Olivia Wolf 9 5 12 Objectives Defining Communication Issues involved in defining communication Why is it important to define communication Define Communication The process of communication Communication contexts 1970 Frank Nantz went into the literature looking for a definition for communication and found 126 different definitions now because of technology there would be significantly more definitions Having no one definition is a problem so people criticize us Issues in defining communication Must communication Big issue is if communication needs to be intentional Watzlawick Beavin and Jackson 1967 have to be intentional for communication to take place You cannot not communicate As long as you re in the presence of another human being there is potential for communication Have correspondence does the message sent have to equal the message received Does the meaning intended have to be the meaning received Be successful two sides for everything not everyone thinks it has to be successful Be ethical Honest should we study unethical not honest studies manipulation lying propaganda Include symbolic actions verbal nonverbal symbols that have commonly understood meanings Include cognition thought and perception do we need feedback Should this be communication or left to psychologists Be human to human we study human to human only not the same process for dogs 9 10 12 Why is it important to define communication Class definition of communication meaning in their environment Models of communication Linear Shannon and Weaver 1949 o One way model o Sender Encodes message receiver decodes A process in which individuals use symbols to establish and interpret o Sender has meaning they want to get across takes thoughts labels them with symbols and organizes them in some way o Channel is how we send and receive the messages via the 5 senses o Receiver receives the message their job is to decode the message figure out meaning o Noise anything that interferes with the sending and receiving of messages Physical external anything external to the participants and interferes with the sending and receiving of the messages ex Construction noise Semantic based on word meaning if someone uses a word you don t understand ex Talking in two different language technical language slang Psychological internal in the mind of the sender or receiver ex Physiological biological interfering with the sender or receiver Biases ex Tired sick Flaws only goes one way no feedback Interactional Schramm 1954 o Interplay circular model o Has the linear model built in yet adds the concept of feedback response to the message which allows the sender to know what meaning the receiver got o Very start stop oriented ex Texting email o Receiver becomes the sender o Fields of experience big circles in this model everything you bring to the communication situation ex Age sex culture o Middle of the Venn diagram need overlap in fields of experience for understanding to take place Transactional Barnlund 1970 o Interpersonal process o Ongoing process no beginning middle or end goes both ways o Both parties are responsible for the creation of meaning o All communication takes places in a context environment Contexts of Communication o Intrapersonal o Interpersonal o Small group o Organizational o Public rhetorical o Mass mediated o Intercultural o Health 9 12 12 OBJECTIVES What is a theory What is the difference between a theory and a taxonomy and a model What are the goals of theory Communication theory defined What is a theory Stephen Littlejohn s definition of a theory Any conceptual representation or explanation of a phenomenon Concept a label for something Theories represent realities but they re not realities themselves Explanation how the concepts interrelate Mary John Smith a set of statements specifying an explanatory relationship between two or more classes of phenomenon Theory vs Taxonomy and Model Taxonomy conceptual representation of categories of a phenomenon Marwell and Schmitt o 1 Rewarding Activities promise liking pre giving o 2 Punishing Activities threat aversive stimulation o 3 Expertise expertise positive and negative o 4 Activation of Impersonal Commitments moral appeal self feeling Stephen Littlejohn would consider this taxonomy Mary John Smith would not altercasting esteem o 5 Activation of Personal Commitments Model simplified representation of reality o Specifies relationships between concepts o Temporal order Example of a Model The extended Parallel Processing Model Kim Witte 1992 Both Little John and Smith would consider a model a theory Littlejohn s definition is the best because it is broad and encompasses everything Goals of Theory To Describe to understand What Put in an intelligible frame To explain how and or why To predict To control social change THE BEST DEFINITION for Communication Theory a way to describe explain predict and or control human communication behavior 9 17 12 Meta Theoretical Assumptions Objectives What is Meta Theory What are meta theoretical assumptions questions How do meta theoretical assumptions drive theory building and testing What is the difference between a social scientist and a humanist What are three major theoretical paradigms in the field of communication Why So Many Communication Theories Scholars have different assumptions about the nature of o Communication will most likely develop different theories of communication o Theory building and testing guide and build different types of theories no unifying theory of communication Metatheory theory about theory Body of speculation on the nature of theory and research theory about theory Assumptions scholars make about the appropriate ways they build and test theories in the field of communication What are the assumptions that scholars make when thinking about creating theory in our field Metatheoretical Discussions Debates Answer these questions communication What communication phenomena should be observed What counts as How should it be observed What is the best way to learn about communication to research communication Ex Survey interview transcripts of conversations experimental research What should be the goals of theory research Is one goal better than the other three Are all three appropriate Metatheoretical Assumptions Ontological branch of philosophy concerned with studying the nature of reality Communication being grounded in the real world how do we know what we witness is communication or if we engage in
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