1 / 19

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

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

jenna
Download Presentation

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

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  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

More Related