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.
observational methodology; data generation; categorization of human interaction; family research