Pen and Paper

Paper Options.  Paper Options.  Paper Options.

Option A:    The Conflict Metaphor Paper
Option B:    My "Conflict" Self: How I Deal with Conflict
Option C:    Article Advocacy Paper
Option D:    Personal Conflict Case Study
Option E:    How People "Practice" Conflict Management: An Interview Assignment
Option F:    Research Critique
Option G:    Book Critique
Option H:    Media Conflict Analysis
Option J:    Simulation Analysis (a COMM 440 option and a COMM 540 requirement)
Option K: (COMM 440 only) Short version of the COMM 540 "Conflict Assessment" term paper
COMM 540 (GRADUATE STUDENT) ASSESSMENT PAPER

Papers should be legible and sound grammatically (well written).  Options A through J should be 3 to 7 pages in length, typed/word processed, double spaced.  Please number your pages.  When referencing material, be consistent.  I prefer APA 4th edition or newer, but accept any recognized, published reference system.  You do not need to include a separate title page for the paper or put it in a plastic folder.

I recommend the following:
FOR PAPER 1: Option A (Metaphor), Option B (Conflict Self), or Option C (Advocacy).
FOR PAPER 2: Option A, B, C, D (Case Study), E (Interview),  F (Research Critique), or G (Book Critique).
FOR PAPER 3: Option A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H (Media Conflict Analysis), J (Simulation Analysis, or K (Assessment).

Option A:    The Conflict Metaphor Paper
This writing task deals with a metaphor of conflict.  As Joyce Hocker and Bill Wilmot note in the fourth edition of Interpersonal Conflict,  "when people describe conflict as something else, they use metaphor, which is a way of comparing one thing to another by speaking of it as if it were a different object or process" (1995, p. 6).  A conflict metaphor may emphasize a figurative or literal comparison.  When peoplecharacterize conflict as a fight, game, or debate, they are employing a metaphor.  If someone compares a conflict to climbing a mountain, riding a wave, or attending a grunge rock concert, she or he is representing that conflict metaphorically.

Some people do not think of themselves as "metaphoric" thinkers.  Yet when someone says "I struck out in that job interview," "I really nailed that exam," or "when I had dinner with Lyn I thought I had died and gone to heaven," metaphors are being used.

Your paper should present and analyze a metaphor for conflict.  Here are some options:

The conflict case approach.  Describe metaphorically a conflict you are experiencing or have experienced.

* Use an appropriate metaphor to portray the nature of the conflict, the conflict relationship, the way in which the conflict was addressed, the conflict interaction, your feeling and reactions to the conflict experience, or any other meaningful conflict construct.   Represent the conflict metaphorically.  Use a central metaphor to illustrate the conflict rather than simply writing about the conflict in figurative language (e.g., a continual string of metaphors and similes).
* In addition to describing your metaphor, include an analytical translation of the conflict.  In other words, explain the conflict in terms of what the metaphor reveals about it.  How does the metaphor illuminate the conflict?
* Discuss the value or utility of the metaphor.  What insights have you gained and what have you learned by thinking about the conflict metaphorically?  What does the metaphor suggest about appropriate and counterproductive ways to manage the conflict?

The generic conflict approach.  Present a metaphor for a more general notion of conflict.
* Select a metaphor for conflict that you hold, people you know use, or your hear in the community, etc.
* Critically analyze that metaphor.  What does the metaphor indicate about the nature of conflict, peoples attitudes toward it, and how a community views it?
* Discuss the strengths and limitations of the metaphor.  What are the conflict management implications of using this metaphor?  What are the strategic implications of the conflict metaphor?

Identify two different metaphors for conflict.  Compare and contrast those metaphors in terms of what they communicate about the nature of conflict and how it can be managed.  Draw ideas from options 1 and 2.

Option B:  My "Conflict" Self: How I Deal with Conflict
This paper is about you and how you think, feel, and deal with conflict in your life.  You should focus on interpersonal conflict and conflict interaction.  This paper is an introspective "think piece," one that does notrequire you to cite readings repeatedly or go through the texts in detail (although you should draw upon the materials of the course where appropriate).  Rather, the paper is about you and how you deal with conflict.

As you contemplate how you deal with conflict, you may want to consider some of the following issues:

1.  What is your attitude toward conflict in your relationships?  Do you feel positive or negative about conflict when it occurs?  Do you view conflict as healthy or unhealthy? (You might think about your personal metaphors for conflict).
2.  When a conflict occurs, how do you generally respond?  What strategies do you
typically employ?  Do you engage or avoid conflicts generally?  If you engage conflict, do you do so usually in a contending or problem-solving fashion?
3.  Do you feel empowered in conflict situations?  How do you deal with conflict when power is an issue?
4.  What "intangibles" appear in conflicts you experience (e.g., face saving).  How do you deal with them?  How do they affect your interaction?  Do you deal differently with issues of content, relationship, procedure, and identity?
5.  Are you content with how you manage conflict in your relationships?  Are there things you would like to change?  How might you better handle conflict in your relationships?
6.  What are your strengths and weaknesses when dealing with conflict?
7.  How do you verbally respond to conflict situations?  How do you nonverbally respond?
8.  What is your most common "conflict style?"  You might discuss how you appeared according to some conflict inventory, such as the Thomas-Kilmann tool discussed in this course.
9.  Do you have particular goals concerning your handling of conflict?  Do you have ideas on how you might reach those goals?

You may want to consider issues not addressed by the above questions.  I do not expect or encourage you to answer ALL of these questions. The questions exist to generate ideas; focus on what is meaningful to you.

As you prepare the paper, you may want to focus your discussion by: (a) discussing how you approach conflict generally, (b) comparing and contrasting a couple of different kinds of relationships in which conflict occurs (e.g., co-worker and friend, parent and "significant other"), or (c) considering a particular important relationship.  The key to an excellent paper is explaining WHY.  You should clarify WHY you approach and
deal with conflict as you do.  For example, if you are content with how you deal with conflict, explain WHY.  If you generally avoid conflict, explain WHY.

Option C: Article Advocacy Paper
This paper assignment deals with published material on conflict and/or dispute resolution.  You will find an article on conflict and/or dispute resolution and become an advocate on its behalf.  You will argue that the article you have selected SHOULD be included in a reading packet for a seminar or course on conflict and/or dispute resolution.

Step the First:  Find an article.  The social science, business, psychology, and humanities indexes include MANY articles on conflict and/or dispute resolution.  You can select an article from an academic journal or a trade publication.  Select an article you think SHOULD be a part of a seminar or course readingpacket. Attach a copy of the article.

Step the Second:  Indicate the kind of seminar(s) or course(s) for which this article is appropriate.  Is this article useful for a professional seminar on conflict and/or dispute resolution (you may want to discuss the specific profession(s))?  Is this useful for a class/course on conflict and/or dispute resolution (you may want to specify the kind of course(s))?

Step the Third: Build a persuasive case for including your article in a reading packet.  Provide reasons/present arguments for using the article as part of a seminar or course on conflict and/or dispute resolution.   You might relate the article to the themes and skills you would emphasize in your seminar/course.

Option D:    Personal Conflict Case Study
We all experience conflict in our important relationships.  Your task is to analyze a conflict you have experienced recently or are involved in currently in one of your relationships or endeavors.  The relationship conflict you consider could be one related to work, school, family, church, or any other important part of your life.  The conflict should be reasonably substantive and one in which you do matter (e.g., a conflict with a
co-worker is substantive, a conflict with a sales clerk at Nordstrom's is typically not significant or enduring). The conflict you address may be interpersonal or impersonal; dyadic, group, or organizational.

You should present and analyze the conflict "case" you select.  The case should be an important communication experience.  You need to:

1.  Describe the conflict "case."  Tell what happened or is happening and who is involved.  What are the tangible and intangible issues in the conflict?  Is the content over issues of content, relationship, procedure, or identity?  Provide any relevant background information but do not spend to much time on the "description" portion of the paper.  Supply enough detail so that someone who did not witness the situation could understand what was/is going on.  You do not need to provide dialogue.
2.  Analyze the conflict.  Drawing upon relevant class materials, explain what is/was happening.  You might want to consider the nature of the conflict, the role of power in the conflict, the conflict styles exhibited, etc.  What were/are the potential underlying causes of the conflict (e.g., differences in values)?  Has the conflict been constructive or destructive, including particular functional or dysfunctional behaviors?  Have critical points (sometimes called turning points or crisis events) occurred?  What has been the nature, role, and quality of communication in the conflict?  Has the conflict  demonstrated different stages of "struggle?"  Include in your analysis reasons for the    conflict behavior you have displayed.
3.  Discuss how the conflict was managed or should be managed.  What strategies were or could be employed?  What problem-solving potential existed?  Could the conflict be de-escalated?  How?  Evaluate the way in which the parties dealt (or are dealing) with the conflict.  Suggest alternative means of dealing with the conflict.  Prescribe what you consider to be a viable resolution or management strategy and outcome for the conflict.

The above "thought provoking" items are designed to give you focal points for discussion.  You should take this information and define the assignment and the paper in a way relevant to you.

Option E: How People "Practice" Conflict Management: An Interview Assignment
Conflict management and dispute resolution (negotiation, mediation, facilitation, arbitration, conciliation) play a part in many professions.  For this assignment, you need to interview a "professional" who deals withconflicts and disputes as part of his/her job and write a paper concerning the nature of conflict managementand dispute resolution in her or his profession.  You might consider the following professions: counselors, therapists, ministers, teachers, attorneys, law enforcement officials, corporate executives, legislators, administrators (e.g., OSU department chairs), labor union representatives, lobbyists, social service workers, and sales people (real estate, automobile, etc.; salespersons who can "dicker" or discount prices).  Your paper should go beyond simply reporting what the person tells you; you should react to and analyze the responses.

In the interview, you should ask questions concerning what your interviewee regards as conflict situations, how s/he approaches conflicts and disputes, and manages conflicts (e.g., through negotiation).  Prepare a set of questions ahead of time and avoid jargon.  Here are some issues to consider:

1. What types of conflict and dispute situations does your interviewee encounter?  What is the substance of typical conflicts/disputes she or he experiences?  Does your interviewee negotiation?  If so, in what situations and over what?  This information provides a foundation for the paper.
2. Does your interviewee consider conflict fundamentally positive, negative, or neither? Why?  Does conflict have any benefits or is it counterproductive?  How does the person view negotiation (as a game, a contest, a partnership) and the conflict party relationship?
3. When conflicts occur, how does the interviewee deal with it?  Are particular strategies valued?  What does the person try to accomplish when encountering and managing conflict?  What type of outcome(s) does the person desire?  Are there certain approaches, behaviors, strategies, or tactics that work well when dealing with conflict and/or negotiating?
4. How does the person prepare to deal withc a conflict or dispute?  What does s/he do?  Are goals set and information gathered?  Is there a preferred climate or atmosphere for conflict management?  What does the interviewee do to try to influence that climate or to structure the conflict interaction situation?
5. What role does communication play?  Does the person employ arguments or persuasive tactics to influence the other parties?  Is non-verbal communication important?
6. How does the person define effective conflict management?  What does the interviewee see as the essential characteristics of a person who manages conflicts well?
7. Are power and reputation important parts of your interviewee's conflict and dispute resolution experiences?  Does the interviewee value power?  How does s/he deal with it?  How does reputation (his/her own and that of the other party) affect conflict management in the interviewee's profession?
8. Does the person ever act as a third party (e.g., mediate) or turn to a third party in conflict and dispute situations?
9. If the person negotiates, how and where did the person learn to do so?

This list of questions is not exhaustive.  They are only suggested areas of inquiry.  The readings, lectures, etc. include additional issues to consider.  Remember, your reactions and analysis represent an essential part of the paper.

Option F: Conflict/Dispute Resolution Research Critique
Scientific research is rhetorical (McCloskey, The Rhetoric of Economics, 1988).  Certainly social scientific research, when it appears as published scholarship, attempts to influence policy decisions, disciplines, and other scholars.  It is argument attempting to gain adherence.

Your task concerns the evaluation of published "conflict" research .  In doing so, you will be examining research as a kind of rhetorical act.  You need not employ rhetorical principles, but conceiving of published research as rhetorical may help you in your task.

Select a published research (not solely theoretical) essay dealing with some aspect of conflict or dispute behavior.  Relevant publications include: Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Journal of Conflict Management, Peace Review, Negotiation Journal,  Mediation Quarterly, Conciliation Courts Review, and the Dispute Resolution Journal.  You may find others, particularly in contextual areas that interest you (e.g., Society and Natural Resources, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).  You can also report on research published in conflict and dispute resolution anthologies (some available at OSU's Valley Library, U of O's Law Library, and Willamette U.'s Law Library).  Include a copy of the research article.

The Critique Process
First, offer background on the study.  Briefly summarize the research.  What is it about?  What is the research purpose?  What is the study attempting to discover?  Summarize the literature review.  What previous research provides the foundation for this study?  Include enough information to describe what this study is addressing.  Include the research questions and/or hypotheses.

Second, focus on the research method.  What methodology is employed?  Present the important dimensions of the methodological procedure.  Is it quantitative or qualitative research?

Third, evaluate the research foundation, statement of research problem, question(s) or hypothesis(es).  Is the research grounded adequately in theory and previous research (is the literature review adequate)?  Are the research questions clear?  Does the methodology employed seem appropriate to answer the research question or address the research problem?  You may not have much background in research methods, but through common sense, rational evaluation, you should be able to assess the "logic" of the invesitgative procedure.  You could also consider the "style" of    presentation (e.g., too jargon-laden, unstated assumptions).

Fourth, offer suggestions for improving the research.  What could the researcher(s) have done to strengthen the study?  How might a replication improve on this effort?

Finally, consider external validity (generalizability).  Are the results of this study applicable to a population beyond the research itself?  Does this study have real-world applications?  Is this study meaningful?  Is it significant?  Is is trite?  Is it a waste of time?  Do you wonder why it  was published?  What did you learn?

OPTION G: Book Critique
Select a book that deals with a conflict situation, conflict management, or conflict resolution.  Gain the instructor's approval for the book you select.  The reaction/critique paper should include a short summary of the book,  followed by your evaluation of it.  You may want to consider the following descriptive and evaluative issues.

ISSUES OF DESCRIPTION - Summarize the content of the book.  Possible questions to consider include: What is the central theme of the book?  What are its most important points?  Does the book raise or address worthwhile issues?  Does it pose interesting questions?   How clear are the ideas?  How readable is the text?  Who is/are the relevant audience(s) for this book?

ISSUES  OF  EVALUATION - React to the book.  You might consider the following questions: What do you like and dislike about the book; its content, its style, etc.?  Is the content coherent?  What are the strengths of the book?  What are its weaknesses?  How well are ideas presented?  Are the major points explained adequately; are the arguments appropriate?  Is the central message clear?  Is the book well-grounded in both theory and research?  What kinds of evidence are employed?   Are they appropriate?

ISSUES OF RESPONSE - Respond to the book as a reader and as a student of conflict management/resolution.  Potential questions are: What have you learned from the book?  What meaningful points does the author make?  How do the ideas in this book relate to other readings you have done about conflict management/resolution (e.g., the readings of this course).  What is the "practical relevance" of the book and the ideas it presents?  Who should read this book?  Do you find the substance of the book compelling and insightful, or an unproductive use of one's reading time (or something in-between)?

ISSUES OF RECOMMENDATION - Would you recommend this book to people interested in conflict management/resolution?  Should this book be required or optional reading for an undergraduate and/or graduate course in conflict management/resolution?  Who should read this book?

Remember, a critique is not a commentary of agreement or disagreement with a book's content and ideas, although some attention to this issue is appropriate.  A critique evaluates discourse according to some clear standard.  Your evaluative criteria should be clearly evident in the paper.

Option H: Media Conflict Analysis
Media prgramming is replete with conflict.  The daily news (radio, television, newspaper, internet) typically contains multiple stories that involve conflict in some form.   Many different kinds of telemedia programming feature conflict.  Cable television and internet news shows (e.g., CNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Mathews, the Drudge Report on the web, Fox NewsChannel's Hannity and Combs, Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio show) focus on conflict.  Many entertainment shows (dramas, tabloid talk shows, even situation comedies) and films include conflict as part of their story lines.

In this paper, compare two different media treatments of the same type of conflict situation.  First. select the conflict situation (e.g., Yugloslavia elections, health care/managed care, gay rights, maritial/relationship conflict) you want to address.  Second, discover two different media treatments of that conflict topic or situation (e.g., an internet site and NPR show; a news paper and television account; two different television shows).

Third, develop and apply some framework for analyzing (describing and interpreting) the media treatments you select.  Explain that framework.  Use the framework to understand and evaluate the two treatments.  In doing so, compare the media treatments and consider the implications of their messages for how receivers/viewers may perceive the conflict situation and the "lessons" about conflict these treatments teach.

Option J: Simulation Analysis
During Week Nine, class members will participate in a two hour simulation.  Following the simulation, you may write a paper reacting to, analyzing, and critiquing the experience.  You should discuss what you learned from the simulation, if anything, about conflicts/ disputes and their management.  You should analyze the simulation activity in terms of relevant conflict management concepts.  Make direct reference to readings, videos, and class materials where appropriate.  More specific paper guidelines will be provided immediately following the simulation.

Option K (COMM 440 only) is a short version of the COMM 540 term paper: "Conflict Assessment."  The COMM 440 Conflict Assessment consists of steps 1 through 4 of the graduate student term paper assignment.  Option G does not include steps 5 and 6.

THE COMM 540 (GRADUATE STUDENT) ASSESSMENT PAPER

This course task is required for COMM 540 students and optional (in lieu of the final exam) for COMM 440 students.  The assignment involves assessing an actual conflict and identifying alternate management strategies.

Step the First:  Select a conflict situation suitable for assessment.  The conflict you select can be current (occurring now), recent, or something that took place a number of years ago.  It can involve any level, sphere, setting, arena, or realm (in other words, it could be interpersonal, international, legal, organizational, natural resource, social, etc).  Key Point:  Select a conflict for which material about it is readily accessible, via newspapers, magazines, the internet, interviews, and so on.

Step the Second:  Submit a one page prospectus for review as soon as possible but no later than the Monday of WEEK THREE.

Step the Third:  Develop and justify a conflict assessment framework.  You could:
1.  Develop your own conflict assessment framework, drawing upon your academic knowledge of conflict.
2.  Use a published conflict assessment framework (e.g., Keltner's Struggle Sprectrum, Wehr's Conflict Map, Carpenter and Kernnedy's Conflict Grid, the Progress Triangle, etc.).
3.  Combine elements from more than one conflict assessment framework.
4.  Employ a modified version of a conflict assessment guide.
Regardless of the assessment framework you use, you must justify your choice.  That is, explain why you are using the particular assessment framework you have selected.

Step the Fourth:  Do the assessment.

Step the Fifth:  In light of your asssessment, identify and explain alternate management strategies.  Although you are not required to do so, you may select a "preferred" management strategy.

Step the Sixth:  Present a 10 minute summary of your assessment to the COMM 540 group during the final exam period (1900 on Monday of finals week or a designated alternate time).

Additional notes:
All materials should be fully cited, whether pertaining to specific conflict case materials or conflict theory.  Use any published citation system.  I (Walker) prefer APA 4th edition or newer.