Our study of "Christmas Street" (Oxley et al., 1986) was an illustration of the kind of research that might be undertaken within a transactional worldview. In the present article, we review some central philosophical principles of that worldview, how they differ from assumptions and principles of other worldviews, and how these principles influenced a variety of pragmatic decisions in our research. Some principles of this worldview are that phenomena should be studied holistically, should be expected to change with time and circumstances, and should be examined for their inherent patterns rather than for their "causeeffect" relationships. We conclude that our study of Christmas Street is a useful albeit imperfect application of the transactional worldview, and hope that it will stimulate further thought, discussion, and research from that perspective.
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