Reviews basic sociometric tools and their analysis, provides information on computer programs to analyze sociometric data, and briefly examines considerations in conducting sociometric investigations. Looks at the social atom (significant others), constructing sociometry questions, and offers an analysis of individual status and interactional…

Describes a method for determining the effects of sex (or any other dichotomous characteristic) from the individual correlated behavioral responses observed in dyadic interactional situations. (Author/MP)

In the first of a series of papers describing social relationships among mentally disabled adults who worked in four sheltered workshops, procedures for observing and interviewing clients and for interviewing staff members are reported and data on reliability and general levels of social behavior are cited. (Author/SBH)

Suggests that dominance can be defined as asymmetry in predictability in social variables of importance, and bidirectionality as symmetrical predictability. Procedures which address the concepts of cyclicity within a person and synchronicity between people and which assess asymmetry and symmetry in social interaction are discussed. (Author/RH)

This paper provides information about the nature of fieldwork and fieldwork research training. Fieldwork methods are best at answering the following five questions: (1) What's happening in this field setting? (2) What do the happenings mean to the people involved in them? (3) What do people have to know in order to be able to do what they do in a…

Attempts to clarify the epistemological basis of interaction analysis by exploring the modes of observation researchers adopt when using interaction coding schemes and outlining the validation requirements these options entail. Modes of observation include the viewpoint of the experiencer, the process of experiencing, and what is experienced. (JAC)

There is a growing need for instrumentation which can enable us to observe and compute phenomena that take place in time. Although problems of observation, computation, interpretation and categorization vary from field to field and from problem to problem, it is possible to design an instrument for use in any situation where time-variables have to…

Underlying the current use of ethnography in the study of teaching and learning is the assumption of an analogy between the school or classroom and culture. The claim of educational ethnography is that it discovers and describes the ways that members of the school community create and share meaning. Ethnographers aim to discover the operating…

This paper describes five experimental studies which explored the influence of fathers' home caregiving and interactional characteristics on their infant's laboratory behavior. Approximately 300 families with children ranging in age from 6 to 24 months were studied. Each infant's reactions were observed as a function of the manipulation of the…

This study focused on the problem-solving of family groups including an adolescent diabetic. The study sought to: compare three methods used to identify and analyze phases in family problem-solving interactions, establish criteria to evaluate the methods, utilize the criteria to evaluate the three methods, and select a method. The three methods…