The family can be a model of loving support, a crucible of pathology, or some blend of the two. Across disciplines, it is also the basic unit for studying human relationships, patterns of behavior, and influence on individuals and society. As family structures evolve and challenge previous societal norms, new means are required for understanding their dynamics, and for improving family interventions and policies. Emerging Methods in Family Research details innovative approaches designed to keep researchers apace with the diversity and complexities of today's families. This versatile idea-book offers meaningful new ways to represent multiple forms of diversity in family structure and process, cutting-edge updates to family systems models and measurement methods, and guidance on the research process, from designing projects to analyzing findings. These chapters provide not only new frameworks for basic research on families, but also prime examples of their practical use in intervention and policy studies. Contributors also consider the similarities and differences between the study of individuals and the study of family relationships and systems. Included in the coverage: Use of nonlinear dynamic models to study families as coordinated symbiotic systems. Use of network models for understanding change and diversity in the formal structure of American families. Representing trends and moment-to-moment variability in dyadic and family processes using state-space modeling techniques. Why qualitative and ethnographic methods are essential for understanding family life. Methods in multi-site trials of family-based interventions. Implementing the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to analyze the effects of family interventions. Researchers in human development, family studies, clinical and developmental psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, and social welfare as well as public policy researchers will welcome Emerging Methods in Family Research as a resource to inspire novel approaches to studying families.

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this widely adopted text and professional reference reflects significant recent changes in the landscape of family therapy research. Leading contributors provide the current knowledge needed to design strong qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies; analyze the resulting data; and translate findings into improved practices and programs. Following a consistent format, user-friendly chapters thoroughly describe the various methodologies and illustrate their applications with helpful concrete examples. Among the ten entirely new chapters in the second edition is an invaluable research primer for beginning graduate students. Other new chapters cover action and participatory research methods, computer-aided qualitative data analysis, feminist autoethnography, performance methodology, task analysis, cutting-edge statistical models, and more.

Now available in paperback for classroom use!"This comprehensive text provides a rich source of perspectives on theorising about the family for scholars, researchers, and students. Another of the book′s strengths is the emphasis on multimethod approaches in family research. The book covers an impressive range of topics and issues - marital happiness, adjustment of children in divorce marriages, gay marriage, sibling ties, ethnic families of colour, stepfamilies, aggression culture, work and family, religion, and social policy, to name a few. In summary, this superb volume is highly recommended and amply reflects the many contemporary perspectives on the family." --Philip Siebler, Monash University, VictoriaSponsored by the National Council on Family Relations, the Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research is the reference work on theory and methods for family scholars and students around the world. This volume provides a diverse, eclectic, and paradoxically mature approach to theorizing and demonstrates how the development of theory is crucial to the future of family research. The Sourcebook reflects an interactive approach that focuses on the process of theory building and designing research, thereby engaging readers in "doing" theory rather than simply reading about it. An accompanying website offers additional participation and interaction in the process of doing theory and making science. Editors Vern L. Bengtson, Alan C. Acock, Katherine R. Allen, Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, and David M. Klein have brought together a prominent group of diverse contributors ranging in race and ethnicity, age and seniority, and gender and sexual orientation. The Sourcebook begins with a section that sets the context for future family research. The subsequent sections explore changing family patterns, changing family interactions within and across generations, and families and larger social forces. A concluding section discusses issues of teaching family theories and research.Key Features Focuses on the process rather than the outcomes of family theory and research methods Emphasizes the value of multi-methods approaches in family research by integrating theory development with the development of research methods Differs from many other publications on family research by describing the development of new ideas rather than just summarizing existing findings The interactive Web site and the special feature boxes within the chapters engage readers with theory and methodology. Boxed features include Case Studies, Spotlights on Theory, Spotlights on Methods, and a Discussion and Extension sections. Represents a "Who′s Who" of family researchers with contributions from many of the best researchers in the family realm The Sourcebook will be an excellent addition to any academic library. It is an authoritative reference for scholars and researchers in Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, Social Work, and Psychology. In addition, the Sourcebook can also be used in graduate courses on family theory and methodology.

In the 3rd edition of Methods of Family Research, authors Theodore N. Greenstein and Shannon N. Davis continue to help students better understand the research results they encounter in doing family research. Using real-life examples to illustrate important concepts that family researchers encounter regularly, the text covers traditional quantitative methods, qualitative methods, and the mixed-method approach. Written in a clear, concise style, this book differs from other research methods texts, which focus on teaching students how to produce research, by teaching them how to consume research in a sophisticated, effective manner. The book introduces the basic concepts of social science research methods without excessive technical details.

Origins We call this book on theoretical orientations and methodological strategies in family studies a sourcebook because it details the social and personal roots (i.e., sources) from which these orientations and strategies flow. Thus, an appropriate way to preface this book is to talk first of its roots, its beginnings. In the mid 1980s there emerged in some quarters the sense that it was time for family studies to take stock of itself. A goal was thus set to write a book that, like Janus, would face both backward and forward a book that would give readers both a perspec tive on the past and a map for the future. There were precedents for such a project: The Handbook of Marriage and the Family edited by Harold Christensen and published in 1964; the two Contemporary Theories about theFamily volumes edited by Wesley Burr, Reuben Hill, F. Ivan Nye, and Ira Reiss, published in 1979; and the Handbook of Marriage and the Family edited by Marvin Sussman and Suzanne Steinmetz, then in production.

Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development provides a new perspective on the study of childhood and family life. Successful development is enhanced when communities provide meaningful life pathways that children can seek out and engage. Successful pathways include both a culturally valued direction for development and competence in skills that matter for a child's subsequent success as a person as well as a student, parent, worker, or citizen. To understand successful pathways requires a mix of qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic methods—the state of the art for research practice among developmentalists, educators, and policymakers alike. This volume includes new studies of minority and immigrant families, school achievement, culture, race and gender, poverty, identity, and experiments and interventions meant to improve family and child contexts. Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development will be of enormous value to everyone interested in the issues of human development, education, and social welfare, and among professionals charged with the task of improving the lives of children in our communities.

Family Theories: An Introduction by James M. White, Todd F. Martin, and new co-author Kari Adamsons provides an incisive, thorough primer to current theories of the family that balances the diversity and richness of a broad scope of scholarly work in a concise manner. This best-selling text draws upon eight major theoretical frameworks developed by key social scientists to explain variation in family life. These frameworks include social exchange and choice, symbolic-interaction, family life course development, systems, conflict, feminist, ecological, and functional theories. This new Fifth Edition includes suggestions for integrating theory to guide a research program and more applications for those going on to careers in the helping professions. With an increased focus on both classical theories as well as contemporary and emerging theories, this text challenges students to think about how families and family theories have changed over the last 70 years as well as where family scholarship is headed.

We need to understand how to utilize Geospatial Research in order to help us solve problems in environmental, life science, and defense industries, as well as intelligence, natural resources, medical and public safety industries. Emerging Methods and Multidisciplinary Applications in Geospatial Research exemplifies the usage of geographic information science and technology (GIS&T) to explore and resolve geographical issues from various application domains within the social and/or physical sciences. It specializes in studies from applied geography that interfaces with geographic information science and technology. This publication is designed to provide planners and policy analysts, practitioners, academicians, and others using GIS&T useful studies that might support decision-making activities.

"Daly has crafted one of the most accessible, comprehensive, and functional texts in research methods that students, scholars, and practitioners concerned with understanding family and development will immensely appreciate." —Carla L. Fisher, The Pennsylvania State University "I love this book! It is thoroughly excellent—accessible and clear. ... What an accomplishment: an inviting research methods book written with intelligence and humility—makes you want to dive right into your next research project." —Katherine R. Allen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University This book is a masterpiece. Kerry Daly has written the finest and most profound volume on qualitative research available in print. From the opening chapter to the last, it is clear that we are in the hands of a master scholar who brings great depth and wisdom to his work. . . . A tour de force by any standard. —David Dollahite, Brigham Young University Qualitative Methods for Family Studies and Human Development serves as a step-by-step, interdisciplinary, qualitative methods text for those working in the areas of family studies, human development, family therapy, and family social work. Providing a systematic outline for carrying out qualitative projects from start to finish, author Kerry J. Daly uniquely combines epistemology, theory, and methodology into a comprehensive package illustrated with specific examples from family relations and human development research. Key Features: Outlines different analytic procedures: The most commonly used methodological traditions are covered, including ethnography, interpretive phenomenology, grounded theory methodology, narrative analysis, discourse analysis, and participatory action research. Offers examples from both hypothetical and actual research studies: Attention is given to the unique challenges associated with qualitative research on couples and families, ethics procedures, and credibility issues. Allows readers to make informed choices within clear guidelines: Balances breadth of topic coverage with sufficient detail to equip students to make informed decisions about methodologies and to be able to design and implement a qualitative research project. Cultivates good perceptual skills: Several pedagogical text boxes, tips and guidelines for data collection, examples, and illustrations encourage students to reflect on their own preferences, values, and experiences.

This volume showcases the latest theoretical and empirical work from some of the top scholars in attachment. Extending classic themes and describing important new applications, the book examines several ways in which attachment processes help explain how people think, feel, and behave in different situations and at different stages in the life cycle. Topics include the effects of early experiences on adult relationships; new developments in neuroscience and genetics; attachment orientations and parenting; connections between attachment and psychopathology, as well as health outcomes; and the relationship of attachment theory and processes to clinical interventions.