Theorists and Theoretical Frameworks Identified by Family Sociologists

Family Study and Nursing Research

“…Within the family field, the emphasis on "grand theory" building has decreased, and interest in multiple middle-range theories has grown. Hays (1977) reported that during the early 1970s most family scholars were using combinations of frameworks rather than single frameworks. A major twovolume work edited by Burr, Hill, Nye, & Reiss (1979) explicated the most common frameworks used in family study and codified what was known from empirical family research into numerous middle-range theoretical domains.…”

Mapping intellectual structure of a scientific subfield through author cocitations

“…The third cluster contains members who, except Sussman, have been less prolific than the others, and who tend to have lower than average cocitation frequencies. Berardo's inclusion reflects his work on kinship and his editorship of the Journal of Marriage and the Family, primary in the field, at the time of the Hays (1977) …”

“…In 1975 Hays asked a random sample (n = 151) of the Marriage and Family Section of the American Sociological Association to name "five theorists whom they consider most important in the area of the family." This procedure identified 27 individuals (Hays, 1977). The second list consisted of the 17 Burgess Award recipients, 1963Award recipients, -1981, of the National Council on Family Relations, a national professional association of family specialists in sociology and other disciplines.…”