Mishler, Elliot G., Validation in Inquiry-Guided Research: The Role of Exemplars in Narrative Studies, Harvard Educational Review , 60(November, 1990), 415-442.

Reformulates validation as a process through which a community of scholars evaluates the trustworthiness of a study

Interaction in Families: An Experimental Study of Family Processes and Schizophrenia, 1964-1965

This study was designed to explore if there are distinctive patterns of interaction in families of schizophrenic patients. An experimental procedure was used to generate discussions among family members. Code-category systems were developed to systematically code these samples of interaction. The basic data for the study are transcripts of three-person, revealed-difference discussions among father, mother, and one child. Included in the sample were families with schizophrenic children with either good or poor premorbid social adjustment, and families with normal children. Each family also had a second child of the same sex and approximate age of the first child who also participated in the study. Child participants were White, age 16 or over, and living with married natural parents. Each family participated in two experimental sessions approximately one week apart; the parents participated first with one child and later with the other. In each session the three members privately completed a 38-item Revealed Differences Questionnaire and then items on which there was disagreement were discussed. Parents also completed a background questionnaire. Forty-nine families participated in the study; 39 completed two sessions and 10 completed only one session. There were 39 sessions with male patient families, 20 with male normal control families, 16 with female patient families, and 13 with female normal control families. The Murray Research Archive has copies of all audiotapes, typed transcripts of the interaction sessions, and copies of the background questionnaires and Revealed Differences Questionnaires. Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 838 audio files available