Close relationships are one of the central aspects of life that gives it meaning; Those closest to us can help support and challenge us, make our lives more meaningful and enjoyable, and even hurt, disappoint, or betray us. While a person could certainly go through life “solo,” our basic to more complex needs are often the product of many relationships, both formal and informal, and often involve different forms of friendships, partnerships, and sexual partners.
Digital, online life has undoubtedly transformed the more traditional “analog” expectations of close relationships…it can add more nuance, contact time, unique fun shared experiences, and in many ways more complications. Finding a potential partners is easier with online apps and websites, but research is now saying this is true only for a select few or with those that know how to best “promote” themselves. Digital life also comes with costs to our privacy, sense of availability, sense of self or identity, and how we spend the hours the make up our lives.
Communication is a central part of all of this, and is an essential part of any relationship from start to finish.
COVID-19 has also undoubtedly isolated people, but the digital can help us orient towards each other, for better or worse. Depending on your relationship with close partners, this can create deeper bonds and break through barriers, or conversely reinforce or push people away from each other.
In selecting your specific topic for the semester be sure to focus on a relational communication subtopic that specifically relates to communication. Below you’ll find a list of more specific ideas to get you started. Any of the following will need to be narrowed down to your particular focus, but they can serve as valuable staring places. You are free to come up with another subtopic not listed, just as long as your semester topic relates to our required theme. When in doubt, email me to verify!
NOTE: Be aware that COVID-19 research is being collected and conducted now. So you will not find much academic quality communication research on it just yet. Therefore it would be hard to write an academic literature review on that in in particular. Think instead about the communication practices you are interested in, and first focus on that!
• Four to five pages (12 point font, Times New Roman 1.25 inch margins, double spaced)
• ABSOLUTELY No spaces between paragraphs.
• Hopefully using the five sources from Mini-A #2, plus one more.
• APA/MLA style reference page (six sources)
• No more than one source can be from a blog or a magazine (e.g., time, people, glamour, cosmo)
• The rest must be scholarly, taken from academic sources (e.g., journal articles, handbooks)
• I’ve extended the “recent” date range to include the past seven years; so take this current year, subtract seven years from it, and that’s going to be the earliest date that I’d like your six articles to be published. This helps keeps topics and sources current and pushes students to find the most recent and relevant studies.
• Review of the best, most relevant information, and research out “there” on your topic.
• Sets up your ability to accurately create a future research study:
o That hasn’t been done already
o Will contribute in an interesting way to what’s been done
o Is worth everyone’s time
• Overview:
• (1/2-1 page)
• Provide an overview of the specific topic, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review; provides examples to illustrate the parts of the issue/theory/topic, or if there are multiple positions or perspectives, briefly spells out the situation.
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• Organization of the Research:
• (3-4 pages)
• Divides the works (i.e., articles, book chapters, books) under review into categories: those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely. Consider these patterns: for/against, conceptual/applied, sequential and chronological. Also, offer an explanation of how each works and is similar/varies from the others.
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• Conclusions:
• (1/2-1 page)
• Summarize which pieces are best considered in their argument, which are most convincing of their opinions, and which make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research. The final paragraph features a clear summarizing statement that builds up to your RQ + H.
