Dialectical approaches to studying personal relationships

Barbara M. Montgomery, Leslie A. Baxter

This work serves as a model for scholarly communication in which multiple voices are acknowledged as valid; the worth of one perspective is not measured by the denigration of another, and difference is celebrated as conducive to learning rather than threatening to it. The contributors emphasize the characteristics of their dialectical views that set them apart from other authors in their field and describe their methods of studying relationships from a dialectical perspective. Following the Bakhtlnian perspective, they honor the values of dialogism by respecting different and sometimes contradictory views and by joining in a discussion with the editors and other contributors about their emerging work.