Averting Another Lost Decade

Abstract

This study endorses an urgent call-to-action for researchers to move Hispanic families from outlier to mainstream family research. The top-15 ranked U.S. journals in the field of family studies published more than 8,000 articles in the prior decade—the same time period when Hispanics were also the largest, most rapidly growing ethnic group in the United States. This study contributes to the field of family studies by using quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze these articles per journal for empirical evidence that indicates the importance of Hispanic families within this literature. Further empirical evidence comes from extending the analysis to 2011. The evidence presented suggests insufficiency of Hispanic family research with regard to quantity, quality, relevance, and recognized contributions to the field of family studies. The discourse includes examples and recommendations for averting another lost decade of opportunities for research relevant to the health and welfare of a growing U.S. Hispanic population.