In this article, it is argued that the most urgent and necessary requisite for observational research is the creation of material-sensitive categories which depict details of specific situational and human conditions of exchange. It is also argued that the process of selection of single items in the stream of events is regulated by theories and interests of the observers. Without a precise set of hypotheses, no categories can be formulated. However, categories should be created in intense interaction with the observed material and new categories which can describe unexpected events during observations should be allowed. Since video-recordings guarantee a conservation of the original situation, a new and intense approach for generating categories is proposed which abandons the restrictive use of predefined categories and argues for openness and an extensive process of exchange with the material before abstractions and categories are formulated.

É arguído, neste artigo, que o requisito mais urgente e necessário à pesquisa observacional é a criação de categorias factuais-sensitivas que descrevam detalhes das condições humanas e situacionais específicas das trocas comunicativas. É também arguído que o processo de seleção de itens simples no fluxo de eventos é regulado por teorias e interesses dos observadores. Sem um conjunto preciso de hipóteses, nenhuma categoria pode ser formulada. Entretanto, as categorias devem ser criadas através de uma intensa interação com o material observado e novas categorias, que podem descrever eventos inesperados durante as observações, devem ser permitidas. Uma vez que os registros em vídeo garantem uma preservação da situação original, uma nova e profunda abordagem para gerar categorias é proposta. Tal abordagem abandona o uso restritivo de categorias predefinidas e defende uma abertura e um processo amplo de trocas com o material antes que as abstrações e categorias sejam formuladas.

In this article, it is argued that the most urgent and necessary requisite for observational research is the creation of material-sensitive categories which depict details of specific situational and human conditions of exchange. It is also argued that the process of selection of single items in the stream of events is regulated by theories and interests of the observers. Without a precise set of hypotheses, no categories can be formulated. However, categories should be created in intense interaction with the observed material and new categories which can describe unexpected events during observations should be allowed. Since video-recordings guarantee a conservation of the original situation, a new and intense approach for generating categories is proposed which abandons the restrictive use of predefined categories and argues for openness and an extensive process of exchange with the material before abstractions and categories are formulated.

This contribution focuses on the family as the major context for children's development, it includes concepts of the family as an institution for the transmission of meaning on the one hand, and it formulates implications for new theoretical and methodological approaches in the field of family research on the other. The idea of transmission of a society's meaning system via the family is discussed under the perspective that the socialization of children in the family provides a continuous basis for the aggregation of common knowledge over generations. The systems approach is taken as a promising model for dealing with the complex continuity and change issues during development. Data will be presented from two longitudinal studies, in which parent-child communication behavior was analyzed over time during two critical developmental periods, during the first two years after the birth of a second child and during the transition from childhood to adolescence.