Sosyoloji Dergisi, 2022, Sayı: 43 Atıf: Rajkai, Z. (2022). Paradigms in Family Research: Diversity and Reflexivity. Sosyoloji Dergisi, 43, 193-219. Derleme Makale / Review Article PARADIGMS IN FAMILY RESEARCH: DIVERSITY AND REFLEXIVITY Zsombor RAJKAI * Abstract This article addresses scholarly reflexivity in family research, by studying the use of paradigm from the second half of the twentieth century. In doing so, the present study focuses on countries that have produced remarkably abundant scholarly literatures on family issues, with a special focus on the United States, and with a limited focus on Japan for comparison from a non-Western context. By reviewing several types of family studies, this article throws light upon both the various manifestations of scholarly (self-)reflexivity and the diverse characteristics of the way paradigms are referred to in family science, as well as the connection between them. In doing so, the employment of paradigms is discussed through aspects such as the subject, the addressed field and its covered scale, as well as certain substantive attributes of the employed paradigm. In contrast, reflexivity in this study is referred to as reflexivity upon knowledge production, which is either related to the characteristics of a specific academic community or referred to a concrete research subject. By employing this conceptual tool, the present study, without claiming to be exhaustive, suggests that theoretical studies (especially from a philosophical approach), as well as emancipatory studies with a strong normative approach reveal high scholarly (self-)reflexivity, where the focus is either on the academic community, or on the applied research methodology and underlying assumptions, rather than on a specific family practice or process. Keywords: Family, Paradigm, Social ccience, Diversity, Reflexivity, Ideology * Prof. Dr., Ritsumeikan University, rajkai72@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp; ORCID:0000-0002-8353-6518 Makale Gönderim Tarihi: 19/04/2022, Makale Kabul Tarihi: 09/05/2022