Using Survey Methods in Social Diagnosis of Family Well-Being

About the authors:

Natalia V. Popova, Cand. Sci. (Philos.), Associate Professor, Top Manager, Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg); nv_popova@mail.ru

Nadezhda B. Kachainova, Cand. Sci. (Philos.), Associate Professor, Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg); nb46@mail.ru

Abstract:

The analysis of theoretical sources on the use of questionnaire techniques in the social diagnosis of family well-being indicates that most serious developments date back to the second half of the last century. A significant part of the subsequent research replicates the approaches and methods developed during this period. Today specialists working with families are increasingly confronted with a situation in which methodologies and social technologies created within specific disciplines prove to be ineffective. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to analyze and solve the problems of the institution of the family and intra-family relations.

The purpose of this article is to determine the methods in the diagnostic practice of specialists working with families of risk groups and spouses who estimate their families as disadvantaged because of the results of an empirical study. The object of this study is family well-being; the subject is the questionnaire techniques used to measure social well-being. Such methods of obtaining and analyzing information were used as questionnaire survey of 46 couples and psychological testing of 30 of them. The applied test methods allowed to measure both objective, external, and subjective internal indicators of family well-being/disadvantage. Assessing the importance of the subjective components of the families’ inner world, the authors conclude that it is necessary in the practice of specialists in helping professions working with the family, when assessing family well-being, to use the questionnaire techniques that reveal the value world of the spouses and their ideas about the ideal family. Scientific novelty and practical significance of the research consist in the possibility of using its results in the process of teaching students the specialties “Organization of Work with Youth” and “Social Work”, as well as in counseling specialists working with families. The materials of this study and long-term observations of the authors have found practical application in the activities aimed at preventing family troubles and social therapy of families, who found themselves in a difficult life situation.

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