Questions and Answers of Organizational Communication

What types of meaning breakdowns have you experienced in your conversations with others? Be specific and identify the context, the situation, and the conversation topic.
Identify the conditions that led to the blowup between Eddy Hernandez and his parents. Do you believe that Eddy and his parents were trying to handle his situation in an ethical way? Why or why not?
Do you believe that all slips of the tongue, conversational faux pas, and unintentional nonverbal behaviors should be considered communication? Why or why not? What examples can you provide to
Explain why the linear model of communication was so appealing years ago. Explain the appeal of both the transactional and holistic models using current societal events.
Discuss the value of looking at communication theory from a variety of different disciplinary angles, including psychology, medicine, and politics.
What are some recent ethical dilemmas related to communication? How was each dilemma resolved, if it was?
Comment on why so many definitions of communication exist.
Discuss how different family members might have different fields of experience.
Lee and Jenny Yamato’s experiences fall across several of the contexts we identified in this chapter.Which of the contexts are in play in their story?
Which of the seven traditions in the communication field most appeals to you? Why?
Which context of communication is most relevant to you as you consider your career choice? Why?
If you had to add another context of communication based on your experiences, what context would it be? How would you interpret the context for others? What examples illustrate the context?
How would you illustrate—with a picture—the overlap between and among the various communication traditions?
Explain how politics can influence each of the communication contexts.
Suppose you were asked to differentiate between a tradition and a context. What would guide your thinking in your response?
Rolanda Nash has a number of different concerns as she works with Dr. Stevens. From having enough time to gather her interviews to trying to capture natural conversations, she clearly has a lot on
Provide some examples of ways you think like a theorist in your daily life.
What is the difference between inductive and deductive logic? Provide some examples of your everyday use of both induction and deduction.
Do you see communication behavior as being lawlike, like a system, or rule governed? Explain your answer.
How do a researcher’s beliefs about the world actually affect the research process? Use at least two examples to defend your point of view.
Suppose you were interested in surveying your classmates about their impressions of diversity on campus? What sort of process would you undertake?
What factors do you think should go into determining whether a study should be qualitative or quantitative in nature?
In addition to distance behaviors, what other nonverbal behaviors are present in interview situations like the one between Margie and Alyssa?
Explain how EVT might inform research and thinking on touch behavior. For instance, does the theory help us to understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch? Explain with
Provide some nonverbal expectations that you have learned as a result of your cultural identity. Discuss what similarities and differences exist.
How do you suppose arousal manifests itself in conversations between supervisors and employees?Identify a few arousal mechanisms.
Suppose you want to study expectancy violation in school. How might you begin to investigate violations? Be as specific as possible, and identify some methods for studying expectations.
Employing at least two examples, differentiate between communicator reward valence and violation valence.
Discuss the application of any component of EVT to a conversation you have had with a professor or other person with influence.
Why is examining initial interactions like that of Gia and Lucas an important undertaking for communication theorists? Provide at least one example to support your view.
Uncertainty reduction is the process of using communication to increase our ability to explain and predict others’ behaviors. Do you think that predicting and explaining others’ behaviors are
Are there times when asking questions in initial encounters with others only results in more uncertainty?Give examples. Has reducing your uncertainty about someone ever led to you liking the person
Do you agree with Berger and Calabrese’s assumption about the developmental process of interpersonal relationships? Give examples that support or contest the notion that relationships use
What additional factors or events exist—other than those presented in this chapter—when two people meet for the first time that might have an impact on their uncertainty levels? Be sure to be
What’s your position on the debate between POV and URT? Which do you think explains what happens in initial interactions better? Explain your answer.
How useful is URT when it comes to examining communication across cultures? Do you think it’s appropriate to expand the theory to contexts other than initial encounters between strangers? Explain
Discuss Meredith and LaTasha’s given matrix, transformational matrix, and dispositional matrix.
Explain the problem with SET regarding testability. Is there anything that Social Exchange theorists could do to make the theory more testable? Use examples in your response.
Choose a current relationship of yours and perform a cost-benefit analysis on it. Assess whether the relationship meets, fails to meet, or exceeds your comparison level.
How does SET explain the unselfish things that people do that do not seem calculated to gain rewards for themselves?
Have you ever stayed in a relationship because you thought you did not have any other alternatives?Explain.
How realistic do you think gaming principles like those used to develop the Prisoner’s Dilemma are?Give examples that support or contest the use of a 2 × 2 matrix to model human choices.
Do you believe that SET is too culture specific and can’t account for communication in cultures that aren’t individualistic, for instance?
If their relationship develops further, what do you think Jason and Elise will talk about as the two get to know each other better? Will there be any risk involved as they disclose to each other?
When self-disclosing to another person, several things can go wrong. Explain the consequences of poorly planned or inappropriate self-disclosure. Provide examples along the way.
What similar patterns cut across escalating relationships? Discuss marital relationships, relationships between friends, and parent–child relationships as individuals move toward intimacy.
Some critics have charged that SPT focuses too much on self-disclosure. Others, however, contend that self-disclosure forms the basis of most intimate relationships. What do you think? Is there a
If you outlined the stages of a past romantic relationship of yours, would it follow the sequencing that Altman and Taylor suggest? What similarities are there to the social penetration process? What
Discuss the (possible) interplay of SPT with Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Other than an onion, what additional analogies or metaphors can you think of that would apply to SPT?
Corrina and Marcus have begun to establish their relationship online after just a few conversations. Do you believe that their experiences reflect what others experience when going online in the same
Think of other situations in which a “cues filtered-out” approach exists. Use examples in your response.
Compare and contrast the coming together of a relationship online and one that is FtF.
Envision that you are a social media expert who is embarking upon an online relationship with someone who is not tech-savvy. Discuss the similarities and differences in this online relationship
React, with examples, to the concerns and cautions expressed by Delia (in the Student Voices box). Do you believe her views are appropriate? Why or why not?
Walther’s followers are beginning to examine what happens when online communicators meet for the first time. What experiences have you had (or have you heard about) related to meeting in this
Provide an example for each component of the hyperpersonal perspective and determine whether or not the approach merits modification.
Recall a time when you were involved in a group similar to the Bayside City Tire Company—a time when a decision had to be made. What were some of the rules that influenced the process of decision
One of the assumptions of this theory is that power structures are present in groups and guide the decision-making process by providing us with information on how to best accomplish our goals.
Giddens proposes that structure (rules and resources) should not be viewed as a barrier to interaction, but as a necessary part of the creation of the interaction. Do you agree or disagree with this
Identify elements of other communication theories that are evident in the Structuration approach to groups, teams, and organizations.
Structuration Theory proposes that structures themselves should be viewed as being nontemporal and nonspatial. Discuss the significance of this idea. Provide an example from your own experience of
How would you explain your family using any of the principles of Structuration Theory?
Structuration theorists state that the theory has the potential to provide real-world applications. Discuss your reaction to this claim.
Based on your understanding of the concepts of Organizational Information Theory, what additional avenues could Dominique engage in to facilitate a solution to the FedReg project in BankNG? Respond
Recall an organization in which you are or were a member. Can you remember an incident when you or the organization received ambiguous information? If so, what rules did you or the organization use
Weick describes the process of enactment, selection, and retention to understand how organizations deal with information inputs. Provide an example of how your school has employed these strategies in
Do you think that highly equivocal information requires more complex communication processes in order to make sense of the input? Defend your answer.
Discover if your college or university solicits feedback from students regarding its promotion of the school. Discuss the methods that your school uses.
Discuss how organizational rules function in OIT.
Apply equivocality to an organization with which you are familiar.
Does Sally’s situation, from our chapter opening scenario, ring true for you? Are the topics that she hears about through media actually charting an agenda for her to think about? Have you ever had
Why do you think it’s important to know the history of Agenda Setting Theory? (How) does it help you to understand and/or apply the theory to know about its evolution over time?
Pick a recent news event and discuss how the second level of agenda setting might have been at work during the reporting of it. For instance, how did the media cover the 2019–2020 Democratic
Do you agree that framing is a part of Agenda Setting Theory or do you think that it is a competing theory that suggests Agenda Setting is no longer useful?
Discuss a news event that has gone through the three-stage process suggested by Agenda Setting Theory: first it is placed on the media agenda, then the public’s agenda, and finally it reaches the
Do you agree that Agenda Setting is a limited effects model? As the chapter notes the theory’s originator, Maxwell McCombs, has alternated in how he has framed the type of effects claimed by Agenda
Who do you think sets the agenda for the media? Do you agree with the material in the chapter about how the media agenda gets established? Explain your answer.
Carol Fahey feels embarrassed about offering her opinions to a group that does not share her beliefs.Consider a similar time in your life. Did you speak out, or did you decide to remain quiet? What
Discuss the times that you have been part of the hard-core minority. How did you behave? How did your confidence and self-esteem influence your behavior?
Does it make a difference to you to learn that Noelle-Neumann was once a newspaper journalist for Nazi publications? Why or why not?
Do you believe that given all the different mediated sources available today, the U.S. media are ubiquitous, consonant, or cumulative? Exemplify your responses.
Noelle-Neumann believes that the media help to influence minority views. Based on your observations of the media over the past several years, do you agree or disagree with this claim? What examples
Comment on the influence of the Internet on public opinion.
What do you suppose influences the “last-minute swings” of people?
Are there choices other than those identified for Ryan Grant to consider in his decision to do something on Friday night? How do these alternatives relate to UGT? Use examples in your response.
How active a media consumer are you? Are you always thoughtful in your choice of media content? Do you bring different levels of activeness to different media—newspapers versus radio, for example?
UGT has been criticized for failing to consider when media are dysfunctional. Do you agree with this critique? If you do agree, how do you think the theory can adapt to this problem? Is it a fatal
UGT assumes that media present content and consumers choose when and how to consume it. How does the Internet threaten to disrupt this model? How might UGT adapt to allow for the transformation of
What’s your position on the effects of the media on media consumers? Do you agree with limited effects or do you think the media’s effects are greater than what UGT and other limited effects
What difference does genre make to UGT? If Ryan wanted to see an action/adventure film or a quirky romantic comedy, how would that affect his choice between Netflix and the local movie multiplex? How
Are there other uses and gratifications that people may get from media that the chapter doesn’t discuss?Explain your answer.
If he had to do it over again, what communication strategies would you recommend for Kevin Bruner in his conflict with Professor Yang? How might he save his own face and the face of his professor?
Have you been to one of the countries categorized here as collectivistic? If so, what communication differences did you notice between that culture and U.S. culture?
Do you believe that Face-Negotiation Theory relies on people being reasonable agents who are capable of handling conflict? How can conflict become unreasonable? Explain with examples.
Interpret the following statement by Ting-Toomey through description and example: “Collectivists need to work on their ethnocentric biases as much as the individualists need to work out their sense
What evidence do you have that face maintenance is a critical part of U.S. society? Use examples in your response.
Consider the rapid changes of conflict both in your life and surrounding you. What elements of FNT are most applicable and why?
Apply any concept or feature of FNT to a job interview.
Discuss Roger Thomas’s initial reactions to his new job in Houston. How do they specifically relate to his sense of self?

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