Research Methodologies

When looking at popular research methodologies I would have to say that Conversation Analysis was the most interesting to me. It has the researcher describing the content, structure, and function of everyday spoken interaction. I think that this would be a difficult task because people’s interactions are widely misconstrued and this is widely constructed to try and figure out exactly what your conversations are meaning. A research questions I would ask would have to be something like, How does seeing different relationships in conversation change the analysis for you during your research? I would answer the question using performance research, this way it would open the person up. If people know they are being analyzed they are most likely not going to be themselves and that would through off your whole analysis. A good way to approach it would be if you were in the person you are researching own environment, because you know that they would be at ease.

Ethnographers

Ethnographers observe behavior of other people and how members of other cultures interpret their world they must immerse themselves in a culture in an effort to see it through the eyes of its members. I think there are many dilemmas when dealing with being an ethnographer one of the dilemmas that could happen would be giving off the wrong impression in order to try and get to “know” them. Being an ethnographer involves lying to people to make them feel comfortable in their own environment. I think that could really affect someone in the long run. It is almost like they are living a lie part of the time, I think that that would get kind of old and you would end up feeling pretty bad about yourself. Personally I would try and be as knowledge about the person as possible and would find ways that I truly personally to relate to this person and then project that while trying to get to know them and make them more comfortable around me. That way I wouldn’t feel like I was living a lie and could also do a good job at my research.

CH.13 Conducting a Survey

I found the piece on steps in conducting a survey questions to be quite interesting. There have been very few times in my life where I have had to conduct a survey and when I did I found it to be quite difficult. I liked how the chapter went on to say “There are many ways to find out more about others. Careful observation and systematic questing are two “lenses” we can use to uncover insights about human communication. I think that we don’t take enough time really observing human nature, and in a way just let it pass us by. I found it interesting that double- barreled questions should be avoided because they ask several questions at once also leading question should be avoided and they are questions that indicate a preferred response. There is a lot to be learned when it comes to conducting a “perfect” survey. Seeing is believing and reading this chapter has helped me realize a lot that goes into making a great survey.

Mcluhan

I have to say that I disagree with when Mcluhan’s says that the medium is the message because for example when you read a novel and then it turns into a movie, the movie is always better. This is because you get to use your own imagination, there’s no advertising, no distractions. You are then able to focus on what the authors message is, apposed to watching TV, and audience ratings are motives for media output. I feel that, when you read something it leaves a lasting impression because you had to think about every word has you process the material. TV messages fade from memory due to their increase frequency and use of transmission. The coolness of the message can also fluctuate in value because of an audience biases. No matter how the message is received, pre exsisting biases will interpret the message no matter what the medium is.

Interview Process

Trying to get a job in this economy is not the easiest task. As a soon to be graduate of college, I have many fears when it comes to finding a job. The initial part of trying to get a job is the Interview process. In chapter 8, I found the concept about interview skills to be very interesting and helpful because we all need to have these skills down if we want to get the job, whatever it may be. In chapter it says that the “interviewee should have a clear idea of their strengths and weakness, and of course should also research the organization and prepare a cover letter and resume. I really appreciated how the chapter laid out some typical interview questions and reading some of them has really made me think about my own personal life and what I would answer in my own interviews. This area in the chapter has given me a lot to think about and also a lot to work on. I will most definitely go over the part of the chapter before I have my next interview and I am sure this will help me get me the job of my dreams. Being prepared for an interview really goes a long way. Also, asking the interviewer questions after the interview shows great sincere interest for the job, which in the end makes you stand out amongst the many others fighting to have the same opportunity.

Cyberspace

I haven’t thought about my one and only cyber friend for a long time. When I first got AOL in the 6^th grade, I made a friend that lived in England. We became "pen pals" aka email buddies for a few months and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing because she lived so far away and we were the same age but taught each other so much just because we lived in such different cultures. The friendship was VERY different from face to face friendship because in emails and chatting online you don’t get the same feel of their tone as you would if the conversation was happening in front of you. I often thought if our friendship even continued and if we actually met, if we would really be friends and like each other. This was my first and only online friend, I kind of think online relationships can be creepy and weird. I don’t think I could ever try to meet a friend or boyfriend online because for myself, I like to meet people in real life situations.

Filters

I have always been a sucker for a good laugh, so I would have to say personality is the number one filter I use when I eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners. There are so many things that a guy could do that would turn me off and would count them as unattractive. The first characteristic I can think of would be someone who constantly talks about themselves and doesn’t care to get to know you. That is something I constantly deal and it drives me insane. I do agree with Duck’s theory but do think it is a bit out dated when it comes to relationships but I think that there are a lot of valid points that are brought up. I don’t think I could or have ever reconsidered a romantic partner after they failed me on the filters. As for a friendship, I would most likely be more open to letting it go past me if the filters didn’t surpass my expectations.

Rigid Roles

Rigid role relations all seem like they would very difficult to deal with but I feel that competitive symmetry would be the hardest to change. Competitive symmetry is when both members of a party fight for the one-up position, this pattern can be stressful and frustrating and can take a toll on the patience of the partners. I think this would put the most strain on a relationship because you don’t want to compete all the time. There has to be a certain balance in the relationship and you have to feel comfortable and confident and not feel you are always trying to one each other up. I think that rigid complementarity would be the most damaging to any relationship this is because it seems like no one is meeting in the middle and one person Is always on a different page. This kind of behavior would never work in a relationship because you need to see eye to eye and work together to build a relationship.

Ch.7- Leadership: How groups choose leaders

In Chapter 7, I found the topic of Leadership: How groups Choose Leaders to very interesting. I think growing up, we all can relate to there being a leader of a group and I have always wondered, “ How does this person become a leader?” In the book, Fisher says that, “leadership is not a story of one member rising through the ranks to triumph because of natural ability or clever manipulation. Rather the leader is a matter of not making mistakes.” I found this point to be very clever because in my eyes he is saying that the leader is someone who is always correct and in some ways is seen as perfect. Another interesting point Fisher points out is, “ in the beginning, all members of the group are in contension for the leadership position (or positions). I guess I never have really seen or heard of being a leader as Fisher thinks it works out to be. At the same time, I know that some people really do consider the leader position in most parts of everyday life.

Ethnocentrism

In Chapter 12, we talked about lots of different way of intercultural communication. I had a very hard time picking one that stood out to me but I think I would have to say that Ethnocentrism is something that really stuck out to me as different. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is superior to all others and the tendency to judge all cultures by one's own criteria.I agree with the book when it says that this is not a productive attitude. No one should think that there culture is better than the next. I have been lucky enough to travel a lot and see how people can react to different cultures. I remember when I was living in Europe, people thought that they were better than Americans more often than not. They had this attitude that we are dumb because of so many different reason and one in particular was George Bush. It really makes me sad that people are so weary to try and figure different kind of people out and why in their culture they do things differently than maybe we do. In France it is illegal to work more than 40 hours in a week. They pride themselves off that in there time off they make time to relax, spend time with family and friends and enjoy life. In America we don't necessarily think it is as important to sit down as a family every night and talk about our day and we might think that the french are lazy and we pride ourselves off of how much much we work. You can agree with one way more than the other but I think that it is so special that we have so many different cultures in the world. My question to the world, Why would we not embrace all of them?

Rationality, Perfectibility, and Mutability Premises

I do believe rationality, and that it does work in most scenarios. I had to look the word rationality up and the dictionary says “the quality or state of being agreeable to reason”. To me, I do believe that people will find their own truth, no matter what it may be. When talking about the perfectibility, I don’t believe that people are born to sin. I think that we all are born with no intention of sin and that sin is formed throughout life experience. I think out of all the premises mutability seems to be my favorite and one that I do believe in fully. The premise says that the environment they are surrounded with controls human behavior. I do believe that you can really figure someone out based off how they were raised, and what they have been faced with in life. For example people that come from an abusive family tend to be violent themselves.