(Re)Conceptualizing Family Communication: Applying Deetz’s Conceptual Frameworks within the Field of Family Communication

ABSTRACT

This article explores trends in metatheoretical approaches to research within family communication studies. In particular, in this work I critique the traditional philosophical perspective, arguing that the isolation of paradigms, and the positioning of research as post-positivist or interpretivist or critical, limits the production and capacity of knowledge, and therefore the field as a whole. As a response, I put forth Deetz’s (2001) discursive orientations as a more inclusive and comprehensive perspective from which family communication research should be conducted, with the crux of the argument being that the fluid nature of Deetz’s orientations positions knowledge as existing between and within, therefore allowing research to be both/and instead of either/or, and subsequently producing knowledge that is inherently more complete and inclusive.

Acknowledgments

Veronica A. Droser is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver. A version of this manuscript was awarded Top Student Paper, and was presented in the Top Four Papers in Family Communication panel at the 2016 National Communication Association Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The author expresses appreciation to Dr. Elizabeth Suter and Shadee Abdi for their continued dialogue about the future of Family Communication Studies, and thanks three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.