Bibliographic Research Paper
Emily Baas
COMS 1100
Bibliographical Research Paper
To understand intercultural communication, one must take a broad view of certain cultural groups. All such studies that focus on intercultural communication must generalize these groups, and, given that no group is entirely homogeneous, so it must also be true that no one individual can be truly represented. But this does not mean an understanding of the broader outlook cannot be ascertained. Indeed, with regard to family issues in intercultural communication, a broad outlook can yield interesting results, especially when compared to other cultures. The three following journal articles were attempts to better understand how differing cultural groups faced familiar problems through the use of communication.
The aim of the first study, “Family Problem Solving,” was to analyze family problems and family problem solving among American Upper Midwest and Puerto Rican families. Their methods were to survey students from both regions, with a total of 86 participants, 50 from the Upper Midwest and 36 from Puerto Rico. The focus of the survey was to examine family problem solving during the fall 2005 semester. Through the use of qualitative, open ended questions, the researchers were able to explore the nuance and context of student perceptions of family problems and problem-solving strategies. These questions were meant to identify the participants’ understanding of family problems, identifying the worst problems in each participant 's family and what they have thought about doing to resolve said problems, as well as what they would actually do to resolve said problems. The results showed that Upper Midwest participants most often identified financial issues as the most problematic, while Puerto Rican participants most often identified communication as the the most problematic issue. Indeed, through the use of the a two-way chi-square test, researchers were able to show that Puerto Rican
COMS 1100
Bibliographical Research Paper
To understand intercultural communication, one must take a broad view of certain cultural groups. All such studies that focus on intercultural communication must generalize these groups, and, given that no group is entirely homogeneous, so it must also be true that no one individual can be truly represented. But this does not mean an understanding of the broader outlook cannot be ascertained. Indeed, with regard to family issues in intercultural communication, a broad outlook can yield interesting results, especially when compared to other cultures. The three following journal articles were attempts to better understand how differing cultural groups faced familiar problems through the use of communication.
The aim of the first study, “Family Problem Solving,” was to analyze family problems and family problem solving among American Upper Midwest and Puerto Rican families. Their methods were to survey students from both regions, with a total of 86 participants, 50 from the Upper Midwest and 36 from Puerto Rico. The focus of the survey was to examine family problem solving during the fall 2005 semester. Through the use of qualitative, open ended questions, the researchers were able to explore the nuance and context of student perceptions of family problems and problem-solving strategies. These questions were meant to identify the participants’ understanding of family problems, identifying the worst problems in each participant 's family and what they have thought about doing to resolve said problems, as well as what they would actually do to resolve said problems. The results showed that Upper Midwest participants most often identified financial issues as the most problematic, while Puerto Rican participants most often identified communication as the the most problematic issue. Indeed, through the use of the a two-way chi-square test, researchers were able to show that Puerto Rican
Cited: Child, J., Pearson, J., & Nagao, M. (2006). Elusive Family Problems Reported by Japanese College Students: An Examination of Theme Variation and Methodology. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 35, 45-59. Pearson, J., Child, J., & Spiering, K. (2008). Family Problem Solving: A Comparative Study of Adult Children in Puerto Rico and the Upper Midwest.Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 37, 139-156. Zhang, Q. (2008). Family Types and Children 's Socio-Communicative Style: A Chinese Investigation. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research,37, 157-156.