Mapping the Territory (Seven Traditions in the Field of Communication Theory)

1. Mapping the Territory(Seven Traditions in the Field of Communication Theory) 4

2. Slide 2 Mapping the Territory • The Socio-Psychological Tradition • The Cybernetic Tradition • The Rhetorical Tradition • The Semiotic Tradition • The Socio-Cultural Tradition • The Critical Tradition • The Phenomenological Tradition • Fencing the Field of Communication Theory • The Ethical Tradition

3. Slide 3 Mapping the Territory • Craig suggests communication theory is a coherent field when we understand communication as a practical discipline • Traditions of communication theory offer “distinct, alternative vocabularies”

4. Slide 4 The Socio-PsychologicalTradition • Communication as Interpersonal Interaction and Influence • Scholars believe communication truths can be discovered by careful, systematic observation • Cause-and-effect relationships • Usually means designing a series of surveys or controlled experiments • Longitudinal study of college friendships

5. Slide 5 The Cybernetic Tradition • Communication as a System of Information Processing • Cybernetics – study of information processing, feedback, and control in communication systems • Theorists ask “How can we get the bugs out of this system?”

6. Slide 6 The Cybernetic Tradition • Parks: studies personal relationships by asking both partners to describe their social networks • Prior contact • Range of contact • Communication • Liking • Support

7. Slide 7 The Rhetorical Tradition • Communication as Artful Address • Rhetoric – art of using all available means of persuasion

8. Slide 8 The Rhetorical Tradition • Characterized by 6 features • Speech distinguishes humans from other animals • Public address more effective than decrees • A single speaker attempts to influence an audience (one-way communication) • Oratorical training is cornerstone of a leader’s education • Rhetoric is more art than science • Oral public speaking, until the 1800s, was province of males

9. Slide 9 The Semiotic Tradition • Communication as the Process of Sharing Meaning Through Signs • Semiotics – study of verbal and nonverbal signs that stand for something else • How their interpretation impacts society • Symbols – arbitrary words and nonverbal signs that bear no natural connection with the things they describe • Meaning is learned within a given culture

10. Slide 10 The Semiotic Tradition • I. A. Richards: railed against the semantic trap he labeled “the proper meaning superstition” • Most theorists try to explain and reduce misunderstanding created by use of ambiguous symbols

11. Slide 11 The Socio-Cultural Tradition • Communication as the Creation and Enactment of Social Reality • Culture produced and reproduced as people talk • Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity – structure of a language shapes what people think and do • Persons-in-conversation co-construct their own social worlds

12. Slide 12 The Critical Tradition • Communication as a Reflective Challenge of Unjust Discourse • Critical theory from German scholars called “Frankfurt School” • Originally set up to test the ideas of Karl Marx

13. Slide 13 The Critical Tradition • Critical tradition challenges: • Control of language to perpetuate power imbalances • Role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression • Blind reliance on scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings

14. Slide 14 The Critical Tradition • Culture industries – entertainment businesses that • Reproduce the dominant ideology of a culture • Distract people from recognizing unjust distribution of power within a society

15. Slide 15 The Phenomenological Tradition • Communication as the Experience of Self and Others Through Dialogue • Phenomenology – intentional analysis of everyday experience from standpoint of person who is living it • Explores possibility of understanding experience of self and others • Emphasizes people’s perception and interpretation of subjective experience

16. Slide 16 The Phenomenological Tradition • Rogers: “Neither the Bible nor the prophets – neither Freud nor research – neither the revelations of God nor man – can take precedence over my own direct experience” • Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships? • How can this problem be overcome?

17. Slide 17 Fencing the Field of Communication Theory • Traditions have deep roots in thefield of communication theory • Hybrids possible across traditions • Charted traditions might not cover every approach to communication theory • Pragmatism –applied approach to knowledge; the philosophy that true understanding of an idea or situation has practical implications for action

18. Slide 18 The Ethical Tradition • Principles of ethical communication • Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to integrity of communication • Accept responsibility for short-term consequences of our communication and expect the same of others

19. Slide 19 The Ethical Tradition • Ethical communication (continued) • Strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to messages