COM210: Interpersonal Communication: Brainstorming

 1. Concept-map the relationship you selected as a case study, including relevant IPC theories and other concepts from your textbook.

2. Browse non-scholarly articles to get more ideas to add to your concept-map.

3. Brainstorm keywords to use in searching for scholarly theories. See Finding Articles tab above for tips.  

Use keywords relating to specific behaviors, IPC theories, and context/type of relationship (workplace, marriage, etc.)

4. Search for scholarly sources about scholarly theories. If you're lucky, you might find scholarly articles about your case study. If you don't, it's up to you to make the connections between the theories addressed in the articles and your case study.  

Remember, the secondary sources you use should tell you something NEW about the theories and concepts, beyond what you learned in class.   

Sample non-scholarly sources:

• Season 2, episode 21 "Conflict Resolution" review
• Season 3, episode 13 "Traveling Salesmen" review
• Jim's Best Pranks
• 'The Office' as a Management Training Tool
• Rainn Wilson: 'The Office' Drone Outside of Work
• A Work Frenemy Can Make You Better at Your Job

Main theories/concepts:

• Power relationships 
• "Frenemies"
• Relational dialectics
• Relational identity
• Patterns of Interaction