Dating today differs greatly compared to dating say sixty or even eighty years ago. Dating trends today, such as cohabitation, would be considered insanity or chaos if these patterns were displayed in the 1920s. Today the majority of persons who date are seeking the outcome of a marriage (although research does not agree with this). Eighty years ago, people dated for fun, pleasure, and recreation (Schwartz 116), and only popular people dated (Waller 1937), dating was a rarity, and limited to people in their late teen years or early adulthood. However, today it is quite different from eighty years ago with respect to the purpose of dating, and trends. Dating starts at earlier ages such as 13, and everyone dates, regardless of social standings. What we are going to be looking at is the patterns of dating among heterosexual college students (or non-students) ages eighteen to twenty-four, and how these trends differ from previous dating trends. The research questions as are based on geographical location, ethnicity and race, age, sex, and touches on religion. The geographical location is listed because we are in southern California. This region of the Untied States is full of the most races, including African-American, Asian, Hispanic, South American, Caucasian and many more. This will also ensures that we get a full random sample. The age is there to ensure that we are covering the college age groups, ages eighteen to twenty-four. Sex of course pretty much limits us to male and female. Religion will be mentioned, but is not a major concern as far as the research goes. There will be six major issues discussed. These issues will include: the frequency of dating; how many times one dates a month and how many dating partners one has had overall. How far the first date goes; kissing on the first date, oral sex on the first date, and intercourse on the first date, if not on the first date, how long would it take. Why we date an...
