Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)
Because family experiences arouse so much emotion and social philosophers continue to believe that the family is a major element in the social structure, the field has for over two millennia attracted more ideologists than theorists and has been the object of much
speculation but little rigorous research. Personal acquaintance with a family system has usually been confused with valid knowledge, and journalistic descriptions of the past have been the main source of information for the analysis of family changes (Goode, 1962:507) ...