A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...

Conformability
According to Schwandt (2001), “Conformability was concerned with
establishing the fact that the data and interpretations of an inquiry were not merely
figments of the inquirer’s imagination” (p. 164). In order to establish conformability
in this study, Camtasia and Power Point softwares for making training material for
five communication strategies and videotaping were employed for collecting
qualitative data while interviewing the students.
DVD Notebook
For providing conformable illustrations to training participants on the five
communication strategies based on Faerch and Kasper’s (1983c) definitions in their
taxonomy, 45 minutes of descriptions based on Faerch and Kasper’s (1983c)
classification of communication strategies were displayed in a Digital Video Disk
(DVD) notebook. Sufficient examples of five communication strategies and
reviewable lectures consistent with Faerch and Kasper’s taxonomy of communication
strategies were created through Camtasia and Power Point Software onto this DVD.
The DVD notebook, as well as the training material, assisted the students to learn
communication strategies after class. The parallel interpretation for communication
strategies such as Faerch and Kasper’s two sets of reduction and achievement
strategies were offered verbally and literally.
Videotaping
According to Richards (2005), “Qualitative researchers always record words
and sometimes record images, sounds or other ways of portraying a situation” (p. 50).
For attaining a high conformability, the method of videotaping was adopted in this
study to collect the words, images, and sounds. Videotaping proved high consistency
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