Observational Reporting
Description
In observational reporting, you will apply your knowledge of communication to a situation in your actual experience. This is an on-going assignment that lasts throughout the term.
At the beginning of the term, choose a communication situation that you can observe for the rest of the term. Examples of situations are a department in an organization, a personal relationship (among two or more people), a long-distance communication (professional or personal), a club or other organization, interactions within a class–just about any situation that involves people and communication.
Throughout the term, you will write brief analyses of the situation, based on the knowledge about communication that you acquire each week. Specifics will not be identified; in other words, like a book or film based on actual occurrences, the names and other identifying details will be withheld.
For instance, if you’re writing about a work environment, the name of the organization and the names of those involved will not be given. If you’re writing about a personal relationship (including family communication dynamics), write about it in the third person; we won’t know if you’re directly involved or just observing.
Each week, you will post your OBSERVATIONAL REPORT the Observation Report Forum.
Write a brief (about one paragraph long) report on the situation you chose in the beginning of the course, using terms designated for that particular week.
The terms will reflect the knowledge that you’ve gained in the week’s reading. For the first week, the 5 assigned terms are “channel,” “content messages,” interpersonal communication,” “relational messages,” and “symbols.”
Make sure to put the terms in bold or underline them.
