Transcript Communication Research Project

Communication
Research Project
Amanda Martin
Problem Statement
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Similarity as a predictor of marital satisfaction
Similarity in communication patterns
Family communication and children’s social behavior
Research has not explored how family communication
patterns (FCP) effects the quality of a future married
relationships
= A GAP!
HYPOTHESIS: Spouses with similar family
communication patterns during childhood will perceive
higher levels of marital quality than those with different
family communication patterns.
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Conceptual:
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Family Communication Patterns
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The routine or ordinary verbal and nonverbal behavior of family
members.
Marital Quality
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Definitions
The subjective evaluation of a married couple’s relationship on a number
of dimensions: good adjustment, adequate communication, high levels of
happiness, integration, and a high degree of satisfaction.
Operational:
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Family Communication Patterns
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The Revised Family Communication Patterns (RFCP) Scale: 26 items
measuring conversation- or conformity-orientation
Marital Quality
The Quality Marriage Index (QMI): 6 items measuring the overall
quality of a marriage
Literature Review
Theoretic Expectations:
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Mcleod and Chaffee developed two
dimensions of family communication:
socio-orientation or conceptorientation.
 These were then divided into 4
sub-types: laissez-faire, protective,
pluralistic, and consensual
Neimeyer expanded on Byrne’s
Effectant-Arousal Model which
suggests people look to others to have
their attitudes and values validated.
“One function of marriage is to obtain
consensual validation for one’ s interpretations
of social reality and one form of validation
involves the similar structuring of those
interpretations.”
Review of Literature:
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FCP has been studied in relation to:
 Media usage
 Political participation
 Social behavior
Marital Quality has been studied in
these contexts:
 Similar values and perceptions
indicated more satisfied and
longer marriages
 Differing patterns of
communication indicated lower
satisfaction
Method
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Methods used in past research: survey, interviewing, and case
studies
Quantitative- Questionnaire ..\..\survey.doc
 RFCP Scale and QMI incorporated into one
questionnaire
 Sample: list of couples from counseling centers, churches,
day cares, schools and senior citizen centers; 200 couples
(400 individuals) randomly selected
 Distribution: call participants and administer
questionnaire over the telephone
 All questions placed on 5-point Likert scale
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages:
 Random sample- generalizable
 Cost-efficiency
 Speed in data collection
Disadvantages:
 Self-report data can be biased or
inaccurate
 Closed-ended questions may not indicate
what people really feel