COMM 320-MIDTERM

objective

the assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased sensory observation; commited to uncovering cause and effect relationships

• reality exists as observable phenomenon that can be measured and studied

• method: quantitative research, measuring data

interpretive

the linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative texts; assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible

• reality is constructed through symbols, narratives, and the stories we tell ourselves

• subjectivity is inevitable; we should be aware of our biases and not run from them

• method: criticism, interpreting texts

socio-psychological tradition

• heavy scientific and objective

• looking for cause-effect relationships

• the human psyche is relatively consistent and responds in consistent ways to stimulus

• goal of theory is to figure out which variables affect human communication in order to create universal laws

cybernetic tradition

• understands communication as a system of informative processing

• communication as the link connecting separate parts of any system

• about networks- communication links nodes in a network and provides feedback between nodes

• can help us understand who speaks to who about what

• thick ties and thin ties- quanity and quality of links

rhetorical tradition

• communication as artful public address

• human beings are the symbol- using animal

• refutes the idea of mere rhetoric- symbol use is the soul of public life

• rhetoric > violence and force

• traditionally linked to sites of power (old dead guys) - increasingly contested over who gets to speak in public

• aristotic: rhetoric is the available means of persuasion in any given situation

semotic tradition

• focuses on signs and symbols

• signification: how a sign points to something else

• gets into the difference between the signifer and the signified

socio-cultural tradition

• communication as the creation and enactment of social reality

• the language we use and the stories we tell help us produce and reproduce our culture

• culture emerges out of language

• sapir-whof hypothesis of linguistic relatively- the structure of language shapes how people think and what they do

• the social construction of reality

critical tradition

• communication as a reflective challenge to unjust disclosure

• holds that language can mask deeper realities

• rooted in the marxist critique of the superstructure language, culture, media, etc…. are all ideological masks which serve to justify oppressive material relations

• although the critical tradition is no longer just about economic class, but also above race, gender, sexuality

• critique of scientific objectivity- science doesn’t occur in a vacuum, but rather with researchers who have their own agendas and bias

• knowledge = power

phenomenological tradition

• communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue

• phenomenology: analyzing experience from the perspective of those experiencing it

• emphasis on people’s perception of the world

• uses people’s own experiences to ask how people form meaningful relationships

communication

the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response

theory

an umbrella term for all careful, systematic, and self-conscious discussion and analysis of communication phenomena

symbolic interactionsim

• George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer

• mostly on the interpretive side of things- studies the meanings of people use that shape their social interactions

• use of language and gestures in social interactions

• doesn’t happen in isolation but rather in conversation- we are always anticipating the responses of other human beings

• three key ideas: meaning, language, thinking

Me

• the Me is our socialized view of ourselves

• but the Me doesn’t determine everything about us, we also have our own thoughts and feeling which we use to integrate the Me into ourselves and form and I

• Me = social view of the self

I

• I = how the self individually wrangles with the social view of the self

• society influences how we see ourselves, but doesn’t determine it

looking glass self

• human beings are unique in their ability to think not just about others, but about others perceptions of themselves

• we can put ourselves in another’s shoes and we use this perspective to judge ourselves

• our self is a function of language- we have a mental self image that comes from taking on the role of the other

uncertainty reduction theory

• when strangers meet for the first time, their communication focuses on reducing uncertainty about each other

• our desire to reduce uncertainty about new people is bolstered by these conditions

  • anticipation of future anticipation

  • incentive value

  • deviance

• our main purpose in talking to people is to make sense of our interpersonal world

1st aixoms of uncertainty reduction

verbal communication: as the amount of verbal communication increases, uncertainty will decrease

2nd aixoms of uncertainty reduction

nonverbal warmth: as nonverbal warmth increases, uncertainty decreases

3rd aixoms of uncertainty reduction

information seeking: high levels of uncertainty causes increases in information seeking behavior

4th aixoms of uncertainty reduction

self-disclosure: high levels of uncertainty cause decreases in the intimacy level of communication content. low levels of uncertainty produce high levels of intimacy. we wait till we know people better till we disclose sensitive information about ourselves

5th aixoms of uncertainty reduction

reciprocity: people are more likely to share information if another person shares as well

6th aixoms of uncertainty reduction

similarity: similarities between you and another person reduce uncertainty, differences increase uncertainty

7th aixoms of uncertainty reduction

liking: you like people the more you get to know them

8th aixoms of uncertainty reduction

shared networks: shared networks of communication reduce uncertainty. absence of shared networks increases uncertainty

proxemics

• zones of personal space

• the study of personal space

• there are certain expectations about not being too close (culturally specific)

• there can be value to violating norms of space

expectancy violation theory

• asks about what happened when someone violates expected norms

• individual and cultural norms shape what we expect out of a communicative exchange, especially at the interpersonal level

• we have different expectations for verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and personal space based on setting, role, culture, and individual preference

• threat threshold = how close someone has to be for another person to perceive a violation of personal space

elaboration likelihood model

• tries to understand the different routes we use to making decisions

• direct or indirect

• if we understand how people make decisions, we can better understand how to persuade them

• leans towards the objective side of research, and lies within the socio-psychological tradition

• central route vs peripheral route

• message elaboration = the extent to which a person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments contained in a persuasive communication

central route

• tries to make strong arguments backed up with evidence

• works when audiences have both motivation and ability to pay attention

• requires audiences to process messages deeply, paying attention to points and counter-points

• when done right, leads to deep change in behavior or opinion

• takes time, so not always good for quick decisions

peripheral route

• relies on indirect reasoning and cues to persuade

• especially reliant on the credibility of the speaker/ brand

• can work when audiences are not motivated or can’t pay much attention

• only requires a surface level understanding, not deep

• can lead to change, but usually not deep and lasting change. good for quick decisions

symbolic convergence theory

• right in the middle of objective and interpretive

• apart of rhetoric tradition and socio-psychological tradition

• sharing group fantasies creates symbolic convergence

• dramatizing message: imaginative language by a group member describing past, future, or outside events

• not just about the present about how groups describe their past and think about their future

fantasy

• dramatizing messages that are enthusiastically embraced by the whole group

• fantasy chain: how the group comes to buy into the fantasy

• fantasy theme: content of the fantasy that has chained out within a group

ethnography

a method of participant observation designed to help a researcher experience a culture’s complex web of meaning