CHAPTER 8

Research Resources
Check out the following contemporary readings in communication at your library. (Hint: These are good sources to start with if you are asked to write a research paper!)

Canary, D. J., W. R. Cupach, and R. T. Serpe. (2001). "A Competence-Based Approach to Examining Interpersonal Conflict." Communication Research, 28: 79-104.

McNeilis, K. S. (2001). "Analyzing Communication Competence in Medical Consultations." Health Communication, 13: 5-18.

Morgan, M., and M. L. Hummert. (2000). "Perceptions of Communicative Control Strategies in Mother-Daughter Dyads Across the Life Span." Journal of Communication, 50: 48-64.

Myers, S. A., and K. A. Rocca. (2001). "Perceived Instructor Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness in the College Classroom: Effects on Student Perceptions of Climate, Apprehension, and State Motivation." Western Journal of Communication, 65: 113-137.

Links to Resources on the Web
* Check out the site for the Conflict Research Consortium at the University of Colorado for information on their International Online training program on conflict.

* Read their article on cross-cultural communication strategies and, as you read, consider how they are addressing issues of appropriateness, effectiveness, and developing overall more positive communication climates in intercultural contexts. What do you learn that extends the discussion in Chapter 8?

* Visit http://www.qvresearch.com/pdfs/oca_omr_sample.pdf for a sample organizational climate assessment survey. Take the survey as you consider one of your organizational experiences and note similarities between how you might work to develop more positive interpersonal climates as suggested in Chapter 8 and what you think it might take to develop more positive organizational communication climates. What do you learn in Chapter 8 that applies to the organizational context as well?

Applying Communication Research to Everyday Contexts

Competence in the Media
This is an opportunity to apply the concepts from Chapter 9 to a popular television show. Watch a short sitcom or "reality" television show and apply the judgment of communication competence to the characters in the show. When did you see them communicating in effective but not appropriate ways? When did you see them acting appropriately but not effectively? Were any of the characters displaying communication competence, using both appropriate and effective communication behaviors? It is interesting to watch the same show as your peers and discuss if you and your peers have different assessments of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the actors.

Organizational Climates
Reflect on an organization that you are currently a member of, or have been in the past. This could be a student organization, a political organization, a place of employment, or even a recreational organization. Specifically, reflect on the elements of the communication climate that was created and maintained by the communication between the individuals in the organization. Is the interpersonal communication effective and appropriate? Are messages typically confirming, disconfirming, or some combination of both? How do all these elements work together to create the organization's communication climate?