Week 16, Question 1

1). (Regarding Chapter 13) Which of the research methods listed in Table 13.3 seem the most interesting? Assume you want to study some aspect of deception. Frame a research question. Which method would you choose to answer the question. Why?

To me, the most interesting research method listed is ethnography. With ethnography, a research is able to engage themselves in a culture while observing norms within this culture. Through this, he or she is able to understand how the society works and be able to critque on a different level as someone who just reads about it.

One research question I could ask is "How has technology affected romantic relationships?" . I would divide this particular study into focal areas that deal with romantic relationships like intimacy, maintenance, etc. Then, I could use survey research to see how people my resond to questions. If I were to use quantitative methods, I would make statements and see if people responds to that. I think this would be affective for a simple question. Other good methods to study the affect of romantic relationships deal with qualitative research. We could study survey research but use open ended question and gather textual analysis from this.

Week 16, Question 3

Pick One other concept in the book that you feel needs further discussion

The concept in the book that I feel needs further discussion is the chapter regarding intercultural communication. For me, intercultural communication is one of the most interesting topics regardign interpersonal communication. I would like that we would further discussion and explanation on the different types of cultures that exist in our society. Mainly I feel that understanding intercultural communication is essential for the U.S. to embrace every level of all cultures. The text offers a lot of examples on intercultural communication leaving us with a taste of what it is all about however I do feel that further discussion should be done in class. We had a paper that centered around cultural differences however, it would be nice to have discussed how differences in culture vary beyond ethnicity. Perhaps this would lead me to have chosen a different topic when writing my paper. For me, intercultural communication is one topic that needs to be justified. Students in communication studies as their major, or even those who have chosen a different path will be able to benefit from it. Also, I really like Sarah Trenholms discussion on Awareness and how some people are unaware of differences in culture and how often this ignorance can lead to problems of stereotype or privilege. So, I think this would be a topic that should be further discussed.

Week 16, Question 2

What concept/s in this class have you found the most interesting? What was it about that concept that you found interesting?

One concept from this course that I thoroughly enjoyed was our discussion on nonverbal communication. For me, nonverbal communication governs many aspects of communication in general. For example, when choosing a prospective romantic partner, one may use physical attributes as a standard when deciding. The nonverbal cues that a person gives off in terms of physical attributes affect a prospective partner’s decision. Nonverbal cues include a persons dress or physical beauty. In turn, dress alone is enough to define a person’s style and or personality. If dress is responsible for giving off a certain image to another person, he/she dressing a certain way may rethink their choices because of the certain image being portrayed. For example, a person who is in search of a job does not want to stop by prospective places in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops rather one should opt for more professional attire that would increase his or her chances of receiving a positive reaction from employers.

Nonverbal communication can also be linked to negative things. For instance, if dress can affect a persons view on an individual. Any person can change their image by changing their dress. This could be linked to cases of deception and how communication can be negative.

Week 15, Question 2

2). Do you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e. that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.

Marshall McLuhan's "the medium is the message" is something I agree with. He argues that the channel through which the message is transmitted, is as important as the message itself. With television, networks filter what they want to broadcast on their channel. Though they don't state it right out loud, most networks show their point of view with out being blunt. For me, I like to watch t.v. for news but if I want to know more about something I will go to the internet as a medium. This way, I am able to find the news I'm more interested in and also look at the sites that I feel is more credible. When you watch television, everything is so quick. The text states that we are left to fill in the blanks but sometimes television does it for you. Similar to ads and semiotics. Which is related to television being a cool medium.

Week 15, Question 1

1). Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have not formed cyber relationships, why not?

I have never made a friendship that was exclusively in cyberspace. I remember the first time I started using instant messaging was in seventh grade and I only used it to talk to friends I made to school. For me, I always initiate a friendship first through face to face encounters. From that point, I maintain that friendship through cyberspace.

I think that relationships that are initiated through cyberspace differ to those that develop face to face in several ways. People who communicate through computer mediated technology are able to potray themselves in different ways. One who is shy in person can be very outgoing on the internet. Some may see this as decieving, but I personally feel that are connecting with someone in a different way.

I actually did a paper once on the effects of technology on romantic relationships. I found a lot of articles on self-disclosure and intimacy. A study showed that relationships developed online included people more willing to share intimate disclosure on a quicker basis that face to face communication.

I can see this happening. For me, I can articulate better when I write and if you think about it, when you send someone a message through email, you don't get their feedback right away. You can think about a very good response if you are fighting for example. I think this is the say for text messaging as well.

Other than that, face to face communication is different from cyberspace communication because nonverbal cues are not present. Sarcasm and other types of humor are almost undetectable.

1). How are organizations tied to the environment? What is the relationship between the school you attend and the city or town in which it is situated? What, if any, ethical obligations does an organization like a college or university have to the local community?

Organizations are tied to the environment in many ways. Our text states that organizations depend on the environment for resources and energy. For example, SJSU depends on San Jose's community. It creates pressures, as the text says and opportunities. An example of a pressure is transportation and housing needs. San Jose has to have places for SJSU students to live and there are many apartments around the school available. Opportunites available from SJSU are jobs on campus as well as maintaining the upkeep of all the buildings.

A college has ethical obligations to the local community because when a college is placed and expands, so does it's student body. The number of college students that make up the community is larger and people who don't attend the university has to live among college students.

Week 14, Question 2

2). Review the etiquette rules suggested in the text. Respond to each one. Have you ever been bothered by cell phone, answering machines, or beepers? What do you feel about call waiting? Is it rude to put people on hold to take another call?



First off, I like this set of etiquette rules and I think that it should be available or engrained into everyones mind. Some people don't know what is appropriate. For cell phones, I agree with the text. I think that carrying a conversation loudly in the mentioned places, restaurants, movie theatres, and church is rude. I hate when people are on their phones during a transaction when shoppin because it really slows down the service. Also, when your with a friend and he/she answer his/her phone and is on the phone for a long time its rude.

For answering machines, I think it's irritating when people have short answering machines. I work at a doctors office so I constantly have to leave messages regarding appointments. I have to talk super fast and if I get cut off I have to call back. It takes too much work and I always feel like I'm bothering the person.

Call waiting isn't rude to me but it depends how long I've been put on hold and who I am talking to. Usually if it's a long time I'll just hang up and wait for them to call me back because they probably got an important call and I accept it with no hard feelings.

Conference calls I make are only with my siblings. I agree with the rules and I'll make sure that if I'm in a conference call, I do state my name.

The etiquette for ringtones are understandable but I don't really find myself in situations where I can have a funny ringtone. You always have the option of putting your phone on vibrate.

The important etiquette is the time in communication. You have to make sure that you are reaching the other person at an appropriate time. For example, we make sure to call people after 6pm because that's when people are most likely home. Otherwise, we would have to keep leaving messages when actually reaching the person is better.

Week 14 Question 1

The part of Chapter 8 that I found interesting was the way information can flow in an organization. For instance, information can flow in a downward flow where someone near the top of the organization sends a message to someone near the bottom. There are also upward flows and horizontal flows. I think that defining these types of information flows as upward/downward and horizontal is interesting because there are many situations in an organization that occurs in these different flows. I think sometimes when something that needs to a downward flow, doesn’t always end up that way and vice versa. A subordinate who needs to send a message upward needs to go through a hierarchal system and if it is not met, sometimes the middle person may be upset.
For example, I work at a doctor office and he has a manager that supervises his staff. If we have a problem we should go to our manager and not directly to the doctor. Otherwise, he takes offense to how our manager supervises.

Week 13, Question 3

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading, that we have no already discussed, that you found useful or interesting, and discuss it.

In communication studies, I love topics on self-disclosure. For me, sharing things about yourself is an essential part to a good relationship. With self disclosure, we are able to gain insight into what a person may be thinking that we cannot gather by just looking at them.

In the text, Trenholm describes there are actually rules to disclosure and I thoroughly enjoy them. The first states that self-disclosure is not appropriate in all situations. This is true because sharing personal feelings is not something that can be discussed in perhaps a work environment.

Another thing is to consider the effect of your disclosure on others. In this case, views on certain things can be detrimental to a relationship. For instance, views on gay marriage are two-sider. Save yourself the fight when talking to someone who is gay or for it. If you don't agree with it, it's better to just keep quiet especially if you don't care too much about the topic or you dont have a dog in the fight.

Week 13, Question 2

1). Which pattern (rigid complementarity, competitive symmetry, or submissive symmetry) do you think would be the most difficult to change? Why? Which would be the most damaging to a relationship? Which would be the most potentially damaging to the self-esteem of the individuals involved?

Among the given patterns, the one I find most difficult to change is the rigid complemtarity. I believe that partners in this pattern fall into submissive/superior roles. If they begin this way, it's harder for them to break out of this. One partner will always feel dominated over the other and sometimes, they may even be oblivious to it. I think that when one is oblivious, perhaps he/she doesn't feel that there is anything wrong to begin with so this pattern might not be the most damaging. I also feel that relationships vary and maybe having a "rigid" pattern is what is viewed by our society but not others.

The patter that I feel is most damaging to the self esteem of individuals involed is the submissive semmetry. I think that when partners lose desire to make decisions, he or she has reached a stage where they have given up their self worth. Allowing the other individual to take control and being apathetic about it very damaging.

Competitive symmetry is damaging to the relationship because it causes individuals to compete. I personally feel that this is damaging because if one partner always wins, the other one almost feels as though they are less than the other. The one who wins all the time may also develop some kind of ego that causes him/her to think that they are better than their partner.

Week 13, Question 1

2). Think about the filters you use to eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners. What characteristics or behaviors lead you to judge others as unattractive? Does Duck's theory make sense to you? Have you ever eliminated someone by using a sociological or pre-interaction cue only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues?

There are many filters that I use to eliminate people from consideration as a potential partner. The major characteristic that my romantic partner has to possess is confidence. Confidence affects everything in a person including physical attractiveness because it affects their behaviors as well. For example, a person who is too clingy and seems too sensitive at early stages of a relationship is very unattractive.
Duck’s theory makes sense to me. The part of the theory I liked the most was the final stage, grave-dressing phase. It states that each party determines the meaning of their time together. They decide what to take away from their relationship. This is the phase that takes the longest to me. Relational dissolution or break-ups are messy and sometimes the lesson you get is blurred. Like the text states, its an important phase because it helps you in your next relationship.
I have definitely eliminated someone through preinteraction cues which include nonverbal impressions. We have learned that nonverbal cues include physical beauty or dress. I need to be attracted to someone to consider them as a potential romantic partner. I do think that attraction can grow through a relationship.

Week 11, Question 3

The concept in this chapter that I found most interesting was the portion in text that Trenholm discusses language style. I completely love this topic because I am minoring in speech pathology and the particular part of the text that I enjoyed is that many people believe that when you translate a phrase in English to a different language, it means the same thing. However, given the cultural background, direct translation of the terms doesn’t mean the same thing. Language is more than just a string of words, but culture adds to the language in every culture. This is why barriers in language are more complex and difficult than a person thinks.

Week 11, Question 2

Among the three premises provided by Trenholm, rationality, perfectibility, and mutability, I agree with the first and last. I feel that rationality seems very understandable because it states that people are capable of discovering truth through logical analysis. The average person has the tools to make the right decisions and there are several institutions in tact that allow for this view such as jurys and enterprise.

The second premise, perfectibility is a bit hard for me to grasp because I feel that it should be the other way around. We are born innocent rather than sinned.

The last one, is one that I feel like i can relate to the most. I believe that people are shaped by enviornmental factors and in order to better themsleves, they need to look within their psychological and physical self.

Week 11, Question 1

According to anthropologist Ruth Benedict, we are “creatures of our culture” and I cannot agree more. Culture is more than the color of our skin, race, and our ethnic back ground; it is a part of our identity. Our cultural identity deals with our gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. When we add all these things together, we get one whole person that is able to take characteristics, beliefs, and traits from each aspect we identify with.

For example, I am a woman so the cultural identity I identify with is from what society feels is expected from a woman. They are to be care takers, bear children and etc. For a woman, obtaining a high position is more difficult than a man and when and if she is able to reach this level of success, there is a negative attachment that comes along with it. This is an example of an impossibility that comes from gender identity.

Also, women have habits that identify only with their group. Women talk, act, dress as society sees fit. This may change over time, but we are creatures of our culture.

The only way I see that we could breakthrough from limitations from our culture is by creating equality. Perhaps this is easier said than done however, if there was no defining characteristic that made an individual superior or inferior over the other, then limitations may not be such a big problem.

Week 8, Question 3

The most interesting part of chapter five that I found was on Dress. Communication studies offers very well thought out, beautiful theories and concepts of our way of communicating. Dress is a huge aspect of a person's cultural identity. This is part of the initial perception of a person. Through dress, ones culture is able to shine through. In the text, it states that there are 3 primary reasons for dress; comfort protection, modesty, and cultural display.

Dress is a huge part of nonvgerbal signs. A character is displayed. I think that one thing that is unique about dress is the fact that you can take it off. The next day, you can wear a totally different set of clothes, and be a different person-almost. My identity can change from what I wear. I could make myself look younger, older, mature or display different personalities.

week 8, question 2

2). Although nonverbal messages are more universal than verbal messages, nonverbals do not always carry the same meanings in other cultures. Can you give examples of some of the nonverbal displays that take on different meanings in other countries? If you have moved around within this country, have you ever encountered regional differences in nonverbal meaning? I haven’t encountered too much nonverbal behavior that isn’t universal. I am aware that there are a lot of inconsistencies but a specific one I can relate to is when I am around my Filipino family members, elders tend to point at things with their mouths.
Another gesture I can think of is forms of greetings. My sister’s husband has a brother who came from Uzbekistan. Upon greeting him my brother put up his fist expecting him to punch his fist too. Instead, he just held it and looked very confused.
The only other country I have been to is the Philippines and I spent every summer there since I was born. A lot of my cultural identity is from being there. I don’t see a lot of difference in nonverbal behavior.

Week 8, Question 1

1). Because nonverbal messages can be ambiguous, they are open to misinterpretation. Have you ever been wrong about the meaning of someone’s nonverbal message? Describe what happened. How can people increase the accuracy with which they interpret nonverbal message?
The most common nonverbal behavior that is misinterpreted to me the most is facial expressions. I wrote a paper on facial expressions and the universality of it. The fact that features of a smile for instance, is common throughout the world. However, I was turned on to the topic because of instances where you find that people purposely change their facial expression to omit their true feelings. Someone who is unhappy can smile to make you think otherwise. The fact that nonverbal behavior is sometimes inaccurate is something that can be fixed. This could be done if we take it upon ourselves to look further into it before assuming. I think if we think about different factors, we would be able to accurately know what the nonverbal is.

Week 7, Question 1

1). Is it possible to perceive others without, in some way, judging or categorizing them? If so, how? If not, how can we make the judgments we do make, more fair?

I think it is impossible to percieve others without some way judging or catagorizing them. Of course, not all situations result in negative views or are so extreme that there may be damage done to a persons character, but it is almost second nature to assume how a person portrays themselves.

Small things can lead us to judge people such as a persons style. If a person shows up to class regularly in a dressy outfit and heels, we could assume that maybe this person comes straight after work, or they're trying to impress someone. This situation is not a bad thing it's just a social norm that people don't come to class dressed to impress (maybe some do).

Bigger things that result in unfair judgement are more damaging however, I feel that judgements can be more fair if everyone had a common way of meeting new people. It needs to be widespread so that common courtesy is known to everyone

Week 7, Discussion 2

2). Do you agree that men and women use language differently? In what areas?

I think the rule is "Men and women use language differently" but of course there are exceptions to every rule. Our text states that men use language that is more task-oriented, while women use language that is more relation oriented. This could be true however, is not to say that one of each gender may be able to do the other.

I think men and women use languages differently when speaking in large groups. I feel that despite common belief, men are the ones who talk a lot about themselves where as women are more sensitive to this. What I found interesting from our text was that men interrupt women more than women interrupt men. Also, I learned from another class that while it seems as though women bring up more topics in a given conversation, more topics raised by men are sustained.

Another area where I agree that men and women use language is through comedy. As stated in our text, men offer more jokes than women, and also laugh more than men do.

I also think that women are more proper or polite than men. This is proved in our text when it states the difference in grammatical constructions. Women seem to use phrases that allow them to appear like they are aware of what they are saying

Week 5, Question 3

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it. (Choose a topic that has not already been covered in this weeks discussion).

A concept in Chapter 9: Public Communication that I found most interesting

Week 5, Question 2

2). Consider a well-known speaker, for example, the current President of the United States. What is the speaker's strongest characteristics as a speaker? Is it credibility, attractiveness, power or all three? In what ways could the speaker build ethos in these areas?


The current President of the U.S. posesses many strong characteristics to signify himself as good speaker. The first, but certainly not most important is his attractiveness. President Obama is a good looking man with a slim, tall built and always looks sharp. Even Michelle Obama is plastered all over those weekly magazines as a woman with style. Back to the topic, I think his attractiveness helps with his speaking because people want to listen to him because they percieve him as someone who is well rounded.


I would hope that President Obama has credibility to back up his speaking characteristic, but that is almost a given. He is certainly well educated but with education, you gain power. With his long lists of experience, he possesses all three characteristics with his strongest being power. I feel this is so because power coems with experience.

Week 5, Question 1

1). Have you ever been influenced by a speaker? Think of the best speaker you've ever heard. What was it about that speaker that made his or her communication memorable? Think of the worst speaker you've ever heard. What do you remember about his or her message?

I think we all have been influenced by speakers. The introduction in the headline clearly states public communication doesn’t just belong to the famous, but everyday, average people standing up and speaking to audiences to make a difference. With that said, I think one of the most memorable public communication speakers was when my sister gave a speech on donating your body to human research at a community college in Fremont.

Her appeal to the audience was within all realms discussed last week which is why I feel that her speech was memorable. She had confidence on the topic gave an ample amount of reasons why and even brought a light humor to it making it a topic that was not at all morbid or discomforting to sit through.

I don’t think I’ve heard a speaker that was so bad that I would define him or her as the worst, however, I think throughout my college experiences, there have been a few who were noteworthy because of the following: they were nervous causing them to stutter. I think that this makes his or her message impossible to remember.

Week 4. Question 3

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.The part of the reading that I found interesting is located on page 19. It's basically an introduction of the chapter but I do find it useful. It states that there are two ways of thinking about the world.

The first is "to assume that it is made up of a phenomena that exist independently of human knowledge". This concept is objective and I don't really agree with it but perhaps the religious side of me can see where it is coming from. I can't help but wonder "why" which is probobly the reason I don't relate to this concept.

The second is "to assume that most of the things we try to define are human constructions". This concept is subjective and I am leaning toward this view of the world. I'm bringing up Nietzsche again who wrote an essay on constructing truth.

I think this concept is what Nietzche believes because in it, he gives a lot of examples on how he thinks that people construct our realities.Also, the second approach also "explains how even the most mundane of objects can have a number of equally valid definitions" this is a concept Nietzche can agree with in which he believe that there are many truths. What is true for one person, can be different for another. Also, he says that the way truth or definitions come about is because someone experienced it and said it was so and it became the truth.

pragmatic perspective

I personally feel that thinking of communication as a patterned interaction is unrealistic. To believe this, one must assume that there is only a sender and a receiver, person A and B, where one initiates conversation and the other responds. However, this is not always the case such that we must consider that no two people are alike and that very important variables are not included in this perspective such as culture and personality.

However, reading through the pragmatic perspective, I can say understand where it is coming from. Similar to a game, people partake in this social interaction and sometimes we take turns. But it is also unlike a game because sometimes when communicating, we don’t get to say anything back, we can be obliged to sit back and just listen to someone communicating to us. There are some times only senders.

Social Constructionist

We “build worlds” through communication in many ways. One way to go about answering this question is analyzing the different types of communication the social constructionist perspective is referring to. The first is through cultural traditions. These include not only traditions through American culture, but possibly from our own ethnic backgrounds. These traditions can range between religion, family lifestyle, and so forth.

Another way we build our worlds is through sets of roles and rules that guide our action (p. 30). This can be through the way we were taught in our families, schools, or by society.
Some ideas that we talk about in our culture that may not exists in other cultures include the baby shower tradition that is pretty an American based tradition set up for a couple to “Get ready” for the birth of their child. However, while planning a baby shower for my sister’s first child, I found out that her fiancé who is from Uzbekistan believes that buying gifts for a baby is bad luck. Also in some Asian cultures, instead of a baby shower, they have a baby “debut” one month after he/she is born.

Another idea that we talk about in my culture that doesn’t exist in other cultures is as a sign of respect for older siblings, we refer to them as “Ate” and “Kuya” which means older sister/older brother.

Concepts similar to this can contribute to our happiness or success in several ways. Some of which include the way in which we put importance to them. Being a first-generation Filipino, I place different forms of communication (such as cultural traditions) above other American cultural traditions and vice versa, this way, I feel more at home.

Persuasive Speakers

*1). Think of a speaker you admire. Does his or her power to persuade come from ethos, pathos, or logos? Think about your own ability to persuade others. What personal qualities do you have that make you persuasive? Does Aristotle's classification scheme work for them, or do they fit into another category?

One of the speakers I most admire listening to is Genelle Austin-Lett. I say that not to suck up because she is one of the teachers in the COMM department but because I really do think she speaks very well. I think that she utilizes all forms of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos depending on the situation or topic of choice. To me, she is a good speaker because of her versatility in speech and her ability to interchange the three accordingly.

When I think about my persuasive skills, I would have to say that that my appeal is based on emotion, pathos. I am not very persuasive and I know that this is not the most credible way to persuade but it is the truth.

Greek Orators

2). The Greeks believed that to be an orator, an individual had to be morally good. Comment on whether you agree or disagree. What, if any, is the connection between goodness, truth, and public communication?

The Greeks belief that an individual had to be morally good to be an orator is something I do not fully agree with. I personally feel that the ability to communicate publicly is a skill that can be learned with confidence and knowledge. Correct me if I am wrong, but I took a class last semester with Professor Hohmann in which we studied rhetoric in different cultures, we studied Ancient Greece and I think that I remember him saying that no lawyers existed during that time but one could get their speeches written and present it themselves.

I believe that this goes to show that an orator doesn’t necessarily have to be good, but have the ability to persuade effectively. I feel that goodness and truth are not directly connected with public communication because often times the truth is relative. This also reminds to Nietzsche’s “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense” in which he discusses how morality has stemmed from people and is man-made. If we could trace back morality and truth, we will be able to see that over time, stories, events, experiences became truth.

So, I believe that being an orator has nothing to do with being good morally.

Jane here!

Hello everyone! I'm excited to begin a brand new semester. I wish you all the best in your classes and hopefully we can all learn from each other.

My alias name is Jane Jolie and no it isn't because I have some odd fascination with Angelina Jolie, it's actually my nieces name and means pretty. I chose Jane because honestly, I'm just your average plain Jane. I am 22 years old and I am a Communication Studies major with a minor in Speech Pathology. I'll be here at SJSU for 2 more semesters (Hopefully!) and I'm looking forward to it.

I am Filipino American and I enjoy going to the gym, watching movies, and an occassional club/bar scene is enough entertainment to last me months. I work at an optometry as an optician, in other words, I'm the one you would wanna talk to if you want a new pair of glasses.

My very first communication studies class was with Professor Varona, organizational communication. At the time, I was actually a Public Relations major but for some reason the following semester, this past summer to be exact, I really enjoyed communication studies. To me, the versatility of this major is important especially for someone who has changed their major from nursing, to nutritional science, to P.R., ultimately landing on a major that suits every field. I hope what I learn from this class can help with my long term goals, whatever that may be, and I know as with every class in this field, I will learn something good. (And I promise, I say that with all honesty.)

Well, I hope everyone enjoys what I've got to say.