RESEARCH ARTICLES
Refereed Publications:
Becker, C. (in
progress). “Neural Network Modeling Meets Autoethnography: A
Response to Shields.” To be submitted to Communication Theory.
This article integrates empirical research
with autoethnography. The hypothesis that Symbolic Convergence
Theory (SCT) claims that it provides a way to describe the
relationship between communication and the shared fantasies of groups,
may be based more on the fantasy of the analyst rather than that of the
group it is claiming to analyze, is tested. A neural network is
generated based on the text of the articles deemed representative
of “critical autoethnography” used in a recently
published SCT analysis. Then the network is trained to make
associations in proportion to the number of times specific articles
were cited in the SCT analysis, in attempt to model the cognitive
processes of the analyst. The empirical procedures, methods
and results are contexualized and using autoethnography.
Becker, C. (2002a,
in press). “Data-Driven, Dynamic Approaches to Intercultural
Communication and Diversity Training in Organizations,”
Organization <-> Communication: Emerging Perspectives, Vol. 7.
Intercultural communication researchers and
diversity trainers in search of relevant communication theories,
models, and methods to guide their efforts need to consider that
culture is communicative process that changes over time. Data-driven
dynamic models (3D) such as cultural mapping, provide methods to
accommodate for cultural change over time and variations within
cultures. Four such approaches to intercultural communication research
and diversity training are explained and examined for their
contributions and limitations. Examples of applications in
organizations are presented.
Becker, C. (2001). [Review of Writing the New Ethnography]. Journal of Social Science, 38, 3.
The new ethnography responds to postmodernist
critiques by making problematic not only the relationship between the
researcher and “researched,” but also the socio-cultural
position of the researcher, the identity of the researcher as
constructed through research, and the researcher’s alignment with
academic institutions. Consequently, the new ethnography combines
traditional, creative, and experimental methods with an account of the
researcher’s personal involvement with the topic they are writing
about. The new ethnography blurs the boundary between the genres of
social science and the humanities.
Becker, C., Levitt,
S. & Moreman S. (1998a). "Computers, New Information and
Communication Technologies, Power and the Status of Women in
Organizations." In Barnett, G. & Thayer, L. (Eds.) Organizational
Communication: Emerging Perspectives VI. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex.
This study focuses on the role that new
information and communication technologies may play regarding the power
relations between women and men in organizations. Access to and
controls over flows of information are determined by one’s
position in the communication network. Computers and new communication
technologies (such as the internet) may enable an individual to gain
access to important information while simultaneously increasing their
network centrality.
Becker, C. (1997a).
"The Analysis of Organizational Culture as a Thermodynamic Process." In
Barnett, G. & Thayer, L. (Eds.) Organizational Communication:
Emerging Perspectives V. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex.
The ways in which thermodynamic concepts have
been applied to the study of human communication systems are examined.
Inconsistent discussions of the relationship between information and
entropy in the social science literature are identified. Applications
for the study of organizational cultures are specified.
Becker, C.
(1997b). "Toward an Ethical Theory for Comparative Political
Communication Based on the Coherence Between Universal Human Rights and
Cultural Relativism." International and Intercultural
Communication Annual, Vol. XX. Sacramento: Sage Publications.
When UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human
Rights) was being drafted by the United Nations in 1947, the executive
board of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) was consulted
regarding the document. The UHDR asserts that all human beings are
entitled to a basic set of rights regardless of culture. The AAA
executive board’s 1947 statement to the UN cautions that the
declaration could be misused as an excuse to change cultures that are
different from those in the West. These and the subsequent debates are
examined for their philosophical assumptions and political
consequences.
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BOOK CHAPTERS:
Becker, C. & Corey,
F. (2002b, in press). “Geocommunication: A paradigm of
place.” In Clair, R. (Ed.) Expressions of Ethnography. Albany:
SUNY Press.
Ethnography is used to explore the
intersection of communication and culture with the environment in the
lives of two intellectuals. A social constructionist approach, that
assumes that culture is created through shared symbols and overlapping
meanings, is blended with theories of discourse as performative action.
The role of communication in reproducing or transforming culture and
power relations within specific contexts is considered.
Becker, C. &
Levitt, S. (1999). "Women in Organizations: Perceptions of Power." In
Salem, P. (Ed.) Organizational Communication and Change. Cresskill, New
Jersey: Hampton Press.
This study explores how women in organizations
define power, how they perceive powerful men, women, and behaviors in
organizations; and how they relate power to information, computers and
communication technologies. It is suggested that women with different
levels of power might not perceive power similarly and that women with
more power may have a stronger self-concept. It is also suggested that
even if women in organizations tend to be reluctant to admit they
desire power, they still seek its two main benefits: time and
information.
Becker, C. (1998b).
"The Ways in Which Communication May Foster or Inhibit Socialization:
The Case of Brazilian Immigrants in Japan." In Gumpertz, G. &
Drucker, S. (Eds.) The Huddled Masses. Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton
Press.
Changes in Japan's immigration laws opened the
doors to an influx of South American immigrants into Japan. Almost
200,000 Brazilians immigrated, providing Catherine Becker with the
opportunity to test a communication-based theory of cultural adaptation
in a context other than the United States, which is where most
communication research focusing on immigrant adaptation has been done
to date.
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ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS:
Becker, C. &
Easely B. (1993). "Applied communication education: A participatory
model." ERIC Data Base. Indiana University, Bloomington.
School administrators in a private school
identified the emergence of two co-cultural groups (blacks and whites)
among the student population due to recent demographic changes in the
environment surrounding the area where the school was located. Teams of
students from an advanced upper division university course in
intercultural communication conducted mini-ethnographies, interviews
and surveys with affected groups. Cultural maps were generated using
the most frequently mentioned concepts including administrators,
teachers, people of color, the school, discipline, self-expression,
cultural heritage, cultural diversity, and integration. The concept of
"yourself" and "good" were included by the researchers to provide
additional points of reference to indicate the average ways that
individuals in the organization related to the core concepts and to
assess the climate of diversity in the organization. Recommendations
and applications of cultural mapping for addressing diversity and
cultural change are provided.
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GRANT REPORT:
Becker, C. (2002c).
Talking Story: Diversity at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. Submitted
to the SEED Office at UH Manoa.
The goal of this project was to use research
to foster diversity at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. Objectives
included relating diversity to student learning and pedagogy,
describing diversity issues at UHH in terms of relationships among key
groups and core concepts, and using research to provide a context for
increasing understanding and facilitating dialogue. The project
included interviewing faculty and students about diversity, a content
analysis of the student newspaper, assisting with the production of a
UHH diversity training video, participation in diversity related
events, presentations, performances, discussions, and a the planning of
a university-wide symposium.
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