RESEARCH PROPOSAL

THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL MUST ALIGN WITH THE SAME CONCEPTS DEVELOPED IN MY LITERATURE REVIEW POSTED BELOW! 

PLEASE REVIEW THE LITERATURE REVIEW BEFORE STARTING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL!

• Proposal (Rough Outline Peer Review)o All of the formatting & professional writing details from above

Total of 8 double spaced-pages, when combined with the Literature Review paper (see above).

Any survey materials, interview questions, or experimental materials necessary to carry out your study (the ideal is to be clear enough that someone can replicate your research without you being there)

Include 4 additional sources,

Phase 2:  Research Proposal

9. OVERVIEW:  This “Research Proposal” paper is meant to be a continuation of your previous “Literature Review” paper.  With the literature review you were able to explore your communication idea within the given academic knowledge (reflected by searching the databases and reading articles).   You then developed a question (or hypothesis) that explores some issue of significance that the literature didn’t answer (or didn’t answer well).  This “Research Proposal” is your attempt to answer the question or confirm or reject the hypothesis.

10. SELECT A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH:  For this proposal, I want you to develop your familiarity with methods that have practical utility and acceptance in today’s professional world.   Different methods should work better with whatever you are studying.  They also may be useful to you in your thesis.  You may propose one (or two combined, if appropriate) of these three different methods:a. Survey:  Usually a packet of questionnaires that listquestions or statements that require ratings of agreement, that ultimately address your IV & DV.b. Interview & Content Analysis:  Develop a list of questions that you’ll ask participants about, and then recruit another “coder” to help you interpret the answers by amount and types.c. Experiment:  Most common form would be to look at your DV and say “Does the IV make a difference?”  Have at least one situation or group where you include the IV, and one you don’t.  If you make the two situations or groups of people similar, and control (limit the influence of)outside factors, the IV should explain any differences in the DV.

11. THE STRUCTURE:  To start I recommend just creating an outline with the following labeled sub-sections represented: Participants, Procedures (& Measures), Analysis Strategy, Discussion of Expected Results, Limitations of the Study, and Conclusion.  Use the articles we’ve been reading all semester to get a sense of what details are supposed to be in each sub-section.   Most articles will feature a similar or derivative structure.  Since you are doing a proposal, obviously you will have slightly different section labels than a full, completed article.

12. MULTIPLE DRAFTS:  Once again, you will have a peer review day to receive feedback about your draft.   On that day you are expected to have your paper 75% completed.  You should also have your own internal draft process. Use the “Final Checklist” on the next page as a helpful reminder of what to look for on when completing your last or final draft.   Papers that look and read like half, partial, or hurried efforts will be graded accordingly. 

13. FAIR WARNING:  Just because you received a “nice” grade on your “Literature Review” paper doesn’t entitle you to similar “Research Proposal” grade.  The research proposal half may be poorly conceived, half done, or incomplete, resulting in a low grade on that portion, and thus a lower overall grade.  

Running head: Literature Review 1

8

COMMUNICATION

Habits of Communication and the Relationship Satisfaction in the University Students’ Romantic Relationships

Student Name

Institution Name

Professor Name

Course name

Date

Research Questions

This research has its motivation based on these theoretical questions: what are the expectations of communication lying within the romantic relationships in this environment that is of constant availability? How do the discrepancies existing between the actual communication and the desired communication frequencies impact the satisfaction in the relationships that are romantic based? These questions are operationalized in the following empirical questions: what are those mediums of communication often used in romantic relationships, and how often are they employed?

Literature Review

Definition of Romantic relationships

Often, when romantic relationships between unmarried individuals are studied, young people learn, they are often viewed within the context of “family relationships” where Interactions between parents and siblings are being investigated or within the youth movement as a whole, wherever friendship is included. Romance relationships are very different from other relationships between friends and family members. They must test themselves to determine how the people in this relationship work together (Guzman & Lewis, 2020).

In the current society containing the love relationships for the adults, phrases like girlfriend and boyfriend possess different meanings concerning each person. Therefore, coming up with particular importance for my reading was significant. For the correct building of the kind of relationships for the study, I consulted several previous books. Khan et al. (2020) postulate three characteristics of a romantic relationship: love, intimacy, and commitment. These qualities emerge in degrees that tend to be varying in the relationships that are romantic (Ruhlmann & Durtschi, 2018). I have employed these characteristics. In the definition of the love relationship nature under study. I tend to focus on romantic relationships, which entail romantic feelings, intimacy, and other aspects of commitment, and have a reference to these types of relationships as “committed romantic relationships.”

Frequency of Communication in Relationships that are Romantic based

Given that romantic relationships are different from other ordinary relationships between individuals, as described earlier, it is significant to understand that communications in this kind of relationship are different and unique. Recent findings have continuously noted that texting stands to be the most common form of communication concerning adults generally in romantic relationships with younger adults (Taylor & Bazarova, 2018). Apart from this finding, it is not known clearly how the older couple tends to communicate.

A study by Taylor and Ledbetter (2017) noted that many adults tend to use Facebook to communicate. Still, they have not engaged in commenting on the messenger function site specifically, even when they contain millions of users. Facebook Messenger is a social networking feature purposely for the communication aligned with exchanging texts with friends through mobile phones or computers. Furthermore, little is known about how older couples interact with other forms of communication or how they interact with one another.

Therefore, one significant and new contribution to this research is the analysis I have carried out concerning the satisfaction and frequency of many methods, even the non-research methods such as Snapchat. Snapchat is an innovative phone application where users can send text captions to their existing phone contacts approximately 1-10 seconds before their disappearance. Young adults often used this type of communication since it was expected and much popular with those ranging under the age of 25 years. It is also seen as another common way of communication in romantic relationships. Text messaging possesses differences from sending text-based information like text messaging, Facebook Messenger, and audio content to the calls (Wilson, 2020).

Research publications comparing the frequency of the usage of various means of communication have become obsolete; this research dates back to texting. Snapchat was present and included only means like phone calls or text messages Taylor and Bazarova (2018). Besides, the frequency of calls is not assessed in terms of text messages’ frequency because most letters acknowledge that texting is the best way to communicate with adults. Therefore, it is challenging to examine how adults communicate, especially in romantic relationships, if we ignore all the possible methods and options in any communication situation.

Young Adult Usage of Text messages in Romantic Relationships

Facebook Messenger and Snapchat tend to be ignored by several scholarly books, and there exist several messaging activities. Many researchers have noted that text messaging has been the most common form in terms of communication used by young people nowadays (Taylor & Ledbetter, 2017). One study estimates that teens who use text messages send about 3,000 text messages a month, an average of 100 per day; in a study by Wilson (2020), respondents discussed how texting allows “endless communication” the whole day for the partners. These studies give an overview of how young teens or dating partners employ messaging, but the definitive conclusion is that this communication method is broadly utilized.

Taylor and Ledbetter (2017) have found that text messages often occur but are also very important in young people’s cultures. Their research examined the impacts related to texting deficits that its measurements I through behavioral responses to anxiety at the age of 18-23. The researchers carried out a study concerned with questioning participants in terms of Facebook usage, instant messaging, email, messaging, phone calls, and social media. Check who the participants are communicating with as well as the mode. Placement of students is done in terms of high or low messaging groups and restriction from texting on time, measuring the anxiety related to not using cell phones.

Communication Expectations

Guzman and Lewis (2020), in line with the deciphering of the significance of texting to the young adults and the way they view it, emphasized that texting possessed perpetual contact since the individuals involved include their mobile phones; hence a private conversation can be initiated anytime from anywhere and there exists an expectation that is salient concerning the text messages replying.

It is also noted that there is a norm that is social within adolescents’ culture in terms of responding to texts, and it is observed as a sign of rudeness when one does not reply to texts. When there are no replies to the text messages, the adolescents tend to assume a technical problem and repeat sending the messages again or instead engage in sending a following up text anticipating a response (Wilson, 2020).

The relationships possess a characterization as a category of family relationships. Mobile phones permit us to have connections to anybody at any time. Due to this access that is constant to each other, there emerges a creation of an expectation of communication that is regular. Being in a position of having several communication methods tend to change the practices in people who have expectations on keeping in touch with loved ones. These newly formed expectations concerning how communication with friends and family can prompt emotional responses when these expectations fail to be met (Taylor & Bazarova, 2018).

There is an indication from the current literature that many individuals tend to have a perpetual connection to their mobile phones because of that expectation that is salient in the reception of a reply when reaching the partner. Technology has played a significant role in realizing a connection in multiple ways since it is always available with no boundaries, hence safeguarding each other’s feelings of satisfaction. This constancy in communication results in tension in that some individuals tend to like that constant communication much, whereas other people feel that it is too much (Khan et al.,2020).

The Relationship between Communication and Relationship Satisfaction.

When the expectation of communication has been established, the next worry stands to be what tends to happen when these expectations are not met. An examination of the communication couples types used the frequency of communication, the relationship between the transmission and their texting. Communication that is the most powerful tends to influence the partners’ relationship satisfaction, and those are the positive or, rather, the harmful usage of the text messages. The use of texting for positive communication, as affection, has an association that boosts relationship satisfaction. When employed in negative touches, like confrontations, it results in low relationship satisfaction (Ruhlmann, Gallus & Durtschi, 2018).

Messages that are quick and kind to the partners involved tend to be a source of motivation to relationships, hence increasing their satisfaction. Guzman and Lewis (2020) looked at the patterns of communication in long-distance relationships. They emphasized the modes of communication, how often they do happen, and the relationship satisfaction variations. It was noted that communication that contains reduced in-person was associated with a relationship that has a positive outlook. Simultaneously, the regular face-to-face contacts possessed an association that is a failed relationship. This is because of the conflicts in the relationships that are postponed due to the limited in-person interactions (Taylor & Bazarova, 2018).

The couples that belong to long-distance relationships tend to have more satisfaction in their affairs due to the usage of communication technologies many times. In contrast, the face to face communication tends to be less frequent. The frequency of use of the modes of communication possesses a correlation with relational quality deciphered levels. Relational quality is defined as relational closeness and relational satisfaction (Taylor & Ledbetter, 2017).

This aspect of technology encircled in the young adults nowadays has created an understanding that is new concerning the way communication works which is the primary social exchange in the entire world. I am concerned with the way communication works and how this communication is expected to work. Having a better understanding of the two concepts tends to bring detailed knowledge of how exchange, particularly in romantic relationships, has historically evolved and identified the main factors of relationship satisfaction. My first hypothesis is that texting is the most common mode of communication; when the emerging communication technologies render it as to have constant contact with the partners, people report that communication is daily. Thus individuals tend to view the daily basis communication to their partners as a requirement. And possess greater satisfaction. Another hypothesis is that mismatches do exist in communication modes, and some individuals are comfortable with one another while dissatisfied with others (Wilson, 2020).

References

Guzman, A. L., & Lewis, S. C. (2020). Artificial intelligence and communication: A Human-Machine Communication research agenda. New Media & Society, 22(1), 70-86.

Khan, F., Chong, J. Y., Theisen, J. C., Fraley, R. C., Young, J. F., & Hankin, B. L. (2020). Development and change in the attachment: A multiwave assessment of passion and its correlates across childhood and adolescence: Journal of personality and social psychology, 118(6), 1188.

Ruhlmann, L. M., Gallus, K. L., & Durtschi, J. A. (2018). We explore relationship satisfaction and attachment behaviors in single-and dual-trauma couples: A pilot study: traumatology, 24(1), 27.

Taylor, S. H., & Bazarova, N. N. (2018). Revisiting media multiplexity: A longitudinal analysis of media use in romantic relationships. Journal of Communication, 68(6), 1104-1126.

Taylor, S. H., & Ledbetter, A. M. (2017). Extending media multiplexity theory to the extended family: Communication satisfaction and tie strength as moderators of violations of media use expectations. New Media & Society, 19(9), 1369-1387.

Wilson, C. (2020). The association between differentiation of self and romantic relationship outcomes and the mediating role of communication behaviors (Doctoral dissertation).