Observing Interaction: An Introduction to Sequential Analysis

Abstract

odological concerns. This review is decidedly mixed. The book begins with a discussion of social interaction and observation and quickly moves into a classic study of interaction, Parten's (1932) study of social interaction in children. The issue of sequence versus marginal summation is brought in with argument favoring retention of sequence at all times until independence from sequence is established. Some discussion of the observation-theory issue in the philosophy of science is brought in (see Willson, 1987, for some commentary on this). The second chapter is devoted to developing a coding scheme for observation. It is here that the lack of attention to the reading literature is apparent. Frick and Semmel's (1978) paper is widely cited for development of coding schemes in reading. Researchers in this field have had to grapple with extremely complex issues. Flanders' (1960) work is often cited in education as an early effort, but does not appear in Bakeman and Gottman's book at all. Frick and Semmel pointed researchers to important considerations such as inference level in observation and its development in the coding scheme. This issue is not given nearly the space it requires, especially with the research showing the problems of reliability with highinference observation. The chapter ends with some examples of coding schemes but little practical advice on how to set up the coding schemes and the definitional menus that are absolutely required when several observers other than the developer are to use the system. Chapter 3 discusses recording methods but is notable for its lack of detail