Qualitative Empirical Studies Research Articles

Do We Mean the Same by the Concept of Family

We all know what a family is. But still we often do not agree on the meaning of the term. Furthermore, and even more complicated, we often are not aware that we might have a perspective very different from that of those with whom we communicate. Presented here are views concerning how to define family theoretically as well as some data from both qualitative empirical studies with “normal” persons. The quantitative study builds upon a statistically representative sample of adults, and the qualitative study uses strategic sampling. Our data show that not only do researchers differ in their view on the concept, so do members of the general population. Indeed, the variation is almost over-whelming. Included under the concept of family are not only persons from the immediate “nuclear” family but also kin of various sorts, friends, and pets. When taking the observed degree of variability into consideration we might be surprised that we are able to communicate at all using the term family. Apparently, what is familiar is the term only, certainly not the concept.