Decolonizing Research Methods for Family Science: Creating Space at the Center

North America has a strong legacy of colonization, and a decolonizing agenda has important implications for the field of family science. Decolonizing epistemologies and research methods have gained momentum in the biological and social sciences. These research methods challenge the status quo and the superiority of Western ideologies and focus on agendas meant to honor marginalized people and their local knowledge and experiences. Decolonizing ideologies and practices offer an opportunity for researchers to decenter the existing power structure of neocolonial paradigms and knowledge production while simultaneously acknowledging the needs of multiple stakeholders in research. Our goal is to review the various forms of colonialisms, offer methodological considerations for family research, highlight the advantages and challenges of using a decolonizing approach, and offer reflexive questions to situate the researcher focused on a decolonizing research agenda for family science.