As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows，there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
任何一位想在餐桌上维持秩序的家庭主妇都知道，家庭聚餐不止是就餐。社会学家迈克尔·刘易斯一直在研究50个家庭，想知道还有哪些。

Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger，conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question－asking the parents do，the higher the children’s IQ scores.”
刘易斯和他的同事通过对那些在自己家里吃普通食物的家庭拍摄视频进行研究。他们发现小家庭的父母会积极地与彼此及他们的孩子交谈。但随着孩子数量的增加，谈话会变成父母努力控制他们发出巨大的噪音。这可能对孩子们产生重要影响。“一般来说，问父母的问题越多，孩子们的智商就越高。”

Lewis says，“And the more children there are，the less question－asking there is.”
刘易斯说：“孩子越多，问的问题就越少。”

The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings. Lewis found that in families with three or four children，dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about，and the youngest，who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible, ” says Lewis. “ When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner，chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however，one thing that stops all conversations and prevents anyone from having attention：“When the TV is on，” Lewis says，“ dinner is a non－event.”
这项研究还解释了为什么年龄位于中间的孩子似乎比他们的兄弟姐妹生活得更艰难。刘易斯发现，在有三个或四个孩子的家庭中，晚餐谈话的中心可能是最年长的孩子，他们有最多的话题要谈，而最年幼的孩子最需要关注。“中间的孩子是看不见的，”刘易斯说，“当你看到有人在吃饭的时候从桌子上站起来四处走动时，很可能是中间的孩子。” 然而，有一件事会阻止所有的谈话并阻止任何人的关注，“当电视打开时，”刘易斯说，“晚餐就成了一件不重要的事。”