Comm300 Mid-Point Test

Comm300 Mid-Point Test latest2017

COMM 300 Mid-Point Test

2 pages, 10 brief essay-response questions = 100%

INSTRUCTIONS

This course focuses on these major theories about relational, group, organizational and cultural influences 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 listed theories. (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 are investigating in your final paper, then apply your understanding to a specific research study.

Suggested resources:

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods

The Encyclopedia of Communication Theory

Make sure to use in-text citations and end-of-text references in APA style to any resources you consulted in answering these questions. Continue to Page 2.

Answer the Following Questions (10 points each)

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 hypothesis(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/hermeneutics, 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 uses your 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 term that 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 or applied 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?

END OF QUESTIONS