Test 1 Flashcards
a set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work.
help us to understand, explain, predict and control the world around us.
theory
theories about theory
metatheory
- developing messages
- generating meaning
- building message structure
- interacting
core elements of communication and communication theory
has no beginning or end. has 3 parts
- theory- where we make a “hunch” or hypothesis
- observation- observe through surveys, drawing on experiences, etc.
- question- asking questions to get closer to meaning
the process of inquiry
the study or origin, nature, method, and the limits of knowledge (what we know)
- How can knowledge be certain?
- What is truth?
epistemology
the nature of being (study of human reality)
- Do humans make real choices?
- Behavior – states or traits?
- Comm. highly contextualized?
ontology
study of what it’s like to be another person in a specific time and place
humanism
the assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased sensory observation; committed to uncovering cause-and-effect relationships
objective approach
the linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative texts; assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible
interpretive approach
study of the nature of value
- Why should I care about the results?
- Should scholarship attempt to achieve social change
axiology
the assumption that behavior is caused by heredity and the environment
determinism
- explanation of data
- prediction of the future
- relative simplicity
- testability (falsifiability)
- Practical utility
- quantitative research
criteria for deterministic (scientific) theory
- new understandings of people
- clarification of values
- aesthetic appeal
- community of agreement
- reform of society
- qualitative research
criteria for humanistic (interpretive) theory
- Textual Analysis- aim is to describe and interpret the characteristics of a message
- Ethnography- a method of participant observation designed to help a researcher experiment a culture’s complex web of meaning
Humanistic (Interpretive) Ways to do Research
- Experiments- tries to establish a cause-and-effect relationship by systematically manipulating one factor (independent) in a controlled situation to learn its effect on another factor (dependent)
Deterministic Ways to do Research
principle of parsimony - the scientific principle that things are usually connected or behave in the simplest or most economical way
Occam’s Razor - line of reasoning that says the simplest answer is often correct
relative simplicity
- interpersonal- how ppl build relationships
- small group- dynamic of small groups
- organizational
- face-to-face public- messages are more structured
- mediated public- media
levels of communication theory
from deterministic to interpretive
1. structural/functional- examine makeup of a structure
- cognitive/behavioral- the mind, focus more on individual
- interactional- how people interact with others
- interpretive- individual experience
- critical- reform society
genres of communication theory