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Integral Metatheory: Beyond Specializations, Theoretical Pluralism, and Conventional Metatheory
Author(s) -
McGregor Sue L. T.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
family and consumer sciences research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 1077-727X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1552-3934.2009.00014.x
Subject(s) - metatheory , transdisciplinarity , epistemology , pluralism (philosophy) , conversation , sociology , pragmatism , philosophy , communication
Recent family and consumer science (FCS) conceptualizations of specialization embrace the notions of interdisciplinary specialist, integration of perspectives, integral specialist and a generalist in transdisciplinarity. These innovations open the door for a conversation around the impact of research methodologies (different from methods) on the profession’s body of knowledge. Conventional metatheory is explained, with four examples from the field of FCS. The paper then introduces the idea of integral metatheory, asking practitioners to strive for a deeper understanding of theoretical pluralism and a new form of synthesis: being able to integrate the results obtained from the integration of several theoretical perspectives. Instead of practicing from a platform of many individual theories, FCS professionals are asked to employ integral metatheory so they can consciously develop links among the theories and multiple perspectives, thereby leading to richer understandings of the complexity of the human condition.