The author expresses heartfelt gratitude for this special issue and to collaborators throughout his career. He notes that his fundamental commitment has been to conducting theoretical studies that ...are methodologically rigorous and socially relevant - increasingly in the form of engaged scholarship, and he reviews applied communication research publications across his career. He addresses three ongoing foci in connection with his current roles in technology management: small firms' choice and use of advanced information and communication technologies to enable key interaction structures; team dynamics in start-up firms; and innovation in technology companies. Three challenges and opportunities for applied communication researchers are offered: the prevalence and importance of small businesses as sites for studies; the need for a larger number and wider range of fully developed theories that are grounded in communication and that have significant sway with practitioners; and conferences for communities of researchers (and in some cases practitioners too) in specific areas of scholarship and practice as potent forums for connection and ongoing collaboration.
Expanding and building on the measures included in the original 1994 volume, Communication Research Measures II: A Sourcebook provides new measures in mass, interpersonal, instructional, and ...group/organizational communication areas, and highlights work in newer subdisciplines in communication, including intercultural, family, and health. It also includes measures from outside the communication discipline that have been employed in communication research.
The measures profiled here are "the best of the best" from the early 1990s through today. They are models for future scale development as well as tools for the trade, and they constitute the main tools that researchers can use for self-administered measurement of people's attitudes, conceptions of themselves, and perceptions of others. The focus is on up-to-date measures and the most recent scales and indexes used to assess communication variables.
Providing suggestions for measurement of concepts of interest to researchers; inspiring students to consider research directions not considered previously; and supplying models for scale developers to follow in terms of the work necessary to produce a valid and reliable measurement instrument in the discipline, the authors of this key resource have developed a significant contribution toward improving measurement and providing measures for better science.
Part I
Measurement Trends and Issues
Measurement in Family Communication – Elizabeth E. Graham & Joseph P. Mazer
Measurement in Organizational and Group Communication – David R. Seibold
Measurement in Health Communication – Nichole Egbert & Rebecca B. Rubin
Measurement in Instructional Communication – Rebecca B. Rubin
Measurement in Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication – David R. Seibold, Rebecca B. Rubin, & Alan M. Rubin
Measurement in Interpersonal Communication -- Elizabeth E. Graham & Scott Titsworth
Measurement in Mass Communication – Elizabeth M. Perse
Part II
Measure Profiles
Affectionate Communication Index
Attachment Style Measure
Aukland Individualism and Collectivism Scale
Child-Parent Communication Apprehension
Cognitive Elaboration Scale
Communication Functions Questionnaire
Communicative Response to Romantic Jealousy Scale
Family Communication Standards Instrument
Group Development Questionnaire
Humor Orientation Scale
Individuals’ Criteria for Telling Family Secrets
Intercultural Development Inventory
Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale
Interpersonal Dominance Instrument
Learner Empowerment
Listening Styles Profile
Marital Opinion Questionnaire
Measure of Source Credibility
Medical Communication Competence Scale
Normative Message Processing Scale
Organizational Assimilation Index
Organizational Dissent Scale
Organizational Listening Survey
Organizational Reputation Scale
Organizational Temporality Scale
Organizational-Public Relationship Scale
Patient Self-Advocacy Scale
Perceived Message Sensation Value Scale
Perceived Power Measure
Perceived Teacher Confirmation Scale
Perceptions of Television Reality
Personal Report of Marital Virtues Scale
Presence Questionnaire
Reactance Restoration Scale
Relational Distance Index
Relational Maintenance Strategy Measure
Relational Uncertainty Measure
Reticence Scale
Revised Family Communication Pattern Instrument
Revised learning Indicators Scale
Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale
Sad Film Scale
Self-Assessment Manikin
Self-Construal Scales
Sexual Harassment Proclivity Index
Small Group Relational Satisfaction Scale
Small Group Socialization Scale
Social Presence Scale
Socio-Communicative Style
Student Motives to Communicate Scale
Teacher Misbehaviors Scale
Television Addiction Scale
Television Mediation Scale
Third Person Effect
Topic Avoidance
Willingness to Censor Survey
Part III
Measures Imported from Related Disciplines – Alan M. Rubin
Aggression, Hostility, and Anger
Anxiety
Locus of Control
Loneliness
Need for Cognition
Personality Traits
Self-Esteem
Sensation Seeking
Shyness and Sociability
Social Desirability
Author Index
Subject Index
Rebecca B. Rubin (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1975) is Professor Emerita at Kent State University (Ohio, USA), having served as Director of the KSU Communication Research Center and Graduate Coordinator of the School of Communication Studies. Her areas of expertise include interpersonal relationship development, communication competence assessment, instructional communication, and the interface of personal and mediated communication. Besides having written or edited several books and chapters—including Volume I of Communication Research Measures: A Sourcebook--and serving recently as the Educational Communication Area Editor of the International Encyclopedia of Communication, Becky’s research has been published in many communication journals, placing her as one of the most prolific researchers in the discipline.
Alan M. Rubin (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus of the School of Communication Studies at Kent State University (Ohio, USA). He has studied the uses and effects of the media, including news and entertainment, personal and mediated communication, and newer communication technologies. In addition to books and chapters, he has published in such journals as the Journal of Communication (JOC), the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (JOBEM), Human Communication Research , and Communication Research. He is past editor of the JOC and JOBEM, and has served on numerous editorial boards and as a consultant to media, industry, and education. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Broadcast Education Association.
Elizabeth E. Graham (Ph.D. Kent State University, 1987) is a professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University (USA). She teaches courses in interpersonal communication, research methods, and statistics on the undergraduate and graduate level. Her research interests include communication in families experiencing transition, change, and reconfiguration. In addition to contributing to the first volume of the Research Measures: A Sourcebook, her research has been published in Communication Monographs, Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, Western Journal of Communication, Communication Research Reports, and Communication Reports . She also serves on several editorial boards. Until recently, Beth was the University Ombuds at Ohio University.
Elizabeth M. Perse (Ph.D., Kent State University, 1987) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware, Newark (USA). She is currently researching and teaching mass communication theory and the uses of newer communication technologies. She has been identified as a prolific researcher in Communication, having published one scholarly book, two textbooks, and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters. Her research has been published in such journals as Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Journalism Quarterly, and Health Communication. Betsy serves on several editorial boards and is a past Chair of the Mass Communication Division of NCA.
David R. Seibold (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1975) is Professor of Communication (Division of Social Sciences), and Co-Director of the Graduate Program in Management Practice (College of Engineering), at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA). Author of more than 100 publications on organizational communication, group processes, and interpersonal influence, his scholarship has appeared in all of the major journals in communication and in venues across nearly a half-dozen disciplines. He has received numerous research and teaching awards, and in 2006 was elected a Distinguished Scholar in the National Communication Association. A former chair of interpersonal, group and organizational communication divisions in the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, Dave also is a past editor of the Journal of Applied Communication Research and serves on the boards of many other journals. He also has consulted widely with many more than 75 business, government, and health organizations.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how paradox emerges during a planned change initiative to improve and dramatically transform inter-agency information sharing. Based on interviews ...with key decision makers, the authors interrogate the relationships among institutional contradictions, emergent dualities, the communicative management of related organizational stakeholder paradoxes, and the consequences of enacted solutions.Design methodology approach - Interviews with government leaders serve as the data source. These decision makers are from justice agencies participating in planning an information-sharing program to better protect citizens and their agencies' workforce.Findings - The data suggests that Seo and Creed's institutional contradiction "isomorphism conflicting with divergent interests" gave rise to three interdependent dualities: stakeholder self-interest collective good, stakeholder inclusion exclusion, and emergent stakeholder consensus leader driven decision making. These dualities were implicated in the enactment of paradox and its management. No matter what strategy the managers used, the consequences themselves were paradoxical, rooted in the same dualities that were originally present.Research limitations implications - The authors sought to trace the outcomes of how leaders managed the poles of dualities, and found evidence of unintended consequences that were intriguing in their own right and were linked to stakeholder considerations. The paper underscores the importance of communication in the representation of paradoxes and how they were managed, and the unintended consequences of the solutions.Practical implications - Leaders' articulations of paradox can be tapped for improving change efforts.Originality value - Whereas, institutional contradictions have been examined in reference to emerging paradox, and while paradoxical solutions have been studied widely, little research has investigated how institutional contradictions become simultaneously embedded in the process and the outcomes of organizational change.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence perceptions of work-life balance among owners of copreneurial firms. Research on work-life balance in the context of ...family firms has focussed on the effects that perceptions of balance can have on the emotional well-being of business owners and performance of the firm. Less attention has been given to understanding the factors affecting an owner's perceptions of work-life balance. This paper not only explores the antecedents of perceptions of work-life balance but does so with copreneurs, or couples who own and manage a firm. Design/methodology/approach – Data for this study were collected using surveys. In all, 210 copreneurs with businesses in nearly 20 industries answered questions about their perceptions of work-life balance, work-life conflict (WLC), life-work conflict, communication practices, characteristics of their jobs, and spousal support. Findings – WLC was negatively related to perceptions of work-life balance. Job involvement, flexibility at work, and permeability of communication were significantly related to perceptions of WLC. Interestingly spousal support did not affect individual perceptions of life-work balance, but had a direct influence on perceptions of work-life balance. Research limitations/implications – The sample was not randomly selected, and participants were surveyed at only one point in time. Notwithstanding these limitations, the findings have implications for advancing research and theory in the areas of family business, work-life issues, and communication. While the paper focus on copreneurial firms, the findings may have implications for family firms and co-founded ventures. Practical implications – The potential benefits of copreneurs’ increased awareness of these findings (from readings or through coaching) are important given prior research demonstrating that family to work conflict and work to family conflict affect the emotional well-being of family business owners, their satisfaction with work, and firm performance. Originality/value – This project offers two important contributions to research in family firms. First, it focusses on copreneurial firms as a unique type of family firm which has the potential to shed light on the differences between family firms. Second, results from this study provide a picture of the predictors of work-life balance for couples who are firm owners.
Organizational identification (OID) is the outcome of social construction processes in which individuals define themselves in terms of their organizational membership. Students' identification with ...their university reflects value congruence with the institution and is reflected in communication. Drawing on social identity theory (SIT) and utilizing quantitative and qualitative data from students (n = 555), we found relationships between OID and construed external image of the university, trust in the university, satisfaction with the university, perceived interorganizational competition, and outcomes, including intended future involvement. Students were re-surveyed nine months later (n = 397, with 83 respondents matching Time 1 and Time 2) to assess their OID stability. Open-ended responses describe situations and events that strengthen/lessen OID. We offer implications for OID, SIT, and for organizational communication research and practice.
Group Argument Seibold, David R.; Meyers, Renee A.
Small group research,
06/2007, Volume:
38, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This article reviews and assesses the structuration program of research on group argument that has evolved over more than two decades. The authors first position group argument research in ...relationship to argument studies across many disciplines and especially at the intersection of three research traditions in communication. Acknowledging structuration theory foundations, the authors explicate their conceptualization of argument and explain the theoretical foundations of their approach. They next describe the methods that have been used to analyze group argument, including participants, data collection procedures, coding scheme and process, and contexts that have been employed in past investigations. They also survey the findings of this research program and how they have enhanced understanding of argument processes in groups and group argument—outcome linkages. The authors then offer a critique of the program, including challenges and unanswered questions. They note projects currently under way and conclude by identifying opportunities for interdisciplinary research on group argument.
The authors offer a multidimensional reconceptualization of organizational assimilation developed from a reexamination of the Organizational Assimilation Index (OAI). Using a sample of 656 employees ...in the United States, the OAI was extended to include a seventh factor and used to detect group differences between men and women, managers and nonmanagers, and members with lengthy and short organizational tenure. Evidence for construct validity was found in relationships between the OAI factors and related variables. Results demonstrate the utility of conceptualizing assimilation as a set of interrelated processes that fluctuate based on various characteristics of organizational membership. The authors discuss implications for assimilation research and offer directions for future scholarship in the area.
In this essay we foreground the value of engaging meaningfully with practitioners in our work. We review research by scholars whose work cuts across topics and contexts to gain insight into the power ...and practice of human communication as it shapes the world in which we live-highlighting work that is at its best because of its co-creation with practitioners. We propose five key features that provide a simple yet robust framework for developing and assessing the quality and value of engaged scholarship. Our thesis is that the best engaged scholarship may or may not be widely disseminated, but it is widely owned by co-creators who believe in its purpose and product.
In this article, the authors examine argument in the interactions of members of a naturally occurring jury (State of Ohio v. Mark Ducic). Using the structurational concept of contradictions and a ...thematic analysis, the authors examine the forms and functions of group argument structures and the role of argument structuring in the jury’s penalty deliberation. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological implications for structuration argument theory.
This article reports the findings of scale development and validation efforts centered on 10 dimensions of organizational members’ temporal experience identified in previous research. Consistent with ...a community-of-practice perspective, 395 members of five organizational units indicated their agreement with a series of statements regarding the day-to-day words and phrases they use to describe their activities, work-related events, and general timing needs. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hypothesized enactments of time and construals of time. Organizational members’ enactments of time included dimensions relating to flexibility, linearity, pace, precision, scheduling, and separation, and their construals of time included dimensions concerning scarcity, urgency, present time perspective, and future time perspective. A new dimension, delay, was found. Implications for pluritemporalism in organizations and the study of time in communication are discussed.
