THEORY AND METHODOLOGY IN FAMILY SOCIALIZATION RESEARCH

The status of research on primary socialization in the family is asses sed using Kuhn's concept of paradigm. Data were derived from a content analysis of a twenty-five percent random sample of all articles on fa mily primary socialization published in The Journal of Marriage and th e Family and its predecessor, Family Living, from 1939 through 1989. A rticles were analyzed according to the following paradigmatic dimensio ns: image of the subject matter, theory, methodology, purpose and obje ct of study. Evidence is found for both pluralism and hegemony. Plural ism is evidenced from the competition between systems theory and symbo lic interaction as dominating theoretical frameworks. A constraining h egemony in research on primary socialization was also identified as us e of survey methods, basic purposes, focus on parent-child relationshi ps and the adolescent stage of development. There was a conspicuous la ck of concern with linkages of the family to other institutions involv ed in primary socialization, or with the development of goals, motivat ion, or cognitive ability. Funding sources appear to be contributing t o this hegemony, possibly constraining the breadth of development in t he field.