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Critical Approach to Family Research: An Illustration

Department of Home Economics, Victoria College, 662 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Jurgen Habermas' theory relating to systems of action was used in Brown and Paolucci's examination of the professional practice of home economics (1978). As a follow-up, the same critical theory basis was used in an attempt to analyze the dynamic focus of home economics-the family-as a means of exploring the potential of the theory to promote understanding of family activities. A tentative framework for characterizing family activities was derived from Habermas' writ ings. A case study of a family provided empirical data which were used interac tively with the framework to generate themes to be used as the basis for iden tifying systems of action in the family. The research illustrates that the theory was appropriate for reflecting on the nature of family activities in this case and that it offers scope for understanding the problems of "family" in a sociohistorical perspective, thus facilitating the addressing by professionals of real issues of families in their everyday lives.

Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 92-111 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/1077727X8501400110


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