Week 16 - Post 3

            One other concept that I think is important is in chapter 7, Group Communication. Group communication is such an important thing to learn about because there will always be certain people that you do not get along with. More likely than not, everyone will deal with group communication throughout the rest of there lives. Weather it’s between family, friends, or coworkers, the communication between a specific group of people is a difficult task. One important thing to do in teams is to delegate certain tasks for each person so that no one is confused about what they need to get done. The most important thing to remember in group communication is the steps in the standard agenda. These steps show us how to go about solving a problem in general. Since there will usually be one team member that doesn’t get along with another, everyone needs to know how to work together to solve issues and get through projects. 

Week 16 - Post 2

            The concept that I found most interesting in this class was in chapter 3, Decoding Messages: Listening and Perception, but more specifically, the listening part. I always strive to be a better listener because of the positions that I have held in my sorority. People will always have problems with the things that you do, but if you are willing to let them talk about the problem that they have, things will turn out fine. Improving listening skills can definitely make a difference in your credibility and trustworthiness. The first concept of listening that Trenholm discusses is the attention that you give the person speaking. Along with attention, you need to know how to interpret, evaluate, respond, and store and retrieve what they say to you. Even if a person is simply venting to you, those 5 steps to improve your listening are crucial to improving and maintaining the relationships you have. 

Week 16 - Post 1

            One research method listed in Table 13.3 of chapter 13 that I found interesting was ethnography. This method requires the researcher to practice exactly what he or she is studying and “may actually ‘go undercover’ as a participant” (354). I think this is an interesting research method because it forces the researcher to experience firsthand what he wants to know. It seems to me that it would be one of the most reliable forms of research because the researcher experiences the research. Another interesting method is survey research. I found this interesting because I have conducted surveys in other classes before and it is definitely a great way to get information, as well as the fact that it is a very organized research method. If I wanted to study some aspect of deception, my research question would be, “ How does deception affect interpersonal relationships through the Internet?” I would use the survey method, but I would make it anonymous since people who are deceiving probably will not admit to it.