Running Head: Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues

The Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues An Analysis of the Elements of the Research Process Mena Shenouda Queens University of Charlotte

Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues An Analysis of the Elements of the Research Process To examine and summarize the basic elements of the research process, I read an article

titled Alcohol-Influenced Nonverbal Behaviors during Discussions about Relationship Problems, by Jennifer Samp and Jennifer Monahan. This article and the research that it is composed of are incorporated with many elements of the research process such as concepts, measurements, hypothesis, and scales. However, research goes much deeper than these basic elements and it is important to understand all aspects of the research process. The research performed in this article explores how the intake of alcohol affects the display of nonverbal communication while couples discuss their issues (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 1). Concepts in research are the abstract and intangible things that make up the experiment. This can range from tables and charts used to list data to the actual variables of the research. In this article, the concepts are alcohol consumption, nonverbal behaviors, dating partners, the time of the conversations, and the amount of alcohol consumed. The more abstract concepts, such as happiness, are called constructs, because they cannot be physically grasped and understood. There are many kinds of variables in an experiment. Some of the variables can be derived from the concepts. In this article, the two main variables are the alcohol consumption and the display of nonverbal behavior. These simple variables can be broken down further and more specifically into independent and independent variables. The independent variable in this example would be alcohol consumption, because it is not influenced by other factors (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 8). The dependent variable is the display of nonverbal communication, because it can be directly influenced by the other variable, alcohol consumption.

Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues An Analysis of the Elements of the Research Process Since this research involves observation of conversations and not surveys, it would be considered qualitative research. In this article, 44 heterosexual couples participated in a seven minute conversation about a hypothetical issue in the relationship (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 7). The women abstained from drinking and were continuously sober. However, the men were assigned a drinking condition and asked to imagine being at fault of the issue (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 7).

With this type of qualitative research, it is interesting to see how the authors of this article collected data by measurements. A great amount of symbols have been used here, such as M for males and their average age (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 8). Other symbols include n, SD, F, and many more. One of the more important symbols used to represent numerical value is BAC for breath alcohol concentration, in which .08g/dl is what is accepted as legally drunk in most parts of our country (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 8). There are many tables at the end of this article that measure things like vocals, facial expressions, and other forms of nonverbal behavior that may have been affected by alcoholic intake. It is important in any kind of research to determine the reliability and validity of the work performed. In the case of this article, the research seems to be very reliable. When the tables are viewed, specifically the table on page 33, it is clear that the more intoxicated that the men were, the higher their vocals were. The rate of their vocals also increased as the intoxication increased. So, one can safely conclude that there is a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and the display of these forms of nonverbal behaviors. However, there was one inconsistency in this

Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues An Analysis of the Elements of the Research Process table, which was the tempo (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 8). There are factors that can affect the instability of the tempo though; it is possible that the high intoxication levels caused an inconsistency in tempo.

The hypotheses of this experiment was made up of the influence that alcoholic intake has on the nonverbal showcase of involvement and anxiety during real time conversations about relationship issues (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 3). This hypotheses was made with supporting evidence from previous research that shows that alcohol not only affects a person, but certain aspects of the surroundings also cause a drinker to react to something that may be provoking (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 3). After all research was performed and data was collected, the conclusion suggests and supports that the men who consumed alcohol were less concerned about fixing the hypothetical issues within their relationships and more focused on themselves during these conversations. Also, the behavior of these men was much more likely to change and was less predictable than their behavior was when they were sober and alcohol free (Monahan & Samp, 2009, p. 22). This article had it all. It had the many variables, concepts, tables, a supported hypothesis, research, and tables to back up and display all the data collected. It was interesting to see how these researchers incorporated these elements of the research process into their work.

Influence of Alcohol on Discussions about Relationship Issues An Analysis of the Elements of the Research Process References- Works Cited Samp, Jennifer A., and Jennifer L. Monahan. "Alcohol-Influenced Nonverbal Behaviors During

Discussions About a Relationship Problem." Journal of Nonverbal Behavior33.3 (2009): 193-211. Communication and Mass Media Complete. Web. 21 Jan. 2012.