Communication theory and S cholarship
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Transcript of Communication theory and S cholarship
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Communication theory and Scholarship
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• Theory provides a set of useful tools for seeing new and useful things, a systematic way of “looking.”
• The study of communication has a
lengthy and respectable academic history.
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The rise of communication studies• Academic interest in communication became an especially
popular subject following World War I.• Advances in technology, industrialization and literacy made
communication a topic of concern.• The rise of communication technologies such as telephone,
radio and later television and communication satellites helped spur this interest.
• The interest was further promoted by popular twentieth century philosophies of progressivism and pragmatism.
• Political and social events in the middle of the past century brought about a keen interest in propaganda, public opinion, media and other communication concerns.
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The impact of social sciences developing
• The rise of social sciences such as psychology and sociology in the twentieth century has given impetus to the study of communication.
• Researchers in most fields consider communication as a secondary process.
• In recent years many have recognized that communication is pivotal to all human experience and have emphasized it above other issues.
• The field of communication is characterized by its focus on communication as the central topic.
• Presently most schools of higher education have departments of either communication, speech communication, and/or mass communication although the subject still remains eclectic and multidisciplinary.
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European and American communication studies have been quite different.
• With some exceptions, U.S. studies have emphasized scientific, objective studies, while European studies have been more interpretive, historical, cultural and critical shaped to a great extent by Marxism.
• While there has been a historic tension between European and American approaches there has recently been increasing intermingling among the two branches.
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There are also differences between Eastern and Western approaches to communication.
• Eastern theories focus on wholeness and unity, while Western approaches tend to be analytical.
• Western approaches have a bias toward the individual, purpose, and thought, while Eastern ones view human experience as the unplanned and natural outcomes of events and emphasize feeling and spirituality.
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Differences between Eastern and Western approaches to communication
• In the West, communication is a focus on verbal symbols (language and speech), while Eastern approaches tend to mistrust and downplay this feature.
• Relationships in the West are viewed as interactions between separate individuals while relationships in the East are based more on role, social position and status.
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Communication theory is any attempt to describe or explain the communication process.
• It is a construction of what communication involves based on systematic observation.
• The term communication theory can refer to a single theory or be applied to a body of theories that describe and/or explain communication.
• A theory is the product of human development and discussion.
• Different people “see” different things and present different ways of knowing.
• Therefore, theories vary in terms of how they were generated, the kind of research used, the style in which they are presented and the aspect of communication they address.
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A body of theory provides a glimpse of a moment in an evolving history of ideas
• within a community of scholars.• It identifies the primary interest of work.• Provides a set of standards for how they should
proceed.• It changes over time.• It introduces new ideas and ways of seeing.
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At the heart of developing theories is the process of inquiry
• the systematic study of experience that leads to understanding.
• The first stage is asking questions of definition, or fact, or value.
• The second stage is observation by various methods.
• The third stage is constructing answers, the stage usually referred to as theory.
• Theory construction is a circular process where each stage affects, and is affected, by the other.
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The study of communication is a social science because it blends science and humanities.
• Communication is a social science because it focuses on human beings as the object of study.
• A major philosophical issue facing social science is the degree to which scientific explanations of human behavior can be reached without consideration of the humanistic knowledge of the observed person.
• Some theories of communication have more of a scientific weight while others have more of humanistic emphasis.
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Communication is often represented in contextual levels, broad overlapping areas in
which communication takes place.
• Five levels are often employed.– Interpersonal communication refers to interaction
between individuals usually in face-to-face, private settings.
– Group communication refers to communication in small groups, often of a decision-making nature.
– Public communication or rhetoric, focuses on public presentations of discourse.
– Organizational communication refers to communication within system networks, often in formal organizations.
– Mass communication refers to communication across broad publics, usually with the help of media.
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Communication theories can also be divided by conceptual structure.
• Some theories deal with the content and form of messages.
• Some address communicators as individuals or as participants in social relationships.
• Others concentrate on levels or members of cultural communities.
• Some emphasize contexts and situations.