The concept of a social relationship is crucial for all of the social sciences, but somehow it has never been described in a way that captures its vast importance. The idea of relationships between persons is so primitive and fundamental that it goes without saying, both in ordinary and in social science discourse. The chapters in this section outline a model of the social bond, and a method of determining the state of the bond, through microanalysis of transcripts or verbatim texts. The three chapters in this section each illustrate an application of the basic model.

Sociologists have made a preliminary step toward defining relationships, but only in terms of conventional roles, such as the father-daughter, or employer-employee relationships. Role-relationships are considered to be made up of reciprocal rights, duties, and rules which govern interaction between persons in the respective roles. The idea of role-relationships is helpful because it establishes the contours of the kinds of behavior which are expected in a given society. We would usually find a wide consensus on these contours.