The prototype verbal interaction recording technique described is used for studying individuals in small groups. A methodology for recording verbal interaction is developed in an effort to create a system for analyzing interpersonal and social forces in operation within groups. (SM)

Relational communication refers to the control or dominance aspects of message exchange in dyads--distinguishing it from the report or referential aspects of communication. In relational communicational analysis, messages as transactions are emphasized; major theoretical concepts which emerge are symmetry, transitoriness, and complementarity of…