Social Interaction Data: Procedural and Analytic Strategies

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of procedural and analytic issues that arise in social interaction research. The chapter specifically focuses on the problem of uncovering sequences, patterns, and repetitive cycles of behavior based on observations of face-to-face marketing interactions. Historically, the popularity of observational techniques has varied with changes in the guiding models or paradigms in the behavioral sciences. With the advent of cognitive models, self-reports of behavior and thought processes have become the prevailing method of testing theoretical propositions. However, in social interaction research two general concerns have stimulated a re-emergence of observational studies (Parke, 1979). First, questions about the ecological validity of research findings have increased the perceived value of unobtrusive measures gathered in naturalistic settings. Second, theoretical or conceptual developments emphasizing the reciprocal, rather than unidirectional influence process have served as catalyst for research that examines the behavior of all participants in an interaction.