Unit 3 Paper Assignment

This paper is a bit different from the last 2 papers you have written for this class. This is an original research paper. This assignment will take time and planning so please be sure you plan accordingly –this is not an assignment that can be done overnight. The goal of this assignment is to begin developing a depth of understanding regarding how people enact relationships (how people relate to one another in different situations and relationships).

Relationship Interviews: Interview 4 - 6 individuals (If you interview couples, interview them separately) regarding how they communicate. Your final analysis should include the following information: 1) introduction and brief background of individuals and the relationship type; 2) an explanation of what aspect of the relationship you are studying (be sure and include relevant definitions and concepts from the text and any outside information you choose to use); 3) a summary of responses from your participants (do not simply list their responses); 4) conclusions you drew about communication (focusing on the specific aspect you are studying, use interview information to support this) within this particular type of relationship (see list below for relationship types). Include a concluding paragraph to "wrap up" what you learned.

There are four different types of relationships you can look at (choose one of the following):

·  Family relationships (siblings, parent-child, parents, grandparent-grandchild, step/blended family relationships, etc.)

·  Friendships (you will want to put parameters around this –best friends, casual friends, etc.)

·  Romantic relationships (you should interview partners separately and perhaps include a variety of different romantic relationships (depending on what you choose to look at) –long-distant, very long term (30+ years), new romantic relationships, gay or lesbian relationships, intercultural or biracial couples, etc.)

·  Professional Relationships (employer-employee, co-workers, group/team mates)

Define what aspect of the relationship you would like to study (choose one of the following or come up with one of your own –please check your idea with me):

·  Conflict Management

·  Listening Skills

·  Emotion Management/Expression

·  Language Usage (how do these individuals talk about their relationship?)

·  Stories (what kinds of stories do these individuals tell? What is the role this plays in their relationship?)

·  Environment Affects on the Relationship (particularly salient for families and work situations –look at how the surroundings affect the communication patterns, interactions, overall disposition, etc.)

·  Communication rules and patterns (who talks to whom about what, when and where?)

·  Story telling

·  Intercultural differences and the affect on the relationship

·  Your own area of interest. . .

Create a questionnaire: you will want to create a set of questions for the interviews that you will ask each person interviewed. You should have a minimum of 10 questions (no more than 15).

Your paper should be grounded in concepts and definitions from the text. It is not required that you do outside research for this project but it is recommended. Your paper should be written in APA format, 11 or 12 point, Times New Roman or Arial font, 1 in. margins. This paper needs to be 4-5 pages long double-spaced and should include a works cited page with at least the textbook listed. You will need to attach a copy of your questionnaire as an appendix (in other words attach it at the end of your paper behind your works cited page). Part of your grade for this paper will come from providing a peer-review during the week the paper is due (class on both the 26th & 28th of April). As well, you will present a summary of what you did and what you learned to the class during one of the two last class periods of the semester. You will upload a copy of your paper to the assignment link in Blackboard before class on 30 April 2010.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: You can earn up to 15 points of extra credit by including outside research for this project. You will be awarded 5 points per academic source used up to 15 points.