The objective of this paper is two-fold. First, to address continued criticism of a general lack of attention to diverse aspects of family development due to continued reliance on traditional ways of assessing and conceptualizing family interaction. Second, to address recent recommendations to educate professionals who are capable of promoting understandings of diversity in family process (e.g., parenting styles, communication) in the social institutions in which they work. An illustration of conducting a contrastive analysis of the meanings of interaction reported in family research and clinical practice journals is presented to address the overall objective. The illustration of a blueprint for examining the meaning of interaction in different family life situations builds on calls for new ways to consider how empirical and evaluation research can make a unique contribution to future discussions and papers on socialization and learning. In addition, the paper includes two tables: Table one presents "Purposes of Family Interaction Research Across Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Primary Sources" and includes citations, topics addressed, and purpose of the article; Table two is a "Compilation of Interpretative Review Components," and summarizes citations, observed behaviors, observation time, tasks performed, and age group and sample sizes of pertinent studies. Contains 120 references. (Author/SD)