ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have presented the study of relationships as having a structure which, for heuristic purposes, can be seen as consisting of four stages. The first involves description of the phenomena and the identification of characteristics in terms of which relationships could be described and differentiated. The second phase involves discussion of the underlying processes, and the third recognition of the limitations of their relevance in relationships of different types. Since relationships are themselves processes, there is inevitably considerable overlap between these phases, but all are essentially analytical—relationships are analysed in terms of characteristics, and the characteristics are (partially) understood in terms of the processes that give rise to them. But we have seen that analysis is not enough and a fourth phase of re-synthesis is also necessary—we must see how the constituents contribute to give the whole.
