Download Chapter One Communication Theory and Scholarship

Communication theory and
Scholarship
• 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.
The rise of communication studies
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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.
The impact of social sciences developing
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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.
European and American communication studies
have been quite different.
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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.
There are also differences between Eastern and
Western approaches to communication.
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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.
Differences between Eastern and Western approaches
to communication
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.