ABSTRACT
Family communication canbe studied using a variety ofmethodologies, such as self-report, observational, and experimental. In this chapter, we describe the various ways that each of these methodologies can be employed and discuss the issues related to each of them. Our overall message is that all methods have their advantages and disadvantages, and that the important issue is the appropriateness of a particular methodology for answering the research question being explored. Although we will provide examples of studies using the various methodologies, we do not claim to cover the field in any comprehensive way but rather use illustrative examples of research, including some from our own work.
