COMM 51106110 Interpersonal Communication Theory

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COMM 5110/6110Interpersonal Communication Theory
Research

• WELCOME!

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On the agenda for today.

• Introductions
• Faculty Student introductions
• Complete Student Contact Information Form
• Course Description, Policies, Guidelines
• Course Expectations
• Discussion of Course Assignments
• Syllabus
• Interpersonal Communication Historical
  Perspectives and Current Trends

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Course Description

• Capstone course for interpersonal communication
  majors
• Designed to expand basic understanding of the
  interrelated nature of theory and research in the
  process of formulating and carrying out research
• Opportunity for us to enhance our ability to
  analyze and critique interpersonal research
  studies

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Policies Guidelines

• Written assignments
• Should be of quality, both in content and style
• Assignments with excessive grammatical and
  typographical errors will not be accepted
• Late work and missed exams
• Assignments must be submitted by the day and
  time that they are due
• Penalty for assignments submitted late
• Quizzes (when issued) only available on the day
  that they are issued requests for making up
  missed quizzes will not be entertained!
• Academic integrity

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Course Expectations

• Mid-term exam during Week 6 worth 30 points
• Class Leadership worth 25 points
• Starting week 7 of classes, 2-3 member teams will
  be responsible for leading classroom discussion
  on assigned topics
• Final Research Paper worth 35 points
• Class Participation worth 10 points
• Mental, not physical, presence and quality,
  rather than quantity, of comments will be
  benchmarks for evaluating class participation

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Making sense of the syllabus

• Can access syllabus by either going to
• http//hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId575subhea
  dfalse and following the link to COMM 5110
• OR
• By going to www.drrangarajan.com and following
  the link to the COMM 5110 course web page
• Required readings for this course fall into two
  categories
• Materials on course reserve at Marriott Library
• Online access to articles (available as .pdf
  files through hyperlinks on the syllabus)
• All readings MUST be completed before the class
  period for which they are listed

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Course Overview Complete Any questions?
Comments? Suggestions?

• Alright then, lets move on.

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Interpersonal Communication - Overview

• Explicating and defining interpersonal
  communication
• Traditionally face-to-face
• Dyadic (involving 2 individuals)
• Synchronous / simultaneous
• Mutual influence / adaptation
• Influence of new media technologies blurred
  the lines b/w traditional interpersonal and
  mass communication domains

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Interpersonal Communication History
Early 20th Century
The 1920s 1930s
The 1940s and 1950s
The 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
The 1990s
Time Period
Georg Simmel (19081950)
Mayo Colleagues Roethlisberger Dickson
Chapple Sullivan Ruesch Bateson
Birdwhistell Hall Heider Goffman
Watzlawick, Beavin, Jackson Barnlund Keltner
McCroskey et al Bochner Miller Cronen et al
Delia et al Baxter Rawlins Burgoon
Berger Burleson Burgoon et al Petronio Cupach
Spitzberg
Influential Scholars
reciprocal knowledge characteristics of the
dyad rituals secrecy types of social
relationships
social interactions supervisor-employee
relations supportive communication
interactional rhythms communication
competence mental health nonverbal
communication attribution theory
sensitivity training consciousness-raising
groups pragmatics of human communication
development of key theories CMM URT
Constructivism Dialectical theory EVT
quantitative vs. qualitative macro vs.
micro newer areas of foci health / family /
social interaction etc dark side of int. comm
Buzz words / Key Developments
Source Handbook of Interpersonal Communication
(2003)
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Important Trends, Perspectives, Themes

• IMPORTANT TRENDS
• Influence of
• Technology
• Culture
• Biology
• Continuing concern for an applied perspective
• CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES THEMES
• The Interaction Process
• Focus on Behavior
• Context
• Social Cognition
• Consciousness and Intent
• Meaning

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Concluding Thoughts

• Goals of this course
• Provide foundational knowledge required to
  critically assess current research in the field
• Overview of major theoretical perspectives
• Review of methodologies
• Broad survey of current interpersonal research
• Provide opportunity to explore in depth a
  personal area of interest within the area of
  interpersonal communication