Theory and Methodology in Family Socialization Research

ABSTRACT

The status of research on primary socialization in the family is assessed using Kuhn'S concept of paradigm. Data were derived from a content analysis of a twenty-five percent random sample of all articles on family primary socialization published in The Journal of Marriage and the Family and its predecessor, Family Living, from 1939 through 1989. Articles were analyzed according to the following paradigmatic dimensions: image of the subject matter, theory, methodology, purpose and object of study. Evidence is found for both pluralism and hegemony. Pluralism is evidenced from the competition between systems theory and symbolic interaction as dominating theoretical frameworks. A constraining hegemony in research on primary socialization was also identified as use of survey methods, basic purposes, focus on parent-child relationships and the adolescent stage of development. There was a conspicuous lack of concern with linkages of the family to other institutions involved in primary socialization, or with the development of goals, motivation, or cognitive ability. Funding sources appear to be contributing to this hegemony, possibly constraining the breadth of development in the field.