review of Rawlins's work merits serious attention, for it represents an im-__-... Tuan, Y. (1982)... more review of Rawlins's work merits serious attention, for it represents an im-__-... Tuan, Y. (1982). Segmented worlds and plicit challenge for interpretive or self: Group life aid individual consciousness. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Wallerstein, I. (1987). World-systems analysis. In A. Giddens & J. H. Turner (Eds.), Social theory today (pp. 309-324). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Friendship Matters Friendship and Communication: A Reply to Fitzpatrick (and Rawlins) by Stuart J. Sigman I have been asked to step into the dialogue between Fitzpatrick (1993) and Rawlins (1992) concerning the latter's book, Friendship Matters. At the outset I must state that I was impressed with the scope of Rawlin's work, an attempt to synthesize the vast literature from sociology, human development, and communication in order to shed light on the changing "dialectical tensions'' friendship partners experience and must resolve through their ongoing communication with each other. Also, my own work (Sigman, in press) is influenced by Rawlins's and others' (e.g., Montgomery, 1992) insistence on the value of examining the push and pull that both community and individual expectations hold for human actors; among other benefits, an examination of dialectical tensions, in lieu of rules or grammatical structures, en
This article describes selected "rules" that may be abstracted from discussions in a gi... more This article describes selected "rules" that may be abstracted from discussions in a given natural group, in this case, a nursing home admissions board. These rules may be seen as gmding the verbal contributions made by the participants in sustaming the interaction. Interactants avail themselves of options for behavioral production, and, in the process of domg so (that is, of making behavioral choices), they construct "strategic" messages. Accordingly, small group interaction may be seen as an implicitly structured activity. From the vantage point of discourse analysis, it is suggested that, to comprehend this structure and its meaning, mvestigators must move beyond the study of the internal or constituent units of conversation and toward a consideration of conversational behavior in the larger context of an ethnographic present.
The paper addresses some of the assumptions and criticisms of rule-governed approaches to interpe... more The paper addresses some of the assumptions and criticisms of rule-governed approaches to interpersonal communication research and theory. A definition of rules is first outlined which does not require sole reliance on interpersonal actors' statements about their behavior or assumptions of communicator self-awareness. Then the paper addresses the intercultural and developmental criticisms directed by Miller (1978) against rules studies. With regard to the former, it is suggested that communications researchers account for (1) the behavior patterns of individuals interacting intraculturally, (2) the culturally patterned attitudes and behavior manifest in intercultural exchanges, and (3) the rule-governed strategies for negotiation. While the paper does not deny the existence of some idiosyncratic behavior, it is suggested that researchers consider rules-based concomitants of relationship developments which are socially patterned in lieu of focusing on relationship-specific (unique) behavior. SruarrJ. S i g m n (M.A.
A.five-month ethnographic study cf conversations in a Philadelphia' nursing home revealed some of... more A.five-month ethnographic study cf conversations in a Philadelphia' nursing home revealed some of, the rules governing situationally appropriate conversational behavior. The social communicational, perspective of the study,di,ffered from both psychological and-discourse analysis approaches. Analysis of the data indicated that sustained resident/resident and resident/staff COnversations were rare, that male/female resident contact was *
Critical studies in mass communication, Dec 1, 1985
Building on the work of Trew and his associates, this essay analyzes qualitative questionnaire da... more Building on the work of Trew and his associates, this essay analyzes qualitative questionnaire data on readers' perceptions and reconstructions of the events and ideologies presented in newspaper texts. The results bear directly on the interaction between the ideology “embedded” in texts and the readers who encounter those texts. A sociolinguistic and interactional perspective on the media/audience relationship is therefore
This essay describes selected features of the behavioral construction of long-term relationships.... more This essay describes selected features of the behavioral construction of long-term relationships. A distinction is advanced between the life history o i a social relationship and the interactional co-presence of the relationship partners. The logics of relationship-based behavior and interaction-based behavior are thus contrasted. Some social relationships are defined by their communities as continuous, that is, as extending beyond the moments when the partners are in face-to-face interaction with each other. Three spatiotemporal frameworks, in which devicesfor constructing the continuity of social relationships in anticipation of, during, or subsequent to periods of physical and interactional non-co-presence, are discussed. The implications of this perspective for the study of strategic communication and of the continuity of other social forms are noted. [Slymbols. .. serve as semiotic connectives among the levels m d parts of a system of action and between that system and its significant environment. We have been neglecting the role of symbols in establishing connexity between the different levels of a narrative structure.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 1990
at Albany [Life] is constructed by human beings through active ratiocination, by the same kind of... more at Albany [Life] is constructed by human beings through active ratiocination, by the same kind of ratiocination through which we construct narratives. When somebody tells you his life ... it is always a cognitive achievement rather than a through-the-clear-crystal recital of something univocally given. (Bruner, 1987, p. 13) The research program underlying Fry, Alexander, and Fry's chapter is a timely one. It parallels the movement toward interpretive and naturalistic research in interpersonal and organizational communication (Craig & Tracy,
International Journal of Aging & Human Development, Apr 1, 1986
A perspective for studying institutional procedures for assigning incoming patients to available ... more A perspective for studying institutional procedures for assigning incoming patients to available wards, and for transferring patients between and among wards, is developed. Ethnographic data collected in one extended-care facility are presented. Staff-patient and patient-patient interactions surrounding ward assignments and transfers are discussed.
Journal of Applied Communication Research, Mar 1, 1986
If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.
tions of the symbol model for communication theory. In R. Conville (Ed.), Structure in communicat... more tions of the symbol model for communication theory. In R. Conville (Ed.), Structure in communication study. New York: Praeger. Stewart, J., & Philipsen, G. (1984). Communication as situated accomplishment: The cases of hermeneutics and ethnography. In B. Dervin & M. J. Voigt (Eds.), Progress in communication sciences, V (pp.
PUB DATE 1994-12-00 NOTE 13p.; For related documents, see CS 509 635-636. A publication of the Pr... more PUB DATE 1994-12-00 NOTE 13p.; For related documents, see CS 509 635-636. A publication of the Project on Culture and Communication. PUB TYPE Reports-Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
review of Rawlins's work merits serious attention, for it represents an im-__-... Tuan, Y. (1982)... more review of Rawlins's work merits serious attention, for it represents an im-__-... Tuan, Y. (1982). Segmented worlds and plicit challenge for interpretive or self: Group life aid individual consciousness. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Wallerstein, I. (1987). World-systems analysis. In A. Giddens & J. H. Turner (Eds.), Social theory today (pp. 309-324). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Friendship Matters Friendship and Communication: A Reply to Fitzpatrick (and Rawlins) by Stuart J. Sigman I have been asked to step into the dialogue between Fitzpatrick (1993) and Rawlins (1992) concerning the latter's book, Friendship Matters. At the outset I must state that I was impressed with the scope of Rawlin's work, an attempt to synthesize the vast literature from sociology, human development, and communication in order to shed light on the changing "dialectical tensions'' friendship partners experience and must resolve through their ongoing communication with each other. Also, my own work (Sigman, in press) is influenced by Rawlins's and others' (e.g., Montgomery, 1992) insistence on the value of examining the push and pull that both community and individual expectations hold for human actors; among other benefits, an examination of dialectical tensions, in lieu of rules or grammatical structures, en
This article describes selected "rules" that may be abstracted from discussions in a gi... more This article describes selected "rules" that may be abstracted from discussions in a given natural group, in this case, a nursing home admissions board. These rules may be seen as gmding the verbal contributions made by the participants in sustaming the interaction. Interactants avail themselves of options for behavioral production, and, in the process of domg so (that is, of making behavioral choices), they construct "strategic" messages. Accordingly, small group interaction may be seen as an implicitly structured activity. From the vantage point of discourse analysis, it is suggested that, to comprehend this structure and its meaning, mvestigators must move beyond the study of the internal or constituent units of conversation and toward a consideration of conversational behavior in the larger context of an ethnographic present.
The paper addresses some of the assumptions and criticisms of rule-governed approaches to interpe... more The paper addresses some of the assumptions and criticisms of rule-governed approaches to interpersonal communication research and theory. A definition of rules is first outlined which does not require sole reliance on interpersonal actors' statements about their behavior or assumptions of communicator self-awareness. Then the paper addresses the intercultural and developmental criticisms directed by Miller (1978) against rules studies. With regard to the former, it is suggested that communications researchers account for (1) the behavior patterns of individuals interacting intraculturally, (2) the culturally patterned attitudes and behavior manifest in intercultural exchanges, and (3) the rule-governed strategies for negotiation. While the paper does not deny the existence of some idiosyncratic behavior, it is suggested that researchers consider rules-based concomitants of relationship developments which are socially patterned in lieu of focusing on relationship-specific (unique) behavior. SruarrJ. S i g m n (M.A.
A.five-month ethnographic study cf conversations in a Philadelphia' nursing home revealed some of... more A.five-month ethnographic study cf conversations in a Philadelphia' nursing home revealed some of, the rules governing situationally appropriate conversational behavior. The social communicational, perspective of the study,di,ffered from both psychological and-discourse analysis approaches. Analysis of the data indicated that sustained resident/resident and resident/staff COnversations were rare, that male/female resident contact was *
Critical studies in mass communication, Dec 1, 1985
Building on the work of Trew and his associates, this essay analyzes qualitative questionnaire da... more Building on the work of Trew and his associates, this essay analyzes qualitative questionnaire data on readers' perceptions and reconstructions of the events and ideologies presented in newspaper texts. The results bear directly on the interaction between the ideology “embedded” in texts and the readers who encounter those texts. A sociolinguistic and interactional perspective on the media/audience relationship is therefore
This essay describes selected features of the behavioral construction of long-term relationships.... more This essay describes selected features of the behavioral construction of long-term relationships. A distinction is advanced between the life history o i a social relationship and the interactional co-presence of the relationship partners. The logics of relationship-based behavior and interaction-based behavior are thus contrasted. Some social relationships are defined by their communities as continuous, that is, as extending beyond the moments when the partners are in face-to-face interaction with each other. Three spatiotemporal frameworks, in which devicesfor constructing the continuity of social relationships in anticipation of, during, or subsequent to periods of physical and interactional non-co-presence, are discussed. The implications of this perspective for the study of strategic communication and of the continuity of other social forms are noted. [Slymbols. .. serve as semiotic connectives among the levels m d parts of a system of action and between that system and its significant environment. We have been neglecting the role of symbols in establishing connexity between the different levels of a narrative structure.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 1990
at Albany [Life] is constructed by human beings through active ratiocination, by the same kind of... more at Albany [Life] is constructed by human beings through active ratiocination, by the same kind of ratiocination through which we construct narratives. When somebody tells you his life ... it is always a cognitive achievement rather than a through-the-clear-crystal recital of something univocally given. (Bruner, 1987, p. 13) The research program underlying Fry, Alexander, and Fry's chapter is a timely one. It parallels the movement toward interpretive and naturalistic research in interpersonal and organizational communication (Craig & Tracy,
International Journal of Aging & Human Development, Apr 1, 1986
A perspective for studying institutional procedures for assigning incoming patients to available ... more A perspective for studying institutional procedures for assigning incoming patients to available wards, and for transferring patients between and among wards, is developed. Ethnographic data collected in one extended-care facility are presented. Staff-patient and patient-patient interactions surrounding ward assignments and transfers are discussed.
Journal of Applied Communication Research, Mar 1, 1986
If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.
tions of the symbol model for communication theory. In R. Conville (Ed.), Structure in communicat... more tions of the symbol model for communication theory. In R. Conville (Ed.), Structure in communication study. New York: Praeger. Stewart, J., & Philipsen, G. (1984). Communication as situated accomplishment: The cases of hermeneutics and ethnography. In B. Dervin & M. J. Voigt (Eds.), Progress in communication sciences, V (pp.
PUB DATE 1994-12-00 NOTE 13p.; For related documents, see CS 509 635-636. A publication of the Pr... more PUB DATE 1994-12-00 NOTE 13p.; For related documents, see CS 509 635-636. A publication of the Project on Culture and Communication. PUB TYPE Reports-Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
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