A.    "A social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction, including adults of both sexes, at least one of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults." (Murdock, 1949).

B.    "A relationship of indeterminate duration existing between parent(s) and children" (Nimkoff and Ogburn, 1934).

C.    "The family is...a group of persons united by ties of marriage, blood, or adoption; constituting a household; interacting and communicating with each other in their respective social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, bother and sister, and creating and maintaining a common culture" (Burgess et al. 1971).

D.  "A family is any group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, or any sexually expressive relationship in which (1) the people are committed to one another in an intimate, interpersonal relationship, (2) the members see their identity as importantly attached to the group, and (3) the group has an identity of its own" (Rice 1990).

E.  "Family refers to a collection of people, related to each other by marriage, ancestry, adoption, or affinity, who have a commitment to each other and a unique identity with each other.  This collection forms an economic unit.  The adults in the collection have varying degrees of responsibility for young members that might be a part of the collection" (Bidwell and Vander Mey, 2000).

F. "A family consists of two or more people living together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption" (U. S. Census Bureau).

G.  "A family is a relationship by blood, marriage, or affection, in which members may cooperate economically, may care for any children, and may consider their identity to be intimately connected to the larger group" (Seccombe 2008: 5)
 

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