The Institute's Fifth Australian Family Research Conference: Family studies is a hybrid.

By Kate Funder

To provide as broad a coverage of the Australian Institute of Family Studies' Fifth Australian Family Research Conference, there are two views of the conference proceedings presented: this article and one by Ian Winter, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute. The author of this article examines the nature of family studies and notes that it is a hybrid, identified more with service evaluation and applied goals than with basic sociology, law and economics as it is in the UK, or with home economics as is the case in the US. The author notes that the complexities of family studies and some of the dilemmas inherent in its diversity were reflected in the conference program. The author considers a selection of papers as examples of basic and applied research in family studies, thereby providing a flavour of the conference.

The Institute's Fifth Australian Family Research Conference: So what did you make of that session?

by Ian Winter

To provide as broad a coverage of the Australian Institute of Family Studies' Fifth Australian Family Research Conference, there are two views of the conference proceedings presented: this article and one by Kate Funder, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute. The author of this article outlines some of the themes introduced by keynote speakers and how they were developed in a range of papers. The papers discussed by the author relate to policy research and policy development, corporate responsibility and the family, and economic restructuring and family living standards.