SCILS
Jenny Mandelbaum ... Teaching ... Courses ... Interpersonal Communication
Courses | Thesis & Dissertation Supervision

Interpersonal Communication

194:620/521

General syllabus; details vary by semester

Instructor

  • Dr. Jenny Mandelbaum
  • Office: Room 211, SCILS, 4 Huntington Street (next to Alexander Library)
  • Phone: 732-932-7500 x8120
  • E-mail: jennym@scils.rutgers.edu
  • Office hours: Check with Department or on SCILS website.

Class Goals

The purpose of the class is to examine major issues in and approaches to the study of interpersonal communication by asking the related questions, "What is the nature of communication between people?" and "How should we go about studying relationships?" First we survey the field to determine the history and current character of interpersonal communication research. Next we examine primary sources and commentary regarding issues central to the study of interpersonal communication. We then explore several approaches to studying interpersonal communication that provide alternatives to traditional methods. Assignments develop students' familiarity with communication journals, and their skills as critics. The final paper offers students the opportunity to explore interpersonal communication in their own area(s) of interest. 

Texts

--Readings will be left in the Ph.D. office (CIL rm. 313). Please take them briefly to make copies for yourself.

--Tannen, Deborah. (1990). You just don't understand: Women and men in conversation. New York: Ballantine. Available at amazon.com and most bookstores, including the University Bookstore, Ferren Mall.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

  • 1/18 Introduction to the course and to each other
  • Part I: Issues in the Field
  • 1/25 Overview of the field -- Berger; Bochner; Cappella; Leeds-Hurwitz; Stamp; Lannaman
  • 2/1 Goals and intentions -- Tracy; Stamp & Knapp
  • Perspectives on the Self -- Giles & Street; Potter & Wetherell Bruner
  • 2/8 Update of the field


    • Assignment: The goal of this assignment is for students to familiarize themselves with current research in interpersonal communication, and to construct an update on the articles read on 1-25. While Stamp (1999) provides us with an overview of interpersonal communication studies published in Human Communication Research, exploration of other journals suggests this journal has a particular slant. Has Stamp imposed a particular view on the articles through his grounded theory analsysis? Examine interpersonal communication research over the las five years - 1994-2000 - for yourself in the following journals: Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, Western Journal of Communication, Southern Communication Journal, Central States Speech Journal, Communication Studies, Communication Research, Journal of Communication. Your task is to group articles in interpersonal communication in a way that captures the sub-areas in the field of interpersonal communication research. (Do not group them according to research method). You will find that articles will fall into groups with some topical coherence. There is no "right" way to do this assignment, so feel free to be creative. (Don't re-use or be constrained by Stamp's model). You will find it helpful to xerox the abstracts of these articles, and then sort them into topical stacks. Feel free to work in groups up to this point. Remember, though, that part of the goal of this assignment is for you to become familiar with the journals. Working individually, write up your categorization in the most accessible way possible. Again, feel free to be creative, but make sure that you use full references in a standard reference form (preferrably APA-style). Then write 2-3 pages summarizing your understanding of advances in the field of interpersonal communication since 1988. What do you think the field will look like in the future? Also offer 2-3 paragraphs of observations about methods used in the studies you have examined. Be prepared to discuss your findings with the class. [Due 2-8-00]

  • 2/15 Culture -- Bohannan, Streeck, Fitch

    • Final assignment project proposal due [2/15/00]
  • 2/22 Context -- Schegloff; Pearce; Drew & Heritage; Heritage & Lindström
  • 2/29 Gender -- Smythe, Canary & Hause; Strine, Hopper & LeBaron; Spitzack; Tannen
  • 3/7 Theories of and approaches to relationships Waller (Bochner); Goldsmith & Baxter; Giddens; Lannaman; Jefferson & Lee; Parks & Floyd


    • Assignment: Locate and read a research article that deals with some aspect of relationships in interpersonal communication in a current communication journal (such as Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, Western Journal of Communication, Southern Communication Journal, Central States Journal of Speech Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, etc.) Write a one-page, single-spaced abstract (duplicate for each member of the class) and a three-page, double spaced commentary (copy for instructor only). Your abstract should be somewhat fuller than the abstract published as part of the article, but should NOT contain any critique of the article. It should simply summmarize the question the study addresses, how it addresses it, and what was found. Your commentary should not spend more than a couple of sentences reiterating what is in the article. Rather, the commentary should critically evaluate the article. Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the readings and class discussions, as well as assessing the approach the article takes to interpersonal communication, and the contribution it makes to interpersonal communication theory and research. Do not limit your critical comments to assessment of methodology used. Be prepared to present and discuss your article. (Please hand instructor a copy of the critique, the abstract, and the article). [Due 3/7/00]

  • 3/14 Spring Break (No class)
  • Part II: Methods for studying interpersonal communication
  • 3/21 Goffman --

    • Goffman on Face Work 
    Goffman on Tie-Signs 
    The Interaction Order
    Williams
    Preliminary draft of literature review for final project due [3/21/00]
  • 3/28 Ethnography -- Philipsen; Pacanowsky; Goodwin; Bochner & Ellis; LeBaron & Streeck
  • 4/4 Conversation analysis/ethnomethodology -- Maynard & Clayman; Schegloff; Sacks; Pomerantz; Mandelbaum

    • Transcription symbols
  • 4/11 Critical approaches to interpersonal communication
  • 4/18 Final project presentations
  • 4/25 No class - work on final project
  • 5/2 Summary and wrap-up

    • Final papers due Tuesday, 5/2/00

Final assignment:

Your assignment is to design a research project to study an interpersonal setting or problem of your choosing, using one (or more) of the approaches to interpersonal communication discussed during the semester. Your final paper should include a statement of the problem or description of the setting, and a rationale for studying it, a review of any prior research relevant to the setting or problem, by what means you intend to attack the problem (outline the conceptual approach your study will take, and be as specific as you are able in detailing a methodology), and conclude with a section on the implications you feel the findings from such a study will have and the contributions you believe it makes to research and theory in interpersonal communication. (Please note that if you have already developed a reasearch proposal of this kind, you may use this final paper to execute the project). In the paper you should display your knowledge of class readings and discussions. A preliminary draft of the literature review for the project is due on 3/21/00. Projects will be presented on 4/18/00. The final written paper, incorporating and advancing the prelimary draft of the literature review, and taking into account feedback received during the presentations, is due on 5/2/00. A project prospectus is due in class on 2/15/00.

Readings

  1. Berger, C. (1977) Interpersonal communication theory and research: An overview. In B. Ruben (Ed.) Communication Yearbook (pp. 217-228). New Brunswick, NJ: Transacation Books.
  2. Bochner, A. (1978) On taking ourselves seriously: an analysis of some persistent problems and promising directions in interpersonal research. Human Communication Research 4, 2, 179-191.
  3. Cappella, J., (1987) Interpersonal communication: Definitions and fundamental questions. In C. Berger & S. Chaffee (eds.) Handbook of Communication Science. (pp. 184-238). Newbury Park: Sage.
  4. Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (1992) Social approaches to interpersonal communication. Communication Theory 2, 2, 131-138.
  5. Stamp, G. (1999). A qualitatively constructed interpersonal communication model: A grounded theory analysis. Human Communication Research, 25, 531-547.
  6. Lannaman, J. W. (1991). Interpersonal communication research as ideological practice. Communication Theory, 1, 3, 179-203.
  7. Tracy, K. (1991) Introduction: Linking communicator goals with discourse. In K. Tracy (Ed.) Understanding face- to-face interaction: Issues linking goals and discourse (pp. 1-20). Hilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  8. Stamp, G.H. & Knapp, M.L. (1990) The construct of intention in interpersonal communication. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 76, 282-299.
  9. Giles, H. & Street, R. (1994) Communicator characteristics and behavior. In M. L. Knapp & G. R. Miller (eds.) Handbook of Interpersonal Communication. 2nd edition. (pp. 103-161). Beverly Hills: Sage.
  10. Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. (1987). Speaking subjects. Chapter 5 in Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitude and behaviour (pp. 95-110). London: Sage.
  11. Bruner, J. (1992). Autobiography and the self. Chapter 4 in Acts of meaning (pp.99-138). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  12. Bohannan, L. (1966). Shakespeare in the bush. Natural History Magazine, August/September, 35-45.
  13. Streeck, J. (1994). Culture, meaning, and interpersonal communication. In M. L. Knapp & G. R. Miller (eds.) Handbook of Interpersonal Communication. 2nd edition. (pp. 286-319). Beverly Hills: Sage. 
  14. Fitch, K. (1994). Culture, ideology and interpersonal communication research. In S. Deetz (Ed.) Communication Yearbook 17. pp. 104-135.
  15. Schegloff, E. A., (1987). From micro to macro: Contexts and other connections. In J. Alexander, B. Giesen, R. Münch, & N. Smelser(Eds.), The micro-macro link (pp. 207-234). Berkeley: University of California Press. 
  16. Pearce, W.B. (1976). The co-ordinated management of meaning: a rules-based theory of interpersonal communication.
  17. Drew, P. & Heritage, J. (1992). Analyzing talk at work: an introduction. In P. Drew & J. Heritage (eds.) Talk at work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  18. Heritage, J. & Lindström, A. (1998). Motherhood , medicine, and morality: Scenes from a medical encounter. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 31, 397-438.
  19. Smythe, M. J. (1991). Gender and communication behaviors: A review of research. In B. Dervin and M. Voight (Eds.), Progress in communication sciences (Vol. 10). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
  20. Canary, D. & Hause, K. (1993). Is there any reason to research sex differences in communication? Communication Quarterly, 41, 2, 129-144.
  21. Strine, M.S. (1992). Understanding "How things work": Sexual harassment and academic culture. Journal of Applied Communication Research. pp. 391-400.
  22. Hopper, R. & LeBaron, C. (1998). How gender creeps into talk. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 31, 59-74.
  23. Spitzack, C. (1998). The production of masculinity in interpersonal communication. Communication Theory, 8, 143-164.
  24. Waller, W. (1937) The rating and dating complex. American Sociological Review, 2, 727-734.
  25. Bochner, A. P. (1984) The functions of human communication in interpersonal bonding. In C. Arnold & J. Bowers (eds.) Handbook of rhetorical and communication theory. (pp.544-621). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
  26. Goldsmith, D. & Baxter, L. (1996). Constituting relationships in talk: A taxonomy of speech events in social and personal relationships. Human Communication Research, 23, 1, pp. 87-114.
  27. Giddens, A. (1992). The transformation of intimacy: Sexuality, love and eroticism in modern societies. Chapters 1, 3 & 4. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  28. Lannaman, J.W. (1992) Deconstructing the person and changing the subject of interpersonal communication. Communication Theory 2, 2, 139-148.
  29. Jefferson, G. & Lee, J. (1992). The rejection of advice: managing the problematic convergence of a "troubles-telling" and a "service encounter". In P. Drew & J. Heritage (Eds.). Talk at Work (pp. 521-548). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  30. Parks, M. & Floyd, K. (1996). Making friends in cyberspace. Journal of Communication, 46, 80-97.
  31. Goffman, E. (1967) On face-work. An analysis of ritual elements in social interaction. In Interaction Ritual. (pp.5-45). Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books.
  32. Goffman, E. (1971) Tie-signs. Chapter 5 in Relations in Public (pp. 188-237). N.Y.: Harper & Row.
  33. Goffman, E. (1983) The interaction order. American Sociological Review, 48, 1-17.
  34. Williams, R. (1988). Understanding Goffman's methods. Chapter 4 in P. Drew & T. Wooton (Eds.) Erving Goffman: Exploring the interaction order. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  35. Philipsen, G. (1975). Speaking "like a man" in Teamsterville: Culture patterns of role enactment in an urban neighborhood. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 61, 13-22.
  36. Pacanowsky, M. (1983). A small-town cop: Communication in, out, and about a crisis. In Putnam, L., & Pacanowsky, M. Communication and organizations: An Interpretive Approach. Beverly Hills: Sage. 261-282.
  37. Goodwin, M. (1990). Task activity and pretend play among girls. In He-said-she-said: Talk as social organization among black children (pp. 109-141). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
  38. Bochner, A. & Ellis, C. (1992). Personal narrative as a social approach to interpersonal communication. Communication Theory. 2, 2, 165-173.
  39. LeBaron, C. & Streeck, J. (1997). Built space and the interactional framing of experience during a murder investigation. Human Studies, 20, 1-25.
  40. Maynard, D. & Clayman, S. (1991). The diversity of ethnomethodology. Annual Review of Sociology, 17, 385-418.
  41. Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Harvey Sacks: An introduction and memoir. In H. Sacks, Lectures on conversation. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
  42. Sacks, H. (1984). Notes on methodology. In J. M. Atkinson & J. C. Heritage (eds), Structures in Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 21-27.
  43. Pomerantz, A. M. (1978). Compliment response: notes on the co-operation of multiple constraints. In J. N. Schenkein (ed.), Studies in the Organisation of Conversational Interaction. New York: Academic Press. pp. 79-112.
  44. Mandelbaum, J. (1989). "Interpersonal Activities in Conversational Storytelling". Western Journal of Speech Communication, Spring, 114-126.
Courses | Thesis & Dissertation Supervision