Communication Theory and Scholarship

1. 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.

2. Communication has been studied since antiquity. • 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.

3. The rise of social sciences • 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.

4. Contemporary 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.

5. 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.

6. 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. • Like all distinctions, the Eastern-Western division should be viewed with caution.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Leading communication theories constantly evolve. • Leading theories have staying power and are not easily abandoned. • Some become classics because they have such an important and lasting influence on scholars. • They are most often produced through collaboration, extension and elaboration.

10. 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.

11. Methods of inquiry can be grouped into three broad forms of scholarship. • Science emphasizes objectivity, standardization and replication. • Humanities emphasize subjectivity seeking creative interpretations. • Social science is a curious blend of the two that focuses on human beings as the object of study.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. However, • arranging communication in this manner reinforces a tendency to think of these levels as different and discrete when they are really little more than an organizing tool.

15. 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.