Abstract

This paper aims to understand how Chileans in Santiago define their families. This study used a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques in different stages of the research. First, it was done 16 in-deep-interviews, using name generators in ego-networks as a technique to process the data of the kinship networks of each person interviewed. Later, a metrical network analysis was done to describe the cognitive structures and the relations in the families using a mixed methods approach. The results show that families in Santiago can be described in four typologies: clique networks, cohesive families, families with extended and/or branched networks, and family centre-periphery networks. Furthermore, it concluded that the network families of women have a significant internal cohesion compared to the family networks described by men. In addition, the social network analysis approach was used to demonstrate diversity in the conformation of family forms, defined by the interviewees with their understanding of kinship structures.