TECHNIQUES FOR COLLECTING DATA ON INTERACTION.

This article presents techniques for collecting data on social interaction explored in the Human Dynamics Laboratory, a research group dedicated to the study of social aspects of human behavior. The methods are: time-lapse photography; sound recording of discussion; noise level and outbursts; physiological measures; non-verbal and verbal interaction; feeling introspection; content and process records kept by the observer; and perceptions of group members. These are approaches applicable to the notion that theory is actually the set of intellectual rules for translating and reconciling material simultaneously gathered from at least two different frames of reference, providing inferential bridge between behaviors at two different times.