Critical Synthesis Package: Relational Communication Scale (RCS)

Abstract

Abstract This Critical Synthesis Package contains: (1) a Critical Analysis of the psychometric properties and application to health sciences education for the Relational Communication Scale (RCS), and (2) a copy of the RCS instrument and scoring key developed by Judee Burgoon, PhD. The RCS is a 34-item measure of interpersonal communication methods that was developed for a wide variety of communication environments ranging from the dyadic to small group settings. The measure contains 11 subscales: Intimacy-Nonintimacy, Involvement-Noninvolvement, Affection-Hostility, Depth-Superficiality, Trust-Distrust, Receptivity-Nonreceptivity, Dominance-Submission, Formality-Informality, Task vs. Social Orientation, Composure-Noncomposure, and Emotional Arousal. The RCS wording is intended to be flexibly adjusted to measure self, peer/co-interactant, or third party/observer assessments. The RCS is highly customizable, with one such example described in the literature being the Relational Communication for Observational Measurement (RCS-O). This measure intended for third party/observer assessment of physician-patient non-verbal interactions. Accordingly, one of the great utilities of the RCS is that medical educators may adapt the original instrument in a similar manner as the RCS-O, or in a more tailored manner to fit the needs of their institution's learners. Despite its validity and potential, medical education use of the RCS, including the RCS-O variation, has been infrequently described and studied. Therefore, further research would be helpful to raise awareness of uses in a variety of health care education settings, and also to expand validity of use, such as in interprofessional education and practice settings.

Keywords

• Communication
• Competency-Based Education
• Assessment
• Interpersonal Relations
• Educational Assessment
• DREAM