communication theory and scholarship

CommunicationTheory and Scholarship

To identify the importance of theory in communication and

media.

Objective

The Idea of Theory

Theoretical Evaluation

Communication – A definition

Levels and Contexts of Communication

Overview:

To get the ball rolling:

How valuable is small talk?

How much time to you spend online?

Is there a difference between men and women when they talk?

Is communication an art or science?

Communication

What is a theory?

Theory as storytelling?

The Idea of Theory

Theories are organized sets of concepts, explanations, and principles of some aspect of

our experience.

Theories are maps of reality, guidebooks on a certain terrain of experience that is rooted in the essential meaning-making functions of human beings.

The Idea of Theory

Theories are ultimately subjective. They are less a

record of reality than a record of scholars'

conceptualizations about reality.

Theories are discourses: the careful, systematic and self-conscious discussion

and analyses of phenomena.

The Idea of Theory

They are the academic foundations of every discipline, the means by which we codify and organize knowledge.

Theories also provide a way to challenge existing practices in cultural life and to

generate new ways of living.

The Idea of Theory

Philosophical Assumptions

Concepts and Explanations

Principles

Dimensions of Theory

Philosophical Assumptions Basic beliefs that underlie the theory.

Epistemology: The nature of knowledge.

To what extent can knowledge exist before experience?

To what extent can knowledge be certain? By what process does knowledge arise?

(Rationalism, Empiricism, Constructivism, Social Constructionism )

Is knowledge best conceived in parts or wholes?

To what extent is knowledge explicit?


Philosophical Assumptions Basic beliefs that underlie the theory

Ontology: The nature of being; What is the nature of human existence?

To what extent do humans make real choices? Is human behavior best understood in terms of

states or traits? Is human experience primarily individual or

social? To what extent is communication contextual?


Philosophical Assumptions Basic beliefs that underlie the theory

Axiology: Values; objectivity and subjectivity.

Can theory be value free? To what extent does the process of inquiry affect

that which is being studied? Should scholarship always be geared toward

(social) change or is its function simply to generate knowledge?


Concepts Conceptual categories based on observed

qualities Concepts are terms which require definitions.

Explanations Answers the question, “Why?” Patterns of relationships between variables

Causal explanations, practical explanations


Principles Not present in all theories Guidelines on the interpretation of

events 3 parts:

Identifies a situation or event Includes a set of norms or values Asserts a connection between a range of

actions and possible consequences


1. Theoretical Scope – Range. How much does the theory explain. Is it able to explain a specific event as well as a bigger phenomenon/a?

2. Appropriateness – Are the basic beliefs of the theory suitable to explain, to predict and to control affective and cognative events?

3. Heuristic Value – Is it able to generate new knowledge that is enough to investigate by the scholarly community?

4. Validity – Is it testable? Is it able to support or reject observations?

5. Parsimony – Is it able to explain a phenomenon/a is the most simple way?

6. Openness – Is it adaptable to change?

Evaluating Theory

Communication theory as “an umbrella term for all careful, systematic and self-conscious discussion and analysis of communication

phenomena.”

- Ernest Bormann

Communication Theory

All theories contain explicit or implicit definitions of communication and the components of a definition in large measure set the boundaries and the focus of the theory.

Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response.

- Em Griffin

The Concept of Communication

Intrapersonal Communication Interpersonal Communication

Dyadic Communication Small Group Communication

Public Communication Organizational Communication Mass Communication Intercultural Computer-Mediated Communication

Levels of Communication

15-Minute Break.

Traditions of Communication Theory

To know the three axes of communication scholarship and the seven traditions of communication theories.

Objective

1. Axes of Communication Scholarshipa. Scientific / Materialist Scholarshipb. Humanistic / Culturalist Scholarshipc. Social Scientific Scholarship

2. Traditions:a. Socio-psychologicalb. Cyberneticc. Rhetoricald. Semiotice. Socio-culturalf. Criticalg. Phenomenological

Overview:

Scientific / Materialist Scholarship

The Idea of Truth: Objective, Cause & Effect, Problem-Oriented

The Idea of Human Behavior: Determined; Stimulus-Response

The Purpose: Prediction, Explanation, Control

Method of Analysis: Content Analysis, Experimentation, and Surveys.

Axes of Communication Scholarship

Humanistic / Culturalist Scholarship

The Idea of Truth: Subjective, Multiple realities and meanings

The Idea of Human Behavior: Individual Autonomy

The Purpose: Interpretation and Understanding

Method of Analysis: Textual Analysis, FGDs, In-depth Interviews, Ethnographic or “Thick Descriptions.”


Social Scientific Scholarship: Both

In previous years the majority of social scientists believed that scientific methods alone would suffice to uncover the mysteries of human experience.

Today, most social scientists realize that while scientific methods are important, a strong humanistic element is present as well.


The Ferment in the Field.

Robert Craig’s meta-model.

Traditions of Communication Theory

It is the most scientific of all traditions.

It is rooted in the Cause-effect relationship of communication.

Its primary goal is to predict communication.

It emphasizes persuasion.

The Socio-psychological Tradition

Communication is composed of a system of parts.

This tradition emphasizes the transmission of information from one person to another.

Feedback is seen as an important part of communication.

The Cybernetic Tradition

The Shannon-Weaver Mathematical Model


The DeFleur Model In 1966 Melvin DeFleur improved on the Shannon-

Weaver Model, and emphasized the importance of feedback.


Rhetoric is the art of public address and persuasion.

This tradition emphasizes the proper techniques of communication – public or otherwise (enunciation, articulation, visual depiction, metaphor, alliteration etc.)

The Rhetorical Tradition

Aristotle’s Rhetoric: How arguments are produced, arranged, structured, and expressed in discourse


Speaker Speech Audience

Aristotle’s Rhetoric:

Inventio (invention or discovery)

Dispositio (composition/arrangement)

Elocutio (style)

Actio (verbal delivery, oration)

Memoria (committing to memory)


David Bordwell’s Cinema

Inventio: Definition, Comparison, Cause-Effect

Dispositio: Introduction, Presentation, Proof, and Epilogue

Elocutio: all rhetorical considerations of style involved some discussion of choice of words, usually under such heads as correctness, purity (for instance, the choice of native words rather than foreign words), simplicity, clearness, appropriateness, ornateness (Corbett and Connors, 1999)


Cinema’s Rhetoric

Inventio (Theme)

Dispositio (composition/arrangement)

Elocutio (style)

Actio (screenplay)

Memoria (effects produced by the film)


Semiotics sees communication as a system of signs and symbols.

Meaning is shared only through these signs.

This tradition puts emphasis on how signs mediate meaning.

The Semiotic Tradition


Peirce offers a Semiotic Triangle.

Sign Referent

Thought

“Cat”

Thought


Saussure offers a dyadic system of Signs:

Sign

Signified (concept)

Signifier (image created)


Saussure offers a dyadic system of Signs:


In Semiotics, we have three kinds of signs.

Icon Index Symbol


Icons are signs in which the signifier resembles the signified.


Indexes are signs in which the signifier and the signified share a physical or causal relationship.


Symbols are signs in which the signifier and the signified have a purely arbitrary relationship.


Semiotics has three major branches:

Semantics Syntax Pragmatics


Semantics is concerned with the creation and conveyance of meaning.

Its primary focus is a sign’s relationship to its meaning.

In Language = words.In Visual Communication = images (the

design elements)

The Semiotic TraditionSyntax is concerned with the proper

combination of signs to produce meaning.

Its concern is a sign’s relationship to the other signs in a particular text (“an assemblage of signs”*)

In Language, we study grammar.

In visual communication, we study the principles of design.

David Chandler, Semiotics for beginners. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem01.html

The Semiotic TraditionPragmatics is concerned with the sign and its relationship to its users – both the sender, and the receiver.

Communication occurs in a context.

In language, we study Speech Acts and Mediums.

In visual communication, we study perception, intention, conceptualization.

Communication is a function of Culture.

Our language governs how we live our lives.

The Socio-cultural Tradition

This tradition draws heavily on Marxist (and other similar) philosophies.

Communication can be used as a tool for oppression and power.

The Critical Tradition

Communication is a function of Culture.

Our language governs how we live our lives.

The Socio-cultural Tradition

Queer Theory Judith Butler

Sex (Body)GenderSexuality

Heteronormative biases interfere with the objective study of gender.



You have a fixed

Sex (Male or Female)

Culture builds a stable gender

This determines

your sexuality (desire)

You have a Body

You Perform

an identity

You have desires

Nothing within your identity is fixed.

Your identity is expressed in what you do.

There is no “inner self.”

Gender is a performance.

People can change.

The binary between masculinity and femininity is a

social construction.

We should challenge traditional views by causing

“Gender Trouble.”


Communication is the experience of the self and others through dialogue.

Phenomenology as “the intentional analysis of everyday life from the standpoint of a person who is living it.”

Reality is based on a person’s lived experience.

The Phenomenological Tradition

References:

Baran, S. & Davis, D. (2009). Mass Communication Theory. 5th Edition. Massachussets, USA. Wadsworth Publishing.

Littlejohn, S. (1995). Theories of Human Communication. California, USA: Wadsworth Publishing.

Pernia, E. (2009). Communication Research in the Philippines. Quezon City, Philippines: UP Press.

Think Paper 1:

1) Due date: December 6. >:)

2) How well informed are you about public affairs? Where do you get most of your information about the world around you? Can you craft a theory of why you do not pay more attention to the news than you already do?

3) Minimum of five pages, maximum of 10 pages.

4) MS Word, 81/2” x 11”, 1” margin on all sides, 1.5 spacing, 12 pts., Times New Roman.

5) Your paper will be measured with the following indicators:

a. Content (grounded arguments [well researched], lesser assumptions)

b. Cohesiveness (thoughts are connected with each other, hindi pilit)

c. Format and style

Group Activity 1:

1) Due date: December 13, within the course period 12nn – 3pm. >:)

2) Research for communication/ media studies at the DepComm Library or the Main Library with your groupmates. Decide whether you reject or support the study. If you reject, what grounds do you base your skepticism. If you support it, provide details why.

3) Please do not forget to provide the authors of the study, date of publication, title, publishing house, & place where it was published. If you know APA citation, better. :)

4) No maximum number of pages but please, I do not like shallow reasoning.

5) Your paper will be measured with the following indicators:

a. Content (grounded arguments [well researched], lesser assumptions)

b. Cohesiveness (thoughts are connected with each other, hindi pilit)

c. Format and style