COMM 305 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture 1 Course Introductions11 2 The map is not the territory 3 Lay Theory vs Formal Theory The Empirical World 4 What do theories typically include 5 What should a theory do for us 6 What questions should we ask about theory Outline of Current Lecture 1 Key Theoretical Assumptions a Ontology b Epistemology c Axiology 2 Key Communication Assumptions a Process b Transactional c Symbolic d Social e Intentional Current Lecture Study for the multiple choice exam we will have in the way you would study for a short answer test The study guide is built to help us think in those ways Appropriateness is the fit between the theory and the assumptions the theorist has Ontology Onto from the Greek word means being It is a study of the nature of being Reality and how we come to know reality What is knowable When you hit your desk are you touching your desk Can you feel it It is there It is real You aren t really touching your desk You feel the resistance between the electrons in your hand and desk Your senses can be fooled easily Understanding ontology begins by there is a perception of what we perceive and what is Most of us operate everyday by what the text refers to as a realist ontology The world is as we see it This is an monoinlist stance Things only have meaning and are real for us when we give them meaning We name them Social Constructionist Stance As the name applies the world is real not on our own perceptions but also because of our connection with others We think of this as a desk because we call it a desk The world has meaning based on our own perception and our connection to each other and the way we can share meaning We have consequences on how we use build and modify theory Your major will have predictable consequences later in life The nomalist stance says that our meaning and identity has everything to do with our individual and specific meaning we propose Social constructionist stance means what does it mean for you to be a communication major You can choose your classes There is something social and shared that we put that makes us a communication major Being a communication major affects everyone Nomalist what makes a communication do for you Social what do we do together affect our communication degree COMM 305 1st Edition Is your behavior determined by other factors or your own making or is it a mix Do we communicate in the same way or in different ways in different situations Is human experience individual or is it social Is the search for laws impossible because we are all unique Nomalist Epistemology Greek knowing knowledgeable questions on the nature of knowing or knowledge Objectivist and subjectivist stances on epistemology Your nature of being will have impact on your nature of knowing Knowledge is codeafiable In the real world it can be systematically known We can measure and observe it We can have faith in those measurements and observations In the subjective view the real world can t be separated from our perspectives We can t really know someone else s experiences Filling out a fact questionnaire is useless because we will each see the question differently Epistemology is important because it has questions like to what extent can I be certain to what extent can I transfer what I know Hot dog story the nature of knowing They looked at it from a subjectivist stance and they could find the problem That is what epistemology is about Axiology Greek value or worth Values and our beliefs about what is right and wrong How do our values enter into our theory making It can be about what degree do our values inform our decision making An axiology wants to turn of a dripping faucet They want what is real about everything Begin with the scientist They believe they can be aware of the values They can separate themselves from the process The faucet is leaking but they can turn it off Another view is that the faucet is leaking but they have to deal with it This is more of a nomolist or stance They can t separate their ideas The only hope is to understand the water If you understand your values you can be aware of how the values are influencing your work A true nomalist will say we don t have a faucet leak but a slab leak We can t control our values We aren t even aware of them We began from a realist stance where the water is a problem There is a fire house Be most aware of your values