Barton, Allen W & Robert C. Bishop. 2014. “Paradigms, Processes, and Values in Family Research.”Journal of Family Theory and Review 6: 241-256.
This article aims to offer an applicable discussion about pertinent philosophical issues that inform family research. The author outline five modes inquiry: natural scientific mode, descriptivism, critical social science, postmodernism and contemporary hermeneutics, regarding its contributions, limitation as well as application in family studies (see table1 and table 2). Then, the authors emphasize two ideas and values that have deeply impinged in American culture in shaping family studies- political liberalism and liberal individualism. The former refers to that one person or group should not promulgate its beliefs on any others, but it itself is a belief that has been promulgated. Family studies is not an exception. Liberal individualism, consisting of utilitarian individualism and expressive individualism, tends to prioritize self-interest and/or self-actualization respectively. Researchers and practitioners, embedded in the culture, unconsciously minimize the importance of obligation people hold to spouse, children and marriage, which ultimately complicated the consequence of family studies which mostly aim to stabilize relationship or improve marriage.
这篇文章旨在探讨家庭研究中的一些重要哲学议题。作者首先概括了五种探讨问题的角度：自然科学角度、描述主义、社会批判视角、后现代主义视角和当代诠释学。文章对每一种视角的特点、局限性和它在家庭研究的应用都分别做了介绍（详见表格一和表格二）。随后，作者分析了两种主流的美国价值观——政治自由主义和自由的个人主义。价值观不仅仅决定了研究是如何展开的，也直接影响着研究者本身。政治自由主义强调任何一方都不应该把自己的价值观强加于他人；但是，这个概念本身就是植根在美国价值观内部的。自由的个人主义有两种类型：功利主义的个人主义和表达主义的个人主义。前者强调个人利益，而后者更注重个人价值的实现和提升。研究者本身并不可能脱离这个文化环境，因此，这样一种价值观会不自觉地促使研究者强调个体在婚姻中的价值实现，忽略了个人对伴侣、孩子、婚姻本身所应该承担的责任的重要性。这些最终都会导致家庭研究无法有效地提高亲密关系的稳定性和婚姻质量。