Donald G Ellis
Biographic Data
| ID | 76313 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Donald G Ellis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Donald G |
| FAMILY NAME | Ellis |
| SIGNATURE | ELLIS D G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Hartford |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4791-5748 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 207 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
The Empty Signifier and the Communicative Construction of Religion
This paper particularizes religiously based conflict by applying dimensional analysis as examples of how concepts acquire distinctiveness. Furthermore, the goal is to explain how the category “religion” utilizes signifiers to assign content to the idea of religion. The paper utilizes the concept of an empty signifier, which is a signifier that lacks clear, fixed meaning but is subject to the interpretation of the individuals who encounter it. Fiv…
Building a theory of communication and ethnopolitical conflict
Coherent development of theories of ethnopolitical conflict has been slow and scattered. Moreover, the role of communication has been seriously neglected. I theorize ethnopolitical conflict along two dimensions: the level in which the conflict is entered (macro state-level, mid civil society level, and individual level) and the type of communication most characteristic of the level (bargaining and negotiation, intergroup relations and intercultur…
Gendering Human Rights
We introduce, in this study, a gendering human rights model in which perceiving outgroups as having stereotypical feminine traits predicts decreased support for violating their human rights through the mediation of threat perception. This model is tested in the context of the asymmetrical protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict using Jewish-Israeli public opinion polling data (N=517). In line with our expectations, the findings indicate that Jewi…
Fierce Entanglements
Narrative as deliberative argument
This essay argues that narratives or stories are an essential communication mechanism that define the differences between two conflicting groups, especially in asymmetric conflicts. Stories told during conflict resolution experiences are typically assumed to be subjective and emotional versions of reality, but I argue that stories function as arguments. Stories provide a foundation for reasons and are used as evidence to justify positions; this m…
Three discursive dilemmas for Israeli religious settlers
Israeli religious settlers live in contested territory that they claim is promised to them by God. The settlers are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and are the recipients of international condemnation for their illegal behavior. Because the territories are neither sovereign nor legally recognized by Israel, their definition is open to construction. Religious settlers make arguments to satisfy three discursive dilemmas that must b…
Argument and Ethnopolitical Conflict
This article argues that deliberative processes, argument in particular, can be helpful to even the most divided groups; that is, it can assist with problems even in the case of the most intractable conflicts between groups. Conflict resolution requires a form of social cooperation that leads to argument and “good reasons.” Argument based discussion has significant advantages such as it exposes new information, extends the boundaries of individua…
Intergroup Communication as a Predictor of Jewish-Israeli Agreement With Integrative Solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The goal of this study is to empirically determine the extent to which controlled intergroup communicative contact—such as structured intergroup meetings between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians—increases the propensity for peaceful conflict resolution. The proposed model in this study was tested on public opinion data from a representative sample of Israeli-Jews using structural equation modeling. The model was successful in explaining variations i…
Accounts of violence from Arabs and Israelis on Nightline
The North American network, ABC-Television, broadcast the news-panel program, Nightline, from Jerusalem during the beginning days of the Second Intifada. One of the main themes of this discussion was the violence, pain and trauma – the civilians killed or wounded, the military's actions, and how it all started. Even the horrible facts of violence must be told or narrated and discussed for their morality, causes, consequences, responsibility and p…
Online Argument Between Israeli Jews and Palestinians
Previous research with face-to-face groups found that majority–minority theory was a better predictor of argument patterns between Israelis and Palestinians than cultural codes theory (D. G. Ellis & I. Maoz, 2002; I. Maoz & D. G. Ellis, 2001). But, because of the difficulties of organizing face-to-face contacts between Israelis and Palestinians (e.g., security, transportation, check points), computer-mediated communication has taken on increased …
Transforming Conflict
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 1 Group Conflict Chapter 3 2 Ethnicity and Conflict Chapter 4 3 Identity Conflicts and Communication Chapter 5 4 Diasporas, Media, and Globalization Chapter 6 5 Media and Political Conflict Chapter 7 6 Micro and Macro Communication Issues and Ethnopolitical Conflict Chapter 8 7 Resolving Conflict Chapter 9 References
Going to Ground
The focus of this article is the management of arguments between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Israelis and Palestinians are 2 groups that have been in severe conflict about land, culture, history, and national rights. In this study we draw on the traditions of conversation analysis, logic, and rhetoric to explain how participants used arguments to manage certain dilemmas and problems. The data were group encounters between Israeli Jews and…
Research on Social Interaction and the Micro-Macro Issue
Codes and Pragmatic Comprehension
(1994). Codes and Pragmatic Comprehension. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 17, Communication Yearbook 17, pp. 333-343
Discourse Strategies of Competent Communicators
Syntactic and Pragmatic Codes in Communication
This essay argues for the existence of two codes termed pragmatic and syntactic. A code is a system of signs that are interactionally relevant to contexts, appropriateness, genres, and situations. The essay offers a perspective on the problem of how language users both converge on meaning, and thereby establish stability and predictability in interaction, and develop individualized semantic scripts that are activated in interaction. The codes are…
Post‐structuralism and language
(1991). Post‐structuralism and language: Non‐sense. Communication Monographs: Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 213-224
The Structure of Social Interaction
Syntactic and pragmatic code usage in interpersonal communication
This research identifies and describes the nature of codes in interpersonal relationships. It derives from the linguistic mediation assumption, which holds that language reflects and mediates the social world. However, some intermediary organizing concept linking language to the social world is necessary, and a code is offered as this organizing concept. Three lines of literature are drawn on to establish the theoretical underpinnings for the cod…
Some Issues in Conversation Coherence
This study examined respondent proficiency at reconstructing a sequence of utterances (discourse). Theories of text hold that participants in a discourse must construct and arrange the sense of the text; that is, they must make decisions about discourse coherence. We had respondents reconstruct a conversation and we made predictions about discourse coherence, the nature of various two-turn constructional units, unit differences, and individual di…
Relational Stability and Change in Women's Consciousness-Raising Groups
Additional informationNotes on contributorsDonald G. EllisMr. Ellis is Associate Professor of Communication at Michigan State University
Language and Speech Communication
Some Pragmatics of Talking on Talk Radio
Perceptions of communication behavior associated with relationship terms
Individuals use a variety of terms to designate the nature of their relationships with others, e.g., friend, lover, pal, etc. Although expectations for certain types of communicative behavior surely accompany the use of these terms, it was not clear what their communicative referents were. The first phase of this study obtained intimacy-scaled ratings from 100 subjects to 62 relationship terms. Then more than 1,000 subjects ranging in age from 12…
The forum
Perceptions of communication behavior associated with relationship terms
Individuals use a variety of terms to designate the nature of their relationships with others, e.g., friend, lover, pal, etc. Although expectations for certain types of communicative behavior surely accompany the use of these terms, it was not clear what their communicative referents were. The first phase of this study obtained intimacy-scaled ratings from 100 subjects to 62 relationship terms. Then more than 1,000 subjects ranging in age from 12…
Phases of Conflict in Small Group Development
Previous research on conflict emanates from a variety of theoretical perspectives and yields inconsistent conclusions. The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of conflict and communication by answering the following question: How does conflict function in the process of achieving group consensus? Transcriptions of classroom groups were subjected to a Markov statistical analysis. The results of the study indicated that phases of confl…
Relational control in two group systems
Using Markov chain and phasic models of group interaction, this study examines and explains relational control interaction patterns in two decision‐making groups and two women's consciousness‐raising groups
Online Argument Between Israeli Jews and Palestinians
Previous research with face-to-face groups found that majority–minority theory was a better predictor of argument patterns between Israelis and Palestinians than cultural codes theory (D. G. Ellis & I. Maoz, 2002; I. Maoz & D. G. Ellis, 2001). But, because of the difficulties of organizing face-to-face contacts between Israelis and Palestinians (e.g., security, transportation, check points), computer-mediated communication has taken on increased …
Going to Ground
The focus of this article is the management of arguments between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Israelis and Palestinians are 2 groups that have been in severe conflict about land, culture, history, and national rights. In this study we draw on the traditions of conversation analysis, logic, and rhetoric to explain how participants used arguments to manage certain dilemmas and problems. The data were group encounters between Israeli Jews and…
Accounts of violence from Arabs and Israelis on Nightline
The North American network, ABC-Television, broadcast the news-panel program, Nightline, from Jerusalem during the beginning days of the Second Intifada. One of the main themes of this discussion was the violence, pain and trauma – the civilians killed or wounded, the military's actions, and how it all started. Even the horrible facts of violence must be told or narrated and discussed for their morality, causes, consequences, responsibility and p…
The nature of complex communication system
Little is yet known regarding structured or patterned interaction in complex communication systems. Conceptualizing complexity of communication systems as “organized complexity” in time, this study analyzed a variety of communication systems at multiple levels of complexity. Results indicate that the amount of structure contributed by increasing levels of complexity varied from one analytical system to another. The triple interact was the most ap…
Research on Social Interaction and the Micro-Macro Issue
Post‐structuralism and language
(1991). Post‐structuralism and language: Non‐sense. Communication Monographs: Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 213-224
Syntactic and pragmatic code usage in interpersonal communication
This research identifies and describes the nature of codes in interpersonal relationships. It derives from the linguistic mediation assumption, which holds that language reflects and mediates the social world. However, some intermediary organizing concept linking language to the social world is necessary, and a code is offered as this organizing concept. Three lines of literature are drawn on to establish the theoretical underpinnings for the cod…
Some Issues in Conversation Coherence
This study examined respondent proficiency at reconstructing a sequence of utterances (discourse). Theories of text hold that participants in a discourse must construct and arrange the sense of the text; that is, they must make decisions about discourse coherence. We had respondents reconstruct a conversation and we made predictions about discourse coherence, the nature of various two-turn constructional units, unit differences, and individual di…
Relational Stability and Change in Women's Consciousness-Raising Groups
Additional informationNotes on contributorsDonald G. EllisMr. Ellis is Associate Professor of Communication at Michigan State University
Language and Speech Communication
Narrative as deliberative argument
This essay argues that narratives or stories are an essential communication mechanism that define the differences between two conflicting groups, especially in asymmetric conflicts. Stories told during conflict resolution experiences are typically assumed to be subjective and emotional versions of reality, but I argue that stories function as arguments. Stories provide a foundation for reasons and are used as evidence to justify positions; this m…
Discourse Strategies of Competent Communicators
Gendering Human Rights
We introduce, in this study, a gendering human rights model in which perceiving outgroups as having stereotypical feminine traits predicts decreased support for violating their human rights through the mediation of threat perception. This model is tested in the context of the asymmetrical protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict using Jewish-Israeli public opinion polling data (N=517). In line with our expectations, the findings indicate that Jewi…
Syntactic and Pragmatic Codes in Communication
This essay argues for the existence of two codes termed pragmatic and syntactic. A code is a system of signs that are interactionally relevant to contexts, appropriateness, genres, and situations. The essay offers a perspective on the problem of how language users both converge on meaning, and thereby establish stability and predictability in interaction, and develop individualized semantic scripts that are activated in interaction. The codes are…
Some Pragmatics of Talking on Talk Radio
The forum
Building a theory of communication and ethnopolitical conflict
Coherent development of theories of ethnopolitical conflict has been slow and scattered. Moreover, the role of communication has been seriously neglected. I theorize ethnopolitical conflict along two dimensions: the level in which the conflict is entered (macro state-level, mid civil society level, and individual level) and the type of communication most characteristic of the level (bargaining and negotiation, intergroup relations and intercultur…
Three discursive dilemmas for Israeli religious settlers
Israeli religious settlers live in contested territory that they claim is promised to them by God. The settlers are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and are the recipients of international condemnation for their illegal behavior. Because the territories are neither sovereign nor legally recognized by Israel, their definition is open to construction. Religious settlers make arguments to satisfy three discursive dilemmas that must b…
The Structure of Social Interaction
Phases of Conflict in Small Group Development
Previous research on conflict emanates from a variety of theoretical perspectives and yields inconsistent conclusions. The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of conflict and communication by answering the following question: How does conflict function in the process of achieving group consensus? Transcriptions of classroom groups were subjected to a Markov statistical analysis. The results of the study indicated that phases of confl…
The nature of complex communication system
Little is yet known regarding structured or patterned interaction in complex communication systems. Conceptualizing complexity of communication systems as “organized complexity” in time, this study analyzed a variety of communication systems at multiple levels of complexity. Results indicate that the amount of structure contributed by increasing levels of complexity varied from one analytical system to another. The triple interact was the most ap…
Trait Predictors of Relational Control
This study attempted to identify clusters of traits which best predicted the use of relational control style. After 125 subjects interacted in different settings, their interaction was coded using two interaction analysis systems designed to code relational control. Subjects were then assigned to control style groups. Each subject completed a battery of trait measures. Results of a discriminant analysis indicated that people who consistently use …
Relational control in two group systems
Using Markov chain and phasic models of group interaction, this study examines and explains relational control interaction patterns in two decision‐making groups and two women's consciousness‐raising groups
Perceptions of communication behavior associated with relationship terms
Individuals use a variety of terms to designate the nature of their relationships with others, e.g., friend, lover, pal, etc. Although expectations for certain types of communicative behavior surely accompany the use of these terms, it was not clear what their communicative referents were. The first phase of this study obtained intimacy-scaled ratings from 100 subjects to 62 relationship terms. Then more than 1,000 subjects ranging in age from 12…
The forum
Some Pragmatics of Talking on Talk Radio
Relational Stability and Change in Women's Consciousness-Raising Groups
Additional informationNotes on contributorsDonald G. EllisMr. Ellis is Associate Professor of Communication at Michigan State University
Language and Speech Communication
Some Issues in Conversation Coherence
This study examined respondent proficiency at reconstructing a sequence of utterances (discourse). Theories of text hold that participants in a discourse must construct and arrange the sense of the text; that is, they must make decisions about discourse coherence. We had respondents reconstruct a conversation and we made predictions about discourse coherence, the nature of various two-turn constructional units, unit differences, and individual di…
Syntactic and pragmatic code usage in interpersonal communication
This research identifies and describes the nature of codes in interpersonal relationships. It derives from the linguistic mediation assumption, which holds that language reflects and mediates the social world. However, some intermediary organizing concept linking language to the social world is necessary, and a code is offered as this organizing concept. Three lines of literature are drawn on to establish the theoretical underpinnings for the cod…
The Structure of Social Interaction
Post‐structuralism and language
(1991). Post‐structuralism and language: Non‐sense. Communication Monographs: Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 213-224
Syntactic and Pragmatic Codes in Communication
This essay argues for the existence of two codes termed pragmatic and syntactic. A code is a system of signs that are interactionally relevant to contexts, appropriateness, genres, and situations. The essay offers a perspective on the problem of how language users both converge on meaning, and thereby establish stability and predictability in interaction, and develop individualized semantic scripts that are activated in interaction. The codes are…
Codes and Pragmatic Comprehension
(1994). Codes and Pragmatic Comprehension. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 17, Communication Yearbook 17, pp. 333-343
Discourse Strategies of Competent Communicators
Research on Social Interaction and the Micro-Macro Issue
Going to Ground
The focus of this article is the management of arguments between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Israelis and Palestinians are 2 groups that have been in severe conflict about land, culture, history, and national rights. In this study we draw on the traditions of conversation analysis, logic, and rhetoric to explain how participants used arguments to manage certain dilemmas and problems. The data were group encounters between Israeli Jews and…
Transforming Conflict
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 1 Group Conflict Chapter 3 2 Ethnicity and Conflict Chapter 4 3 Identity Conflicts and Communication Chapter 5 4 Diasporas, Media, and Globalization Chapter 6 5 Media and Political Conflict Chapter 7 6 Micro and Macro Communication Issues and Ethnopolitical Conflict Chapter 8 7 Resolving Conflict Chapter 9 References
Accounts of violence from Arabs and Israelis on Nightline
The North American network, ABC-Television, broadcast the news-panel program, Nightline, from Jerusalem during the beginning days of the Second Intifada. One of the main themes of this discussion was the violence, pain and trauma – the civilians killed or wounded, the military's actions, and how it all started. Even the horrible facts of violence must be told or narrated and discussed for their morality, causes, consequences, responsibility and p…
Online Argument Between Israeli Jews and Palestinians
Previous research with face-to-face groups found that majority–minority theory was a better predictor of argument patterns between Israelis and Palestinians than cultural codes theory (D. G. Ellis & I. Maoz, 2002; I. Maoz & D. G. Ellis, 2001). But, because of the difficulties of organizing face-to-face contacts between Israelis and Palestinians (e.g., security, transportation, check points), computer-mediated communication has taken on increased …
Intergroup Communication as a Predictor of Jewish-Israeli Agreement With Integrative Solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The goal of this study is to empirically determine the extent to which controlled intergroup communicative contact—such as structured intergroup meetings between Israeli-Jews and Palestinians—increases the propensity for peaceful conflict resolution. The proposed model in this study was tested on public opinion data from a representative sample of Israeli-Jews using structural equation modeling. The model was successful in explaining variations i…
Argument and Ethnopolitical Conflict
This article argues that deliberative processes, argument in particular, can be helpful to even the most divided groups; that is, it can assist with problems even in the case of the most intractable conflicts between groups. Conflict resolution requires a form of social cooperation that leads to argument and “good reasons.” Argument based discussion has significant advantages such as it exposes new information, extends the boundaries of individua…
Narrative as deliberative argument
This essay argues that narratives or stories are an essential communication mechanism that define the differences between two conflicting groups, especially in asymmetric conflicts. Stories told during conflict resolution experiences are typically assumed to be subjective and emotional versions of reality, but I argue that stories function as arguments. Stories provide a foundation for reasons and are used as evidence to justify positions; this m…
Three discursive dilemmas for Israeli religious settlers
Israeli religious settlers live in contested territory that they claim is promised to them by God. The settlers are at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and are the recipients of international condemnation for their illegal behavior. Because the territories are neither sovereign nor legally recognized by Israel, their definition is open to construction. Religious settlers make arguments to satisfy three discursive dilemmas that must b…
Psychology (22 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (13 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Linguistics (10 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Political science (8 works)