Staying on topic: An explication of conversational relevance∗

This research was part of a dissertation under the supervision of Dean Hewes at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison. Thanks to him, Bob Craig, Art Bochner, Sally Planalp, and Herb Simons for offering helpful comments on a draft of this paper. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eastern Communication Association, Hartford, CT, 1982.

Abstract

This paper identifies the two most likely rules that conversants use to guide their conversational commenting as they attempt to stay on topic and make their remarks relevant. The local rule suggests that conversants should chain to the last part of their partner's utterance; the global rule suggests that conversants should extend the main idea in the partner's talk. Prior research supporting the global version of the relevancy rule is reviewed, critiqued, and generalizability concerns are raised. An experiment is presented which tests whether communicators use the rule to guide their own talking as well as to judge others' behavior. Results support prior research. Two conditions under which the rule is predicted to apply only weakly are also tested. The first condition, “message comprehensibility” is found to have an influence; the second, “perceived message importance,” is not. A qualitative analysis of the data is presented and questions for future study are identified.

Notes

This research was part of a dissertation under the supervision of Dean Hewes at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison. Thanks to him, Bob Craig, Art Bochner, Sally Planalp, and Herb Simons for offering helpful comments on a draft of this paper. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eastern Communication Association, Hartford, CT, 1982.