Socio-psychological reconstruction as a qualitative method

1. The communication model Communication is not simply just information processing from a sender to a recipient. It is an interactive process that has its own specific dynamics by which the communicators themselves become entangled in the topic of the communication. The meaning of any message results from the context in which it is placed and can be understood on three different levels. Take a man, for instance, riding in a car with a young woman besides him, and she says "There is a red traffic light ahead." One can ponder about the meaning of this message. First of all, it provides information on the traffic light. This is the report aspect of communication, which conveys information on some topic and is, therefore, synonymous with the (propositional) content of communication. Secondly, it means a challenge to react, such as "Stop the car." This is the parade aspect of communication, which imposes a particular behavior on the recipient and provokes his or her response. As most communication events are ambivalent challenges, the message in our example might also be a demand to argue, i.e. "I know how to drive very well." Which of these interpretations carries the real meaning can only be determined based upon the context of the communication. Imagine that the two people in our example are a married couple involved in one of those conflicts in which the husband always withdraws to himself while his wife usually grumbles all the time (cf. Watzlawick et al., 1967). In this case, the message may easily be understood as a challenge to argue (even though it might not be meant this way in the specific case). Within another context, however, this interpretation would be rather unlikely. Imagine that the man and the woman in our example just met and fell in love that very evening. Now they are driving home to his or her place, involved in heavy kissing and not very aware of what is happening outside. When the young woman takes a glance, she suddenly realizes that the lights have changed...