Promises I Can Keep was published in 2005, with much of the research conducted during the late 1990s. Has much has changed regarding the lives of low-income, single mothers in the United States and their perspectives on childrearing and marriage?

In 2013, Kathryn Edin co-authored Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City. How do the examinations of low-income fatherhood in this book build on or contrast with arguments made in Promises I Can Keep?

Edin and Kefalas chose to combine quantitative and qualitative data for their study. What effect does living within a researched community have on the study? How does it differ from purely quantitative studies? What are the arguments for and against developing personal relationships with research subjects?