ABSTRACT
Every village has its idiot, railing that the good townspeople have lost their way, shouting out impertinent questions, and asking why the emperor has no clothes. The Couples, Observational Research (OR) coding village has two self-identified idiots, and you’re looking at ‘em (or reading their words, to be precise). So, before reading the rest of this volume about the myriad tools that couples observation researchers have painstakingly developed, gather ‘round our soap box and hear us out. Do read the other chapters, but while doing so, keep in mind what the village idiots have to say.
