History and Theories

Question 1

why should we study its history?

Answer 1

• Eras reflect what homes and consumption were like for particular time period
• Focus was on women caring for home and family
• As homes, consumption, and roles of women changed, so did Family Resource Management

Question 2

eras

Answer 2

• era 1: 1900-1930’s
• era 2: 1940’s-early 1950’s
• era 3: 1950’s-1960’s
• era 4: 1970’s-1980’s

Question 3

Era 1 (1900-1930’s)

Answer 3

• concerned with health, sanitation, hygiene

- Household production become economic and important -> Labour-saving devices began to be created

Question 4

Era 2 (1940’s- early 1950’s)

Answer 4

• concerned with work simplification
• creation of standard work units
• 50’s = start of consumer era

Question 5

work simplification

Answer 5

• Products created to simplify work and make it more interesting
• Wanted to save time and energy and be efficient -> changed products (ie. Food products), changed equipment and space (ie. Kitchen), changed process (ie. Best position/place to do work in order to reduce fatigue… ex. Lillian Gilbreth’s work triangle kitchen)
• concerned with ergonomics

Question 6

Limits of the work triangle kitchen

Answer 6

• Assumes that a kitchen will only have 3 major work stations, yet larger kitchens will have more workspaces
• Designed for one person cooking, yet cooking is shared by more than 1 person

Question 7

today’s ergonomic concerns

Answer 7

• Repetitive injuries from computers/phones
• Occupational therapists – rehabilitation
• Ensuring elderly can age in their own home
• Design – food service, improving efficiency in the workplace

Question 8

standard work units

Answer 8

• Work unit = average amount of work one could do in an hour
• Washing clothes = x amount of work units
• Believed that if you didn’t comply with the average number of work units for each task, something was wrong

Question 9

Era 3 (1950’s-1960’s)

Answer 9

• Values goals, decisions, resources, etc. emphasized

- Management process -> Plan, control, evaluate

Question 10

Era 4 (1970’s-1980’s)

Answer 10

• creation of systems theories
• research themes: financial resources (ex. income/expenditures/finances); human/household resources (ex. time-use); well-being/quality of life
• 70’s: feminism -> mom’s worked -> started looking at dual-earner families

Question 11

systems theories

Answer 11

• Emphasizes interconnectedness and interactions among systems
• Focuses on behaviour of feedback and its complexity
• System: integrated set of parts that function together for some end purpose or result (can be living or non-living, but we focus on living – ex. families)
• Involves:
• Inputs, throughputs, outputs
• Feedback (positive – change; negative – sticking to the status quo) -> In this sense, positive doesn’t mean good, and negative doesn’t mean bad)
• Boundaries
• Interface

Question 12

inputs vs. outputs vs. throughputs

Answer 12

• Inputs: what’s brought into the system - demands, values, information, resources, energy
• Throughputs: processing of inputs - planning, implementing, decision-making, controlling, communication, facilitating
• Outputs: end results - meeting demands, achieving goals, satisfaction, altered resources

Question 13

family resource management today

Answer 13

• Systems theory: how families manage (Goldsmith model)
• Ecosystems: how families interact with micro and macro environments
• Economic theory: optimization, satisfacing, risk aversion

Question 14

systems theory terminology (interface vs. boundary)

Answer 14

• interface: place or point where independent systems or diverse groups interact (ex. point where family system interacts with school system
• boundary: limits or border between systems; permeable and flexible (may change over time); ambiguous (blended families, refugees - unknown fate of family members)

Question 15

open vs. closed families

Answer 15

• open: morphogenic systems
• open to information and influences in its environment
• adaptive to change
• permeable boundaries
• closed: morphostatic system
• closed to information and influences in its environment
• resist change
• stable boundaries

Question 16

equifinality

Answer 16

• different early experiences, same final one
• ex. one student coming from low-income family, pays her way through uni, ends up with a degree
• ex. one student coming from a high-income family, doesn’t pay her own tuition, ends up with a degree

Question 17

multifinality

Answer 17

• same early experiences, different final one

- ex. two students graduate with sociology degrees, one goes on to get a PhD and the other gets a government job

Question 18

family ecosystems

Answer 18

overlap of family organization, organisms, and environments

Question 19

ecosystem perspective

Answer 19

• ecology = study of how living things relate to natural environment
• examines family system’s interactions…

Question 20

internal changes in families

Answer 20

• shifts from role-oriented to interpersonal relationship- oriented marriages
• increasing diversity of individual choice in partner selection and retention (ex. mixed-race couples)
• smaller families
• reduction in production of goods and services at home, especially childcare and food prep

Question 21

how internal family changes influence societal systems

Answer 21

• cause changes in laws re: divorce, child support, enforcement of child support payments
• cause need for institutional means of caring for elderly and young children
• cause more demand for services to the household (ie. bigger grocery stores)

Question 22

microhabitat

Answer 22

• microenvironment
• physical (ex. your city)
• social (ex. neighbours)

Question 23

macrohabitat

Answer 23

• macroenvironment
• societal systems (sociocultural, political, economic, technological)
• natural/structured (physical, biological, human-made)

Question 24

early years of management -> milestones

Answer 24

• Management has existed since the beginning of civilization
• Homes were simple, water was brought in from wells
• Mail delivery began
• People began to own clocks
• First household management textbook: Principles of Household Management and Cookery (1879)
• Ellen H. Richards founded home economics movement
• Lillian Gilbreth (work-saving methods – ex. Efficiency desk, kitchens) and Christine Federick (model kitchen, women as consumers)
• Colleges eventually started to study it

Question 25

household production/consumption systems - 3 eras

Answer 25

• 1 – Premodern (early 1900s)
• 2 – Modern (1950’s-1990s)
• 3 – Post-modern (early 21st century)

Question 26

Premodern (early 1900s)

Answer 26

• Families made their own clothes, food, and household cleaning products
• Bought basics (ie. Soap, flour)
• Household work difficult and labourous, no/limited indoor pluming, limited electricity
• Servants used
• Home delivery common

Question 27

Modern (1950’s-1990’s)

Answer 27

• Families bought most food, clothes, and cleaning products
• Household work labourous but aided by machines
• Indoor plumbing and electricity common
• Servants less common
• Home delivery less common

Question 28

Post-modern (early 21st century)

Answer 28

• Families began online shopping, still buy food, clothes; go to restaurants for meals
• Household work mostly machine-aided and less arduous
• Electricy and indoor plumbing normal
• No servants – but child-care centers and cleaning services
• Home delivery expands due to online shopping

Question 29

theory (and its function and aspects)

Answer 29

• organized system of ideas or beliefs that can be measured; system of assumptions or principles
• Function: organized observations and other info so people can make sense of it
• Aspects: predicting behaviour and controlling behaviour (things people do to check their course of action)

Question 30

hypotheses

Answer 30

predictions about future occurrences

Question 31

subsystem

Answer 31

• part of larger system

- Ex. Individuals are subsystems of communities, communities are subsystems of countries, etc.

Question 32

transformations

Answer 32

transitions from one system to another

Question 33

demands

Answer 33

event or goal that requires fufilment

Question 34

sequencing

Answer 34

when one thing follows another in a series of events -> ensures successful outcome

Question 35

feedback loop

Answer 35

Assess current situation -> establish objectives/goals -> develop plans -> implement plans -> monitor results -> provide feedback

Question 36

entropy and equilibrium

Answer 36

• Entropy: tendency towards disorder and randomness
• More likely in a closed system
• Equilibrium: adjusting itself to put things back to the way they were
• Systems have a tendency towards equilibrium

Question 37

Murphy’s Law

Answer 37

if something can go wrong, it will

Question 38

the personal system (goal and what it’s composed of)

Answer 38

• Goal: recognize and make productive the specific strengths and abilities of each individual
• Each person composed of systems like:
• Biological/physiological
• Behavioural
• Psychological
• Social

Question 39

family systems theory and management

Answer 39

• Assumes that families share goals and work together to achieve them
• Allows one to understand how families are organized and which interactive patterns guide their interactions
• Families organize themselves to carry out daily challenges/tasks and to adjust to the needs of its members

Question 40

application of systems theory to households

Answer 40

Inputs/outputs/throughputs can be applied to both simple and complex family tasks (ex. Laundry – simple; meal prep – complex)

Question 41

ecology vs. human ecology

Answer 41

• Ecology: how living things relate to their natural environment
• Human ecology: humans interacting their their environment

Question 42

environment (including micro and macro)

Answer 42

• Environment: all-encompassing external conditions influencing life of an organism of population
• Microenvironment/microhabitat/near environment: environment that closely surrounds individuals/families (apartments, classrooms)
• Macroenvironment/macrohabitat/far environment: surrounds and encompasses microenvironment (sky, trees, oceans)

Question 43

family ecosystem (and its 3 elements)

Answer 43

• Subsystem of human ecology that emphasizes the interactions between family and environments – a change in a single component influences other parts
• Related to social exchange theory (focuses on trading individual resources)
• 3 elements:
• Organisms (family members)
• Environments (natural and human-built)
• Family organization (functions to transform energy in the form of info into family decisions and actions)

Question 44

global ecosystems

Answer 44

encompass all family ecosystems and are regulated by interactive physical, social, political, economic, chemical, and biological processes

Question 45

8 things economic theory is based on

Answer 45

• Use of scarce resources is costly – trade-offs must be made
• Individuals choose purposefully, trying to get most from limited resources
• Incentives matter
• Individuals focus on difference in costs and benefits between alternatives
• Info can be scarce and is costly to acquire
• Actions may generate second effects (decisions have consequences)
• Preferences vary between individuals/value is subjective
• Theory is useful in making predictions

Question 46

optimization vs. satisficing

Answer 46

• subsets of economic theory
• Optimization: obtaining the best result
• Satisficing: picking the first good alternative that presents itself so that an indivdual stops searching once it appears the initial choice will suffice -> Strategy makes sense when time and choice are limited

Question 47

risk (and risk aversion)

Answer 47

• possibility of experiencing harm, danger, or suffering (not always physical – can be financial)
• Not all risks are bad
• People can be risk-averse, risk-loving, or risk-neutral
• Risk aversion: avoiding risk

Question 48

risks that affect decision-making

Answer 48

• Functional or performance risk: possibility that a choice may not turn out as desired or have the expected benefits
• Financial risk: possibility that substantial amounts of money may be lost
• Physical risk: the possibility that harm may come from a choice
• Psychological risk: possibility that a choice may damage a persons image of self or self-esteem
• Social risk: possibility that a choice may not be approved by others or may cause social embarrassment or rejection
• Time risk: possibility that the ability to satisfy wants will decline over time. In economics, it’s assumed that a cunsumer would nealry always prefer to receive a good or service now rather than later