data.

Survey results created a solid research baseline for the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative and is continually used as a reference for future building blocks in this process. The survey was conducted under the direction of the Oklahoma State University Bureau for Social Research from September 2001 to January 2002. The first full survey report, "Marriage in Oklahoma: A Statewide Baseline Survey on Marriage and Divorce" was released in June, and preliminary findings include:

  • Oklahoma is a marrying state, with 82% of adults having been married at some point compared to 73% nationally.
  • Oklahoma is a divorcing state. 32% of all adults have divorced compared to 21% nationally. A higher percentage of currently married Oklahomans have thought about divorce (56%) than married persons in the country as a whole (42%). Therefore, not only are Oklahomans more likely to have divorced, married Oklahomans and more likely to have thought about divorcing.
  • Those marrying under the age of 20 are the most likely to have gotten a divorce.
  • Whether male or female, low-income or not, those who have been divorced are most likely to give these two reasons for their divorces:
    • -A lack of commitment (85%)
    • -Too much conflict and arguing (61%)
  • Oklahomans marry an average of 2.5 years younger than the national median age at first age.
Thriving Marriages