@article{article_1920650, title={Exploring the Thematic Evolution of Family Studies Over the Last Three and a Half Decades with Network Analysis}, journal={Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi}, volume={28}, pages={542–562}, year={2026}, DOI={10.32709/akusosbil.1920650}, url={https://izlik.org/JA72MR35CU}, author={Akgün Sakızcı, Eda and Pehlivan, Oğuzhan and Gökmen, Yunus}, keywords={Aile çalışmaları, eş kelime ağ analizi, aile ilişkileri, aile dayanıklılığı, sosyal destek}, abstract={IAcademic studies on the family, which forms the core of a society, have gained significant momentum in the last 30-40 years. However, there is no specific longitudinal research focusing on the indexed scholarly segment of family-related research, rather than exploring the entire universe of family sociology or family studies in the literature. In this article, we aimed to explore the thematic evolution of family studies by examining correlative statements in family studies. To achieve our aim, first, 4,485 articles related to the concept of “family” in the Web of Science (WoS) Family Studies category between 1988 and 2023 were included in analysis, and 3,327 articles were found suitable for further analysis after data cleaning. From these studies, 16,635 standardized keywords were obtained and reduced to 5,804 unique keywords through a standardization process. Subsequently, four distinct periods (1988–2000, 2001-2010, 2011–2019, and 2020-2023) were determined based on historical and theoretical considerations, and co-word network analysis was applied to examine degree, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality measures of keywords to reveal their interrelations. The findings showed that family relationships structured around generational and role-based distinctions, such as “parents,” “adolescents,” and “children,” emerged as more prominent in the observed period. In addition, issues such as “family resilience” and “social support” are expected to gain increasing importance, while “methodological” and “macro-level” perspectives appear to decline over time within the literature. Furthermore, the research focus has shifted from “African/Black families” toward “Chinese families,” and “transnational family” issues are likely to contribute to a deeper understanding of migration and brain drain processes.}, number={2}