Khamis, 5 Februari 2009

CAT 2

Communication Accommodation Theory focuses on the role of conversations in our lives. The theory has been incorporated in a number of different studies. For instance, accommodation has been studied in the mass media (Bell, 1991), with families (Fox, 1999), with Chinese students (Hornsey & Gallois, 1998), with the elderly (Harwood, 2002), on the job (McCroskey & Richmond, 2000), in interviews (Willemyns, Gallois, Callan, & Pittam, 1997), and even with messages left on telephone answering machines (Buzzanell, Burrell, Stafford, & Berkowitz, 1996) (see our Research Note).
There is no doubt that the theory is heuristic. The theory is expansive enough to be very complete, and it has been supported by research from diverse authors. In addition, the theory's core processes of convergence and divergence make it relatively easy to understand, underscoring the simplicity of the theory.