The Study of Families

Paper Summary:

This paper is a personal case study. The paper describes the writer's observations of family dynamics while an exchange student living in another family's house. The paper discusses the methodology that the writer used in observing the family and collecting data for the case report, including the writer's focus on culture and history and the ways that it can affect family dynamics.

From the Paper:

"Every family is, in essence, a small society that functions through interpersonal exchanges and a mutual reliance on the various members included in the family. As such, families can, and should be studied. Families should be studied, even in their smallest forms, in order to gain a greater understanding of how families function. Studying families can also allow for a comparison of how families change over time, or as a function of other differentiating characteristics. There are a variety of ways to study families, such as through the use of surveys where different families may be asked to complete a number of surveys over time, and then the results between families can be compared. Other methods may include observing families in particular settings, such as church groups or community organizations. In this paper, I propose that in order to truly grasp the uniqueness of a single family and how they function on a day to day basis, observation must be continuous and as non-obtrusive to the family functioning as possible. At the same time, studying one's own family could lead to a multitude of biases or oversights, as it is impossible not to influence something that you are inherently a part of. Thus, I propose that the best way to study the uniqueness of an individual family is through the process of acting as an exchange student, whereby I will live with a "host" family for a period no less than six months."

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