COMM402 Exam 2 Study Guide Models vs Theory o Not Theory name dropping classic theories summarizing prior data preponderance of evidence for an effect list of variables that are related to one another o Better summarizing how your research hypotheses are derived from a prior theory suggesting connections between prior findings that explains prior data suggests why the relationship exists suggest why the relationship exists Models Physical vs Conceptual representing o Physical scale model either larger or smaller than the system it is o Conceptual uses an idea to suggest what a system is or how it works Structural vs Functional Action Interaction Transaction o Action o o Interaction Transaction Best most complete and most accurate speech communication mode and the most difficult to visualize Metatheory and Paradigms What is a strong theory o Explains why o Draws connections between social phenomena o Delves into underlying processes so as to understand the systemic reasons for a particular occurence or nonoccurence o Can have implications we have not seen with our naked eye o Can have implications that run counter to common sense Goals of a theory o Describe understand o Explain how and or why o Predict o Control change social change and putting them into categories Metatheory theory about theory Typology Just a description categorizing things by type describing things o Used to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept used to complete or add to the ladder o More comprehensive transcending usually used with the name of a discipline to designate a new but related discourse designed to deal critically with the original Paradigm a worldview underlying the theories and methodology about a particular scientific subject o Philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school discipline within theories laws and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulate Ontology study of the nature of being o Concerned with the nature and relations of being o Theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence o Assumptions about what exists and the nature of being Epistemology study of knowledge and its sources o Study theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge with reference to limits validity o How we go about knowing and what counts as knowledge Axiology study of value o Value in terms of aesthetics ethics o Position of value in science research Original position that research should be value free Limited as much as possible unavoidable desirable Epistemological Axiological Paradigms o Empiricism Positivism Assumes the existence of an objective reality Goal of research is to uncover reality through evidence closely associated with covering laws perspective In purest form research is explicitly value free and objective control Usually quantitative o Hermeneutics o Critical Theory Views truth as subjective research is not uncovering an objective truth but interpreting communication and experience Does not necessarily strive to be objective but may take a middle ground subtle realism Believes knowledge truth and power to be linked Science cannot exist without ideology Scholars believe it is a researcher s responsibility to work to change society Ontological Paradigms o Covering Laws Classic model logical positivist model Assumes an ontology where social world is governed by laws Purpose of the researcher is to uncover the laws that underlie if X then Y human behavior Ultimate goal is to use laws to predict behavior Scholars use experimental and quasi experimental techniques Strengths useful to generate predictions about human behavior findings from empirical studies have been useful for generating new theory Weaknesses Positivist tradition does not account enough for human agency and differing interpretations of stimuli not useful fro predicting with certainty what a person will do oversimplification o Rules Human Action Scholars identify rules rather than laws Closely associated with hermeneutic tradition Reality is subjective Understanding reality relies on understanding participants interpretation of stimuli Human choice is favored Strengths emphasis on choice interpretation allows for deep examination of communication phenomena Weaknesses inability to predict future behavior difficult to o Systems set of interdependent units that work together to adapt to test empirically a changing environment Views communication behavior as a system rather than aggregation of actors behaviors Not associated with a particular ontology epistemology axiology Properties of a system wholeness interdependence of components hierarchy boundaries openness calibration feedback equifinality idea that we can achieve the same goal through different means Strengths doesn t impose constraints or biases in subject matter ways of knowing allows for studying at multiple levels of analysis simultaneously makes generalizations that are situation specific Weaknesses can be too broad general for applied contexts does not always explain systemic behavior Counter arguments to those criticisms o Straw man o Not one positivism with all characteristics Scientism science is a motor for positive change Empiricism the only kind of knowledge that is worth while is the kind of knowledge rounded in observation Naturalism eventually all science will be able to be united under a single umbrella Holism properties of society can not be reduced to the property of individuals cant explain people by breaking them into pieces Antirealism subjectivism you cant verify that there is a real world out there all you have is your perceptions Inductivism making a theory out of observations run experiments see what happens and then create a theory form those observations Reductionism phenomena can be broken into tiny pieces those parts can be measured Post Positivism Criticisms of positivism o Flawed epistemology o Corrupt axiology o Reductionist ontology methodology Evaluation of Theory Strong Inference Approach Tradeoffs in theory building o Scope precision o Parsimony explanatory power Constraints o Funding important subjects o Ability to measure dictates what scholars study o Explaining variance ecological fallacy Evaluation Criteria o Scope good theories contain adequate scope broad enough to explain a lot of concrete events but not so broad as to try to explain everything o Logical consistency related to precision if you re not precise you re not logically