Transcript Week 2. Theories & Traditions

theories and traditions of
communication
a fascinating world …
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• defining communication
establishing a single definition has proved
impossible and may not be very fruitful
let’s start with your definitions
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the value of ‘plural
many people think that there must be one right
theory of communication so they wonder
why we have to deal with so many theories
if we only have one way of understanding how
societies are organized, we can look forward
to a rocky road to …
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many arenas
debates over what communication is and the
dimensions that characterize it will undoubtedly
continue
while there is not a right or wrong perspective,
choices regarding definitions are not trivial
different questions have different answers;
definitions then are tools that should be used
flexibly
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the history
intense interest in the study of communication after
World War I; advances in technology and literacy
made communication a topic of concern
promoted by the popular 20th century philosophies
of progress and pragmatism (to improve society
through widespread social change);
communication became central to such concerns
as propaganda and public opinion
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communication studies developed in the second
half of 20th century because of pragmatic
interests in what communication can accomplish
and the outcomes it produces
the geography
the development of the discipline of
communication took different forms in different
parts of the world
in the United States, they began by studying
communication using quantitative methods
in Europe, influenced more by Marxist
perspectives, relied on critical/cultural methods
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within the contemporary discipline there is
considerable interaction both ways
• what is theory?
any organized set of concepts, explanations,
and principles of some aspect of human
experience
 theories are abstractions, they reduce
experience to a set of categories and as a
result always leave something out
 theories are also constructions, are created
by people; represent various ways observers
see their environment more than they capture
reality itself
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tips
questioning a theory’s usefulness is wiser
than questioning its truthfulness
a theory offers one way to capture the ‘truth’
of a phenomenon; it is never the only way
to view it
theories are intimately tied to action; how we
think – our theories – guide how we act,
and how we act – our practices – guide
how we think
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theory dimensions
a. philosophical assumptions, or basic beliefs
that underlie the theory
b. concepts, or building blocks
c. explanations, or dynamic connections made
by theory
d. principles, or guidelines for action
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most scholars believe that a theory worthy of
the name must have at least the first three
dimensions
a. philosophical assumptions
the assumptions to which a theorist subscribes
determine how a particular theory will play out
3 major types of assumptions:
 about epistemology, or questions of knowledge
 about ontology, or questions of existence
 about axiology, or questions of value
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every theory, explicitly or implicitly, includes
assumptions about the nature of knowledge and
how it is obtained, what constitutes existences,
and what is valuable
…epistemology
the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge,
or how people know what they claim to know
 Q: by what process does knowledge arise?
rationalism: in human reasoning that ascertain truth
empiricism: in perception
constructivism: what the person has made of the
world
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social constructionism: product of symbolic
interaction within social groups
…ontology
the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature
of being; in communication ontology centers on
the nature of human social interaction
 Q: is human experience primary individual or
social?
whether the individual or the group carries the most
weight in terms of determining human action
 Q: to what extent is communication contextual?
whether behavior is governed by universal
principles or depends on situational factors
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…axiology
the branch of philosophy concerned with the study
of values
 Q: to what extent does the process of inquiry
affect what is being seen? to what degree does
the researcher becomes part of the system under
examination and thus affect that system?
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traditionalist scientific viewpoint is that scientists
must observe carefully without interference so
that accuracy can be achieved; critics doubt this
is possible, believing that no method of
observation is completely free of distortion
b. concepts
things are grouped into conceptual categories
according to observed qualities
to determine concepts, the communication theorist
observes many variables in human interaction
and classifies and labels them according to
perceived patterns; the result is to formulate and
articulate a set of labeled concepts (taxonomies)
what functions as a set of conceptual terms for
one theory may not be applicable to another
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c. explanations
the best theories go beyond taxonomies to provide
explanations – statements about how the
variables relate to one other – to show how
concepts are connected
theorist identifies regularities or patterns in the
relationships among variables; explanation
answers the question: Why?
types of explanation: causal (one variable seen as
an outcome or result of the other), practical
(explains actions as goal related)
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d. principles
many traditional theorists say that theories must
stop at the level of explanation; other scholars
maintain that theories should go beyond
depiction and guide practical action
a principle is a guideline that enables you to
interpret an event, make judgments about what
is happening and then decide how to act in the
situation
a principle has three parts: it identifies a
situation/event; it includes a set of norms/values;
it asserts a connection between a range of
actions and possible consequences
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a guide for evaluation
 comprehensiveness/inclusiveness (a theory’s
explanation must be sufficiently general to extend
beyond a single observation)
 appropriateness (whether theory’s claims are
consistent with or appropriate to their assumptions)
 heuristic value (will the theory generate new ideas for
research and additional theory?)
 validity - three meanings: value/worth (the importance
or utility of theory); correspondence/fit (whether
concepts and relations specified can be observed);
generalizability
 parsimony (logical simplicity)
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 openness (a theory is open to other possibilities; invites
dialogue with other perspectives)
• traditions
Robert Craig divides the world of communication into
seven traditions:
 semiotic
 (rhetorical)
 socio-psychological
 cybernetic
 socio-cultural
 critical
 phenomenological
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some of these traditions stand in opposition to one
another, while others have a good deal of overleap
• semiotic
the triad of meaning: meaning arises from a
relationship among three things – the object
(referent), the person (interpreter), and the sign
studying how signs and symbols are used, what
they mean, and how they are organized
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… and the media
content is important, but content is a product of
the use of signs
focus on the ways producers create signs and the
ways audiences understand them
Jean Baudrillard: signs have become separated
from the objects they represent; media have
propelled this process to the point that nothing
is real
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• socio-psychological
focus on individual social behavior,
psychological variables, individual effects,
perception, and cognition
the universal mechanisms that govern action
are assumed to be discoverable through
careful research (‘the science of
communication’)
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… and the media
effects tradition: individuals to be directly and
heavily influenced by media messages
cultivation: although effects seem to be strong,
there are intervening variables that can limit
certain effects
uses and gratifications: audience members are
largely responsible for choosing media to meet
their own needs
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• cybernetic
the tradition of complex systems in which many
interacting elements influence one another
communication is understood as a system of
parts, or variables, that influence one another,
shape and control the character of the overall
system, and like any organism, achieve both
balance and change
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… and the media
network, a series of feedback loops that
connects the parts of a complex system
public opinion: media affect opinion leaders, who
in turn disseminate information and influence,
through interpersonal communication
networks, which leads to the adoption of ideas
throughout society, which in turn influences
media
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• socio-cultural
addresses the ways our understandings,
meanings, norms, roles, and rules are worked
out interactively in communication
explores the interactional worlds in which
people live; reality is not an objective set of
arrangements outside us but constructed
through a process of interaction in groups,
communities, and cultures
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… and the media
medium theory: the mere existence of certain
kinds of media affects how we think about and
respond to the world
agenda setting: media have the potential for
structuring issues for the public
social action: people create a collective identity
through the ways in which they negotiate and
legitimatize readings of cultural texts
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• critical
understand the taken-for-granted systems,
power structures, beliefs, and ideologies,
that dominate society
uncover oppressive social conditions and
power arrangements, in order to promote
emancipation
though interested in social action, focus on
discourse and the texts that promote
particular ideologies, establish/maintain
power, and subvert the interests of certain
groups/classes
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… and the media
Marxism: media are seen as instruments of the ruling
class/capitalists, oppressing working class
Frankfurt school: media a means of constructing
culture; domination of the ideology of the elite
political economy: content/information is a
commodity to be sold in the market place
hegemonic theory: domination of a false ideology –
pervasive and unconscious
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cultural studies: look at the ways media content is
interpreted; including both dominant and
oppositional interpretations
• phenomenological
assumes that people actively interpret their
experience and come to understand the
world by personal experience with it
it makes actual lived experience the basic data
of reality
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… and the media
interpretation involves going back and forth
between experiencing an event or situation
and assigning meaning to it
media events: the weaving of the aspects of
‘liveness’ and ‘dailyness’ in the case of live
broadcasting
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summarizing
 no tradition contributes to every aspect of
communication
 the traditions are not mutually exclusive
 still, each tradition does have its distinctive
character, and in some cases, the traditions
even repel one another
 as we switch contexts, different traditions
become more or less valuable
 traditions do not distribute themselves
equally across contexts, neither are they
limited to a narrow range of concerns
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#
- McQuail, D. (2010) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, 6th
edition. London: Sage.
- Littlejohn, S. & Foss, K. (2008) Theories of Human
Communication. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
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coming next week …
Empiricism
- Chicago School
- mass communication research
key texts:
- Mattelart, A. & Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of Communication:
a Short Introduction. London: Sage (chapter 2)
- Rogers, M. E. (1994) A History of Communication Study. NY:
Free Press (chapters: 5, 6)
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workshop I
make a map of the concepts and ideas we
discussed today
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thank you
for your attention
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