Family Measurement in India

This comprehensive handbook examines the status of, and major issues related to family measurement in India. To this end, the contributors critically review the existing standardised measures and the literature on the family and related topics; and present an overview of current approaches to family measurement within various social science disciplines. The second section of the book comprises abstracts of 94 indigenous tools to measure and assess variables related to family and marriage in India. Bringing together the perspectives of both researchers and practitioners drawn from a wide range of disciplines, the first section of the book advocates a shift from a purely quantitative to a qualitative approach to family assessment; and emphasises the need for developing indigenous, multidisciplinary and culturally appropriate approaches to understanding the family. A number of contributors make a case for grounding measurement techniques within a given theoretical and conceptual framework while others point to the importance of incorporating a gender-sensitive perspective when constructing tools. This pioneering and truly cross-disciplinary examination of measurement issues in family research in India will be an essential reference for scholars and professionals in a large number of fields including sociology, psychology, psychiatry, demography, human development and family studies, social work, and social science methodology.