Communication Theory An Introduction Communication What is it??? Communication Receiver Perspective Sender Perspective Utility Communication: "The process through which messages, both intentional and unintentional, create meaning" (Metts, 2004) What does Communication do? Social Organizing function Culture Creation, maintenance, manifestation, transmission Paradox: Dialectical relationship Tension btwn. comm and society What does Communication do? Strategic: messages are motivated goal directed Consequential: unanticipated unintended effects Consequential Perceptual Effects Behavioral Effects Relational Effects Activity: Perception Get into groups of 3-4 Describe the person(s) in the photograph What are their personalities like? Where are they from? What are they doing? The Nature and Elements of Theory Theory What is a theory? Implicit Personality Theory Jane is highly intelligent and analytical, and she is planning a career as a trial attorney. She loves to argue issues with others Implicit Personality Theory Andrew is a loner. He spends a lot of time in his room reading or online. At first, others in his dorm invited him out, but he never went, so they stopped asking him. Implicit Personality Theory Pat loves jokes, including pranks. Pat is a sociable person who loves to have a good time. Theory What is a theory? Lay theory v. Scholarly theory validity Theory? Any organized set of concepts and observations about a phenomenon The means by which we codify, organize and communicate knowledge Theories indicate both what to observe and how to observe Theory: "A description of concepts and specification of the relationships between or among those concepts" (Metts, 2004) Theory Creation Inductive v. deductive Inductive: Specific to general Pure observation General to specific Test of assumptions Deductive: The Nature of Theory All theories are abstractions Reduce the world into categories All theories are constructions A "lens" not a "mirror" of nature - Stanley Deetz (1992) Theories are Constructions "The formation of theory is not just the discovery of a hidden fact; the theory is a way of looking at facts, of organizing and representing them...A theory must somehow fit God's world, but in an important sense it creates a world of its own" - Abraham Kaplan (1964) Theories are Constructed Usefulness v. "truthfulness" Theories are tied to action How we think (our theories) guide how we act, and how we act (our practices) guide how we think Basic Elements Goal: present a set of labeled concepts Concepts/terms/definitions What are we looking at? What is considered important? Concepts Definitions of ideas Allows for investigation Types of relationships: Temporal Correlational Causal Types of Theories Taxonomies Explanations Causal explanations Practical Explanations Functions of Theories Organize Describe Explain Predict Control Slide 25 Figure 3.1: Summary of Criteria for Evaluating Communication Theory Insert Figure 3.1 Here Approaches to Theory: Social Scientific v. Interpretive Theoretical Approaches Hypothetico-deductive Method Methods are based on 4 processes: Developing questions Forming hypotheses Testing hypotheses Formulating theory Scientific Realism Real world has True characteristics and causal effects Well-worked theories can approximate Reality Concepts can and should accurately represent objects in the world Alternative Paradigm Actions are voluntary Knowledge is created socially Theories are historical Theories affect the reality they are covering Theories are value laden Metatheoretical Issues Describe/explain the similarities and differences among theories Issues: Epistemology Ontology Axiology Epistemology The branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, or how people claim what they know To what extent can knowledge be certain? Is truth absolute? Or is it relative and changing? Epistemology (cont.) By what process does knowledge arise? Rationalism Empiricism Constructivism Social constructivism Ontology Nature of being Nature of the things we seek to know What is the nature of human social interaction? Ontology (cont.) To what extent do humans make real choices? Is human experience primarily individual or social? To what extent is communication contextual? Axiology Values Can theory be value free? To what extent does the practice of inquiry influence that which is studied? Should scholarship try to achieve social change? Symbolic Convergence Ernest Bormann Symbolic Convergence Theory Humans are social actors Group communication Group cohesiveness Content=meaning Fantasy Fantasy Theme "A creative/imaginative interpretation of events that fulfills a psychological need" -Bormann, 1990