COMM 305 1stEditionAssumptions Outline of Last Lecture1. 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. IntentionalCurrent LectureStudy 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.COMM 305 1stEdition 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 con-nection 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 individualand 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? 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.COMM 305 1stEdition 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