Chapter 1 - Launching your Study of Communication Theory
A theory is a set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work.
Images of theory
Theories as nets: Popper said that “theories are nets cast to catch what we call ‘the world’. . .
We endeavor to make the mesh ever finer and finer.”
Theories as lenses: The lens imagery highlights the idea that theories shape our perception by
focusing attention on some features of communication while ignoring other features, or at
least pushing them into the background.
Theories as maps: The truth they depict may have to do with objective behaviors “out there”
or subjective meanings inside our heads. Either way, we need to have theory to guide us
through unfamiliar territory.
What is communication?
Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a
response.
1. Messages: Craig says that communication involves “talking and listening, writing and
reading, performing and witnessing, or, more generally, doing anything that involves
‘messages’ in any medium or situation.” Communication theorists use the word text as
a synonym for a message that can be studied, regardless of the medium. A text is a
record of a message that can be analyzed by others.
2. Creation of messages: This phrase in the working definition of communication
indicates that the content and form of a text are usually constructed, invented,
planned, crafted, constituted, selected, or adopted by the communicator.
3. Interpretation of messages: The meaning that a message holds for the creators and
receivers doesn’t reside in the words that are spoken, written, or acted out. A truism
among communication scholars is that words don’t mean things, people mean things.
4. Relational process: Heraclitus observed that “one cannot step into the same river
twice.” These words illustrate the widespread acceptance among communication
scholars that communication is a process.
,Communication is a process, not a freeze-frame snapshot.
“‘Communication,’ in its broadest interpretation, may be defined as the eliciting of a
response.”
The reciever has to decode the message. Messages are polysemic; they’re open to
multiple interpretations.
, Chapter 2 - Objective and Interpretive Approaches to Communication Theory
Glenn: an objective approach
Objective approach is the assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased
sensory observation; committed to uncovering cause-and-effect relationships.
According to Schwartz, successful persuasive messages evoke past experiences that create
resonance between the message content and a person’s thoughts or feelings. Schwartz
believed that resonance leads to persuasion. It’s not arguments that persuade people as much
as it is memories of personal experiences triggered by the message.
Elements in commercial → positive attitude towards product → increased likelihood viewer
will buy product
Marty: an interpretive approach
Interpretive approach the linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative
text; assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible.
Objective or interpretive worldviews: sorting out the labels
Humanistic scholarship is the study of what it’s like to be another person in a specific time
and place; assumes there are few important panhuman similarities.
Ways of knowing: discovering truth or creating multiple realities?
Epistemology is the study of the origin, nature, method, and limits of knowledge.
According to objective scholars there is only one truth. Whereas interpretive scholars deal
with different questions, truth is largely subjective and socially constructed. Especially the
social phenomena are hard to understand with an objective approach.
Human nature: determinism or free will?
Objective scholars are determinists. Determinism is the assumption that behavior is caused by
heredity and environment. They usually describe behavior as the response to a prior stimulus.
, On the contrary, interpretive scholars tend to use explanatory phrases such as in order to and
so that because they attribute a person’s action to conscious intent. Their word selection
suggests that people are free agents who could decide to respond differently under an identical
set of circumstances.
The highest value: objectivity or emancipation
Objective scholars want empirical evidence which is data collected through observation. It is
about finding truth, objective testing hypotheses, trying to exclude own values, it is about
what “is”.
Whereas interpretive scholars focus on understanding, including “own values”. Their
research is there to make the world a better place and liberating and empowering people. It’s
about what “ought to be”.
Emancipation is the liberation from any form of political, economic, racial, religious, or
sexual oppression; empowerment.
Purpose of theory: universal laws or interpretive guides?
Objective scholars are seeking universal laws, however, there is never complete proof.
Interpretive scholars are interpreting particular “texts” and give meaning to them. They don’t
focus on proving, but on understanding.
Metatheory: a theory about a theory, the stated or inherent assumptions made when creating a
theory.
A theory is a set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work.
Images of theory
Theories as nets: Popper said that “theories are nets cast to catch what we call ‘the world’. . .
We endeavor to make the mesh ever finer and finer.”
Theories as lenses: The lens imagery highlights the idea that theories shape our perception by
focusing attention on some features of communication while ignoring other features, or at
least pushing them into the background.
Theories as maps: The truth they depict may have to do with objective behaviors “out there”
or subjective meanings inside our heads. Either way, we need to have theory to guide us
through unfamiliar territory.
What is communication?
Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a
response.
1. Messages: Craig says that communication involves “talking and listening, writing and
reading, performing and witnessing, or, more generally, doing anything that involves
‘messages’ in any medium or situation.” Communication theorists use the word text as
a synonym for a message that can be studied, regardless of the medium. A text is a
record of a message that can be analyzed by others.
2. Creation of messages: This phrase in the working definition of communication
indicates that the content and form of a text are usually constructed, invented,
planned, crafted, constituted, selected, or adopted by the communicator.
3. Interpretation of messages: The meaning that a message holds for the creators and
receivers doesn’t reside in the words that are spoken, written, or acted out. A truism
among communication scholars is that words don’t mean things, people mean things.
4. Relational process: Heraclitus observed that “one cannot step into the same river
twice.” These words illustrate the widespread acceptance among communication
scholars that communication is a process.
,Communication is a process, not a freeze-frame snapshot.
“‘Communication,’ in its broadest interpretation, may be defined as the eliciting of a
response.”
The reciever has to decode the message. Messages are polysemic; they’re open to
multiple interpretations.
, Chapter 2 - Objective and Interpretive Approaches to Communication Theory
Glenn: an objective approach
Objective approach is the assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased
sensory observation; committed to uncovering cause-and-effect relationships.
According to Schwartz, successful persuasive messages evoke past experiences that create
resonance between the message content and a person’s thoughts or feelings. Schwartz
believed that resonance leads to persuasion. It’s not arguments that persuade people as much
as it is memories of personal experiences triggered by the message.
Elements in commercial → positive attitude towards product → increased likelihood viewer
will buy product
Marty: an interpretive approach
Interpretive approach the linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative
text; assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible.
Objective or interpretive worldviews: sorting out the labels
Humanistic scholarship is the study of what it’s like to be another person in a specific time
and place; assumes there are few important panhuman similarities.
Ways of knowing: discovering truth or creating multiple realities?
Epistemology is the study of the origin, nature, method, and limits of knowledge.
According to objective scholars there is only one truth. Whereas interpretive scholars deal
with different questions, truth is largely subjective and socially constructed. Especially the
social phenomena are hard to understand with an objective approach.
Human nature: determinism or free will?
Objective scholars are determinists. Determinism is the assumption that behavior is caused by
heredity and environment. They usually describe behavior as the response to a prior stimulus.
, On the contrary, interpretive scholars tend to use explanatory phrases such as in order to and
so that because they attribute a person’s action to conscious intent. Their word selection
suggests that people are free agents who could decide to respond differently under an identical
set of circumstances.
The highest value: objectivity or emancipation
Objective scholars want empirical evidence which is data collected through observation. It is
about finding truth, objective testing hypotheses, trying to exclude own values, it is about
what “is”.
Whereas interpretive scholars focus on understanding, including “own values”. Their
research is there to make the world a better place and liberating and empowering people. It’s
about what “ought to be”.
Emancipation is the liberation from any form of political, economic, racial, religious, or
sexual oppression; empowerment.
Purpose of theory: universal laws or interpretive guides?
Objective scholars are seeking universal laws, however, there is never complete proof.
Interpretive scholars are interpreting particular “texts” and give meaning to them. They don’t
focus on proving, but on understanding.
Metatheory: a theory about a theory, the stated or inherent assumptions made when creating a
theory.
