INSTRUCTIONS
This course focuses on these major theories about relational, group, organizational and culturalinfluences on interpersonal communication behaviors:
Symbolic Interaction Theory
Coordinated Management of Meaning
Cognitive Dissonance
Communication Accommodation
Communication Privacy Management
Social Exchange
Social Penetration
Uncertainty Reduction
Organizational Communication
Organizational Culture
Hegemony
For your final paper in this course, you have been asked to research and analyze one of the listedtheories. (In some classes you also may apply your research to an individual or group presentation.)
For this mid-point test,you will tell your instructor what you have learned about the theory that you areinvestigating in your final paper, then apply your understanding to a specific research study.
Part 1: Your Theory
Please provide the full name of the theory that you are investigating in your final paper:
__________________________________ .
1. In your own words, summarize that theory's primary axiom(s)or assumption(s).
2. In your own words, summarize that theory's hypothes(es) and/or postulate(s).
3. In your own words, summarize any strengths or weaknesses of the theory.
4. To which of the seven communication traditions does this theory belong? Define the term that you use in your answer and explain why this theory belongs in that category.
5. To which of the seven communication contexts does this theory belong? Define the term that you use in your answer and explain why this theory belongs to that category.
6. To which of the three approaches to knowing does this theory belong positivist/empirical, interpretative/hermeneutic, critical)? Define the term that you use in your answer and explain why this theory belongs to that category.
Part 2: Your Research Study
Select a research study that usesyour theory from among the peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles you wrote about in your annotated bibliography assignment for this class.
7. What type of research method(s)was used in this study (qualitative or quantitative)? Define the termthat you use in your answer and explain why the research in your journal article reflects this approach.
8. Did the research in this study seek to answer questions of ontology, epistemology, or axiology about the nature of reality? Define the term that you use in your answer and explain why the research in your journal article reflects this approach.
9. Did this study reflect pure research orapplied research? Define the term that you use in your answer and explain why the research in your journal article reflects this approach.
10. How did the researcher(s) operationalize (make measurable and observable) the phenomena investigated in the study?