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Annotated Bibliography

Why are siblings similar or dissimilar?

David Ramsey

Professor Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

February 25, 2018

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Annotated Bibliography

Kluger, Jeffrey. Interview by Ira Flatow. Science At The Sibling Effect, National Public Radio,

16 Sept. 2011, www.npr.org/2011/09/16/140537846/science-looks-at-the-sibling-effect.

Accessed 7 February 2018.

The awarding winning host and executive producer of “Science Friday”, Ira Flatow, is

back with another weekly broadcast on Public Radio International in which he interviews

Jeffrey Kluger. This is a transcript which aired on NPR on September 16, 2011 between

these two distinguished men. The main reason why Jeffrey Kluger was being interviewed

by Ira Flatow was to discuss Jeffrey’s new book titled, The Sibling Effect: What the

Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us. His book examines the highly

dynamic world of sibling bonds and the intertwined factors that work together that shape

those relationships. The topic besides the promotion of Jeffrey’s book was birth order and

how much impact does birth order have on us. Birth order is the order in which you were

born in relationship to your siblings. During the interview, Jeffrey touches on some of the

factors that surround sibling bonds such as their effects on our conflict resolution, step

sibling bonds, and the impact of parenting styles. In addition, Ira Flatow and Jeffrey

Kluger were answering questions via the phone from the viewers. For example, Michelle,

a female caller, expressed how she was different from some of the characteristics that

Jeffrey Kluger used to describe the older sibling and asked why. Overall, this was a good

and notable source. Along with NPRs well known respect, the host, Ira Flatow, is a

distinguished science correspondent and TV journalist which adds value to the

creditability of this source. Furthermore, Jeffrey Kluger is a senior writer at Time

magazine and currently has written nine books. Also, his name has populated on a lot of
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my searches and his evidence coincides with other research material I have gathered. The

benefits of tapping into a resource such as this is that it gave me great keywords to utilize,

thus continuing the journey to acquire new knowledge about this topic. Another benefit

was that it allowed me to see what the current discussions were and as a byproduct, new

questions to lead my research. In addition to all the benefits, this source will allow me to

refrain from only having to use one source to cite the same information when it comes

time to cite the sources and write my paper. Due to the ponderous information within this

transcript I will being utilizing it as a source.

Kluger, Jeffrey. The Sibling Effect: What The Bonds Among Brothers And Sisters Reveal About

Us. Penguin Group, 2011.

In this book titled, The Sibling Effect: What The Bonds Among Brothers And Sisters

Reveal About Us, written by Jeffrey Kluger, the author examines the diverse and complex

world of sibling bonds. The author not only uses cutting edge research to build his book,

but also uses his own experiences from his childhood periodically. This book opens with

a short story from the authors childhood with his three brothers in which they protect him

from their father. The author uses this story to jump start his web into the myriad of

factors that contribute to how and possibly why the sibling bond is as strong as it is.

Some of the factors that the author discusses is birth order, sibling rivalries, parental

favoritism, and blended families. Specifically, the author wants to draw attention to the

importance of the sibling bonds over parent bonds or at least the two bonds are equal in

their influence on shaping our lives. As I mentioned earlier Jeffrey Kluger is an

outstanding writer as he has written nine books. Currently, he is a senior writer at Time

magazine. In addition, the author survived growing up with three brothers and at one time
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two step siblings, so he has experienced the diversity of having a blended family as well

as a traditional family. All these attributes culminate to a very qualified source of

information on the topic of sibling bonds as well as the many sources of research that he

utilized. As far as the golden goose of information on the topic of sibling bonds, this book

is that very source. This book has given me a plethora of key terms that I will utilize in

building my own research. For example, a dyad is a relationship between two parts such

as a mother and a child or the relationship between siblings. Another term that was

supplied within this text was de-identification which is the process in which children pick

personalities to offset a sibling. For example, if one sibling is the fun one then the other

sibling will be the serious one. Along with the excellent terms and logical overview of the

dynamics of sibling bonds, this book has given me solid studies and bright individuals to

view their research outcomes. Overall, this book has helped my research by narrowing in

on the categories that may affect my own sibling bonds. Also, the material that is covered

by this author coincides with my other findings. Due to those reasons I will use this

source heavily in my own research.

Rodgers Joseph, Cleveland Harrington, Edwin Oord, and David Rowe. “Resolving the Debate

Over Birth Order, Family Size, and Intelligence.” American Psychological Association,

vol. 55, no. 6, 2000, pp. 599-612,

www.researchgate.net/publication/12427371_Resolving_the_debate_over_birth_order_fa

mily_size_and_intelligence. Accessed 25 February 2018.

This research article titled, Resolving the Debate Over Birth Order, Family Size, and

Intelligence, is provided by the American Psychological Association. Created in 1892,

the American Psychological Association began with only thirty-one members and now,
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has over 115,700 members and 54 divisions in subfields of psychology. Additionally, the

American Psychological Association is the leading scientific and professional

organization representing psychology in the United States. All of their APA members are

doctoral-level psychologists in a plethora of field settings for example, academic research

and hospitals to name a few. Furthermore, American Psychological Association’s goals

are to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge

to benefit society and improve people's lives. Upon opening the American Psychological

Association website, its’ members have access to a wealth of information, but more

importantly, a community. The homepage tabs include publications and databases,

psychological help center, news and events, sciences, education, and careers, to name a

few. These tabs are the means in which its’ members gain great resources and contacts.

For example, the publications and databases tab allow members and the public to access

different types of research material such as scholarly article reviews. Another example,

the news and events tab which once clicked reveals a hive of social and relevant news

such as a recent press release and an upcoming conference. Overall, this website is an

excellent source for members and non-members alike. The authors in this research article

addresses the ineffective means in which studies have been performed on correlating

birth order and intelligence. Specifically, the authors draw attention to earlier studies that

were based off the assumption that bigger families make low-IQ children. Additionally,

the authors stress the differences in how an investigator interprets the information that is

yielded. The research article calls to the difference between using cross-sectional data

and with-in family data to support a causal link between birth order and intelligence.

Cross-sectional data is data that compares one family to another whereas with-in family
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data thoroughly examines each aspect of each family member regarding other families.

The author’s highlight the results using the cross-sectional data reflect that there is a

casual link between birth order and intelligence. Contrary to that result, the with-in

family data suggest there is little if zero correlation between birth order and intelligence.

Regardless of the methods in which scientist utilize to evaluate the dynamics of family,

there is no argument that sibling bonds and parent bonds contribute to a degree the

influence on us. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the authors biographies besides

what was listed as an author’s note displaying what department they worked in. However,

that does not delegitimize this work because their work is displayed in the American

Psychological Association database which means the authors are probably members. Just

to reiterate, APA members are doctoral level psychologists which means the APA

members have a PhD, PsyD, or EdD in psychology from a regionally accredited

institution. This research article has been very beneficial since it gives me some more

tools to evaluate my own research. In addition, the authors display a counter perspective

to most of the research I have already completed regarding the significance of birth order.

Furthermore, this research article gives me additional studies that offer me the other side

of the discussion. Lastly, I will be using this research article in my extended inquiry

project as well as the American Psychological Association database to unearth future

research information.

Whiteman Shawn, McHale Susan, and Soli Anna. “Theoretical Perspectives on Sibling

Relationships.” J Fam Theory Rev, vol. 3, no. 2, 2011, pp. 124-139,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3127252/. Accessed 7 February 2018.

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In this scholarly journal titled, Theoretical Perspectives on Sibling Relationships, the

authors attempt to arouse interest in sibling dynamics research and as a leader for future

inquiries. Shawn Whiteman, Susan McHale, and Anna Soli are the authors for this

scholarly journal. The authors apply four theoretical psychologically oriented

perspectives to the dynamics of siblings mainly through the childhood and adolescence

age frame due to the lack of research on the sibling bond as it ages. Psychoanalytic-

evolutionary, social psychological, social learning, and family-ecological systems are the

four perspectives the authors use. Psychoanalytic-evolutionary perspectives focus on

species-typical patterns of behavior due to attachment and the survival function of social

behavior. Social psychological perspectives look at how others influence one another and

their motivations. Social learning perspectives suggest a gained behavior through

observing others. Family-ecological systems view families as independent elements that

are always in flux with each other, extended families, and their surroundings. In this

scholarly journal these four different perspectives are utilized as lens to examine a myriad

of environmental factors such as parent styles, gender differences, and birth order. Given

the fact that this is a scholarly journal, the information found within had to be peer

reviewed and verified for accuracy. In addition, I searched the authors of this scholarly

journal and was very pleased with the results. Shawn Whiteman has a B.A. and M.A.

degrees in Psychology and a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies. Susan

McHale is a distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and

Professor of Demography Director to name a few of her titles. Unfortunately, my

research of the author, Soli Anna, did not yield any results. However, with two out of the

three authors having multiple degrees and currently working in the field of my topic, I
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will still stand firm on the quality of this scholarly journal. Also, the information that I

have found here goes along with my other material that I have researched which also aids

its’ validity. Along with the plethora of key words and raw information this source

provided, this source also produced many links to studies to further my knowledge base

in this complex area. Overall, this scholarly journal has become an essential part of the

perspectives that I will utilize to analyze my own unique sibling bonds. Additionally,

research without this source would not have aided me in finding a logical and reasonable

method in navigating this multi-facet, yet, interesting topic. Given the great attributes this

scholarly journal has provided me with, I will utilize it heavily in my research.

Peer Review

Wow, well done!! This was written incredibly and I found very little that I think you

should change about it. I can fully follow the topic that you are sharing and this

information all flows very well together, while being so different. I really like how you

connected your sources with other sources you had found, saying that you found the same

information from separate people, because that is very important when validating your

research. One thing you may want to take a look at is the usefulness section of your

annotations; it may be a good idea to add a little more about why it is useful and not only

that it is useful. Overall great job, I will definitely be taking notes from yours when

revising my own.