Com Theory Study Guide

Chapter 15

All of the following statements about rules are true EXCEPT

rules limit our ability to create structures in groups and thus increase uncertainty

rules may be implicitly stated

rules may be explicitly stated

rules enable members to understand and interact with others

Structuration theorists believe that all social interaction in an organization is comprised of a ______________ and ______________ dimension.

temporal and spatial

cognitive and affective

informal and informational

reflexive and reflective

Structuration is defined as

the process by which systems are produced and reproduced through members' use of rules and resources

the rules and resources that affect organizational members interactions and decisions on a daily basis

the development of agency and reflexivity as facilitating decision making in organizations and groups

the system in which an organization operates and develops its rules and resources for guiding interaction

Rules explain both __________ something is done and __________ a goal may be accomplished.

why / how

when / where

how / why

here / when

When you do what your boss asks you to do because you recognize that she has the ability to promote you following next month's performance evaluations, you are acknowledging her

reward power

favoritism tendencies

allocative resources

structuration capacity

Alberto is able to get his group members to agree to participate in a late-night meeting in order to decide on a plan of action before the deadline set by the client. While most people typically would not be willing to work such late hours, Alberto's team complies with his request because he is the Manager of Operations for their division of the company. Which of the following types of power is most influential in getting the group to agree to the late-night meeting?

referent power

expert power

reward power

legitimate power

One's ability to exert influence over others based on his/her ability to penalize group members who do not comply, such as a boss who can require workers who arrive late to do undesirable tasks, is called

coercive power

expert power

referent power

reward power

In Structuration Theory, the _____ is the group or organization and the behaviors that the group engages in to pursue its goals, and the _____ is the rules and resources used to sustain a group or organization.

system / structure

collective / structuration

structure / system

agent / agency

With which communication tradition is Structuration Theory primarily associated?

cybernetic

semiotic

rhetorical

phenomenological

Which of the following is NOT one of the power bases identified by French and Raven?

inferential

referent

reward

expert

Chapter 16-17

All of the following statements about symbols are true EXCEPT

symbols include only the nonverbal communication that takes place in the organization

symbols represent meanings that are held by members of an organization

members of an organization create, use, and interpret symbols in order to create and sustain a sense of organizational reality

organizational values may be communicated through a variety of symbols

Jokes that are shared, jargon that is understood, and stories that are told by members of an organization represent _________ symbols.

verbal

behavioral

physical

cultural

All of the following are methods of investigation used by ethnographers to examine organizational culture EXCEPT

survey questionnaires

direct observation

interviews

participant observation

Rebekkah is responsible for balancing the cash register at the end of every workday. This is an example of a(n) _________ ritual.

task

social

personal

organizational

Renaldo always has a smile on his face when he enters the workplace. His colleagues comment on how much they appreciate his taking the time to stop and ask how their day is going as he passes by their desks. Renaldo is engaging in which type of communicative performance?

sociality

passion

ritual

politics

According to Organizational Information Theory (OIT), the cycle of communication behaviors includes three stages. Which of the following correctly lists the stages and the order in which they occur?

act, respond, adjust

enact, select, retain

retain, select, enact

adjust, respond, act

All of the following are assumptions of Organizational Information Theory EXCEPT

Equivocality of information is useful for assisting an organization in achieving its goals.

The information an organization receives differs in terms of its equivocality.

Human organizations exist in an information environment.

Human organizations engage in information processing to reduce the equivocality of information.

The stage of reducing equivocality at which the organization makes a note of what worked or did not so that it can make a good decision in the future is

retention

conclusion

ambivalence

selection

Because OIT has stimulated a lot of scholarship on various organizational information issues, it is considered to have good __________ value.

heuristic

semiotic

consistency

utility

The meetings your boss organizes each week in order to help the employees in your department experience less ambiguity about upcoming projects is an example of a...

double interact loop

response adjustment

act enactment

retention enactment

Chapter 18

Question Aristotle's definition of ___________ has become corrupted over the years and now is used as a pejorative term for words without substance or action.

rhetoric

sophistry

logos

style

In this classic syllogism, which element is the minor premise? “All humans are mortal. Aristotle is human. Aristotle is mortal.”

All humans are mortal.

Aristotle is human.

Aristotle is mortal.

none of these

One assumption of the Aristotelian theory of rhetoric is that effective speakers must consider their audiences. This assumption underscores the notion of communication as

a transactional process

centering on a speaker's perceived sense of power

a linear process

a symbolic activity

Before he creates his speech, Antonio considers the age, sex, and educational level of his audience. Antonio is engaging in

audience analysis

the activities associated with the canon known as style

predictive behavior

role playing

_________ refers to the perceived character, intelligence, and goodwill of a speaker.

Ethos

Pathos

Mythos

Logos

The use of language to express ideas in a certain manner is called

style

deliberation

delivery

audience adaptation

A syllogism represents a form of ____________ logic.

deductive

inductive

ethos-based

rhetorical

Which of the following is NOT one of Aristotle's canons of rhetoric?

elocution

memory

arrangement

style

While running for president of the United States, Barack Obama gave many speeches advocating health care reform in the United States. These speeches were a form of _________ oratory.

deliberative

epideictic

forensic

ceremonial

Isabella is working on a project on rhetoric for her communication studies class. She has to observe an example of forensic rhetoric. Where should Isabella go to complete her assignment?

a courthouse

a political rally

a funeral

a city council meeting

Chapter 19

Burke argued that some of what people do is motivated by their animal nature (such as thirst and hunger) and some of what they do is motivated by...

symbols

the other

attitude

reaction

Burke asserted that words, thoughts, and actions have

extremely close connections with one another

little effect on human motivation

no meaning without rational thought

never been fully understood

_________ occurs when two people overlap in terms of their substance.

Identification

Action

Purpose

Motivation

According to Burke, _________ is primary motive for human communication and action.

guilt

dramatistic ratio

consubstantiality

scapegoating

Louie is late for his date with Rachel. When she asks him why, he says, "My roommate had been borrowing my car and was late getting back with it. He?s so irresponsible; I?m definitely not rooming with him again next year." Louie is engaging in

scapegoating

mortification

redemption

persuasion

Following publicity of the scandal that ended his political career, Eliot Spitzer said, "I have begun to atone for my private failings. The remorse I feel will always be with me." In another speech, he said, "I have acted in a way that violates my or any sense of right and wrong.” I apologize to the public, who I promise better." These are examples of

mortification

scapegoating

redemption

the negative

Message strategies, storytelling, apologies, and speech making are associated with which element of the pentad?

agency

act

scene

agent

The _________ hypothesis argues that when people use language, they are used by it as well.

Sapir-Whorf

dramatistic ratio

consubstantiality

Lieutenant Worf

When using the pentad to analyze a symbolic interaction, the analyst first labels the elements of the pentad and then examines the

dramatistic ratios

agency

identification

pentadic analysis

What phrase represents the notion that people cannot see beyond what their words lead them to believe?

trained incapacities

narrow observers

limited behavioral observations

limited analytic abilities

Chapter 20

The narrative paradigm asserts that...

humans often are more persuaded by a good story than a good argument

the essential nature of humans is rooted in stories and storytelling

the world is experienced by people as a set of stories from which to choose

all of these

The narrative paradigm argues that the criteria used to evaluate stories are...

power and vision

language and rational argumentation

coherence and fidelity

none of these

After listening to his daughter's story about an event that happened at school, Alberto says, "I believe the story because a similar thing happened to me when I was in sixth grade." Alberto is judging his daughter's story on the basis of...

fidelity

material coherence

coherence

vividness

The logic of _________ presents a listener with a set of values that allows her or him to accept or reject the advice advanced in a narrative.

good reasons

rational argumentation

fidelity

all of these

Whereas the rational world paradigm requires that arguments adhere to specific criteria for soundness and logic, the narrative paradigm argues that

good reasons are determined by issues of history, biography, culture, and character

only narratives can produce true knowledge

the world can be reduced to a series of logical relationships that are understood through deductive reasoning

none of these

Narratives...

are found in all cultures and time periods

provide for the sharing of the practical wisdom that all individuals possess

are affected by history, biography, culture, and character

all of these

Fisher argues that...

only verbal communication is narrative

only nonverbal communication is narrative

all communication is narrative

none of these

After seeing the movie “Next Stop”, Abigail tells Ruthie that she did not believe the characters. In fact, Abigail thinks that the actions of the characters in the movie were inconsistent with their motivations. The basis on which Abigail judges the characters in Next Stop is known as...

characterological coherence

narrative disconnect

narration

fidelity

_________is a broader concept than _________.

Paradigm, theory

Theory, paradigm

Coherence, fidelity

Fidelity, coherence

When you are skeptical about your classmate's account of what happened at last night's party because it is inconsistent with what your roommate told you happened, you are doubting the ____________ of your classmate's story.

material coherence

rationality

good reasons

fidelity