Specialist, Human Communication and Family Science
OSU Extension,
Family Consumer Sciences

Education

Ph.D.,  1988
M. A., 1985
B. A., 1981

Scholarly Interests

 My scholarly interests center around the interactional processes by which individuals, families, organizations, and communities develop, maintain, and evolve the relationships through which goals are achieved and society is maintained.  My primarily area of academic specialization deals with family processes including marriage and parenting education, although I also teach and conduct research in the area of youth development.  In additional areas, I conduct educational programming for scholarly and community audiences that addresses issues in conflict management, gender differences in communication, leadership, organization development, and change management.  Two major research studies I am conducting are directed toward discovering methods of helping youth develop the social skills needed to succeed in school and in examining the reciprocal relationship between children’s school success and parental involvement in school activities.  My secondary academic specialization is Applied Research Methods and Program Evaluation.  I recently co-developed, co-taught, and investigated the success of a new curriculum in applied research processes. 

Selected Publications

Torppa, C. B., & Thomas, J. R.  (2008).  Enhancing Family and Consumer Sciences: Personal and professional benefits of conducting program evaluation and applied research.  Journal of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, 24-28.

Davis, G., Torppa, C. B., Archer, T. M., & Thomas, J. R.  (2007).  Applied research initiative: Training in the scholarship of engagement.  Journal of Extension [On-line], 28(2). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2007april/a2.shtml 

Torppa, C. B., & Recker, N.  (2007).  Young adults’ expectations for marriage: Then and now.  Journal of the National Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, 22-27.
 
Torppa, C. B.  (2006).  Conflict management for parents of teens: Strategies that improve relationships.  Journal of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, 5-8.

Robey, E. B., Canary, D. J., & Burggraf (Torppa), C. S.  (1998). Conversational maintenance behaviors of husbands and wives: An observational analysis.  In D. J. Canary and  K. Dindia (Eds.), Sex differences and similarities in communication: Critical essays and empirical investigations of sex and gender in interaction.  New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. 

Pavitt, C., Perse, E. M., & Burggraf (Torppa), C. S.  (1995).The stability of college students' implicit theories of marriage.  Communication Quarterly, 43, 332-341.
 
Sillars, A. L., Burggraf (Torppa), C. S., Yost, S., & Zietlow, P. (1992).  Conversational themes and marital relationship definitions: Quantitative and qualitative investigations.  Human Communication Research, 19, 124-154.

Sillars, A. L., Weisberg, J., Burggraf (Torppa), C. S., & Zietlow, P.  (1990). Communication and understanding revisited: Married couples' understanding and recall of conversations.  Communication Research, 17, 500-522.
 
Burggraf (Torppa), C. S., & Sillars, A. L.  (1987).  A critical examination of sex differences in marital communication.  Communication Monographs, 54, 276-294.
 
Sillars, A. L., Weisberg, J., Burggraf (Torppa), C. S., & Wilson, E.  (1987).  Content themes in marital conversations.  Human Communication Research, 13, 495-528.