A Critical Analysis of Transactional Distance Theory

This investigation reviews published empirical studies that attempted to support or to validate transactional distance theory (Moore, 1993). It was found that either data only partially supported the theory or, that if they apparently did so, the studies lacked reliability, construct validity, or both. It was concluded that the basic propositions of transactional distance theory were neither supported nor validated by empirical research findings. Furthermore, it was found that the theory may be reduced to a single proposition (as the amount of dialogue increases, transactional distance decreases) and that this proposition may be construed as a tautology.