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COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF
MOTHERS IN MOTHER-(HELD

ENTERAC'E’EQN WETHIN THE HOME

That: for “1.0 Degree af M. A.
MECBIGAN STATE UNWERSETY

Angeia Remsberg Smith
1968

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ABSTRACT

COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF MOTHERS IN MOTHER-CHILD
INTERACTION WITHIN THE HOME

by Angela Remsberg Smith

This study attempted to identify verbal communication pat-
terns of mothers during mother-child interaction within the
home and to examine the relationship of the patterns to situ-
ational factors. Communication is one of the central elements
in home management frameworks. For example, the functions of
planning, controlling and evaluating cannot be carried out
among several family members without communication. In the
management process, communication serves to inform family
members of the patterns of behavior expected of each. In this
way, the interplay of role responsibility and communication net—
works contributes to the development of family members. In
order to better understand this interplay, the study of the
relationship between verbal family communication and the
characteristics of the home environment is needed.

Taped conversations were collected of nine mothers with
their preschool children while each dyad engaged in four dif-
ferent shared activities within their homes. The tapes were
later transcribed and eight five-minute samples of the mothers'

communications to their children were categorized using the

Angela Remsberg Smith

coding system described in Magrabi gt _l. ("Framework for
Studying Family Patterns," J. of H.E., Vol. 59, Nov. 1967,
714-719). Biographical data and descriptions of situational
factors in the family were obtained by interviews.

A resource was defined in this study as communication
content a sender used to influence another person or persons--
fact, preference, direction, and motivation. Each resource
was further coded as to the mode of communicative exchange.
The mode indicated the manner in which the resource was
transmitted to the receiver--offering, seeking, accepting and
not accepting. The sums of the frequencies for each mother
in each of these sixteen communication categories were obtained
and these were correlated with selected situational variables
using the method of stepwise addition of variables to form a
least squares equation.

The mean frequency of the message units delivered by the
mothers to their children, when defined as to modes were:
offering--69 percent; seeking--20 percent; accepting--8 percent;
and not accepting--5 percent. When message units were defined
as to resources, the frequencies were: fact--52 percent;
preference--7 percent; direction or command--58 percent; and
motivation or encouragement-~5 percent.

Situational factors were found to be related to specific
categories of the mothers' communication. Those factors re-

lated to all the modes were: (1) number of community moves

Angela Remsberg Smith

since marriage, (2) amount of time spent by mothers in house-
hold duties including such activities as meal preparation,
dishwashing, bedmaking, and tidying up; and (3) amount of help
with household duties. Those factors related to all the
resources included the same three factors that were related
to the modes plus the factor of family size and composition.
The less frequently related variables for the modes and for
the resources were: (1) mother's educational level, (2) father's
daily hours from home because of employment, (5) family income,
and (4) frequency of eating dinner together.

Combination of the mode—resource designations resulted
in the situational variables clustered both by the frequency
and the similarity of occurrence into two groups. Those
factors most frequently related to the communication categories
were: (1) family size and composition, (2) number of community
moves since marriage, (5) amount of time spent by mothers in
household duties, (4) amount of help with household duties.
Less frequently related factors with the categories were:
(1) mother's educational level, (2) father's daily hours from
home because of employment, and (5) frequency of eating dinner

together.

COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF MOTHERS IN MOTHER-CHILD

INTERACTION WITHIN THE HOME

BY

Angela Remsberg Smith

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Home Management and Child Development

1968

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express her sincere appreciation and
gratitude to Dr. Frances M. Magrabi, Associate Professor of
the Home Management Department, for her guidance and encourage-
ment during the course of this study and the preparation of
this manuscript. Her time and sincere concern have been
generously given.

Appreciation is also expressed to Mrs. Marjorie Heifner,
Research Assistant of the Home Management Department, and to
Miss Jo Lynn Cunningham, Graduate Assistant, for their helpful
suggestions and for their assistance in determining intercoder
reliability.

Gratitude is expressed to Dr. Beatrice Paolucci and
Dr. Gertrude Nygren for their review of the manuscript and
their suggestions.

Gratitude is also expressed to my husband, Dudley, for
his many helpful suggestions and his empathic understanding

throughout the period of this study.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . .

LIST OF TABLES. . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter

I.

II.

III.

IV.

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . .

Purpose of the Study. . . .
Assumptions . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms . . . .

REVIEW OF LITERATURE. . . . .
Communication as a Process.
Styles of Communication . .
Coding System Deve10pment .
Conclusions From the Review

MATERIALS AND METHODS . . . .

Method. . . . . . . . . . .

Detailed Descriptions of Measures Employed

Description of Subjects . .
Collection of Data. . . . .

FINDINGS. . . . . . . . . . .

of Literature

Distribution of Message Units
Test of Independence of Categories.

Test of Relationship Between Communication

Categories and Situational Variables.

The Relationship of Situational Factors to

the Modes . . . . . . . .

The Relationship of Situational Variables

to the Resources. . . . .

The Relationship of the Situational Vari-
ables of the Mode-Resource Categories

iii

Page

ii

\IUI U'l tP-IP‘CN l-‘

10

16
16
17
22
26
52

52
54

55
4O
44

46

TABLE OF CONTENTS — Continued

Chapter Page
V. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. . . . . . . . . 52
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Implications for Future Study . . . . . . . 57
LITERATURE CITED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
APPENDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

iv

Table

1.
2.

5.

10.

11.

12.

LIST OF TABLES

Age of Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Annual Family Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Distribution of Message Units of Mother's
Communication to Children During Home Activities
as Related to the Categories of Resources and
Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Relationships of Situational Variables with
Multiple Regression Correlational Coefficients
(R) to the Mode-Resource Categories. . . . . . .

The Relationship of Situational Variables With
the Modes Communicated from Mothers to Their
Children During Shared Home Activities . . . . .

The Relationship of Situational Variables and
Their Component Parts with the Modes Communi-
cated from Mothers to Their Children During
Shared Home Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Relationship of Situational Variables with
the Resources Communicated from Mothers to Their
Children During Shared Home Activities . . . . .

The Relationship of Situational Variables and
Their Component Parts with the Resources Communi—
cated from Mothers to Their Children During
Shared Home Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Sum and Mean Distribution of Message Units
in Each Communication Category . . . . . . . . .

Bibliographical and Descriptive Information
About Families of the Sample . . . . . . . . . .

The Number of Message Units for Each Mother in
Each Communication Category. . . . . . . . . . .

The Relationship Between Each Mode—Resource Cate-
gory with Each Situational Variable Based on
Simple Correlations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page
23

25

55

56

41

45

45

47

49

67

7O

71

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Communication is an integral part of any management process
and is recognized as one of the central elements in home manage-
ment frameworks. Bettinghaus (1964, p. 50) at a 1964 Home
Management Conference stated,

I am convinced that communication is vital to the

Home management task, and also convinced that we can

develop an adequate theory of communication to the home

management situation.
Liston, at the same meeting, categorized communication as one of
the interaction processes involved in management by the family
unit. \She conceptualized it as

a process involving transmission of a message from one

individual or group of individuals to another individual

or group of individuals. Also it is defined as the

process of making common or of exchanging subjective

states such as ideas, sentiments, and beliefs usually by

means of language, though also by visual representation,

imitation, and suggestion (Liston, 1964, p. 68).

Miller (1966, p. 92), on the other hand, has narrowed the con-
cept for research purposes to

the study of behavioral situations in which the source

transmits a message to the receiver with the conscious

attempt to affect the latter's behavior.

This definition refers predominately to verbal communication

rather than to both verbal and non-verbal behavioral.

In developing a conceptual framework which defines the
place of communication within the home management process,
scientific efforts need to be focused on empirical research of
communication patterns which will describe:

1. the people involved in the home management process;

2. the kinds of people involved as receivers or sources
of communication;

5. the content and frequency of messages; and

4. the relationship of communication as a management
process to the other basic components of family
management--va1ues, goals, resources, family, manager,
environment, and problem situation.

Research of this type needs to be conducted within the home

to preserve as much as possible the natural setting of the situ-
ation. Up to this time, though, a major problem in this area

of research has been the development of coding systems applic-
able to family interaction as it relates to management.

Human resources are recognized as a basic component of
family management. This concept refers to the energy, inter-
ests, abilities, skills, knowledge, and attributes of indi-
viduals. In the family the mother plays an important part in
her child's development and resource use through her manipula-
tive role during mother-child interaction within the home
environment.

The following study attempted to identify communication
patterns of mothers during mother-child interaction within the
home and to examine their relationship with situational factors

which were selected on the basis of studies in the review of

the literature and the availability of data. The verbal

communication of each mother to her preschool child or children
while participating in four shared activities was tape-
recorded within the home during Fall, 1966, and Winter, 1967.
These conversations were later coded on two bases--the salient
resource and the mode of transmission.

The coding system utilized was eSpecially adapted to evalu-
ate verbal communication. With the use of this instrument,
the frequency with which a specific resource was utilized with
a specific mode was found for each mother. This was considered
to be her communication pattern. The frequency of messages in
each mode-resource category was then correlated with specific
situational variables. These situational variables were com—
posed of bibliographical data and descriptions of factors in

the home environment.

Purpose of this Study

The two main purposes of categorizing the mothers' com-
munication to their children were:
1. to explore ways of coding tape-recorded verbal com—

munication of mother to child while they participated
in shared activities in the home.

2. to identify if the elements of communication patterns
of mothers were related to selected situational
variables.

Previous studies by Bernstein (1965), Hess and Shipman

(1965), Merrill (1946L Olim, Hess and Shipman (1965), and
Walters, Conners and Zunich (1964) lead one to believe that

situational variables would be related to a valid categoriza-

tion of communication. The objective of this study was to

examine whether or not selected situational variables were
related to specific categories of verbal communication.
Because of its exploratory nature, no specific hypotheses were

postulated.

Assumptions

Three assumptions underlying this study were:

1. communication is a symbolic system which expresses the
roles and statuses of family members.

2. verbal communication can be differentiated into cate-
gories for analysis.

5. the communication pattern of a mother to her child is
not influenced substantially by the nature of the
activities in which they jointly participate.

Definition of Terms

The definitions of the terms as Operationalized in this
study were:

1. Communication—~an interaction situation in which the
source (person speaking) transmits a message to the
receiver with the conscious attempt to affect the
latter's behavior.

2. Communication pattern-~relative frequency of resource
category and mode of communication as coded by the
coding system of Magrabi §;_§_, (1967).

5. Resource-~content a sender uses to influence another
person or persons—-fact, preference, direction, or
motivation.

4. Mode--the manner in which the resource is transmitted
to the receiver—-offering, seeking, accepting, or not
accepting.

5. Message unit-~each attempt to transmit a single thought
or idea (one stimulus) from mother to child.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Communication as a Process

Communication is one of the processes of management.

As a process it is composed of interactions which are events
by which one party tangibly influences the overt action or
state of mind of the other (Loomis, 1960). The purpose of
communication is to elicit a specific response from a particu-
lar person or group. For the family communication conveys
meanings of social acts. Through this process, information,
decisions, and directions are transmitted among actors which
affect the ways in which knowledge, opinions and attitudes are
formed or modified by interaction. Since every social act
must have at least two people, communication represents a
symbolic interaction from which the individual acquires in-
sight and knowledge of his role (Berlo, 1950).

Communication is recognized as one of the central elements
in home management frameworks. For example, the functions of
planning, controlling, and evaluating cannot be carried out
among family members without communication. During the manage-
ment process, communication serves to inform family members of

the patterns of behavior expected of each. Liston's (1964)

conceptual model of home management interlaces communication
with the development of individual family members. This
development takes place when responsibility is assumed by a
family member. It is through role playing that family members
learn the cultural patterns associated with their respective
roles.

Sabin (1954) defines role as a "patterned sequence of
learned activities or deeds performed by a person in an inter-
action situation" and Linton (1945) defines role as a combi-
nation of cultural patterns associated with a particular
position or status within the social system. Roles and statuses
are important in communication because they identify the
participants and convey both verbal and non-verbal messages.
These messages serve as instructions from the receiver to the
sender concerning how the receiver should be addressed and from
the sender to the receiver concerning how the verbal message
should be interpreted (Ruesch, 1955).

In Liston‘s (1964) model of home management, communica—
tion networks within and outside the family serve to transmit
information about behavior expected of persons playing each
particular role. These unique patterns of role responsibility
for each family affect the ways of getting decisions made and
carried out when various problem situations occur. Communica-
tion serves to inform the members of the overt patterns of
thinking, feeling, and acting that are expected of each member

and as a result, according to Liston, characteristic patterns

for each family are formed and can be identified. Interpersonal
tactics are employed by family members as attempts to change
existing roles, statuses, or rules, while the manipulation of
communication content is used by family members as a control
technique. Efforts are made both to sustain existing relation-

ships and to maintain and clarify self-identity.

Styles of Communication

Bernstein (1965) identified two styles of communication
found in families--public (or restricted) and formal (or
elaborated). He suggested that they have important implica-
tions in child development. Each family in society has a de-
rivative of one of the styles. The restrictive style of
communication consists of short, simple, often unfinished
sentences. The intent of these messages is to promote soli-
darity or to reduce tension. On the other hand, the elaborate
style of communication is individualized; the message is
specific to a particular situation, tOpic, or person. Messages
of this type are more differentiated and precise than messages
of the restrictive style; as a result, they permit a wider
and more complex range of thought.

Bernstein went on to illustrate the meshing of social
interaction and language style by the distinctions he made
between two family types—-those oriented toward control by
social norms, or by statues, and those oriented toward persons.

In status oriented families, role characteristics and expectations

serve as guides for behavior. The behavioral norms, which are
stressed through the restrictive style of verbal communication,
rely upon the status of participants, or a behavioral norm for
justification. Verbal exchange is inherent in the structure;
it regulates it and is regulated by it. In the person oriented
family, the unique characteristics of the family members modify
status and role demands which affect interaction. Behavior is
justified in terms of preference, personal reactions and sub-
jective states. A wide range of linguistic and behavioral
alternatives in interpersonal exchange is evident.

With Bernstein's concepts of language style and family
style as a foundation, Olim, Hess, and Shipman (1966) conducted
a study to observe the relationship of language style to family
type. They found that families oriented to control by status
appeal, or role designations, used predominately the restric-
tive style of communication. The children in this situation
learned best by rote—learning techniques and tended to be
compliant.

Olim, Hess and Shipman (1965) continued the above research
using samples from different socio—economic populations. The
results of their studies showed evidence that the restrictive
style of communication was used extensively in lower class
families. The elaborate style, on the other hand, was used
mostly in middle and upper class families. Within the indi—
vidual families, the association between language and social

structure emerged in terms of principles that governed

decision-making activities. These activities, in turn, helped
to regulate the nature and amount of social exchange.

Walters, Conners and Zunich (1964) had earlier investi-
gated the relationship of mother-child interaction to the lower
socio-economic class in the study, "Interaction of Mothers and
Children from Lower Class Families"; they found that mothers
and their children had less interaction than those middle and
upper class subjects who participated in an earlier study by
Merrill (1946). The middle and upper class subjects used direct-
ing behavior four times as frequently, helping behavior nine
times as frequently, structuring behavior five times as fre-
quently and teaching behavior more than three times as frequently
as did the lower class mothers (Walters §£_al,, 1964).

Based on the earlier research, Hess and Shipman (1965)
postulated that the two types of language styles affected the
children's patterns of cognitive development differently. Since
these patterns of cognitive activity are socialized in early
experience in the home, especially with the mother, they be-
come the basis upon which further cognitive development proceeds.
The researchers, in addition, considered the mother a teacher and
viewed interaction between the mother and child as a teaching-
learning situation (Hess and Shipman, 1967). If, then, the
growth of c0gnitive functioning is mediated by experience, the
strategies that a mother employs are likely to have consequences
for the ability of the child to graSp or learn a lesson in any

Specific teaching.

10

In a study now in progress, Georianne Baker (1965) has
integrated Hess and Shipman's cognitive theory within the
process of home management. Her objective is to delineate
empirically the way resources present within the environment of
preschool children are organized and utilized for educability,
that is, the goal of preparing children to participate in the
future school situation. One part of the study is to analyze
the mother's communication in an attempt to acquire the mother's
verbal reactions to a set of drawings or photographs which
represent selected resource utilization actions. The reactions
are to be coded to form a subscore of the Home Resource Pattern

Scale.

Coding System Development

Developing coding systems to analyze communication between
family members which are meaningful to home management pro-
cesses and which can be applied objectively to family integra—
tion situations has been one of the real problems in research.
In 1964, Bettinghaus observed that in every book and article
he had read in home management, communication was given the
same level of importance as any other element of the management
process; yet, none of the sources made use of communication
theory in any fashion which helped to understand the process
of home management. He further stated that in the home manage-
ment area attempts made to fit management models to the home

management situation had failed. In the area of the social

11

sciences, similar problems of model adaptability have occurred,
especially in researchers' attempts to analyze communication.
Heuristic communication models have been developed by Berlo
(1961), Morris (1964), Reusch (1955), and Miller (1966). In
addition, several researchers have made attempts to Specifically
classify communicative acts. These classifications may be
applicable to home management models.

Bales (1950) has developed an interaction process analysis
system. This framework divides communication into twelve cate-
gories. Each single act spoken or gestured is placed in the
most appropriate division. An index of supportiveness is then
computed for each speaker.

Kenkel and Hoffman (1956), using Bales' framework, focused
on the communication between husband and wife in a hypothetical
decision situation. Strodtbeck (1954), also using Bales' model,
studied the family as a three person group. He described the
communication of mother, father, and son during discussions of
hypothetical situations. This appears to be the only completed
study found during the review of literature which had been
Operationalized in the home; all the rest were conducted in
the laboratory.

Longabaugh (1965) divided each communicative message into
(1) resources salient in the interaction and (2) modes of

transmission which were defined as:

12

 

 

Salient resources Primary modalities
Fact Offering
Information Seeking
Support Depriving, i.e., taking
away, withholding
Accepting

Not accepting, i.e.,
ignoral, rejection

The resources were defined as information, support, and control.
The modes of transmission were defined as offering, seeking,
depriving, accepting, and not accepting. The direct measure-
ment of rewards and costs occurring could then be grossly
counted. Direct measurement of quantity brings the variables
to the Operational level where they can be used for experimen-
tation.

Magrabi gtwal. (1967) adapted Longabaugh's framework by
modifying the categories of salient resources to make them more
appropriate to the study of family activity patterns within the
home. The salient resources in this revised coding system in-
cluded fact, preference, direction or command, and motivation
or encouragement. This framework was designed to code only
verbal behavior as collected in the home by use of a tape re-
corder. This approach to collecting family communication dif—
fered from the other studies found in the search through the
literature in two ways:

1. It referred to activities observed within the home.

2. The definition of communication included only verbal
communication; it did not include non-verbal.

Hess and Shipman (1967) developed a coding system in which

they identified relationships between socio-economic

15

characteristics and the cognitive elements in maternal behavior
of four socio-economic groups of mothers and children during
laboratory observations. Results indicate that mothers dif-
fered little in the affective elements of their interaction with
their children. The gross differences appeared in the frequen-
cies of patterning stimuli by the mother which organized informa-
tion for the child and in the cognitive environments which they
represented. An analysis of maternal techniques of conversing
with their children utilized a laboratory procedure in which
mothers were asked to teach their children three Specified
tasks. Two tape recorders were used to record the mother's
verbal behavior during the interaction with her child instead

of coding during the observation. One tape recorded the sound
while a hidden observer recorded behavioral observations on
another tape at the same time. The transcripts containing the
verbalizations of the subjects and the observer's descriptions
of the mothers' non-verbal behavior were divided into message
units and were coded by a category system. The categories were
informing, motivating, orienting, seeking physical feedback,
seeking verbal feedback, positive reinforcement and negative

reinforcement.

Conclusions From the Review of Literature

Since the mother and child may react differently in a
laboratory setting than in the home atmosphere, it is important

to observe interaction in the home, but there are several

14

problems related to coding mother-child interaction outside
the laboratory. The amount of control the researcher has over
the environment and the subjects is greatly reduced. This
affects the methods of coding possible and the type of mother-
child interaction that will be observed; yet deSpite these
weaknesses, the home setting provides a more natural environ-
ment for the interaction. Since the observer cannot remain
hidden, he must either code behavior during the observation,
in the presence of the participants, or record it for later
transcription.

The Specific coding categories used in a research design
will depend on the researcher's definition of communication
and one's objectives of the study. Hess and Shipman (1965)
used a definition of communication which included both verbal
and non-verbal behavior. Miller (1966), on the other hand,
defined communication as the study of behavioral situations
in which a speaker through his message to a receiver consciously
tries to affect his behavior. This definition refers to pre—
dominately verbal communication; non-verbal communication is
on the perifery of the model. Using this definition it would
be easier to identify and observe a subset of phenomena unique
to communication and measureable in objective terms than when
the definition would include both verbal and non-verbal stimuli.
The Miller criterion also makes tape recording sessions of
family communication feasible and once this verbal communication

is recorded, it can be stored until coding is possible.

15

A well-defined coding system would enable the researcher to
analyze the data objectively and the use of tapes would enable
the researcher to review the communication several times, if
necessary, in order to code the verbal interaction and to
check intercoder reliability.

A study in which the conversation of mother to child dur-
ing the participation in shared home activities would be tape-
recorded, coded, and analyzed would introduce a new approach
in gathering data about family interaction within the home
based on objective, measureable criteria. It would also offer
a new criterion for evaluating conversational patterns of
mothers to be correlated with situational variables. This
analysis would be a useful addition of information for obtain-
ing a greater understanding of the management process in the
home.

Hess and Shipman (1967) found in their study of socio-
economic levels that the association between language and social
structure emerged in terms of principles that govern decision-
making processes, which in turn help to regulate the nature
and amount of social exchange. Other researchers had previously
found similar relationships between communication content of
mothers and their socio-economic levels. Based on these studies,
one concludes that communication and family situational variables
are not independent. Therefore, they need to be studied as they

occur in the home environment.

CHAPTER III
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Method

For this study mother—child activities within homes were
used as behavioral situations. An interview method was uti-
lized to obtain biographical data and descriptions of situational
factors surrounding the home environments. Conversations be-
tween mothers and children during four shared home activities
were obtained by taped recordings during home visits and were
later transcribed. The data for this study were selected from
the questionnaires and taped conversations collected in a pilot
study.1

Random samples of mothers' conversations directed to their
children during shared home activities were coded using the
system developed by Magrabi §£_al, (1967). For each mother
the number of message units in each conversation category in
the coding system was correlated with selected situational
variables.

The Situational variables examined in this study were

chosen on the basis of characteristics of social structure.

 

1"Use of Space, Material and Communication Among Family
Members Performing Family Activities." Michigan Agricultural
Experiment Station Project No. 786.

16

17

Those factors which emerged during the review of studies by
Bernstein (1965), Hess and Shipman (1965), Merrill (1946),
Olim 35 El. (1965), and Walters §£__l, (1964) were: family
size and composition, educational level of mother, and family
income. Other variables included were factors thought by the
researcher to control the pattern of family life and inter-
action among members. They included the father's daily hours
from home because of employment, time allocated by mother for
household duties, amount of help mother received with house—

hold duties, frequency of eating dinner together, and the

number of community moves since marriage.
Detailed Descriptions of Measures Employed

Interview schedule and method. A three part interview
schedule was used to obtain background information about the
families. Information obtained from the questionnaire for this
study pertained to:

1. family Size and composition,

2. educational status of wife,

5. husband's daily hours from home because of employment,

4. family income,

5. number of community moves since marriage,

6. time allocated for household duties by the mother,

7. amount of help given the mother with household duties,
8. frequency of eating dinner together.

The questionnaire was precoded to facilitate punching the data

onto IBM cards.
Coding_categories and definitions. Magrabi §£._l, (1967)

revised Longabaugh's model by modifying the categories in

salient resources and in modalities (modes). The framework was

18

designed to code only verbal behavior collected within the

home by use of a tape recorder. The revised resources and

modes were:

 

 

Salient resources Primary modalities (modes)
Fact Offering
Preference Seeking
Direction or command Accepting
Motivation or encouragement Not accepting

This framework described verbal communication as an ex-

change process of resources. A resource was defined as com-

munication content a sender used to influence another person or

persons; the possible resources were: fact, preference, direc-

tion, or motivation. The definitions of the resources were:

1.

Fact--that which is believed by the speaker to be of
actual occurrence and existence, reality as an event,
statement of a thing done or existing, indisputable
statement—-not an evaluation or preference.

Preference--that which conveys the act of preferring
(a value judgment) or opportunity of choosing--either
explicitly offered or implied. Usually found within
messages that ask questions or offer a choice between
two or more things.

Command or direction--that which implies action--to
direct authoritatively, order, require, guide, manage
or bring into common action. Stimuli which contain
"shall we" if a definite command or guidance is implied.
Questions seeking from another ”what to do next" when
one is at the end of an activity. Statements which
infer self direction (e.g., I will go now.). Instances
when the source calls a person by name in order to gain
their attention; this is at the beginning of a message
unit.

Motivation or encouragement-—that which is intended to
inspire, hearten, and/or cheer up an individual or in-
cite satisfying relationships. Stimuli are mostly
spontaneous, exuberant statements, not questions or
mundane or expected reinforcements, such as "O.K.,"
"all right," "yea," and "unhuh." Most message units
are of the offering mode.

19

In the communication process one person will instigate a
message when he makes use of a particular resource in an at-
tempt to influence another. The other party will then react by
responding to the resource already made salient. As a result
of the interaction, rewards and costs are incurred for the actors.
Rewards are the pleasures, satisfactions and gratifications the
person enjoys; or the provision of means whereby a drive is
reduced or a need is fulfilled. Costs, on the other hand, are
the factors that operate to inhibit or deter the performance
of a sequence of behavior. The reward less the cost is the
psychic profit. This is the necessary consequence for the
parties in order for an exchange to continue.

For each resource there were four modes of communicative
exchange between persons. The mode was used to convey the
resource as it was transmitted to the receiver. The possible
modes were offering, seeking, accepting, or not accepting.

They are defined in this study as follows:

1. Offering~~act of one offering.

2. Seeking-~act of inquiring or searching. Stimuli of
this mode are usually phased in the form of questions.

5. Accepting--act of receiving (with a consenting mind)
a thing or idea offered; to admit or agree to; to
receive with favor; to approve; to confirm.

4. Not accepting--act of rejecting or declining; to refuse;
disagree to; receive with disfavor; disapprove.

Modes play an important role in transmitting the resource
from a sender to a receiver and vice versa. Possible ways of

communication transmission are:

20

If a person (sender) offers a resource to a receiver,
the latter can either accept the resource or he can
"not accept" the resource, in which case he either

will reject or ignore it.

If the sender seeks a resource from a receiver, the
latter can either respond by offering the resource or

he can ignore the request.

Accepting--act of receiving (with a consenting mind)
a thing or idea offered; to admit or agree to; to

receive with favor; to approve; to confirm.

Not accepting--act of rejecting or declining; to refuse;

disagree to; receive with disfavor; disapprove.

Modes play an important role in transmitting the resource

from a sender to a receiver and vice versa. Possible ways of

communication transmission are:

1.

If a person (sender) offers a resource to a receiver,
the latter can either accept the resource or he can
"not accept" the resource, in which case he either

will reject or ignore it.

If the sender seeks a resource from a receiver, the
latter can either respond by offering the resource

or he can ignore the request.

If the receiver accepts an offered resource by the
sender, he can continue the communicative interchange
by either offering a resource to or seeking a resource

from the original sender.

On the other hand, if a receiver does not accept a
resource offered by the sender, he can initiate further
communication by either offering a resource to or seek-

ing a resource from the sender.

21

The individual message units were defined as each attempt
to transmit a single thought or idea (one stimulus) from one
‘person to another. It may have consisted of one word, "No";
several words, "In a Minute"; or a complete sentence, "I don't
think we will want to do that yet."

A message was considered extraneous material and coded as
"9" if it was uninterpretable either because it could not be
distinguished when transcribing the tapes or could not be coded
because of a lack of understanding of the situation. A common
occurrence was the reSponse "yes" at the beginning of an
activity. Without the knowledge of the previous communication,
it was not possible to interpret the salient resource. The
following responses were also coded as "9" if the coder was
not able to determine to what they referred: "okeydoke," "all
right," "there," "w00ps,“ "oh," and "well." If the message was
not considered extraneous material, it was coded with respect
to the resource and the mode utilized.

Examples of message units categorized into each of the

sixteen cells, as Shown below, are in the appendix, pp. 64-66.

 

RESOURCES
Fact Preference Direction Motivation

Offering
m .
m Seeking
Q a
2 Accept ing

Not

Accepting

 

22

Intercoder reliability. The reliability of the coding was
measured by calculating the percentage of agreement between
two persons independently coding two five—minute samples of
data immediately preceding the coding of the data reported

here. The formula used was:

Number of agreements between two coders
= x 100
Number of message units per five minute
sample

Intercoder
reliability

 

The testing for intercoder reliability was done by the
researcher and one other graduate student in the Department of
Home Management who had not used the coding system before. The
coding system was explained to the graduate student and the
terms were defined and discussed. One two-minute and one five-
minute practice sessions were carried out immediately before
the reliability coding. The intercoder agreement for the five-
minute practice session was 85.6 percent.

The intercoder reliability of the first five-minute coding
session was 76/85 or 91.5 percent, while for the second five-
minute session it was 40/45 or 95.0 percent. The mean inter-

coder reliability was 92.2 percent over both sessions.
Description of Subjects

The study was confined to conversations of nine mothers
who had a child enrolled in Michigan State University's Labora-
tory Preschool during Fall, 1966, and Winter, 1967. The non-

random sample was chosen on the basis of availability of subjects

25

with preschool children. The data collection took place
during shared home activities of the mother and the preschool
child who was attending Laboratory Preschool. Other family
members, in addition, participated in some of the activities.
(Refer to Appendix, pp. 67-69, Table 10, for a resume of the
sample characteristics.)

Family size and composition. The families ranged in size
from 4 to 8 members with a mean of 4.6 members. Three families
did not have fathers present in the home. In one case the
mother and father were divorced; in another they were separated;
and in another the mother had remained unmarried.

The age of the husbands ranged from 28 up to and including
42 years with a mean of 55.2 years. The age of the wives ranged
from 24 years up to and including 42 years with a mean of 51.1
years. Two—thirds of the homemakers were in the 28 to 55 age
range.

There were 27 children in the sample families. The ages
ranged from 7 months up to and including 15 years. A resume
is shown in Table 1. There were 16 males and 11 females.

Fifteen children were preschoolers.

Table 1. Age of Children

 

 

 

Age Group, Number of Children
7 to 12 months 2
2 years 2
5 to 5 years 11
6 to 10 years 11
15 years 1

 

Total 27

 

24

Educational level. All the mothers had at least a ninth
grade education while two had some college; two had bachelor's
degrees; and two had advanced degrees.

Of the six fathers present in the home, only one had at
least a ninth grade education; the remaining five had at least
some college. Of these five, two fathers had bachelor's de-
grees and two fathers had advanced degrees.

Employment status. Only two women were employed. One was
employed in the clerical field 4 to 8 hours daily. The other
was employed as a service worker one day weekly. One other
woman was a graduate student. There was no indication of the
amount of time she spent outside the home at school daily.

All of the fathers present in the home were employed. The
hours daily away from home because of employment ranged from
less than 6 hours to more than 12 hours. The mean time away
from home for the husbands ranged from 6 to 11 hours.

One husband was a carpenter, another was a salesman and
the other four were classified as professional. In the pro-
fessional group, two of the men held doctorates, one was a
lawyer and one was a graduate student.

Family income. The family income ranged from $5,000 to
$20,000 per year as shown in Table 2. The three fatherless
families received $4,000 or less annually while the families
with fathers present had incomes of at least $6,000 with 5 of

the 6 families receiving $9,000 or more annually.

25

Table 2. Annual Family Income

 

 

 

 

Annual Family Income Number of Families
2,000 to $4,000 5
6,000 1
9,000 . 1
10,000 to $12,000 5
Over $12,000 1
Total 9

 

Type of dwelling. The residences of the entire sample
were similar in that all the families were living in Single
family dwellings. It was the one independent variable con-
sistent for all observations.

Amount of help with household duties from family members.
The amount of daily help given the mother with ten household
duties varied among the families. The duties selected for the
study were:

1. dishwashing

2. meal preparation

5. family laundry

4. bedmaking

5. daily tidying up

6. weekly cleaning

7. chauffeuring family

8. yard work and outside house care
9. caring for family members

10. caring for pets
Father's assistance ranged from 5 to 6 duties with a mean

of 5.1. Children's help ranged from 1 to 7 duties with a mean

26

of 5.7. The combination of all help given the mother included
husbands, children and hired help. The number of duties that
family members and hired help assisted the mother in completing
or in completing without the mothers' help ranged from 5 to 9;
the mean was 5.9 different duties.

Frequency of dinner eaten together. Five of the families

always ate this meal together, two usually, and two seldom.

Collection of Data

The Michigan State University Laboratory Preschool was
contacted in the fall of 1967 in order to obtain names of
families with at least one child in Laboratory Preschool during
Fall, 1966. .After Laboratory Preschool's recommendation of
thirty families in the Greater Lansing Area, contacts to elicit
cooperation and to set times for interviews were made with the
mothers of these families until ten mothers were obtained. On
the basis of family income, five of the families were considered
to be at a middle socio—economic level and five at a lower
socio-economic level. Thus, the sample was non-randomly selected,
based on the availability of a preschool child and the willing—
ness to participate. Data collection from one of the families
of the lower socio-economic group was not completed because of
a death in the family.

Data for the study were obtained through personal inter—
views with each homemaker either during the initial visit to

her home or on subsequent visits when the activities were

27

tape-recorded. During the interview the following procedures
were followed:

1. Biographical information was secured by open-ended
questions.

2. Check lists pertaining to the household routine were
completed.

5. Precoded questions concerning other situational vari-

ables were answered.

Collecting the data served a two—fold purpose. First it
gave information to further describe the sample. Second, it
served to establish general rapport between the observer and
the respondent.

The interviews and the taped recordings of the mother—child
activities within the home were conducted in the morning or
afternoon, depending upon the convenience of the homemakers
and the schedule of the researcher. No weekend activities were
collected. The mothers were free to choose any home activities
to do with their children during the observations; suggestions
such as cookie baking, meal preparation, and bed making were
made by the researchers. Actual activities included during the
taped sessions were: cookie making, tree trimming, bed making,
meal preparation, dressing, story telling, playing with toys,
feeding pets, packing away groceries, and making valentine cards.

The length of the home activities varied from 11 minutes
to 45 minutes with a mean of 25.1 minutes. For six families,
each activity was recorded on a different day. Two families

were observed only twice with the collection of data of two

28

separate activities at each observation. For one family, a
single observational visit was made, at which time all four
activities were recorded in a single morning session.

Coding procedure. Before coding the taped-recorded activi-
ties within the home, the data were transcribed from tapes to
paper by research workers who were associated with the pilot
study. A "+" was put in the appropriate column to the left
of each message unit to indicate which person was Speaking and
a "-" was placed in the appropriate column indicating to whom
the conversation was directed.

The data were transcribed from the tapes to coding sheets
during Spring, 1967 through Fall, 1967. For this study the
transcribed conversations were divided into five—minute units
for each mother—child activity and eight five-minute samples of
conversation were chosen for each mother based on the following
criteria:

1. In order for a five minute sample to be eligible, the
mother must have transmitted at least ten message units

per five—minute period.

2. Two five-minute periods were randomly selected, using a
table of random numbers, from all the eligible five—
minute samples for each of the four activities. There
were a total of eight five-minute samples or 40 minutes

of conversation selected for each mother.

5. The eight five-minute samples for each mother were
coded using the coding system described earlier. The
specific resource used was determined first; then the

mode of transmission was selected.

29

Both mothers and children's communication were coded in order
to examine the mothers' communication in the context of the
interaction situation but only the mothers' conversations
were analyzed. Conversations of the mothers to the observer
were not coded but were considered irrelevant to the study of
home activity patterns. All data were coded within six days
after determining intercoder reliability.

The sum of the frequencies for each of the sixteen possible
mode-resource dyads of all eight samples were found for each
mother and were used as variables indicating communication
pattern.

7 Analysis of data. The data were analyzed using descriptive

and statistical techniques.l

Biographical information such as
ages of children, education level of mother, family income, and
dwelling was used descriptively. Analysis of variance was
used to find if any means of the message units were significantly
different from one another. Duncan's multiple range test then
isolated those means which were significantly different from one
another. The LSADD Routine was used to identify those situa—
tional variables which werezmost highly related to the conver-
sation categories.

Analysis of variance of message units was computed con—
sidering mother, mode, resource, and all possible two way

interactions as sources of variance. Means significantly dif—

ferent from one another on the basis of the F test were

 

1Dr. Charles Cress, Statistican for the College of Agri-
culture served as a consultant in suggesting ways of analyzing
the data.

50

identified using Duncan's (1955) multiple range test. Differ-
ences were concluded to be significant at the five percent
level.

The family background and situational responses of the
interview and the sum of the frequencies of the communication
patterns were punched on IBM cards. The LSADD Routine, using
a CDC 5600 computer at Michigan State University, was used to
develop the stepwise addition of variables to form a least
squares equation.1

In the LSADD Routine one dependent variable is Specified
for regression with several independent variables. Independent
variables may be "forced" into the regression analysis initially
if the experimenter desires to do so. Usually this "forcing"
technique is limited to those variables known or thought to
influence the dependent variables. Additional independent
variables may be specified or designated for possible inclusion
or consideration in the regression analysis; in which case,
an arbitrary maximum significance level is stated.

When the LSADD Routine is initiated, all independent
variables are scanned and the single variable that is contribut-
ing the most to the regression analysis is selected. Then the
regression equation is computed regressing the selected inde—

pendent variable with the dependent variable. This process

 

1Computer programs written and developed by Mary E. Rafter
and William Ruble of the Michigan State University Computer
Laboratory, Agricultural Experiment Station, were utilized in
analysis of variance and regression analyses.

51

is repeated again selecting from the remaining variables a
second independent variable that contributes the most to the
regression. Additional independent variables are considered
and included in the order in which they contribute to the over-
all regression. When the significance level of the regression
about the mean reaches the level originally specified by the
researcher, the program is completed for the dependent variable
under consideration. However, the researcher must evaluate

the regression equation developed by this system as to the
validity of the variables included or not included. Additional
programs may be necessary to develop a more accurate regres-
sion equation once the initial equation has been proposed by
the LSADD Routine. Because this was an exploratory study with
limited data, the analyses were not carried beyond the point

of identifying variables which appeared to be most highly
significant.

The number of message units in each communication category
was considered, in turn, as a dependent variable. For each
dependent variable, all the situational variables (independent
variables) were listed for consideration and possible inclusion
in a regression analysis. Because of this study's exploratory
nature, there was no prehand knowledge or basis to indicate
which independent variables should have been forced into the
regression. Therefore, no situational variables were forced
into the equation and all were Specified (listed) as possible
factors in the program. The Significance level was specified

as P ’<' 0.20.

CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS

The relationship of the situational factors to the com-
munication categories will be discussed in the following order:
(1) distribution of message units, (2) test for independence
of categories, (5) test of relationships hetween communication
categories and situational variables, (4) relationships when
the message units were categorized as to modes, (5) relation-
ships when the message units were categorized as to resources,
and (6) relationships when the message units were categorized

as to mode-resource interaction.
Distribution of Message Units

A total of 2,644 message units, or a mean of 295.7 message
units for each forty minute sample of communication, were
spoken by the nine mothers to their children during shared
home activities. The message units were analyzed as to their
distribution to both the mode and resource categories.

Each mode was composed of the four resources—~fact, prefer-
ence, direction, and motivation. Communications of the offer-
ing mode were found to comprise a mean of 458 message units
per mother or 69 percent of the total communication. The seek-

ing mode accounted for a mean of 129 message units per mother

52

55

or 20 percent of the total while the accepting mode repre-
sented a mean of 55 or 8 percent of the total. The not accept-
ing mode accounted for a mean of 19 or 5 percent of the total
number of communications from mothers to children (Table 5).
Table 5. The Distribution of Message Units of Mothers' Communi—

cation to Children During Home Activities as Related
to the Categories or Resources and Modes.1

 

 

 

Total Mean
Number of Number
Communication Message Per Percentage
Categories Units Mother of Total
Mode2
Offering 1,854 458 A 69
Seeking 515 129 B 20
Accepting 220 55 C 8
Not accepting 75 19 C 5
Resource3
Fact 1,566 544 a 52
Preference 177 44 b 7
Direction (or command) 1,016 252 c 58
Motivation (or encourage»
ment) 85 21 b 5
Total 2,644 611

 

1Means followed by the same case letter are not significantly dif-
ferent from one another but means followed by different case
letters are significantly different from one another (P < 0.05).

2Composed of four resources—~fact, preference, direction, moti—
vation.

3Composed of four modes—-offering, seeking, accepting, not
accepting.

54

Each resource was composed of the four modes which were
offering, seeking, accepting, and not accepting. For the
resource of fact, the mean number of message units delivered
by the mothers was 544 or 52 percent of the total resource
communications. For the resource of preference a mean of 44
message units or 7 percent of the total communications were
transmitted this way. For the resource of direction (or com—
mand) a mean of 254 message units or 58 percent of the total
message units were recorded, and for the resource of motivation,
21 communications or 5 percent of the total message units were

of this type.

Test of Independence of Categories

Several significant differences were found between message
units when they were categorized as to the four modes and then
as to the four resources; although for the mode categories no
significant differences were found between the mean frequencies
of accepting and of not accepting. This is not too surprising,
for the differences between these two modes is one of degree of
attitude rather than a completely different manner of transmit-
ting contents. When the accepting and not accepting modes
were considered as one, significant differences were found
between the mean frequency in this combined category and the
modes of offering and of seeking. This indicated that the three
major divisions into which the message units were categorized

were significantly different from one another.

55

For the resource categories, no significant differences
for the mean frequency of the message units were found between
preference and motivation; yet each of these were significantly
different from the communication frequencies of fact and of
preference. These results indicated that the categories set
up by the model 'were defining the message units into independent
groups. Longabaugh (1965), in his model, incorporated fact and
preference into one large resource category he called informa-
tion. The data of this study supported the feasibility of
separating this resource in order to examine the informational
content of communication in greater depth and it also lent sup-
port to the content validity of the model.

Test for Relationship Between Communication
Categories and Situational Variables

Using the regression technique, the difference in the
number of message units in each category between mothers was
shown to be related to specific situational variables. Some
situational variables were related to more communication cate—
gories than others; however, all the situational variables were
used in explaining the differences in the frequency of message
units in one or more categories.

The relationship of the situational factors to message
units when they were separated into mode categories and then
into resource categories was abstracted from the regression
equations (Table 4). To determine what situational factors were

related to the message units of a mode, the variables in the

i-

..\.

56

.EOQm mm mQHQMHHM> MO fiOHHHUUm Cu. @DU M GA... mmmmmHUCH mmHMUHUCH ”HQ
. . H

 

 

 

 

 

mm. wEoucH haflfimm
hm. mmmauumfi mucflm
mm>oE mpHcDEEOU mo .02
am. mmHmE mo .02
mm. mam: umrumu mo unsosa
mm. mmfluso oaonmmson mcflummovm
SH ucwmw mEHu EDEASAE #02
we. SOHumummmum HmmE SH ucmmm 08H“ ESEmeE md. SOHpmummmHm HmmE
mm. maflmp OEOS Eoum muson m.um£umm SH “comm mEflu ESEmez
mm. mpmoH nmm3 .02
mm. mmMHHHmE mocflm mm>OE muHSDEEOU .02
em. mam: Hmsumm mo pcsofid mm. coaumnmmmum HmmE
Hm. mmflgso oaozmmson SH ucmmm mEHu EDEHMME SH “comm mEHp ESEHSHZ mcflummood
aw. coaumummmum hm. SOHDMHManm HmmE
Home CH ucmmm mEHu EDEHSHE SH ucmmm mEHu EDEwaE
on. mmfluso paozmmson
Hm. Hmnummou HOSSHU mcflumm mo wocmsvmum SH ucmmm mEHu ESEHSHZ mcflxmmm
mm. mEOUcH MHHEmm mm. Hm>ma Hmcoflumuzpm m.mma3
0.6 SOflpmummmHm
Home SH ucmmm mEHu EDEHSHE
mm. memoH gums mo .02 mm. damn umsumu mo “csoea
mm. mmHmE mo .02 mm. mam: UHHSU mo HSSOES
mm. mam: Ham mo ucsoea mm. mmflusp eaormmsos msgnmuuo
hm. mmmauumfi mocam wm>OE muflcsfifioo mo .02 SH ucmmm mEHu ESEmez
Om. coaumummmum Home SH “comm oeflu EDEHSHZ Sn. mHmQEmE %HHEMM Hmuoe
me. mmflusp paonmmson SH “comm mEHu Enfiflxmz mm. Hm>ma HMSOHDMUDUm m.mmH3
Md mocmummmum m< pomm mopoz
mMUMDOmmm

 

Hmmflnommumo mousommmlmpoz gnu ou Amv mucmfloflmmmoo
HMSOHumamHHOU coammmummm mamfluasz flufl3 mmHQMHHm> HMSOHDMSDHm mo mmHQmSOHpmHmm

.6 mHQme

57

 

 

 

 

 

Sm. mam: Ham mo HSSOdemcflummoom
mSOHum>umeo Ham now 0 mm. >HHEMM SH .0: Hmuoa uoz
mm. sflgmv
mm. mEoocH madamm 0&0: Eoum mason m.n0£umm
mm. coaumummmum Home CH ucmmm mEHu EDEflxmz Sm. mmmanuma
hm. wmfluso paonmmson :H Human mafia EDEASHZ mocflm m0>oE muHSSEEOU mo .02
«m. mmmauume mocflm wm>oE huHcDEEoo .02 mm. Monummou mcflummood
mm. Hw>ma HMSOHumozpm m.mma3 umccdo mcflumw mo mocmsvmum
mm. mam: UHSQU mo ucsofid an. mam: UHHSU mo unsofig
hm. mmHuDU UHonmmson SH ucmmm 08H» ESEmeE em. Hm>ma HMCOAuMUDUm m.mma3
oo.a mmama mo .02
mm. mmfluzp UHOS
Immson SH ucmmm mafia EDEASHZ
mm. mam: aggro mo unsoam
mm. mmMHHumE
woman mm>OE muHSSEEOU mo .02
mm. “wrummou
mm. mam: Ham mo ucsofig Hmccflo mcfipmm mo mocmsqmum mcflxmmm
am. 0mMHHumE mocflm m0>oE muflcsfifioo .02 mm. mmflusp GHQ:
Nb. mmHmE .oz Iwmsoc SH pcmmm mEHu ESEmeE
«m. mam: UHHSU mo DSDOES 5w. H0>0H Hmc0flumospm n.0MH3
mm. mmmauumfi
mocam mmDOE muflcsafioo mo .02
mm. Hm>ma HmSOHumospm m.mMH3
mm. Sagan
0&0: Eoum muzon m.um£umm
mm. mmmaunme mocflm mm>oE muflcsfifioo mo .02 mm. memE mo .02
mm. mmflusp UHonmmson SH ucmmm mfiflu EDEHCHZ ms. mmflusp oaoz mcflummmo
mm. waflmp 0&0: Eoum mason m.um£umm Immson CH ucmmm mEHu EDEmez
mm. mmflusp UHozmmso: SH ucmmm mEHu EDEmeE mg. coaumummmum
mm. SOflpmummmum Home SH ucmmm mafia EDEmeE HmmE SH ucmmm mEHu ESEHSHZ
Md coaum>fluoz m4 COHpumnfln mmpoz

mmoéommm

 

 

 

00:CHDCOO I w magma

58

four mode-resource categories in which the mode under consider-
ation was a part were examined. All variables found to be
related to at least one mode-resource dyad in which the mode
was a part were considered related to the mode. For example,
to determine if wife's educational level was related to the
mode of offering, all the situational variables related to
offering fact, offering preference, offering direction and
offering motivation were scanned to determine if wife's educa-
tional level was listed. Since it was related to the communi-
cation dyads of offering fact and offering direction it was
considered related to the mode of offering.

A similar technique was used to determine what situational
factors were related to the resources. All variables which
appeared more than once in the regression equations in which
the mode-resource dyad had the resource under examination as
part of it were considered related to the resource. For example,
to determine if wife's educational level was related to the
resource of fact, all situational variables in the regression
equations of offering fact, seeking fact, accepting fact and
not accepting fact were scanned. Because wife's educational
level appeared twice (offering fact, seeking fact), it was
considered related to the resource of fact.

The situational factors of (1) family size and composition,
(2) time allocated for household duties, and (5) amount of help
with household duties were subdivided into component parts to

Show their relationship to the modes and the resources.

59

If at least one of the subcategories was related to a mode or
resource, then the main variable was considered related to
that mode or resource. For example, in Table 6 (p. 45),
family size and composition is subdivided into number of males,
number of females, and total number of family members. The
subcategories-—number of males and total number of family
members--showed relationships with the offering mode; therefore,
the main family variable of family size and composition was
considered related to the mode of offering as shown in Table 5
(p. 41).

For the main variable of time allocated for household
duties, subcategories of minimum and maximum times for both
meal preparation and household duties were Specified. On the
questionnaire, time allocations for these two duties were
expressed as a range of time such as 15-50 minutes, 50-60
minutes, 1 hour to 2 hours. The minimum time of the duty was
the first figure of the range that the mother had indicated
such as 15 minutes if the mother had selected the time span of
15-50 minutes. The maximum time for the duty was the larger
figure such as 50 minutes in the above illustration. If the
duty was discussed without reference to time range (minimum
or maximum) the relationship of both the minimum and the maxi—
mum of the given duty to the modes or resources were combined.
For example, in Table 8 (p.‘47),the minimum time spent in meal
preparation was related to the resources of fact, preference

and direction; and maximum time spent in meal preparation was

40

related to the resources of fact and motivation; the variable
of time spent in meal preparation was considered to be related
to all four resources. The same method of determining relation—
ships applied when modes were considered.
The Relationship of Situational
Factors to the Modes

The distribution of the situational factors indicated that
all of them were related to modes of the mothers' communication
to their children as shown in Table 5. Those factors related
to all the modes (offering, seeking, accepting, and not accept—
ing) were: number of community moves since marriage, time
allocated for household duties, and amount of help with house-
hold duties.

Additional variables specifically related to the mode of
offering were family size and composition, mother's educational
level, and father's daily hours from home because of employment.
For the communications of seeking, the other related variables
were family size and composition, mother's educational level,
family income, and frequency of eating dinner together; while
for the communications of accepting, related situational vari—
ables were mother's educational level, father's daily hours from
home because of employment, family income, and frequency of
eating dinner together. For the communications of motivation,
the related variables were family size and composition, father's

daily hours from home because of employment, and family income.

41

.SOAum>HuoE Ucm .SOHu00HHU .mocmnmmmum .uomm mo mmousommu msu mo UmmomfiouH

 

 

 

N x Hmnummou Hmccflp mcflumm mo wocmsqmum

x x x x meuDU oaonmmson SDHB mam: mo pSSOES

x x x x mMADDU UHonmmson How topmooHHm mEHB

x x x x 0mmauumfi moCHm mm>oE huHSDEEOU

x x x mEOUSH maflemm

x x x 080: Eoum muson waflmp m.um£pwm

x x x Hm>0a HMSOHumospm m.uw£u02

x x x coauflmomfioo Ucm mNHm MHHEMm

mcflummood uoz mcwummoofi mcflxwmm mcfiummmo mmHQMHHm> HmcoauMSDHm
Hmpoz

mmflufl>fluo¢ 050m cmumsm magnum cmupaaro uflmre ou mum:uoz
Eoum UmDMUAGSEEOU mmpoz mnu £pfl3 mmHQMHHm> HMQOHumsuflm mo QHSmSOHumHmm was .m magma

42

There were differences in the relationship of the com-
ponent parts of the situational variables with the modes.

An examination of how the three component parts of family size
and composition were related to the modes indicated that the
number of females in the family did not appear to be related
to any of them. The number of males, though, was related to
all but the mode of accepting, and the total number of family
members was related to the modes of offering and not accepting
(Table 6).

The variable of time allocated for household duties was
composed of five situational variables as shown in Table 6.
All five measures were related to both the modes of offering
and accepting. The minimum and maximum times allocated for
household duties, which included dishwashing, bedmaking, tidy-
ing up and care of pets, were related to all four modes. The
number of wash loads was related only to the two variables of
offering and accepting. Laundry, unlike the other component
variables is usually not a daily household duty.

The relationship of the three component variables of the
amount of help given the mother with household duties, to the
modes, indicated that all three variables were related to the
offering mode (Table 6). Total amount of help included father,

children and hired help.

45

.coaum>wuoe paw .coauumuap .mocmummmum .uumm mo mmousomwu gnu mo UmmomfiooH

 

x Hmnummou “macaw mcflumm mo wucmsqmum

mUmoH SmMB >Hx003 .oz
mmflusp UHOSmmDOS How mEau EDEmeE
mmflusp paosmmson How mafia ESEASHZ
.mmum Hmmfi How mafia EDEmez
.mmum HmmE How mEHu EDEHSHZ

“mmfluso UHosmmson How Umumooaam mEHB
mam: Ham mo ucsosa
mam: UHHSU mo unsofid
mam: Hmnumm mo unsofid

"mmfluso paonmwsos Spa? mam: mo unscam

x x mmMHHHmE mUCHm mm>oE huHSDEEOU mo .02

XXX
XXXXX X
X

X
XXXXX

XXX

XX
X

XXX

x mEOUcH maflfimm

xuo3 mo mmsmomn 0&0: Scum muso: waflmp m.um£umm

X
XXXX
X

X x Hm>ma HMGOAuMUDUm m.umnuo£

x x Mafifimm SH .oc Hmuoe

mmamfimm .02

x x x mmams .oz
"coauflmomfioo paw mNHm maflfimm

 

mcflummood uoz mcwummoog msaxmmm mcauwmwo mmHQMHHm> HMSOHDMSHHm
mmpoz
a

 

 

 

mmflufl>flp04
mEom pmnmsm mSHHDD cmnpawno Mamas Op mumnuoz Eouw UmUMUHSDEEOU mmpoz
mnu nuMB muumm ucmcomfioo uflmga paw mGHQMAHm> coaumsuflm mo OHSmSOHSMHmm 0:9 .m magma

44

The Relationship of Situational Variables
to the Resources

The distribution of the situational factors indicated
that all of them were related to Specific resources of the
mothers' communication to their children as shown in Table 7.
Those situational factors related to every resource (fact,
preference, direction, and motivation) were: family size and
composition, the number of community moves Since marriage;
the time allocated for household duties, and amount of help
with household duties.

Additional variables Specifically related to the resource
of factual communication were mother's educational level and
family income. For communications of preference, the other
related variables were father's daily hours from home because
of employment, family income, and frequency of eating dinner
together. For communications of direction or command related
situational variables were mother's educational level; father's
daily hours from home because of employment, and frequency of
eating dinner together; while for the resource of motivation,
related variables were mother's educational level, father's
daily hours from home because of employment, and family income.

There were differences in the relationship of the com—
ponent situational variables making up three larger classifi—
cations. For the major variable of family size and composition,
the relationship of the three component parts to the resources

differed from one another as shown in Table 8. For example,

45

.mcwummoom uoc cam .mcaummoum .mcflxmmm .mcaumwmo mo moUOE usom mo UmwomeouH

 

Hmnummou Hmccflp mcflpmm mo wocmsqmum
mmflusp paonmmsos £ua3 mam: mo ucsoeg
mmHuDU UHonmmson How Umumooaam mEHB

X >< X X

mmmauumfi wocflm mm>oE huwcsfisoo

X X >< X

mEoocfl maafimm

X >< X X >< X

X

080: Eoum musos maflmp m.u0£u0h

x x Hm>ma HmSOHuMUDUm m.Hm£uoz

X X >< X X >< X

x x x cofluflmomfiou Ucm Guam %HHEmm

 

coaum>fluoz coapomnfin mocmummmum puma moanmwum> HMSOADMDUHm

 

J, Hmousomwm

 

mmflufl>flu0¢ meow pmumgm magnum cmupaflno uflmnu on mumnuos
Eoum UmHMUHSSEEoo mmousommm may SDAB mmHQMHHm> HMSOAUMDuflm mo QHQmSOHumHmm one .5 magma

46

the number of males in the family was related to all the re-
sources; while the number of females did not appear to be
related to any of the resources, just as it had not been re-
lated to any of the modes. The total number of family members
was related to the resources of fact and motivation.

The variable of time allocated for household duties was
composed of five variables as shown in Table 8. Time spent
in meal preparation and household duties, which were daily
activities, were related to all four resources. The number
of wash loads was only related to the resource of preference;
laundry is usually not a daily duty.

The relationship of the three component variables of the
amount of help with household duties to the resources is
shown in Table 8. Total amount of help included father,
children, and hired help. The amount of child help and amount
of all help appeared related to the resources of direction and
motivation whereas father help did not appear related to these
resources, but was related to the resources of fact and
preference.

The Relationship of the Situational Variables
of the Mode—Resource Categories

The number of message units for each mother in each com-
munication category is shown in the Appendix, Table 11, p. 70.

The means for all mothers' message units in the categories
of offering fact and offering direction were not significantly

different from one another but they were significantly different

47

.mcflummoum pom .mcflummoom .mcaxwmm .mcflummmo mo mmGOE mnu mo pmmomaooH

 

Hmccflp mcflumm mo mocmsvmum

mpmoH £mm3 maxmm3 .oz
mmflpsp UHozmmson Mom med» EDEHKME
mmfiusp paosmmson mom mEHp EDEHSHZ
.mmnm HmmE How mafia EDEwaz
.mmum Hmme How mafia EDEHSAE
“mmflusp paosmmson How pmumooaam mafia
x x mam: Ham mo ucsofid
x mam: UHHQU mo USDOE¢
mam: monumm mo unscad
"mmausp paosmmson £ua3 mam: mo unsoad
x x x mmmauuma mucfim mm>OE muHSDEEou mo .oz

X
X XXXX
XXXX

XX
XX

x x maoocfl waflfimm
xno3 mo mmsmomn 0&0: Eoum mnson haflmp m.um£pmm

X X HO>OH HMCOHHMUDUO m..H®£u.O—z.

XXXXX
X
X

x x maflfimw SH .0: Hmuoa
mmHmEmw .oz
mmamE .oz

"coauflmomfioo paw mNHm waflfimm

X
X
X
X

 

coaum>flu02 cowuomnfln mucmummmum pomm mmaflmwum> HMSOHumzuHm
mwousommm

 

H

 

 

mmfluw>fluo<
080m Umumzm madman :mHUHHSU Hams» ou mnmfluoz Eouw pmumoHSDEEOO mmousowwm
mnu nuHB muumm ucmcomfioo “doze paw mmHQMAum> HMSOHumsuHm mo mangOHumHmm one .m magma

48

from the message units in the category of seeking fact (Table 9).
These three categories were significantly different from all
message units in the other thirteen categories and no communi-
cations in any of the other categories were significantly
different from one another.

Patterns in the relationships of some variables to the
communication categories were evident from the simple corre-
lations. A value of r 3'.50 was arbitrarily set as the
criterion within which a variable was considered to be related
to a mode-resource category. Wife's education appeared to be
related to the communications in which the offering and accept-
ing modes were in combination with resources (Appendix, Table
12, p. 71). The variable of time spent in meal preparation
was related to all four of the mode-resource categories in
which the mode of offering was a part. This variable was also
related to three of the four possible mode-resource categories
in each case where the resources of fact, preference, and
direction were a part of the communication dyad. Father's help
was related to three of the four categories in which fact was
the resource while all help was related to three of the four
categories in which direction was the resource.

Theoretically all sixteen mode-resource categories were
possible but in the small sample of this study no message units
of not accepting motivation were transmitted from the mothers
to their children. Five of the remaining fifteen categories

had tWo situational variables related to them and the remaining

49

Table 9. The Sum and Mean Distribution of Message Units in Each
Communication Category1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resource
Mode Fact Preference Direction Motivation
2 = 805 Z = 55 Z = 916 Z = 82
Offering __ __ __ __
X = 89.2ab X = 5.6d X = 101.7a X = 9.1d
2 = 585 Z = 106 Z = 24 Z = 2
Seeking _ _ _ _
X = 42.5c X = 11.7d X = 2.6d X = .2d
2 = 152 2 = 56 Z = 51 Z = 1
Accepting __ _. ._ ._
X = 14.6d X = 4.0d X = 5.6d X = 0.1d
Not 2 = 48 Z = 2 Z = 25 Z = 0
Accepting __ __ __ '_
X = 5.5d X = .2d X = 2.7d X = 0d

 

1Means followed by the same case letter are not significantly
different from one another but means followed by different case
letters are significantly different from one another (P < 0.05).
Total number = 2,644

Mean number = 295.7

50

ten categories each had four to seven factors related to them.
-Those situational variables most often related to the mode-
resource categories were: the size and composition of the
family, number of community moves since marriage, time allo-
cated for household duties and the amount of help with house-
hold duties. All of these variables except community moves
were related to daily operation of the house. -The less
frequently occurring variables were: mother's educational
level, father's daily hours from home because of employment,
family income, and frequency of eating dinner together. Except
for dining frequency, these latter factors were all related

to the socio-economic level of the family. It was interesting
to note that the variables most frequently related to communi-
cation style pertained to daily operation of the house and that
the less frequently occurring variables pertained to socio-
economic levels of the families.

Similarities were evident between several communication
categories concerning their relationship to situational vari—
ables; for example, almost all of the variables that were
related to the communication categories of offering fact, Offer—
ing preference, and offering motivation pertained to household
Operations and help with household duties. Identical variables
were related to offering preference and accepting preference,
i.e., household Operations, amount of household help, and the
number of community moves. All but two of the variables re—

lated to Offering fact and not accepting fact pertained basically

51

to household Operation and the amount of household help. The
situational variables related to Offering motivation pertained
to household operation; those related to accepting motivation
pertained to household operation and help with tasks.

The results, then, indicated that all the selected situ-
ational variables were related in some manner to mothers'
communication to their children when:

1. Message units categorized as to modes were examined.
2. Message units categorized as to resources were examined.
5. Message units categorized as to mode—resource inter-

action categories were examined.

Therefore it appears that the coding procedure did identify
variables indicating communication pattern. This is consistent
with the findings of Bernstein, Hess and Shipman, Merrill,

Olim §“_al., and Walters §£_ l. which would lead one to believe

-—-— —-—

that situational factors and communication are not independent.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Summary

The randomly selected communication samples of nine
mothers to their preschool children during shared activities
within the home were part of the communication samples used
in testing a procedure to gather data about family activity
patterns. All of the mothers whose conversations were used
as data had children enrolled in Michigan State University‘s
Laboratory Preschool during Fall, 1966, and Winter, 1967.

In six of the families, father, mother, and children were
present; in the other three families, the fathers were absent.

The relative frequencies of the mothers' message units
as they were categorized both as to the salient resources and
the modes of transmission indicated that the mean percentage
(or relative frequency) of message units delivered by the
mothers to their children, when defined as to resource were:
fact-~52 percent; preference—-7 percent; direction--58 percent;
and motivation--5 percent. When the message units were defined
as to mode, the percentages were: offering-~69 percent, seek—
ing--20 percent; accepting-~8 percent, and not accepting——

5 percent.

52

55

Significant differences between several means of the
message units gave support to the coding system's successful
separation of the mothers' communication to their children
into independent components. The data also supported the
feasibility of dividing Longabaugh's (1965) resource category
of information into the two resources of fact and preference.

Communication modes. The selected situational factors of
the home environment appeared to be related to the communica—
tive patterns. When the message units were categorized as to
modes, those situational variables related to the communications
of all four modes were: number of community moves since
marriage, time allocated for household duties, and amount of
help with household duties. Additional variables specifically
related to the mode of offering were family size and composi-
tion, mother's educational level, and father's daily hours
from home because of employment. For the communications of
seeking, the other related variables were family size and
composition, mother's educational level, family income, and
frequency of eating dinner together; while for the communica—
tions of accepting, related situational variables were mother's
educational level, father's daily hours from home because of
employment, family income, and frequency of eating dinner
together. For the communications of motivation, the related
variables were family size and composition, father's daily

hours from home because of employment, and family income.

54

Communication resources. When the message units were
categorized as to the communications of the different resources,
those situational variables related to all four of the re-
sources were: family size and composition, the number of com—
munity moves since marriage, the time allocated for household
duties, and amount of help with household duties. Additional
variables specifically related to the resource of factual
communication were mother's educational level and family income.
For communications of preference, the other related variables
were father's daily hours from home because of employment,
family income, and frequency of eating dinner together. For
communications of direction or command, related situational
variables were mother's educational level, father's daily hours
from home because of employment, and the frequency of eating
dinner together; while for the resource of motivation, related
variables were mother's educational level, father's daily hours
from home because of employment, and family income.

Mode—Resource category. When the message units were desig-
nated as to the Specific mode-resource categories of communica—
tion, the situational variables were clustered both by the
frequency and the Similarity of occurrence into two groups.

The variables most frequently related to the communication pat-
terns were: the size and composition of the family, number of
community moves since marriage, time allocated for household
duties and the amount of help with household duties. The less

frequently occurring variables were: mother's educational

55

level, father's daily hours from home because of employment,
family income, and frequency of eating dinner together.

All Of the variables related to the mode-resource cate-
gories of Offering fact, offering preference, and Offering
motivation were similar and likewise those factors related to
offering preference and accepting preference were alike. -The
situational factors associated with Offering fact and not
accepting fact were basically the same. Thus, patterns of
variables related to some mode—resource categories appeared to
be consistent for the same resource when in combination with
different modes, or for the same modes when in combination
with different resources. In one case, though, a combination
of the Situational variables that appeared to be related to
offering motivation and seeking motivation were found to be

related to accepting motivation.

Limitations

1. The first limitation was the small, non-random group
of mothers from which the communication samples analyzed in
this study were taken. Because of this limitation, it is not
possible to generalize the results of this study to communi-
cation patterns Of other mothers.

2. The second limitation was that one—third of the
families had fathers absent from the home. This was a very
important factor because of the small sample size.

5. A third limitation was inconsistency in data collection;

the number of different days in which home activities were

56

taped for each mother—child dyad varied from one to four.

The mother's communication to her child during four shared
activities that were recorded in a single morning may have

been different from that observed if activity periods had been
collected on separate days, as was done for the other mothers.
More diversity in individuals' temperament may be Observed
with recording on separate days. .This diversity may be a major
contributing factor in establishing reliable communication
patterns between family members.

4. The diversity in the kinds of activities performed by
the mothers and children was also a limiting factor. The
participants were not asked to do Specific activities, and the
activities during which communication was recorded were not
the same for the group. Also, the number of children partici-
pating in the activities varied. Generally one preschool
child was present; yet in the activities of some families, two
or more children were involved.

5. The presence of the observer during the Observation
period may have influenced communication between the mothers
and their children by altering the home environment. The ob-
server's role was to follow the mother-child dyad throughout
the home while they engaged in their shared activity.

6. A limitation occurring during the transcription of the
dating was the inability to code some message units from the
tapes because they were indistinguishable. This resulted in

a loss of some of the data.

57

7. Another limitation was the small sample of message
units used. Eight five-minute random samples, or forty
minutes of each mother's conversation to her child, may not
have been representative of the communication patterns char-
acteristic of that mother.

8. The limitation of the situational variables--both
availability and reliability--should be noted. In three of
the families it could not be determined whether father figures
were present in the homes. Also, several of the variables
were chosen because they were thought to control the pattern
Of family life and they were available. Finally, some of the
information about the situational variables were obtained by

self-report questioning and not by direct observation.
Implications for Future Study

Socio—economic environment. Findings from this study
suggest that certain communication patterns Of mothers to
their children appeared to be related to situational variables.
Communication studies may identify differences between mothers
of different socio-economic environments and/or styles of liv-
ing in the frequencies of different kinds Of patterning
stimuli Offered by these mothers to other family members.
Language styles used by mothers may, then, reflect differences
within as well as between socio-economic levels.

Cognitive environment. If the growth Of cognitive func-

tions is mediated by experience and if the mother is a child's

58

principle teacher for the first five years of his life, then
the strategies that a mother uses through communication to

manipulate the child will have consequences for the ability
of the child to grasp or learn in later teaching situations.

Decision making. If the association of language and
situational factors do emerge in systematic relationships which
have permanent effects on communication interaction, what ef-
fects will these combination of factors have on decision making
activities? How do these decision making activities in turn
help to regulate the nature and amount of communicative
exchange?

Management style. Other useful studies would be those
which would relate the communication patterns of homemakers to
their styles of managing. Are their specific communications
(mode-resource frequencies) that are characteristic of home-
makers who are person centered and/or task centered? Do situ-
ational characteristics related to person- or task-centeredness
appear to transcend socio—economic boundaries? What communi-
cative patterns are characteristic of effective managers or of
ineffective managers? How are communicative patterns of family
members related to the utilization and develOpment of their
human resources in an effort to achieve family goals?

Bell and Vogel (1960) point out that the motivational
committment of family members for the performance of tasks is
reflected in the amount of help actually given (or received)

by family members. The present study showed a relationship

59

between the mode-resource categories of seeking motivation

and accepting motivation with the situational variable--the
amount of child help with household duties. The amount Of
father's help, on the other hand, was related to the categories
of Offering fact, not accepting fact, and accepting preference.
Why was father's help related to the resources of fact and
child's help related to the resource of motivation? A study
which would analyze the communication patterns and techniques
employed by family members to induce task committment as re-
flected in the amount of family help actually given the mother
would be another fruitful way of gaining a more complete under-
standing of communication's relationship as a management
process to the other basic components of family management--
values, goals, resources, family, management, environment, and

problem situation.

LITERATURE CITED

Baker, Georgianne, "Patterning of Home Resources for Children's
Early Cognitive Growth," Unpublished paper, Department of
Home Management, Michigan State University, 1965. Also
personal communication.

Bales, Robert F., Interaction Process Analysis: A Method for
the Study of Small Groups, Cambridge, Mass.: Addison
Wesley Press, 1950. 1-84.

Bell, Norman W. and Ezra F. Vogel (Ed), The Family, Glencoe,
Illinois: The Free Press, 1960. 20.

Berlo, David K., The Process of Communication, New York: Holt
Rinehard and Winston, 1960. pp. 25-49, 190-215.

Bernstein, Basil, "Family Role Systems, Communication, and
Socialization," as cited by Hess, Robert D. and Virginia
C. Shipman, "Early Experiences and the Socialization of
Cognitive Modes in Children," Childgpevelopment, XXXVI
(1965), 869—886.

Bernstein, Basil, "Social Class and Linguistic Development:
A Theory of Social Learning," pp. 288-514, as cited by
Hess, Robert D. and Virginia C. Shipman, "Early Experiences
and the Socialization of Cognitive Modes in Children," '
Childvpevelopment, XXXVI (1965), 869-886.

Bettinghaus, Erwin P., "Communication: .An Integral Part of
the Management Process," Conceptual Frameworks: Process
of Home Management, (Proceedings Of a Home Management
Conference, East Lansing, Michigan, June 17-20, 1964),
47-51.

Duncan, D. 3., "Multiple Range and Multiple F Tests,"
Biometrics, XI (1955), 1-42.

Hess, Robert D. and Virginia C. Shipman, "Early Experiences and
the Socialization of Cognitive Modes in Children,“ Child
Development, XXXVI (1965), 869-886.

, "Early Blocks to Children's Learning," Growing for
Parents Of School Age Children, XIX (1967), 12-17.

60

61

Kenkel, William F. and Dean K. Hoffman, "Real and Conceived
Roles in Family Decision Making," Marriage and Family
Living, XVIII (Nov. 1956), 511-516.

, Longabaugh, Richard, "A Category System for Coding Interpersonal
Behavior As Social Exchange," Sociometry, XXVI (1965),
515-544.

Linton, Ralph, The Cultural Background of Personality, pp.
76-77, as cited by Magrabi 33 al,, "Framework for Studying
Family Activity Patterns," Journal Of Home_§conomics, LIX
(Nov. 1967), 714-719.

Liston, Margaret I., "Management in the Family as Social
Process," Conceptual Frameworks: Process oijanagement
(Proceedings of a Home Management Conference, East Lansing,
Michigan, June 17-20, 1964), 52-72.

~Loomis, Charles P., "Social Systems: Their Elements, Proces-
ses and Patterns," Social Systems, New York: 'D. Van
Nostrand Company, Inc., 1960, 1-56.

 

Magrabi, Frances M., Beatrice Paolucci, and Marjorie E. Heifner,
"Framework for Studying Family Activity Patterns,"
Journal Of Home Economics, LIX (Nov..1967), 714-719.

Merrill, Barbara, "A Measure of Mother-Child Interaction,"
Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, XXXXI (1946),
57-49.

Miller, Gerald R., "On Defining Communication: Another Stab,"
Journal of Communication, XXVI (1966), 88-99.

Morris, Charles, signification and Significance, Mass.: The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964, 87.

Olim, Ellis, G., Robert D. Hess, and Virginia C. Shipman,
"Maternal Language Styles and Their Implication for
Children's Cognitive Development," (Paper read at the
American Psychological Association Meeting, Chicago,
September 5, 1965).

, "Role of Mothers' Language Styles in Mediating Their
Preschool Children's Cognitive Development," (Paper read
at the American Educational Research Association Meeting,
Chicago, 1966).

Ruesch, Jurgen, "Syn0psis of the Theory of Human Communica-
tion," Psychiatry, XVI (1955), 215-245.

62

Sabin, Theodore R., "Role Theory," p. 225, as cited in
Magrabi g£_§l,, "Framework for Studying Family Activity
Patterns," Journal of Home Economics, LIX (Nov. 1967),
714-719.

Strodbeck, Fred L., "The Family As a Three-person Group,"
American Sociological Review, XXXIX (1954), 125-129.

Walters, James, Ruth Connor, and Michael Zunich, "Interaction
of Mothers and Children in Lower-Class Families,"
Child Development, XXXV (1964), 455-440.

APPENDIX

65

64

Examples of Message Units From Each Of the Sixteen

Message units enclosed by parentheses,

Possible Mode-Resource Categories

i.e., (. . .)

indicate the message prior to the one presented as a category

example.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

Offering fact

A. "We can play it like the other records we got."
B. "Maybe we should ask her if she knows how to do this."

C. "You need a lot more."
Offering preference

A. "I bet that's what happened."

B. "I think the red all by itself is very pretty and

enough."

C. ("See if there is anything you want.")

"I want to keep this."
Offeringgdirectigg
A. "Cut it off."
B. "Here."
C. "Let me try it once."

Offering motivation

A. "Beautiful."
B. "I'm sorry."
C. "You boys are good bakers."

Seeking_fact
A. "Is it there yet?"
B. "Do you have a big, long one?"

C. "What color is that?"

Seeking preference

A. "Don't you want some cherry pie?"

B. "Is that pretty good?" .
C. l'DO you want to get down?"

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

65

Seeking direction

A. "Should I pour it all in?"
B. "What am I to do now?"
C. "That fast?"

Seekinggmotivation

A. "Did I do that well?"

B. "Don't you think I will make a good cook?"
C. "Isn't my drawing pretty?"

Accepting7fact

A. ("I got hit.")

"Yea."

B. ("See a wolf likes to be hungry.")
ll Oh. H

C. ("It's falling apart right there.")
"Yea."

Accepting_preference

A. ("It's a pretty green.")
"Unhuh."
B. ("I want to put blue in.")
"All right."
C. ("I want to put one of these Santa Clauses on the
tree.")
"00K."

Accepting direction

A. ("Just a little bit more.")
"Yea."

B. ("Put this in the refrigerator.")
"All right."

C. ("See?")
"Yea."

Accepting motivation

A. ("Thank you.")
"Your welcome."

B. ("You've done a handsome picture.")
"Thank you."

C. ("You can do it if you put yourself to it.")
"Yea."

XIII.

XIV.

66

Not acceptingifact

A. ("You're making that all by yourself.")
"No I'm not."

B. ("That's Gunsmoke.")
"That's not Gunsmoke."

C. ("That's me.")
"NO . H

Not accepping_preference

A. ("I think you will like that.")
"What!"

B. ("How about meat and Spagetti?")
"Oh, I don't know, Tanya."

C. ("You can have chocolate or vanilla.")
"Forget it."

Not accepting direction

A. ("Can I do that, Mom?")

"I'm going to try to cut it up into equal parts.“
B. ("Keep it on the paper plate.")

"Not that one."
C. ("You can put it on.")

"Wait . H

Not accepting motivation

A. ("You are great.‘)
"Be reasonable."

B. ("Thank you.")
"You're not welcome."

C. ("That's a beautiful picture you did.")
"It's awfull"

67

 

 

 

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299502 8022 02:02 0.0009022 0.0293 299202 0090502 29.00902 299802

0.0009052

90 909822

90 909852 90 209552

092500 029 90 00999802 95090 00990890229 0>99©99000Q 0:0 9009£m0um092 .09 09908

68

 

 

 

 

0.0Nm 009 0.0 0.009 90 00002
0...... 009 0 009 00 090390 09
000 09m 0 009 02 020392 0
com 009 m 02 on 800900 0
00¢ 09N d 0N9 00 020392 0
090 mm 0 2.9 mm 92.0st m
00 09 0 009 00 800900 w
009 09 0 090 mm 090390 m
090 090 09 090 09 999...st N
on... 009 0 009 00 09030 9
009950 0900 009952 0900 00009 00990902092 00990902092 299802 0 02 909852
I00502 00909 I00502 00902 0003 9002 09 9002 09 90990008, 299802
90020 0095092 90020 0095092 299003 0095092 0095092 900099 009902
8589902 8589092 90 909852 8589202 8589092 90 200050092

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005099000 I

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0.0 0.0 2.0 9.0 00002
9 00090 09092 n 0 20090900000 09
09050090
9 00090 09092 900000 0090 0 e 0 0
09050090
0. 0 900000 0090 9 9 20900900 0
.0 0 0009900 0800 2 2 900090>92V 0
009000 009000
0 00000>0< 00000>0¢ m m m 0
0 0009900 0800 009000 0009900 2 9 0 d
0 009000 0009900 009000 0009900 0 m m m
0 0009900 0800 009000 0009900 0 0 0 N
009000
0 00000>00 0009900 0000 0 0 m 9
00099902 009900502 009900502 00 09 2900 00090 00 90 00090 0000 909852
00090 00>02 0.0009052 0.0993 90 00090 00 2902 00 09 2909 90 00 09 299802
299058800 00992 90 .00909900 00909900 02902 9009
90 909852 .909902 009952 009952 I02 009952
090900502 90 909852 090900502 090900502
90 909852 90 909852

 

005099000 I 09 09908

70

The Number of Message Units for Each Mother in Each

 

 

 

 

 

Table 11.
Communication Category

Number of Message Units in Each Category

0 0

0 0 o

0 o -H

0 ‘9 9

0 0 9 9 0

0 0 0 0 o 0 0 >

c) 0 o 0 0 0 o -a 9 44 0 -H

0 o 04 c) 0 0 0 -H .9 c) 0 9 9

a) -a 9 0 0 9+ 9 9 0 0 :4 -a o

9 9 0 0 -H 9 0 0 :> ‘H a. 0 8

0 c) > 9 +J 0 +2 ‘9 0 -a

+» u4 0 -9 0 0 :> 0 0 9 .9 tn 0 0~ 0

0 a) 9 9 +Jt9 0 0+ 0 9 -H 0 s: 0 0 0

{U 3-! W4 0 U (D H JJ ‘H at 'U E ".1 «4 .9 ".4

H4 2 '0 8 as 9 -H 0 .9 9 +’ 9

'9 Q. '0 E 0'1 0 01 0 0.. 04 04 Q.

0 0a In 0 0 0 0 0 a) 0 0 0

0 c: 0 0 03:0 0 0304 -H 'H -9 0 c) 0 0

-9 9a 04 -9 0 s: 0 0 44 9 9 9 (J 0 0 0

9 9 9 9 94-9 9 9+ 2 0. 2 cm 0 0 0 0

Mothers .93. .93. .3 3 0 0' '0 '33 8 8 8 3 9 9 9 9

9 94 t9 9 a) 0 0 a) 0 0 0 0 0 <3 0 0

<3 0 C) c: m a: to m «c 0 0 0 2: :0 z z
1 7O 5 88 2 7O 28 5 O 9 5 9 O 2 1 1 O 295
2 255 «1 75 9 76 7 1 O 47 O 8 1 15 O 5 O 492
5 92 14 175 52 54 25 9 O 26 15 16 O 6 O 4 O 444
4 78 7 112 9 6 5 2 O 9 2 9 O 4 1 4 O 248
5 155 5 105 19 58 18 5 O 14 7 7 O 6 O 2 O 561
6 81 1 95 5 52 8 2 2 14 5 O O 6 O 9 O 278
7 14 O 85 91 57 2 O O 1 O O O O O O O 158
8 50 O 120 4 59 6 O O 8 O 1 O 10 O 2 O 240
9 5O 0 67 5 51 9 O O 4 2 .1 O 1 O O O 148
Total = 2644
Mean = 295.7

71

Table 12. The Relationship Between Each Mode-Resource Category
with Each Situational Variable Based on Simple Corre-
lations1

 

W

 

Situational Variables Mode-Resource Categories
(D G
0:20
(IO-H
0049
0 0 s4+»0
0 0 L)2<D 0t)>
()0 o a) 0 c:o~4+Jwa0-9
0 004 0:20 awH4JL)0 9+4
0.9+J 0 004 9+J0 0sqm¢0
990 GMHJ 00>9208
0 0:> 9+J04ch004
+Jwa004 0<J> 0<DL49 0:0010
(>0 94J+H9<w9 054910 0s:c:0
0 99 o 00 999 205.9999
WIQMSE§054910 9.9+J9
u4c00£§0\0t00\2£90.2
0000 00000000
0000000099990000
999-904;:0 0:19-94J+:0 0c)0
9 H H H-r-l-v-i-H-H 040404040 0 0 0
000000000000
9999000000009999
9999000000000000
ocDC>o<nunmnm<:0004:050250
Family size and composition
N0. males x x
No females XX X
Total no. in family X X
Mother's educational level X X X X X}(X
Father's daily hours from home x:x X X
(work)
Family income X X X X X X
No. of community moves since X
marriage
Amount of help with household
duties
Amount of father help X X X X
Amount of child help X X
Amount of all help X X X X X X
Time allocated for household
duties
Minimum time for meal prep. X X X X X X X X X X
Maximum time for meal prep. X X X X X X X X X
Minimum time for household X X X X
duties
Maximum time for household X X X X
duties
No. weekly wash loads X X
Frequency of eating dinner to— X
gether

 

1Values of correlational coefficients are 9'3 0.50.

 

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