As the new millennium has just begun, and the year 2000 nears an
end, the overemphasized utopian ideological concept of the American Family; two parents, a son and a daughter, a dog, a cat, living in the big white house with the white picket fence, sitting on the gill by the apple tree, continues to
circle down the drain.  As more than half of all marriages end in divorce, and
unwed mothers become commonplace, single parent household have become
subjects of sociological studies to find out exactly how they work, what
functions well, and where are the identifiable problems.

            This research proposal intends to devise a methodological plan that
will test whether or not family influences a student’s academic excellence
structure.

            Any conclusive research found would both have practical significance
and contribute to the construction of social theories.  Empirical research
comparing single parent families, usually mother headed families, with two
parent families has demonstrated various negative outcomes for children in
single parent homes.  Many of these symptoms, such as deficits in cognitive
and social competence, as well as internalizing and externalizing behavioral
problems, have underlying psychodynamic bases in disturbances in object
relations, separation individuation, aggression, and sexual identity, all of
which influence personal identity and self cohesion (Marsh 1990), and maybe
even academic excellence.  As we understand it, an understanding of the
variability within single parent families is important to guide the formulation
of social policy based on family diversity, because policy initiatives can be
targeted more effectively if policy makes have a better understanding of which families are most at risk of problems and which are coping well.