Toward a Synthesis of Listening Constructs: A Concept Map Analysis

Scholars in the field of listening have raised concerns about the lack of an accepted definition of listening, of a theoretical base for listening research, and of the need to develop a consensus regarding the conceptualization of listening. This study used the "concept mapping" (CM) procedure to derive variables related to listening that could serve as a basis for developing a sound theoretical construct. A set of 98 items related to various aspects of the listening process was presented to 19 participants, who used an unstructured sorting procedure to indicate which items were most closely related to each other, followed by ratings of importance of each item to the construct of listening. The data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis, resulting in a 15-cluster visual map solution showing the relationships of the items to each other and the relative importance of the clusters. The clusters rated most important were critical listening, sensory impressions, context, composite process, and active listening. The other clusters were subception, overt response, empathy, organization, interpretation, information storage, auditory processing, input characteristics, subliminal cues, and nonverbal stimuli.