ABSTRACT

In this final chapter we attempt to integrate the diverse elements considered at various points in the preceding chapters. We review the essential conceptual and methodological features of the approach to research that we have been advocating, and we reconsider the research presented in Parts II and III in the light of the conceptual framework presented in Chapter 12. This attempt at overview and integration leads to programmatic recommendations regarding the future course of research on face-to-face interaction, which touch on all aspects of the research process: the conditions for collecting data, the kind of data to be obtained, appropriate processing and analysis of these data, and the conceptual framework that both guides the research process and provides a generalized rationale for results.