Critical Theorizing: Enhancing Theoretical Rigor in Family Research

Abstract

Theory performs vital descriptive, sensitizing, integrative, explanatory, and value functions in the generation of knowledge about families. Yet theory and research can also simultaneously misconceive, desensitize, misdirect, misinterpret, and devalue. Overcoming the degenerative potentialities of theory and research requires attention to critical theorizing, a joint process of (a) critically examining the explicit and implicit assumptions of theory and research and (b) using dialogical theoretical practices. I draw upon the work of John Stuart Mill to argue that critical and dialogical theorizing is a vital and necessary practice in the production of understandings of family phenomena that are more fully scientific and empirical. A brief examination of behavioral research on marital interaction illustrates the importance of critical theorizing.

Why Religion Helps and Harms Families: A Conceptual Model of a System of Dualities at the Nexus of Faith and Family Life

“…Family theory scholar Stan Knapp () issued a call for family scholars to improve the way we generate theory. He contrasts what he called a “monological” approach to theory, which is “an approach that engages in theory and research exclusively within the confines of its own logic, assumptions, language, and so forth, limits what we can know and produces degenerative consequences,” to a dialogical approach (Knapp, , pp. 135–136).…”

Family Systems Thinking as a Guide for Theory Integration: Conceptual Overlaps of Differentiation, Attachment, Parenting Style, and Identity Development in Families With Adolescents

“…We use Knapp's () five functions of theory as a framework for theoretical analysis, through which we provide a rationale for how varying theories and concepts, when considered as an integrated whole, invite theoretical complexity that advances an understanding of family processes and guides new research questions. Knapp () proposed that theory offers five functions, or generative potentialities, for family research and empirical “knowledge production”: The sensitizing function, which highlights authentic human experiences, variables, and processes that might otherwise have been overlooked. The descriptive function, which involves concept naming and structure enabling researchers to organize and categorize of observations and collected data. The value function, which involves an inherent worldview underlying the rationale for emphasizing certain processes, factors, and concepts. The integrative function, which connects seemingly unrelated factors within a holistic framework. The explanatory function, which renders the theory falsifiable by enabling researchers to develop predictions and methods for testing the theory. …”

“…Theoretical integration may also be hindered by (a) dogmatic policing of what terminology “belongs” to which theory, (b) teaching theories from their purist origins and embellishing differences between theories, (c) theory self‐promotion as “new” and “different” in ways that often entail deliberate effort to differentiate a theory from similar models in potentially divisive ways, and (d) decreased attention to theory and a context of discovery (Knapp, ; Swedberg, ; White, ). Major barriers impeding a comprehensive integration of work in our field are also discussed by White (), Knapp (), and Swedberg (). Knapp () highlighted the process of how research disconnected from theory begets fragmentation across family scholarship:

Attention to methodological rigor without an accompanying emphasis on theoretical rigor in the form of critical and dialogical theorizing will therefore likely result in the creation of multiple theories and research outcomes that coexist in indifference with each other and other alternative perspectives.

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Evolutionary Perspectives on Adolescence

“…Knapp (2009) presents five functions of theory that can be used to evaluate the assistance that different conceptual frameworks provide in terms of the knowledge base about families. The focus on the "descriptive function" allows readers to evaluate the ways in which each theory helps to depict the particular details regarding families with adolescents.…”