Culture, families, and the change process--a systems approach.

Although descriptions of cultural food habits and meanings do not explain change, they are a very important aspect of applied programming. Cultural specific data need to be set within a theoretical framework so that findings are applicable to other situations now and in the future. A systems framework is described, and five rubrics are presented for the development of conceptual variables and their measures. The guidelines should be helpful to investigators initiating systems research in the study of food habits. Examples focus on the family system because this is the system with which most nutritionists work. However, systems concepts are just as viable for other systems, such as the state and the nation.