This sourcebook is an unparalleled resource in the field of family science. It provides a comprehensive overview of both traditional and contemporary theories and methodologies to promote a greater understanding of increasingly complex family realities. It focuses on broad developments in research design and conceptualization, while also offering a historical perspective on developments in family science over time, particularly emerging theories from the past several decades. Each chapter summarizes and evaluates a major theory or methodological approach in the field, delving into its main principles; its debates and challenges; how it has evolved over time; its practical uses in policy, education, or further research; and links to other theories and methodologies. In highlighting recent research of note, chapters emphasize the potential for innovative future applications.
Key areas of coverage include:
· Risk and resilience, family stress, feminist, critical race, and social exchange theories.
· Ambiguous loss, intersectionality, Queer, and family development theory.
· Life course framework.
· Biosocial theory and biomarker methods.
· Symbolic interactionism.
· Ethnography.
· Mixed methods, participatory action research, and evaluation.
Kari Adamsons, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Human Development and Family Sciences department at the University of Connecticut. Her areas of expertise include fathering, parenting, couple relationships, and family theory. She has been deeply involved in the Theory Construction and Research Methodology workshop since 2002 and previously served as the Chair of the Research and Theory section of the National Council on Family Relations. Dr. Adamsons has served as guest editor for two special issues in the Journal of Family Theory and Review as well as serving on their editorial board, and served as an associate editor for Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and Fathering. She also co-authored the textbook Family Theories: An Introduction. She received her BA in Psychology from the College of William and Mary, and her Masters and PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
April L. Few-Demo, Ph.D., is Professor of Family Studies in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include the topics of intimate violence, qualitative methodologies, women’s decision-making processes in close relationships, LGBTQ+ family issues, and diversity issues in academia. Dr. Few-Demo’s scholarship on the utility of Black feminism, intersectionality, and critical race theories has resulted in keynote presentations at national conferences and publications on feminist family studies and intimate partner violence in several books, including her co-edited book, The Handbook of Feminist Family Studies (2009). She has served as a guest editor for the Journal of Family Issues’ special issue on Feminist Theory, Methods, And Praxis in Family Studies and Journal of Family Theory and Review’s special issue on Revisioning Family Theory Through the Lens of Race and Ethnicity and recently, the Journal of Marriage and Family’s special issue on Transformative Family Scholarship, which highlights family scholarship using critical theories. She has been elected to several offices in the National Council of Family Relations. Dr. Few-Demo received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Georgia, a M.A. in International Policy Studies from the Monterey
Institute of International Studies, and a Ph.D. in Child and Family Development from the University of Georgia.
Christine M. Proulx, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Human Development and Family Science department at the University of Missouri. Her research examines the social roles and relationships adults maintain in mid and later life, and how these roles and relationships influence health and wellbeing. Her work draws extensively from large national datasets that span multiple decades and multiple family members, allowing her to examine the development of relationships and health within a family context over extended periods of time. Dr. Proulx chaired the National Council on Family Relations Research and Theory member section from 2015-2016. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Family Psychology, and Journal of Family Theory and Review. Dr. Proulx received her BA in Women’s Studies from Regis College and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Kevin Roy, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland College Park School of Public Health. His research explores the life course of young men on the margins of kin networks, focusing on men’s health equity and disparities (specifically trauma), masculinities, and policy systems, such as immigration, incarceration, and parenting programs. Dr. Roy has been actively engaged in the activities of the Theory Construction and Research Methodology workshop at NCFR. He served as deputy editor for Journal of Marriage and Family and Fathering. His books include Nurturing dads: Social initiatives for contemporary fathering in the ASA Rose Series (2012) and Situated Fathering (co-edited, 2006). Dr. Roy received a BS from Georgetown University in International Relations and a Ph.D. in Human Development & Social Policy at Northwestern University
