This study examines the extent to which the Memorial Attribute Model accounts for the memorials posted on the Communication Research and Theory Network (CRTNET). Results show that the model’s strength is its emphasis on the surrogacy function of memorials and the role that relationships between author and deceased play in illuminating the memorial content, length and author motivations. Colleagues are the most prolific authors of CRTNET memorials while ‘colleague and friend’ was the most frequent combination of author–deceased relationships indicated in the memorials. However, the model falls short of recognizing the prominence of expressing admiration and gratitude for the deceased above expression of grief, addressing unfinished business and treating the deceased as a social presence.
de VriesB.JohnsonC. (2002). Multidimensional reactions to the death of a friend in the later years. In SetterstenR. A.OwensT. J. (eds), Advances in life course research: New frontiers in socialization (pp. 299–324). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
8.
de VriesB.LanaR. D.FalckV. T. (1994). Parental bereavement over the life course: A theoretical intersection and empirical review. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 29(1), 47–69.
9.
DokaK. J. (1989). Disenfranchised grief. In DokaK. J. (ed.), Disenfranchised grief: Recognizing hidden sorrow (pp. 3–11). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
10.
EbaughH. (1988). Becoming an ex: The process of role exit. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11.
GersickC. J. G.BartunekJ. M.DuttonJ. E. (2000). Learning from academia: The importance of relationships in professional life. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 1026–1044.
12.
HastingsS. O.HooverJ. D.MusambiraG. W. (2005). In my heart for eternity: Normalizing messages to the deceased. Storytelling, Self, Society, 1, 11–25.
13.
Kübler-RossE. (1969). On death and dying. New York, New York: Macmillan.
14.
MossM. S.MossS. Z. (1989). The death of a parent. In KalishR. (ed.), Midlife loss: Coping strategies (pp. 89–114). Newsbury Park: SAGE.
15.
MossM. S.MossS. Z.(1995). Death and bereavement. In BliesznerR.BedfordV. H. (eds), Handbook on aging and the family. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
16.
MusambiraG. W.HastingsS. O.HooverJ. D. (2006–2007). Bereavement, gender, and cyberspace: A content analysis of parent’s memorials to their children. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 54(4), 263–269.
17.
NathanS.HermansonD.HermansonR. (1998). Co-authoring in refereed journals: Views of accounting faculty and department chairs. Issues in Accounting Education, 13(1), 79–92.
18.
National Communication Association (n.d.) Communication research, theory, network (CRTNET). Retrieved from http://www.natcom.org/index.asp?bid=207 (last accessed on September 7, 2009).
19.
ShernoffM. (1997). Gay widowers: Life after the death of a partner. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press.
20.
SlussD.AshforthB. (2007). Relational identity and identification: Defining ourselves through work relationships. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 9–32.
21.
VealK. (2004). Online memorialisation: The Web as a collective memorial landscape for remembering the dead. Fibreculture, 3, 1–14. Retrieved from http://www.journal.fibreculture.org/issue3/index.html (October15, 2009)
22.
WelshM.BremserW. (2005). Accounting faculty research collaboration: A study of relationship benefits and gender differences. Global Perspectives on Accounting Education, 2(1), 19–36.
