Measuring Family Resilience: Quantitative versus Qualitative Approaches

Cornerstone Ballroom Side A

Family resilience is bandied about construct that is used rather imprecisely, including with its measurement. Although family resilience is now in its third wave (Henry, Morris & Harrist, 2015), findings from qualitative research and case studies are as, if not more, plentiful than those from quantitative research (e.g., author cites; Anderson, Amanor-Boadu, Stith, & Foster, 2015; Jackson, Wolven, & Aguilera, 2013). Until the development of the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire (WFRQ) in 2015, a family level resilience instrument based on Walsh’s theoretical framework (2003) was not readily available. Thus, the debate of qualitative versus quantitative measurement of family resilience continues. The purpose of the proposed roundtable is to continue the debate by discussing the relative merit of qualitative and quantitative approaches to the measurement of family resilience. The roundtable will conclude with a discussion about the importance of cultural competence in family resilience research (author cite; Walsh, 2015).