The purpose of this article is to illustrate how theory and particularly the theoretical perspective of social constructionism can influence the ways in which scholars conduct qualitative research studies in the area of family systems. The authors argue for the importance of theory in qualitative research projects and promote researchers' clear and conscious articulation of epistemological and theoretical commitments taken during the research projects. Therefore, this article exemplifies some of these theoretical connections and elaborates on selected concepts embedded in social constructionism (e.g., socialization in context, dialogue, identity) and discusses how these concepts can be applied to qualitative family systems research. The authors address and exemplify the role of subjectivity in social constructionist research design and propose the use of focus groups as a suitable methodology for this type of research.
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