ofcommunication,sotherearemanymodelsofcommunication,eachprovidingdifferent

viewsofhowpeopletransferandinterpretinformation.Likeajigsawpuzzle,eachmodel
providesapartofthepicture,butnoonemodelseemstocoverallaspects.
BERLO'SMODEL
Berlo'sfocusremainedonthetransmissionmodelofcommunication.However,he
introducedmoreofthehumanelements,suchastherelationshipbetweenthemessage
channelandthefivesenses.Effectivecommunicationinvolvesboththesenderandthe
receiver.Thesendermustbeasclearaspossibleandthereceivermustsignal
understandingorclarification.Itinvolvesbothcontentandrelationshipelements
Content=message,idea
relationship=emotions,power,status
personalEncodinganddecodingarebasedonaperson'sperceptionoftheworld.
THETRANSMISSIONMODEL

Thetransmissionmodelisconcernedwiththetransferofmeaningfromthesendertothe
receiver.Communicationisaonewayprocess.
THEPROCESSMODEL
Thetransmissionmodelwassubsequentlyadaptedtoformtheprocessmodelsinwhich
peopletransmit,receive,interpretandrespondtomessageswithfeedback.Theprocess
modelshavesevenmainelements:
Sender
Message
Receiver
Feedback
Channel
Contextorsetting(environment)

Contextorsetting(environment)
Noiseorinterference
intheprocessmodels,amessageisencodedbythesenderthroughacommunication
channel,suchasvoiceorbodylanguage,andthendecodedbythereceiver.Thereceiver
thenprovidesfeedback.Theprocessisinfluencedbythecontextofthesituationandany
noiseorinterference.
NOTESONCOMMUNICATION:Continued
COMMUNICATIONBARRIERS
Ineffectivecommunicationcanleadtoerrors,misunderstanding,poorperformance,lower

motivationandmorale,negativefeelingsintheworkplaceandmanyotherissuesthat
maydetractfromachievingorganizationalgoals.Itis,therefore,importanttotryto
minimizebarrierstoeffectiveandefficientcommunication:communicationbarriers
distortorinterruptthemessageanditsmeaning
ORGANIZATIONALCOMMUNICATION
Communicationinanorganizationmaybeusedtoinfluence,inform,controlorinspire.
Organizationalcommunicationcanbedividedintotwobroadcategoriesformalor
structured(withinthe'systems'establishedbymanagement)andinformal(aswhenco
workerschataboutcompanymatters).Bothareasaresignificantandbothneedtobe
'healthy'fortheorganizationtobehealthy.
FORMALCOMMUNICATIONCHANNELSANDNETWORKS
Formalcommunicationchannelsfollowtheorganizationalstructureorhierarchyand
flowinfourdirections:
Thesefourdirectionsinwhichcommunicationcantravelare:downwardupwardlateral
orhorizontalanddiagonal.
Downward(1)communicationinvolvescommunicationfromhighertolowerlevelsso
thatleadershipcancommunicategoals,strategiesorroleexpectations.
Upward(2)communicationflowsfromlowerlevelstohigherlevelsoftheorganization,
forexample,whenthereisaneedtocommunicateproblems,resultsorsuggestions.
Horizontal(3)communicationoccursacrossthesamelevelandinvolvesforexample,
coordinationofactivitieswithpeers(teams,committees),disseminationofuseful
informationfromonedepartmenttoanother(forexamplesalesforecastsfromthesales
departmenttoproduction,andproblemssuchasaproblemwithproductdesignfromthe
productiondepartmenttoresearchanddevelopment).Horizontalcommunication
facilitatesthelinkingofdifferentareasofexpertiseandthismayencourageinnovation.
Diagonal(4)channelsmaypotentiallycauseconflictastheyinvolvecommunication
betweenthelowerlevelofonedepartmenttoahigherlevelinanother.Inthediagram
above,thismaycausefrictionbetweentheemployeeinaccountingdepartmentCandthe
VicePresident(VP)ofAccountingastheemployeehasgonearoundhisorherown

VicePresident(VP)ofAccountingastheemployeehasgonearoundhisorherown
superior.Neverthelessthistypeofcommunicationmaybeusefulasitmaysimplybe
informationrelevanttotheMarketingDepartmentandtheVPAccountingdoesnotneed
tobeinvolved.
Formalcommunicationnetworksalsooccurwithinthehierarchyoftheorganizationand
reflecthowgroupsofemployees,forexamplethoseinadepartment,worktogether.
Networkingormappingtheflowofcommunicationinanorganizationcanbeauseful
device.Thiscanidentifywhoiscommunicatingwithwhomandwhetherthelinesof
communicationareeffectiveandefficient,orwhetherthereispotentialfordestructive

conflictortensionarisingfromthecommunicationchannels(forexample,inappropriate
diagonalcommunication).
FORMALCOMMUNICAITON:PROBLEMSANDSOLUTIONS.
Manycommunicationproblemsarisefromthestructureoftheorganization.Dwyer
mentionsthreerelatedorganizationalfactors:centralizationthecreationoftoomany
organizationallayersandthestructureoftheorganization.Otherfactorsmayinclude
downsizingwhichleadstoambiguousreportingstructureandpoorleadership.Manyof
theseproblemsmaybeovercomeby:
analyzingtheorganizationstructureandcommunicationnetworksforbarriersto
effectivenessandefficiencyensuringdownsizingiswellplannedandthe'survivors'
(thoseleftintheorganization)understandtheimpactoftheprocessoncommunication
networksandproceduresrecruitingforcompetentcommunication,particularlywhen
recruitingforleadershiproles.
INFORMALCOMMUNICATION
Informalorganizationalcommunicationexistsoutsidetheformallinesofthe
organizationalstructure.Anexampleofthisisfriendshipgroups.Theinformal
communicationchannelservestwomainpurposes:itpermitsemployeestosatisfytheir
needforsocialinteractionintheworkplaceanditcanimproveanorganizations
performancebycreatingalternative,andfrequentlyfasterandmoreefficient,channelsof
communication(Robbinsetal.2000).
Oneofthemostcommonformsofinformalcommunicationis'thegrapevine'.According
toKreitnerandKinicki(1995)thetermgrapevineoriginatedfromtheAmericanCivil
Warpracticeofstringingbattlefieldtelegraphlinesbetweentreesasameansofefficient
communication. Nowitsupplementstheformalchannelsofcommunication.
RESEARCHAPTITUDE
TypesofResearchDefinitions
Actionresearch
isamethodologythatcombinesactionandresearchtoexaminespecific
questions,issuesorphenomenathroughobservationandreflection,anddeliberate
interventiontoimprovepractice.
Appliedresearch
isresearchundertakentosolvepracticalproblemsratherthanto

Appliedresearch
isresearchundertakentosolvepracticalproblemsratherthanto
acquireknowledgeforknowledgesake.
Basicresearch
isexperimentalandtheoreticalworkundertakentoacquirenew
knowledgewithoutlookingforlongtermbenefitsotherthantheadvancementof
knowledge.

Qualitativeresearch
isresearchundertakentogaininsightsconcerningattitudes,beliefs,
motivationsandbehaviorsofindividualstoexploreasocialorhumanproblemand
includemethodssuchasfocusgroups,indepthinterviews,observationresearchandcase
studies.
Quantitativeresearch
isresearchconcernedwiththemeasurementofattitudes,
behaviorsandperceptionsandincludesinterviewingmethodssuchastelephone,intercept
anddoortodoorinterviewsaswellasselfcompletionmethodssuchasmailoutsand
onlinesurveys.
Threebasictypesofquestionsthatresearchprojects:
Descriptive.Whenastudyisdesignedprimarilytodescribewhatisgoingonorwhat
exists.Publicopinionpollsthatseekonlytodescribetheproportionofpeoplewhohold
variousopinionsareprimarilydescriptiveinnature.Forinstance,ifwewanttoknow
whatpercentofthepopulationwouldvoteforaBJPorCongressinthenextelection,we
aresimplyinterestedindescribingsomething.
Relational.Whenastudyisdesignedtolookattherelationshipsbetweentwoormore
variables.Apublicopinionpollthatcompareswhatproportionofmalesandfemalessay
theywouldvoteforaBJPorCongresscandidateinthenextelectionisessentially
studyingtherelationshipbetweengenderandvotingpreference.
Causal.Whenastudyisdesignedtodeterminewhetheroneormorevariables(e.g.,a
programortreatmentvariable)causesoraffectsoneormoreoutcomevariables.Ifwedid
apublicopinionpolltotrytodeterminewhetherarecentpoliticaladvertisingcampaign
changedvoterpreferences,wewouldessentiallybestudyingwhetherthecampaign
(cause)changedtheproportionofvoterswhowouldvoteBJPorCongress(effect).
Timeisanimportantelementofanyresearchdesign.Themostfundamentaldistinctions
inresearchdesignnomenclature:crosssectionalversuslongitudinalstudies.Across
sectionalstudyisonethattakesplaceatasinglepointintime.Ineffect,wearetakinga
'slice'orcrosssectionofwhateveritiswe'reobservingormeasuring.Alongitudinal
studyisonethattakesplaceovertimewehaveatleasttwo(andoftenmore)wavesof
measurementinalongitudinaldesign.
Avariableisanyentitythatcantakeondifferentvalues.Anythingthatcanvarycanbe
consideredavariable.Forinstance,agecanbeconsideredavariablebecauseagecantake
differentvaluesfordifferentpeopleorforthesamepersonatdifferenttimes.Similarly,
countrycanbeconsideredavariablebecauseaperson'scountrycanbeassignedavalue.
Thereisadistinctionbetweenan
.Infactthe
independentanddependentvariable
independentvariableiswhatyou(ornature)manipulatesatreatmentorprogramor

independentvariableiswhatyou(ornature)manipulatesatreatmentorprogramor
cause.Thedependentvariableiswhatisaffectedbytheindependentvariableyour
effectsoroutcomes.Forexample,ifyouarestudyingtheeffectsofaneweducational
programonstudentachievement,theprogramistheindependentvariableandyour

measuresofachievementarethedependentones.
Ahypothesisisaspecificstatementofprediction.Itdescribesinconcrete(ratherthan
theoretical)termswhatyouexpectwillhappeninyourstudy.Notallstudieshave
hypotheses.Sometimesastudyisdesignedtobeexploratory.
RESEARCHAPTITUDE
SAMPLING:Samplingistheprocessofselectingunits(e.g.,people)fromapopulation
ofinterestsothatbystudyingthesamplewemayfairlygeneralizeourresultsbacktothe
populationfromwhichtheywerechosen.Aresponseisaspecificmeasurementvaluethat
asamplingunitsupplies.Ifyoumeasuretheentirepopulationandcalculateavaluelikea
meanoraverage,itiscalledparameterofthepopulation.Thedistributionofaninfinite
numberofsamplesofthesamesizeasthesampleinyourstudyisknownasthesampling
distribution.
Insamplingcontexts,thestandarderroriscalledsamplingerror.Samplingerrorgivesus
someideaoftheprecisionofourstatisticalestimate.Alowsamplingerrormeansthatwe
hadrelativelylessvariabilityorrangeinthesamplingdistribution.Howdowecalculate
samplingerror?onthestandarddeviationofoursample.Thegreaterthesamplestandard
deviation,thegreaterthestandarderror/thesamplingerror.Thestandarderrorisalso
relatedtothesamplesize.Thegreateryoursamplesize,thesmallerthestandarderror.
Becausethegreaterthesamplesize,thecloseryoursampleistotheactualpopulation
itself.Ifyoutakeasamplethatconsistsoftheentirepopulationyouactuallyhaveno
samplingerrorbecauseyoudon'thaveasample,youhavetheentirepopulation.Inthat
case,themeanyouestimateistheparameter.
Probabilitysampling
methodisanymethodofsamplingthatutilizessomeformof
randomselectionsuchaspickinganameoutofahat,orchoosingtheshortstraw.
Thesimplestformofrandomsamplingiscalledsimplerandomsampling.Simplerandom
samplingissimpletoaccomplishandiseasytoexplaintoothers.Becausesimplerandom
samplingisafairwaytoselectasample,itisreasonabletogeneralizetheresultsfrom
thesamplebacktothepopulation.Simplerandomsamplingisnotthemoststatistically
efficientmethodofsamplingandyoumay,justbecauseoftheluckofthedraw,notget
goodrepresentationofsubgroupsinapopulation.
StratifiedRandomSampling
,alsosometimescalledproportionalorquotarandom
sampling,involvesdividingyourpopulationintohomogeneoussubgroupsandthen
takingasimplerandomsampleineachsubgroup.Itassuresthatyouwillbeableto
representnotonlytheoverallpopulation,butalsokeysubgroupsofthepopulation,
especiallysmallminoritygroups.Second,stratifiedrandomsamplingwillgenerallyhave
morestatisticalprecisionthansimplerandomsampling.Thiswillonlybetrueifthestrata
orgroupsarehomogeneous.
Theproblemwithrandomsamplingmethodswhenwehavetosampleapopulationthat's

Theproblemwithrandomsamplingmethodswhenwehavetosampleapopulationthat's