About. The Family Activity Model (FAM) identifies two key dimensions of the properties of shared activities–social interactions and activity environment. The intersection of these dimensions provides a typology of 4 types of shared activities.
Video: In 2021, I created a 17-minute video that provides a quick overview of the FAM. It is a presentation that I was giving around 2016 and 2017 to introduce the model to practitioners and researchers.
Primary Citation:
Other Related Citations:
- Melton, K. K. (2018). Family activity model: Crossroads of activity environment and family interactions in family leisure. In D. E. Trussell, R. Jeanes, & E. Such, (Eds.) Revisiting Family Leisure Research: Critical Reflections on the Future of Family-Centered Scholarship. London: Taylor & Francis.
- Melton, K. K. (2017). Review of the family activity model with implications for research & practice. Texas Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. 4(1), 21-28
- Melton, K. (March 2016). The Family Experience Model: Crossroads of Activity Environment & Family Interaction. Paper presented at Experience Industry Management Conference. Provo, UT.
- Melton, K. (March 2016). Understanding the Family Leisure Experience. Paper presented at Southeast Council on Family Relations. Orlando, FL.
History & Afterthoughts. The Family Activity Model was developed based on unanswered conversations while writing up my dissertation on the Family Leisure Activity Profile. I am grateful to my mentor, Dr. Gary Ellis, who introduced me to Iso-Ahola writings regarding novelty. Additionally, our conversations about the dissertation informed this writing. Originally, I referred to the model as the family experience model, however, in time, I came to only call this the Family Activity Model so that we would just look at the distinct objective properties of activities; the subject view of the experience was to be a little more fleshed out in the Ecology of Family Experience framework. I believe both of these conceptual models require more clarity of the ideas, but my main hope is that their publication continues to advance our conceptual thinking about the nature of shared activities.
