Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: An Interaction Analysis of Meeting Activities and Functions Across Three Natural Meeting Contexts

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

This project involves the investigation of three meeting contexts (breast cancer support group, non-profit Internet service provider, and local government commissioner) in order to clarify how task and socioemotional messages function to accomplish meeting activities and to analyze how these interaction functions differ within and between meeting contexts. Two coding schemes (Bales, 1950, IPA; Scheerhorn, Geist, & Teboul, 1994, meeting coding scheme) will be applied to meeting transcripts and analyzed using sequential analytic methodologies. By using both coding schemes, this project will distinguish how interaction accomplishes meeting activities, moving research past the "what" to the "how" of meeting processes. This project will advance research in disciplines studying meetings (organizational behavior, organizational and group communication, organizational psychology, and sociology), which tend to analyze meetings through a decision-making lens. This project is a first step in understanding the scope of what takes place in meetings, and how interaction functions to accomplish meeting activities. This project brings to surface how task and socioemotional dimensions of communication are used to accomplish goals, especially in light of context. Beyond academia, this project will benefit the way social interaction is taught in the classroom and facilitated at work. The research will provide a communicative explanation of the micro processes of group interaction, which is critical for educational application. This research will also provide useful knowledge to practitioners involved in decision making, diplomacy, mediation, and others areas of human interaction.