ABSTRACT
Over the past several decades, as researchers have relied increasingly on naturalistic observation of family interaction to learn about important variations in family functioning (see Grotevant & Carlson, 1987; Jacob & Tennenbaum, 1988), the need to develop and refine family observational systems has become acute. The observational method presented in this chapter-the Social Events System (SES)—addresses that need by reviving an historically important but neglected technique, the narrative record, and rendering it more useful for family researchers than it has been in the past. It was designed to create a data archive that preserves the context and meaning of naturally occurring family interactional episodes. A Social Events Coding Sy stem (SECS) also is presented that classifies parent-child interactions into four exhaustive categories (Teaching, Control, Social Contact, and Reflective Listening); however, analysis of data obtained using the SES may be conducted using other coding systems, and may focus on family subsystems other than the parent-child dyad.
