Defining Communication What are the issues involved in defining communication o Have to figure out what communication must must not be ex Have correspondence be successful be ethical include symbolic actions include cognition and or be human to human Communication a process in which individuals use symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment Why is it important to define communication Models of the communication process know their components and how they differ conceptually o Linear ONE way sender encoder message receiver decoder with background noise physical semantic psychological and physiological NO feedback flaw o Interactional interplay circular model built on from the linear model by adding the concept of feedback o Transactional interpersonal process ongoing no beginning middle or end which makes both parties responsible for creating meaning and all the communication takes places in an environment context Types of noise o Physical external or background noise anything that interferes with the sending and receiving of messages ex Construction o Semantic word meaning people using words you don t understand ex Speaking two different languages or slang o Psychological internal or the noise in your mind ex Biases o Physiological biological interfering with either the sender or receiver ex Being sick or tired Communication contexts know what they are and topics of study within them these topics can be found in your text o Intrapersonal communication with oneself o Interpersonal face to face communication o Small group communication with a group of people o Organizational communication within and among large and extended o Public rhetorical communication to a large group of listeners audience o Mass mediated communication to a very large audience through o Intercultural communication between and among members of different environments mediated forms cultures o Health Introduction to Theory Theory Any conceptual representation or explanation of a phenomenon Communication Theory A way to describe explain predict and or control human communication behavior Difference between o Theory any conceptual representation or explanation of a phenomenon represent realities but are not realities themselves o Model simplified representation of reality specifies relationships between concepts temporal order o Taxonomy conceptual representation of categories of a phenomenon What are the Goals of Theory o Describe to understand o Explain how and or why o Predict o Control social change Metatheoretical theory about theory Assumptions o Ontological studying the nature of reality how do we know its communication Do humans make real choices Is human experience basically individually or social Is human experience contextualized o Epistemological studying knowledge how do we know what we know BEST way to research communication Ask can knowledge exist before experience Can knowledge be certain By what process does knowledge arise Is knowledge best conceived in parts or wholes By what process does knowledge arise Mental rationalism power of the human mind and thinking Empiricism direct observation Constructivism people create knowledge to function through life learn from experience Social Constructivism knowledge is created socially more then one person is involved how people in society construct meaning between them o Axiological studying values and what roles value should play in the research process Is research value free Does the practice of inquiry influence that which is studied Should research attempt to achieve social change Covering Laws Rules Systems Approaches to Theory NO choice people communicate the way they do because some prior condition caused them to respond that way Communication is governed by forces that are generalizable forces are called laws Types of laws positivistic vs probabilistic laws o Positivistic increased source credibility causes increased persuasion X o Probabilistic based on probability if X then probability of Y under causes Y condition Z Difference between the Empirical Social Scientist and the Humanist Empirical Scientist AKA social scientist studies based on the hard sciences o Knowledge based on observation o Structured steps to discovery o Science discovers reality o Behavior shaped by forces beyond our control o Goals of research are explanation prediction and sometimes control o Test theoretical explanations using quantitative research methods Humanist Rhetorician believe that the scientific method is not the appropriate way to study human behavior they believe in CHOICE o Knowledge is created by the researcher o Knower can not be separated from the known o Goal of research is better understanding of the phenomena being studied o Multiple meanings are acceptable o Human behavior is voluntary o Qualitative research methods Where do Rhetoricians fit into the social scientist Humanist continuum o All rhetoricians are humanists but not all humanists are rhetoricians What are the social scientist s meta theoretical assumptions o What are the humanist s meta theoretical assumptions The laws rules systems and rhetorical approaches to theory building Where do they fit in along the Social Scientist Humanist continuum Building Theory Three stage model of communication inquiry o Stage 1 observing communication phenomena asking the appropriate questions o Stage 2 Discovering theoretical explanations o Stage 3 testing theoretical explanations Theories as abstractions and constructions o Abstractions represent reality but they are NOT reality in and of itself they are general enough to explain or apply a lot of different concrete events not just one o Constructions people build theories so they are not perfect but they attempt to explain reality and can change based on evidence supporting or not we can change modify or recreate them What are the building blocks of theory Concepts and explanations o Concepts start with concrete events group similar events into categories label categories ex Concept and define concepts o Explanations identifies relationships among concepts answers question s why and or how and relies on principle of necessity Understand the process of conceptualization How do we do it Why is it important Understand the principle of necessity be able to differentiate among causal practical and logical necessity How to build theories four step model o 1 Observe phenomenon o 2 Develop explanation theory for phenomenon define concepts create
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