Final week post 3

Pick one other concept in the book that you feel needs further discussion? (You can choose from ANY chapter in the book).

The concept I want to discuss further is about interpersonal communication on chapter 6. I have an interest especially on public scrutiny test. It states,

1. Am I personally proud of this action?
2. Am I comfortable with this decision?
3. Would I feel uncomfortable or embarrassed if this decision were known to my colleagues, friends, spouse, or children?

I should write down these questions and put on a wall because I sometimes don’t have confidence on what I am doing.
However, I think people need some exceptions. For example, I have an experience taking a day off at my part-time job because I really wanted to go my friends’ farewell party. I should have scheduled my time in advance, but I called my job on that day and told them that I got sick. I knew this was irresponsible and I didn’t feel comfortable lying to my boss. On the other hand, I told myself, “It’s just a part-time job. There are other people working today so it’ll be ok”, and couldn’t give up going to the farewell party.

I wonder what you would do in a situation like this.

Final week post 2

What concept/s in this class have you found most interesting? What was it about that concept/s that you found interesting?

The concepts I found most interesting is cultural distance (pg. 360). It was very interesting to see that the textbook stated Japan and the U.S as an example of one of the most culturally different countries. When I think about it, there were differences, such as languages, behaviors, foods, beliefs, and so on. However, when I was in the U.S., I didn’t feel much difference between those two countries. When I first went to the U.S., I was sad not because I got a cultural shock, but because I missed my family and friends. After making friends in the U.S., I was totally ok being in a different country. Thus, I think people are somewhat adaptive in born because if we are not, we are not be able to survive. We eat when we are hungry, we smile when we are happy, and we struggle when there are concerns and problems. Even though languages, beliefs, and behaviors are different in different cultures, I believe we are more similar than different in basics.

Final week post 1

Which of the research methods listed in Table 13.3 seem the most interesting? Assume you want to study some aspect of deception. Frame a research question. Which method would you choose to answer the question. Why?

I am interested in ethnography the most among research methodologies because this is what I have learned in my anthropology major.
An interesting research question would be, “How people react when they realized that they are deceived?”
We can do ethnography outside of the U.S, and find out cultural differences between the U.S. and another country. However, this research would be difficult since finding “deceptive situations” is not an easy thing. Maybe we can do a research at a police station and observe people who came. Some good aspects of ethnography are that we can see real reactions or words from people. We never know what kind of new findings about cultures will emerge.

week 13 post 3

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

The textbook asks, “Do the media create desires, or do they simply give the public what it wants?” (303)

I agree with both opinions.
The one side, limited effects model and obstinate audience theory states that viewers are not passive but have power to interpret messages by their own (303). I partially agree with this view. For example, these days in Japan, there are lots of news about food security. It started from frozen dumplings from China that contained poisonous chemicals. Then, almost once or twice a month, there were news about food, such as noodles, cheese, and sweets that that were found with toxic chemicals inside. People, especially housewives’ responds to these news were so great that consumptions of these products were decreased dramatically. Furthermore, people started check where products were made when they go grocery shopping, and choose products from farms where they can trust. Thus, when I go to a grocery store, I can see detailed descriptions of farms, such as place, a name of farm and even names of farmers.

I don’t think a topic about food security has been picked up so much because media wanted to do so. I rather think it has been picked up because viewers showed a lot of interest on that topic.

I also agree with the other side, powerful effects model (303). It happens every day that TV picks up one incident exaggeratedly, but the topic is swept away by another incident on the next day. For example, there was a news about a group of mysterious people with full of white clothes walking in a mountain. All the TV news were about the group all day on that day, and reported that the group might be a cult group and dangerous. Next day, the news was gone and different news were broadcasted. I wondered, “What happened to the white clothes group?” I felt that TV is really a gatekeeper of issues, and we are passive and have no control choosing what we should know about.

week 13 post 2

Do you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e. that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.

I agree with Marshall McLuhan. TV is a cool medium because it gives us very detail information along with sounds and pictures. If the same topic is on a magazine or newspaper, it would be differently detailed contents from different perspectives.
If TV doesn’t change its picture or a topic, then we will get bored instantly. In recent years in Japan, I realized that many TV channels put a counting time in a corner of TV few seconds before changing its subject. I think this is a good tactic because it makes viewers to stay on the channel.
As the textbook stated, through television, we are used to get information in a short and rapid pace (308). Not only television but also internet changed our way of perceive messages dramatically. Now a day, we can check almost all news on TV though internet too. We can literally access information anywhere anytime. I am sure this new style to access information has changed our way to see the world. For example, we can vote or send opinions to media easily though internet. We can also exchange our ideas about social issues on internet too. This might change our perception of news that we can present our ideas more easily, and might be less passive towards information.

week 13 post1

Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have not formed cyber relationships, why not?

I have never made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace. I have an experience talking with someone online through Skype, but the conversation was only for that moment because I just wanted to kill time at that time. It would be troublesome for me if the person online kept talking to me every week like my real friends because I don't want to spend my time for people in cyberspace. I also feel that it is unsecure to talk with people online because I cannot talk to them face to face, and there is no way to know who the person really is. Thus, if I have a trouble or something to concern, I would talk to my friends who I already know rather than people online.

I have a friend who tries to find a romantic partner in a different country through Skype. Once he got a girlfriend through Skype, but after a while, his “girlfriend” said to him that she doesn’t want to talk to him anymore and he lost contact with her. He was hurt, but my friend and I didn’t know what to say to him because we didn't think it is a good idea to find a girlfriend through Skype for the first place.
On the other hand, I think it is a good idea to find a romantic partner online through a specialized internet site, such as match.com or harmony.com. This is because these sites can be used as an opportunity to find a partner. They can actually meet, and then be a couple if they liked each other. They can see each other, so I think it is more real and safer than being together just inside the cyberspace.

Week 12 post 2

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

I found the Organizational Chart: Campus Safety Department at XYZ University especially interesting. Before I read this chapter, I never realized that there are three kinds of flows: downward flow, upward flow, and horizontal flow.
I am working at a cake shop, and I really feel a good utilization of these flows is necessary for organizations. My coworkers and my job is to sell cakes at a shop. Our boss/chef sends cakes to the cake shop from a factory that is 20 minutes away by a car. Thus, our boss is always at the factory making cakes and creating new cakes, so he rarely comes to the shop. Since he doesn’t have time to sell cakes, we (the sellers) know more about actual reactions from the customers towards our cakes than the chef.

There are meetings where we can exchange our ideas and the idea of the chef, but it takes place only once few months. Sometimes the chef sends cakes a lot more than we can sell in a day. Sometimes we run out cakes when there are lot more customers who want to buy. I want to suggest to my boss, that we should strength our upward flow so we can sell our cakes more efficiently.