• Philosophical Assumptions in Theory Building
• Assumptions About Family
• A New Paradigm

Presented by:  Loren D. Marks, Wesley R. Burr, Randal D. Day

Assumptions and agendas are an indispensible part of scholarly inquiry, but they are usually implicit rather than explicit. This paper is an attempt to begin the process of making assumptions and agendas more explicit by describing the underlying views of the authors in their research and theory building about sacred matters. Assumptions about metaphysical, ontological, and epistemological issues and controversies are described first. This is followed with assumptions about the nature of family and the authors’ agendas. The authors hope this pioneering attempt will lead to more dialogue in the field about these issues and descriptions of the assumptions and agendas of those who have different approaches.

Paper #1: Philosophical Assumptions in Theory Building

A number of scholars have argued it is important for family scholars to describe the philosophical assumptions that underlie their theories and research, but there are few, if any, attempts in the family studies literature to extensively describe these assumptions.  This paper is an attempt to begin this process by describing assumptions the authors found helpful in creating a conceptual framework and general theory that are different from and complementary to the frameworks and general theories that are widely used in family studies.  The paper describes issues and ideas about metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, and also describes how the assumptions provide an intellectual foundation for the creation of their conceptual framework and theory.

Paper #2: Assumptions about Family

The editors of the 2005 Sourcebook argued that definitions of “family” need to be broadened and updated.  A central reason for this call is that conceptual frameworks, theories, and research about families include implicit assumptions about what is and is not family; these assumptions influence the intellectual products; and family life is changing.  The authors developed a model of family to help in their theory construction and research about when, why, and how the sacred is helpful and harmful in families, and this paper describes their model.  It is sufficiently general, broad, and flexible while also being relatively clear and precise.  The authors believe it will help improve theory, research, and practice in family studies.

Paper #3: A New Paradigm

There are a number of approaches and perspectives in family studies, and some are so different from others in their fundamental goals, questions, type of knowledge, strategies, and methods that they appear to employ what Kuhn (1970) would describe as different paradigms.  These paradigms also change and evolve, but little attention has been given to their description, comparison, and evaluation.  This paper describes some of the aspects of a paradigmatic strategy the authors found useful as they worked at the creation of a new conceptual framework and general theory.  The authors suggest that many aspects of this paradigm are relevant for the theories, research, and application in family studies generally but especially in family therapy and family life education.