AN EMPIRICAL/INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVE OF HOME AND FAMILY LIFE: AN APPLICATION OF THE METASCIENTIFIC THEORY OF JUERGEN HABERMAS

摘要

There is a disjuncture between the philosophy of home economics, past and present, and the dominant technical model of curriculum. In the metascientific theory of Jurgen Habermas are perspectives which go beyond the present way of viewing knowledge and inquiry. Applied to home economics curriculum, this theory provides a conceptual framework for expanding the present technical model to be congruent with the philosophy of home economics. It was the purpose of this study to provide technical and interpretive data about home and family life which was critically analyzed, selected, and organized to provide knowledge which will be useful in the development of a home economics curriculum.;The sample consisted of 200 consumer homemaking advisory committee members (A/C members) and 80 seniors enrolled in home economics. A/C members represent a cross-section of community members. Forty vocational home economics teachers, distributed throughout Ohio, administered the following instruments: the Colorado homemaking task list, consisting of 144 tasks, an open-ended questionnaire related to the tasks, an interview and questionnaire related to the (1) meaning and significance and (2) problems and concerns of home and family life.;The task list data were analyzed according to frequency and duration of performance and criticality to family well-being. The constant comparative process was used to analyze the interpretive, descriptive data.;While the tasks were technical in nature, the descriptive data provided a very different perspective. These data dealt with the meanings which people gave to the various aspects of home and family life. The family was viewed as an institution which will remain as the source of fulfillment of the basic human needs for love, security, and non-conditional acceptance. Families are a source of deep satisfaction. They provide roots, a place to be from, and an enduring purpose in life.;A task-oriented approach tends to rationalize home economics and is reductionistic. Implications from the findings suggest that the set of concepts associated with the meaning and significance of home and family life is central to strengthening the family. A paradigm shift is proposed for research and curriculum in home economics--from an empirical-rational perspective to a comprehensive theoretical framework, incorporating the hermeneutic and critical sciences.