UK COM 101 Exam 1
Harold Lasswell's famous phrase
"Who says what to whom and with what effect?"
socio-psychological theory
"communication as interpersonal interaction and influence"; epitomizes the scientific or objective perspective, Yale Attitude Studies (WHO said WHAT to WHOM w/ what EFFECT?); significance- socio-psychological scholars test claims
"wiggles"
"looking for difference that make a difference"; global warming and temperature fluctuation; variation in independent and dependent variables
Assumptions of theory
1) behavior can be both understood and improved through systematic study 2) improvement is based upon understanding 3) the ultimate goal of science is understanding - knowledge! 4) working assumptions are called into question after the research is complete (as limitations)
5 major tracks of communication study at UK
1) business and organizational 2) health 3) digital and mass media 4) sport 5) human
The Onion Model
1) core 2) personal 3) intimate 4) superficial (see model) model can be flawed because people have multiple identities- this challenges the idea of having a core self/identity; model can be intuitive because the deeper you get with someone, the more intimate the info can be- you can get to the core of someone, or you can get to know someone broadly or in a shallow way
3 principles of identity management
1) identity guides the messages we produce (our identity helps us behave in ways that are central to who we are) 2) identity guides how we interpret messages (guides the way we make sense of feedback from others) 3) identity guides the relationships we form (predicts who we will form relationships with and who we won't)
identities and perception
1) selecting- we focus our attention on different things 2) selective exposure- you choose what to expose yourselves to that gel with your beliefs, attitudes 3) selective perception- perceive and focus on things that support your viewpoint 4) selective retention- only recall things you are supportive of by blocking out the rest
7 traditions of communication theory
1) socio-psychological 2) cybernetic 3) rhetorical 4) semiotic 5) sociocultural 6) critical 7) phenomenological
dynamics of self-disclosure
1) the value- make your identity transparent to establish closeness 2) passing on the onion- revelation of identity is a progression, dynamic, and social process on how you disclose your self overtime 3) good, bad, or nothing- feel honored, don't like, or don't care about what's being disclosed to you 4) dialectic tensions- when you have 1 of 2 minds about something because one feels simultaneous pulls in two directions 5) identities and boundaries- boundaries of privacy determined by relationship
Four reasons we study communication
1) we spend a lot of time doing it - so much so - that we don't think about it (and we should) 2) studying communication can help us form better relationships 3) being a talented communicator can open doors for you (career: skills are central to "employer wants") 4) psychological and physical well being
How are identities formed and maintained through self disclosure?
1) we use narratives to shape what people know about us 2) these narratives shift over time and the same stories are often revised to suit a particular purpose 3) therefore, your sense of identity is represented by the past, what is happening currently, and potentially the future (but how do you know?) 4) it depends on the people and the interactions that you have
How do representational and presentational influence communication?
Communication is never neutral or completely objective (it always has meaning)
Sign
Consequence or indicator of a specific thing that cannot be changed by actions or labels
Transactional model
Construction of shared meanings or understandings b/w two (or more) individuals
How meaning is socially constructed
Context (physical, relational, situational), medium (verbal and nonverbal messages)
Wilbur Schramm
Forefather of modern field of communication and director of School of Journalism at University of Iowa
Decode message
How an audience member understands/interprets a message; translating coded info to comprehensible form
Chicago School significant to communication study b/c...
How media brings us together and how it hurts us, in 1900s believed immigrants to U.S. would destroy values, society, and culture; first mass communication researchers in U.S., research showed media helped bring us together
symbolic identities
How we understand ourselves to be and how we want others to perceive us; personal identities (kind, mean, lazy, hardworking, etc.), social identities (customer, employee, supervisor, etc.), relational identities (parent, child, friend, enemy, et.c), and sex, race, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.
Critical and cultural studies is thought to be influenced by which revolutionary figure?
Karl Marx
Walter Lippman's profession
Media critic, journalist, political commentator; believed U.S. journalists were to blame for short-sighted and slanted info
Why is important to understand both signs and symbols when thinking about communication?
Nothing means anything until we assign meaning to it; interpretation varies by culture/region; communication is complex
Presentational
One person's particular version or, or "take" on, the facts or events
Encode message
Production of the message; sender uses communication they believe the receiver will understand
3 disciplines communication emanantes from
Rhetoric, interpersonal, and mass media studies
Critical approach
Seeks to identify the hidden but formidable symbolic structures and practices that create or uphold disadvantage, inequity, or oppression of some groups in favor of others
Transmission/action model
Sending messages (whether or not received)
Ontology (being)
Social scientific- humans are reactors who respond to stimuli in patterned ways Interpretive and critical- humans are actors who have free will and whose behavior is not predictable (essentially determinism vs. free will)
Axiology (values)
Social scientific- objectivity Interpretive- subjectivity Critical- eliminating power imbalances (the difference b/w research and understanding being value free (non biased) versus value laden (acknowledge and use bias)
Epistemology (knowing)
Social scientific- there is objective truth, reality is independent of the knower Interpretive- there are multiple subjective truths, reality depends on the knower Critical- there are multiple subjective truths that depend on the knowers position of power (truth or multiple truths)
Paul Lazarsfeld
Sociologist; proposed that social relations are important to consider media influence equation (voting)
General definition of communication
The process of info being exchanged b/w individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviors; sending and receiving of messages
Communication from a relational perspective
Think about big and small moments, (context) means relationship b/w people influences what is communicated, how it is communicated, and the meaning that is developed
Which model is most currently accepted?
Transactional model b/c it's conversational
Textbook Definition of Communication
Transactional use of symbols, influences, guided, and understood in the context of relationships
Influences on communication study
War, government, propaganda
phenomenology
analysis of everyday life through the individuals standpoint (person who is living the experience); no two people have the same story
influences of theory and why important
best research is theoretically informed, theory helps you learn about yourself, the theories you study might help you unlock your future; understand the language, role, and application of theory is vital to your future as a communication professional
primary research
conducting your own study to get a deeper understanding, about a particular topic of interest; experiment, survey, interview, focus group, etc.
3 conditions to establish causality in communication research
correlation, temporal precedence, ruling out alternative explanations
What ultimately determines or drives the methodological choices that you will make when conducting research questions?
depends on the question you are asking (theoretical, empirical, related to "life")
Can people have different identities?
different moods, situations, relationships, evaluations, who you are speaking to, etc.
identity
essentially who a person is and this encompasses their presented image (what you communicate about yourself)
perception
how a person views that world, organizes what is perceived, interprets info, and evaluates info- all of which influences meaning
secondary research
info already collected or published by someone else; rich, informative, and widely available, newspapers, journals, periodicals, trades, etc. (often happens before primary)
self-description
involves info about self that is obvious to others through appearance and behavior
schemata
mental structures that are used to organize info partly by clustering or linking associated material
quantitative research
numbers based data; typically a survey, content analysis, or experiment (more dominant in communication research)
qualitative methodological research
observation, ethnography, interviews
facework
people have sent of their own dignity, performance of one's identity in public (presentation of the self), can be shaped by social needs, social situation, social frame, and circumstances surrounding your performance
how schemata and prototype influence perception and sense of self
perceptions are formed, identity is influences, we develop personal constructs to help us understand our ideal prototype and organize schemata
what identity is NOT
personality, self-esteem, being fake
self-disclosure
revelation of personal info that others could not know unless the person made it known
symbolic self
self that is transacted in interaction with other people, that arises out of social interaction, not vice versa, and hence, that does not just "belong to you"
quantitative methodological research
surveys, experiments, content analysis
prototype
the best example of something
qualitative research
the data is text or symbols/NOT numeric, typically an ethnography, focus group, textual analysis
Why is it important for research to be based on theory and previous research?
theories provide underlying logic, research appreciates former attempts and can validate from findings
Communication is a transaction
Action, interaction, transaction (see model)
Carl Hovland's research
American soldier in order to understand impact of WWII movies which explained U.S. involvement
Interpretive approach
Views communication as creative, uncertain, and unpredictable, and thus rejects the idea that a single reality exists or can be discovered; researchers seek to understand and describe communication experience
Social scientific approach
Views the world as objective, casual, and predictable, researchers seek to describe communication activity and to discover connections b/w phenomena or casual patterns
Symbol
Arbitrary representation of an idea, place, person, or relationship
Communication theories do... (DEEP-C)
Describe, explain, evaluate, predict, control
Representational
Describes facts or conveys info
Communication frame
Draws a boundary around a conversation and pulls our attention toward certain things and away from others (coordination, meaning making, and perspectives taking)
Interactional model
Exchange of info b/w two (or more) individuals
Communication theory
Explanation for why and how communication phenomena occur
2 universities that awarded PhD in communication
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Iowa