Interactional Analysis Parent Children

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Interactional analysis is the empirical analysis of human interaction with one another and with the environment (Jordan & Henderson, 1994). Unlike typical interpersonal communication research, interactional analysis is concerned with observing the interaction among people, and not with the cognitive functions of an individual. Therefore, this type of research requires an outside observer to view and categorize behaviors for later analysis. Researchers will often utilize a coding system to provide operational definitions of the behaviors they intend to observe. A unified coding system is essential for this type of research in order to replicate studies and generalize findings to the population. The analysis of parent- child interactions has …show more content…

According to Courtright, reliability is the belief that an “observer is confident that these data actually represent the behaviors that occurred during that communicative event,” SOURCE. In the case of interactional analysis, it may be assessed by the percentage of agreement between coders. This agreement is necessary to ensure that one coder is not measuring data incorrectly. It is especially essential to demonstrate that the coding of interactional analysis is free of measurement error because categorizing behavioral units involves the subjective judgement of the coders (Weider- Hadfield & Hadfield, 1984). In a study with reliable results, coders are expected to agree on most of their codes for both the unit and category of the behavior. Reliability may be calculated by determining the percentage of agreement between coders and comparing that to the percentage of agreement expected by chance. Evidence of reliability is necessary before results can be accepted. A simple, unified coding system greatly contributes to the reliability of interactional analysis because coders are aware of the operational definitions of the behavior they are …show more content…

This manual was created to index patterns of control at the relational level (Rogers, 1972). It assumes that power and relational definition are constantly negotiated throughout an interaction and details different strategies to gain, maintain, or concede power in an interaction (Rogers, 1972). It is designed to apply to verbal messages but focuses on the structure and form, not content, of the exchange (Rogers, 1972). In this system, behaviors are categorized and assigned a code according to the speaker, grammatical form and response mode (Rogers, 1972). These codes are then further classified into one- downs, one- ups, and one-across behavioral codes and combined into pairs to show patterns throughout the interaction (Rogers, 1972). In other words, they are classified according to strategies used to control the relational definition. Because of its wide range of applicability, this coding system is able to be used to study test- retest reliability. This form of reliability describes whether a study’s results will be found if the study is repeated. This coding manual has been used consistently in interactional analysis as a measure of relational control but may not be applicable to all forms of interactional

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