Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

How To Conduct A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study: A Guide For Novice Researchers, Patricia I. Fusch Ph.D., Gene E. Fusch, Lawrence R. Ness

The Qualitative Report

The authors present how to construct a mini-ethnographic case study design with the benefit of an ethnographic approach bounded within a case study protocol that is more feasible for a student researcher with limited time and finances. The novice researcher should choose a design that enables one to best answer the research question. Secondly, one should choose the design that assists the researcher in reaching data saturation. Finally, the novice researcher must choose the design in which one can complete the study within a reasonable time frame with minimal cost. This is particularly important for student researchers. One can blend …

Let's Talk About How We Talk: Communication Agreements In The Library Workplace, Kabel Nathan Stanwicks

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: This chapter introduces a new tool, termed the Communication Agreement, for enhancing communication in the library workplace. The chapter defines the communication agreement, provides discussion questions for forming a communication agreement, provides examples of how communication agreements are beneficial to a diverse library workforce, and provides strategies to informally assess communication agreements’ effectiveness.

Practical implications: Communication problems in diverse library workplaces can lead to, or exacerbate, conflict between employees. Generational, cross-cultural, gender, and other differences can lead to misunderstandings and conflict between employees. The communication agreement provides library managers with a tool to bridge differences in communication styles …

Universal Design For Belonging: Living And Working With Diverse Personal Names, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

There is great diversity in the names and naming practices of Canada’s population due to the multiple languages and cultures from which names and name-givers originate. While this diversity means that everyone encounters unfamiliar names, institutional agents who work with the public are continually challenged when attempting to determine a name’s correct pronunciation, spelling, structure and gender. Drawing from over a hundred interviews in London (Ontario) and Montréal (Québec), as well as other published accounts, I outline strategies used by institutional agents to manage name diversity within the constraints of their work tasks. I explain how concern with saving face …

The Role Of Liberian Community Organizations In The Integration Of Liberian Immigrants: A Case Study Of Immigrants In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Solomon M. Muin

Capstone Collection

Immigrants that settled in a dominant new culture face challenges during the process of acculturation. Though minority culture is always at the disadvantaged end of acculturation in most cases, most research done on acculturation in the West mostly focused on the impact of immigrants on their societies, or on ways of strengthening integration in the host countries. As this continues, the dominant culture role and importance of the majority culture is what influence most narratives and not much is seeing from the minority culture. Most research on acculturation in the United States, for example, placed more emphasis on the Hispanic …

Incorporating Experiential Theory Into Virtual Strategic Planning Processes, Chris Perkins

Capstone Collection

Experiential learning theories, such as David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (2015) contribute to more than just learning environments. In this Training Course Linked Capstone I facilitated a six-week strategic planning workshop for the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group (DIAG) of AFS-USA, an intercultural youth exchange organization. Kolb’s cycle acted as framework for the workshop. The DIAG operates as a virtual team, with members across the United States, therefore I designed the workshop for implementation via the internet and telephone conversation. I consulted research on virtual team structure and participatory practices in strategic planning in order to design a program which …

Fortaleza's Immigrant Song: Portrait-Narratives And An Identity Needs Analysis Of Recent Immigrants' Lived Experiences, Carl Weitz-Santiago

Capstone Collection

This inquiry sheds light on the personal stories and lived experiences of a group of recent immigrants currently living in Fortaleza, the sprawling capital of the Northeastern state of Ceará, Brazil. Utilizing a theoretical framework guided by “Epistemologies of the South,” ethnographic principles, and constructivist grounded theory, this capstones presents five first person portrait-narratives highlighting intimate details of project participants’ lives prior to immigrating, and uncovers four persistent and recurrent themes expressed by project participants: (1) language and communication, (2) professional opportunity, (3) personal growth, and (4) “saudade” and belongingness.

Through the lens of Johan Galtung’s Basic Needs Approach, …

The Captivity Of Opportunity: The Conversation Surrounding Church-Going Hispanic Immigrants, Nicolet Hopper Bell

Master's Theses

Immigration is a long-standing topic of discussion in the United States. Hispanic immigrants, or families of Hispanic immigrants, living in America face unique challenges. Through focus group interviews, participants from a predominantly Hispanic Protestant church narrated their experience of living in the United States. Guided grounded theory data analysis revealed three categories and 14 subcategories, or themes of conversation, surrounding this hot topic. Participants shed light on the distinctive challenges they faced, how these challenges affected them, and how they attempted to overcome these difficulties. By exploring these results through the lens of social stigma theory (Goffman, 2009) and intergroup …

The Technological Factors Of Reddit: Communication And Identity On Relational Networks, Jennifer Kienzle

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The relational network reddit is one of the most popular and visited websites on a global and national (United States) level. Communication on reddit lends itself to intergroup communication in that reddit users engage with audiences from ingroup, outgroup, and mixed audience compositions. Reddit’s voting system allows for negative and positive feedback to enhance or impede on one’s message. I examine how these technological factors influence a number of communicative and identity processes: (a) identity salience, (b), identity gaps, (c) group and interpersonal evaluation, and (d) accommodative language. Drawn out of intergroup contact literature and theories about group processes and …

Learning How To Speak Like A “Native”: Speech And Culture In An Online Communication Training Program, Tabitha Hart

Faculty Publications

This article examines the oral communication training that took place in Eloqi, a virtual language-learning community. Eloqi (a pseudonym) was a for-profit start-up that built and operated a proprietary Web-based, voice-enabled platform connecting English-language learners in China with trainers in the United States. While it existed, Eloqi’s unique platform was used to deliver short, one-on-one lessons designed to improve students’ oral English communication skills. Using the ethnography of communication and speech codes theory, a theoretical–methodological approach, the author presents an analysis of the speech code, or code of communicative conduct, employed at Eloqi. This code of English logic, which Eloqi’s …

Academic Freedom, Public Art, & Private Universities: Examining The Expression Of Communication At Usd, Ivy M. Guild

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This present case study explores how language styles and power distance led to miscommunication between an administrator and student via computer mediated communication. Email exchanges were examined using textual analysis between an administrator and an undergraduate student. Results indicate high-context and low-context communication and power distance roles led to problematic actions and decisions. Furthermore, divergent speech with regard to communication styles was an additional problematic. Implications of the results specific examples of how this interaction could have been prevented were discussed.

The Influence Of High/Low Context Culture On Choice Of Communication Media : Students’ Media Choice To Communicate With Professors In China And The United States., Xiaoxu Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on a widely used cultural construct, high context and low context culture to investigate the culture’s influence on media choices. This research compares the communication media choices of two cultures: the high context culture of China and the low context culture of the United States. 351 participants from the two countries filled out the surveys. All the participants were college students; 195 participants were from a mid-size college in China and 156 from a Midwestern University in the United States. The survey included the high context-low context scale, media richness questions and how participants choose media to …

A Relevance Rule Organizing Responsive Behavior During Projectably Multi-Unit Tellings, Anri Zama

Dissertations and Theses

Research on projectably multi-unit tellings (e.g., stories) has largely focused on their contexts of emergence, beginnings, endings, and uptakes (or lack thereof), rather than on their ‘middles.’ The relatively small literature on such ‘middles’ has focused on different types of responsive behaviors when they do occur (e.g., continuers). However, there is virtually no research on relevance rules that might systematically organize these ‘middles,’ including the production of responsive behaviors (or lack thereof) and the management of intersubjectivity. This thesis describes and defends one such relevance rule: Advisors are strongly accountable for responding – either vocally and/or nonvocally – at each …

Building Hope: An Experiential, Interfaith And Peacebuilding Leadership Curriculum Design For American, Israeli And Palestinian Teenagers, Jack M. Karn

Capstone Collection

This research explores the design, implementation, and results of an interfaith and peacebuilding leadership curriculum prepared for the 2015 Jerusalem Peacebuilders Leadership Camp in Brattleboro, Vermont. Drawing upon different theories of moral and transformative leadership, experiential education, youth leadership, and peacebuilding and conflict transformation, this curriculum design offers a new and unique approach to leadership development for Israeli, Palestinian, and American teens. Spanning six 1.5-hour units, the curriculum includes: icebreaker and teambuilding activities, theory and practice connections, dialogue, and opportunities to practice leadership and peacebuilding skills on several small group projects. Supported by a literature review, eight interviews from youth …

My Friendship Story: Tanzanians’ Tales Of Friendship Analyzed Through Knapp’S Relational Model, Dorcus Nakalembe

Masters Theses

From both theoretical and practical considerations, there is a critical need to study friendship development processes within different sociocultural worlds, because today’s world has become a crossroads for a diversity of cultures. To date, research in friendship development mainly addresses cognitive and psychological implications to the process and rarely gives attention to the stages/ processes individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds experience as they build friendship. The present study aimed at comparing friendship development in a non-Westernized group to the stages of relational development suggested by a Western psychological theoretical framework. Tanzanian friendship experiences were analyzed through Knapp’s Relational Model to …

Extraordinary Everyday Stories: Audio Resources For The Communication Instructor, David E. Engen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Communication instructors often supplement course texts with artistic works such as feature films, short stories, and memoirs. A less common form of supplementary material is the audio documentary/story. The discussion below introduces several audio resources likely to help students deepen their understanding of communication in general and interpersonal and intercultural communication in particular. I also offer a few ideas to those instructors wishing to help students create their own small-scale audio productions.

Sugar For Sale: Constructions Of Intimacy In The Sugar Bowl, Emily Zimmermann

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Cross-Sectional Assessment Of Safety Culture Perceptions And Safety Behavior In Collegiate Aviation Programs In The United States, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum, Julius Keller, Micah Walala, John P. Young, Cody Christensen, Randal J. Demik, Gary J. Northam Ph.D.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

A cross-sectional quasi- mixed-method approach was used to determine the relationships between safety culture perceptions and safety reporting behavior among flight students with and without certified flight instructor (CFI) ratings. Respondents (n=259) were recruited from five collegiate aviation programs in the US and took part in the study. Survey Items adopted from the Collegiate Aviation Perception of Safety Culture Assessment Survey (CAPSCAS) were validated using factor analysis analyzed for reliability before use in the study. Researchers sought to find out if the safety reporting behavior (reporting frequency) of respondents could be predicted from their safety culture perceptions. Pearson’s …

A Case For An Ecological Approach And Against Language Commodification In Elt, Vinicius O. Souza

MA TESOL Collection

This paper aims to provide an alternative approach to the English language education practiced in many developing countries which can help reverse their current low-proficiency status, as revealed by standard international examinations such as the PISA scores and others. The author argues that this can be best accomplished by adopting an ecological approach to teaching which promotes language learning as emergent and socially situated phenomena, two concepts largely neglected by current teaching methods. In fact, many of these countries have long been dominated by an extremely commodified and cognitivist ELT market, where business interests have taken precedence over pedagogical considerations. …

Breathe To Understand, Maxine Swisa

MA TESOL Collection

BREATHE is an acronym for Breathe, Reflect, Empathize, Accept, Thank, Hearten, Engage. The addition of Understand allows for a holistic approach to living a healthy and balanced life both inside and outside the classroom. This paper took form as a result of my personal, spiritual journey, as well as my teaching practice. I noticed that the majority of my students enjoyed experiential activities that included time and space for self-reflection, relaxation and meditation. I began looking for books, seminars, and workshops that explored these areas. Deepak Chopra, Jonathan Kabat-Zinn, Dan Siegel, Eckhart Tolle, et al. offer insights into the benefits …

Breaking Down Walls, Building Cross-Cultural Relationships, Jonathan H. Bukowski

VA Engage Journal

Challenges for young men and women entering the workforce upon college graduation are dauntingly intimidating. Major forces driving against success are very often connected to miscommunication, inter-cultural differences, and misperceptions about contrasting values and beliefs. A very simple and exciting way to learn and build strategies for overcoming these obstacles is choosing to study abroad during college. However, I argue that one should go a step further and make the courageous choice to volunteer while abroad. Not only will students build confidence in their ability to minimize cultural conflicts and issues, but they will also uncover the true cultural norms …

Comprehension Of Randomization And Uncertainty In Cancer Clinical Trials Decision Making Among Rural, Appalachian Patients, Janice L. Krieger, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Phokeng M. Dailey, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Nancy E. Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Comprehension of randomization is a vital, but understudied, component of informed consent to participate incancer randomized clinical trials(RCTs). Thisstudy examines patient comprehension of the randomization process as well as sources of ongoing uncertainty that may inhibit a patient’s ability to provide informed consent to participate in RCTs. Cancer patients living in rural Appalachia who were offeredanopportunitytoparticipateinacancertreatmentRCT completed in-depth interviews and a brief survey. No systematic differences in randomization comprehension between patients who consented and those who declined participation in a cancer RCT were detected. Comprehension is conceptually distinct from uncertainty, with patients who had both high and low comprehension experiencing …

Building Bridges, And Reducing Anger: Liberal-Conservative Dialogue In The United States, Jeremy M. Moses

Capstone Collection

In the United States today, liberal and conservative citizens are becoming increasingly polarized in their attitudes of hostility toward one another. This has resulted in a socio-political climate in which liberals and conservatives routinely demonize each other, and political differences are unhelpfully framed as matters of good versus evil. Open and honest dialogue between liberals and conservatives has the potential to improve this situation, but a myriad of cultural, psychological, and societal challenges create significant barriers to liberal-conservative dialogue. This paper explores these barriers in detail through a synthesis of research in moral psychology, cognitive psychology, and sociology. It explains …

Improv To Improve Interprofessional Communication, Team Building, Patient Safety, And Patient Satisfaction, Candace A. Campbell

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

The purpose of this process improvement project was to implement a test of change within a healthcare team utilizing applied improvisational exercises (AIEs), and to lay the groundwork for more effective inter- and intra-professional communication.

Literature review: AIEs have been shown to facilitate individual participant communication strengths through a process of un-learning certain common behavioral habits, and learning new habits that assist in creating and expanding closed-loop communication. Such un-learning and learning enriches the participant’s awareness of the environment and encourages participant adaptability through positive group interactions.

Method: An all-day AIE seminar/workshop was conducted with members of two healthcare teams …

English In South Asia And Pedagogical Implications, Brittany R. Ehret

Senior Honors Theses

English at present maintains a significant role as a second or foreign language in the region of South Asia as well as globally. In a discussion of this topic, it is important to explore a brief history of the expansion of English and its origins in South Asia. It is also essential to provide a background of South Asian English and its unique linguistic characteristics as well as its use in different contexts of South Asia. The perspectives of linguists and educators who are native to the region of South Asia should be included as much as possible in this …

Towards A Practical Communication Intervention, Florentin Smarandache, Stefan Vladutescu

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

The study starts from evidence that several communication acts fail, but nobody is called to intervene and nobody thinks of intervening. Examining different branches (specialties) of the communication discipline and focusing on four possible practices, by comparison, differentiation, collating and corroboration, the current study brings arguments for a branch of the communication discipline that has as unique practical aim the communicational intervention, the practical, direct and strict application of communication research. Communication, as discipline, must create an instrument of intervention. The discipline which studies communication globally (General Communication Science) has developed a strong component of theoretical and practical research of …

Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Criminal Court Mediation As A Tool Of Restorative Justice, Teresa Hoerres

Capstone Collection

This capstone research paper aims to capture the personal narratives of how participants of criminal court mediation in Brooklyn, New York actual experience the program. The program, which is facilitated by New York Peace Institute, is a cornerstone of the organization’s restorative justice program. Restorative justice has been gaining traction over the last few decades, and its application to criminal matters as an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service, is unprecedented.

The research was conducted using a mixed methodology approach, relying on the researcher’s ethnographic observations of the criminal court mediation program from August 2013 through March 2014, as well as …

Clash Of Civilization Or Clash Of Newspaper Ideologies? An Analysis Of The Ideological Split In British Newspaper Commentaries On The 2002 Miss World Riots In Nigeria, Farooq Kperogi

Faculty Articles

Riots that erupted in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna over a newspaper article that some Muslims interpreted as blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad on account of Nigeria’s decision to host the 2002 edition of the Miss World beauty pageant captured the attention of the media around the world. This article investigates how the British press framed the riots in their opinion columns and editorials. Through an interpretive textual analysis of the opinion pages, the study shows that while the ideological persuasions of left-leaning British press predisposed them to express opinions on the Miss World riots that resonated with what might …

Participation Framework And Footing Shifts In An Interpreted Academic Meeting, Annie R. Marks

Journal of Interpretation

Students training to become sign language interpreters are often faced with the challenge of negotiating boundaries with the deaf and hearing consumers with whom they interact. Many interpreter-training programs have traditionally taught students that it is most appropriate to maintain “neutrality” in our interactions and in our interpretations. (Metzger, 1999). The objective of this study is to add to limited amount of research that examines footings in interpreted interaction. Metzger (1999) performed one of the only studies of participation framework and footings in American Sign Language-English interpreted encounters. This study is a replication of her initial work and aims to …

Skype’S The Limit Testing The Value Of Cross-Cultural Relationship-Building In International Development, Charley Allegar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to explore the value of cross-cultural relationship-building and international friendship in development. By connecting two groups of Americans each with a group of low-income Kenyans over Skype and by presenting the written expression of Kenyans’ hopes and struggles to a third American group, the research analyzes whether face-to-face interaction and personal information sharing affects one’s perception of people’s needs. Though due to small sample sizes the results are generally inconclusive, qualitatively, the data suggest that relationship-building is a useful tool for development, defined as the improvement of a population’s fundamental welfare. Moreover, the study finds that deliberate …

The Role Of Acculturation On Bosnian Refugee Adult Child Mate Selection, Emina Herovic

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Forced by the atrocities of war from their native country, Bosnian families came to United States seeking refuge and a new life. Immigrating to a new country, however, involves the process of acculturation which can dilute many native practices. Like many refugees that immigrated, Bosnians sought to adapt to the American way of life, while keeping their traditional ethnic customs, practices, and religion (Val & Iain-Walker, 2003). Many Bosnian refugee parents worked to keep the Bosnian practices prevalent in their first and second generation Bosnian American children. By doing so, Bosnian parents imbedded into their children the original customs, practices, …