Substantive Domain Research Articles

Family Mini Theories as Special Instances of Choice and Exchange Theory

One of the virtues of theory is parsimony; in fact, one might argue that the principal advantage of a theory is this characteristic of stating complex relationships. If one accepts this assumption, then it follows that science should have as few theories as possible, provided the lesser number provide as much explanation as a larger number. Turning to the substantive domain of family relationships and the family institution, we note that a number of mini theories have developed over a period of years. These are largely unrelated to each other and, in some instances, it appears that their explanatory potential could be increased by integrating them into a general theory.