Military and Oral History Conference:
Between Memory and History
Researching Military Families in the Canadian Forces: The Intersection of Social Science and History
Stefan Wolejszo, Department of National Defence
The Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces actively collects data about military families. This data is a mix of quantitative and qualitative information collected through focus groups and surveys, analyzed by social scientists, and compiled into reports that are designed to inform decision-making. The most common result of this research process is the creation of a “snapshot” of military families at a given point in time. This focus upon the synchronic dimension of this data obscures the historical (diachronic) dimension of this form of social research. Specifically, the stories told by families of CF personnel that are captured in the reports will, over time, become a part of the historic record, or memory, of the Canadian Forces. This presentation will explore the relationship between social science research and history through an examination of two large-scale research projects featuring military families in the Canadian Forces: The Quality of Life Among Military Families survey (2009) and the PERSTEMPO and Human Dimensions of Deployment Study (2002).