Validating interaction patterns in HRI

In recent work, "interaction patterns" have been proposed as a means to characterize essential features of human-robot interaction. A problem arises, however, in knowing whether the interaction patterns generated are valid. The same problem arises when researchers in HRI propose other broad conceptualizations that seek to structure social interaction. In this paper, we address this general problem by distinguishing three ways of establishing the validity of interaction patterns. The first form of validity seeks to establish whether the conclusions about interaction patterns are warranted from the data. The second seeks to establish whether the interaction patterns account for the data. And the third seeks to provide sound reasons for the labels of the patterns themselves. Often these three forms of validity are confused in discussions about conceptual categories in HRI.