Dating and Relationship - Article Example

This paper is a critique of the article Dating and Relationships, on the relevance of this research, it identifies the hypothesis and measures the success of the methods used in testing the main hypothesis.

Purpose of the Study

The study presented in the article has three main goals. One is to identify how each of the five conflict management styles influences satisfaction in both the GCDRs and LDDRs.  The second aim is to establish how each of the conflict management styles influences communication satisfaction in both types of dating relationships. The last aim is to compare the effect of the conflict management style on GCDRs and LDDRs to establish whether there is any significant difference. The author says it is important to study LDDR because of its increase in prevalence. He says that it has been reported that around 75% of college students were involved in LDDRs. It is thus important to study them in comparison with the GCDR to understand the increasing number of such long-distance dating relationships. I think it is important in understanding what makes relationships last. This is because relationships can be complicated as people have a diverse ways of dealing with them (Anon). It could be possible that being in geographically different areas creates an aspect of the relationship that makes it last longer.

Main Hypothesis

The study is based on several hypotheses. The most important hypothesis in this study is that there are notable differences in how conflict management approaches affect relational and communication satisfaction in both LDDRs and GCDRs. The variables in this hypothesis are the conflict management styles and the type of relationship. This hypothesis is directional since the conflict management style is expected to give satisfactory outcomes or cause dissatisfaction (Anon).

Design and Measurement

Because of the conflict arising from the definition of LDDRs, the definition was based on how the subjects defined their relationships. The sample consisted of college students taking communications classes at Midwestern University. It was made up of equal numbers of students from each kind of dating relationship who would answer the same questions. The volunteer had met the requirement of being in a heterosexual relationship for more than three months. The response to the queries was through emailing a link to each participant who would have one week to submit the responses. In measuring the conflict management styles, the Rahma Organization Conflict Inventory II (ROCI II) would be used. This is used to measure the avoiding, compromising, accommodating, collaborating, and competing conflict management style. The scale ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree with the highest score showing nonalignment with that conflict management style. Dependant Relationship Satisfaction Scale (RAS) was used to gauge relational satisfaction. In measuring communication satisfaction, the Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory (ISCI) was used (Anon). This measures the kind of satisfaction depending on the level that individual communication expectations are met in a relationship. The analysis would be carried out by developing four dissimilar multiple regression analysis that measures the different hypothesis.

Critique

The methods of data collection and measurement of the variables do match the hypothesis. This is because the study utilized good measurement tools to measure the three variables identified in the main hypothesis. RAS, ROCI-II, and ICSI have been seen to have high reliability in measuring specific variables. However, I think that the research was not representative enough since the sample was selected from a single class taking the same course. To make the sample used more representative, the research could be designed differently. The sample should represent college students from different levels and different campuses. It could also include other people beyond campus since there is no limit to the dating age. It should also have a representation of people who have been in a heterosexual relationship for different periods. This means that the questionnaires should also have a section that determines how long a person has been in a relationship. This should range from three months, 6 months, one year, one and half years, and two years or more. This would be to gauge whether the kind of conflict management style employed determines how long a relationship lasts. Read More