本研究報告係根據1978年台灣北部地區之實地調查資料，對台灣城、鄉人民有關擇偶方式、結婚年齡、對婚姻之傳統觀念以及父母對其子女婚姻所持態度等方面的異同情形之比較、分析。本研究所用樣本計為都市家庭790戶，農村家庭438戶，共計1228戶。 研究結果發現台灣城、鄉居民在婚姻態度上有許多顯著的差異。農村居民較之都市居民保有更多的傳統的婚姻觀念和習俗。在擇偶過程中，絕大多數的農村家庭，父母均具有很大的影響力，相反的，都市家庭的父母在子女選擇對象的過程中影響力較小。然而，無論是都市居民或農村居民都仍然認為婚姻乃家庭大事。都市居民的結婚年齡較農村居民為晚。此外，本研究結果也顯示了男、女教育程度較高者，無分城、鄉，往往都比較晚婚。而這種高教育程度者趨向遲婚的現象尤以都市中之男性為最。 由此研究報告我們不難窺見工業化與都市化在今在台灣的社會變運中所扮演的角色和影響。上述城、鄉居民在婚姻方面所表現的諸多差異，當可提供我們今後發展家庭計劃以及其他社會政策的借鏡與參考。

A field study was carried out in 1978 to assess differences and similarities in marriage practices between rural and urban families in northern Taiwan. One thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight questionnaires were analyzed to determine attitudes about mate selection, parent’s attitudes toward their children’s marriage, attitude toward marriage as a family affair, and age at first marriage. Significant differences between the attitudes of rural inhabitants and urban inhabitants were found. Rural residents maintained more traditional chinese values and customs than the urban residents. While the majority of rural families and strong parental influence in mate selection, the urban families did not. However, both rural and urban respondents considered marriage as a major family affair. The age of marriage for both males and females was older in the urban areas in comparison to the rural areas. Analysis of data also showed that higher education .levels tend to raise age at first marriage for both sexes in urban and rural areas. This trend, however, was particularly strong among the urban male respondents. The information presented in this research report provides insight into the effects of industrialization and urbanization on the social fabric of contemporary Taiwan. The differences in marriage practices between urban.and rural families has important implication for development of family planning practices and other social programs.