COM 200 Midterm
List some of the common critical lenses (feminism, black cultural studies, post-colonial theory, etc.).
yes
Explain the statement "The medium is the message."
*The manner of presentation fundamentally affects the content* The medium is what is between communicators, such as physical media like a book or a conduit medium where the message moves through the medium This means that you could take the same message and run it in different mediums, and the message will be different because the medium has such a significant impact on how the message is encoded and decoded
Identify some common interpretive methodologies (interviews, participant observation, etc.).
- - -ethnographic approaches: researcher goes to communicators natural environment -thick description
Provide a definition of communication.
-Communication is the process of generating meaning by sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal symbols and signs that are influenced by multiple contexts -Wood says that communication is a systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings*
Explain the circuit of culture (Gay, et al; 1997).
-The circuit of culture is a way of exploring a product of a culture as a complex object that is affected by and has an impact on a number of different aspects of that culture. -Representation: how is the meaning conveyed to the audience, user, or co-communicator? What signs, modes and discourses help convey the meaning - not only the 'factual' or informational meaning, but also the social meaning. For example, what does the colour pink represent in your cultural context? -Identity: refers to how meaning is internalized by the receiver or audience. Our identity is shaped by our culture, which creates a range of viable and non-viable identity options that are presented, refined and renegotiated through our communication and exchange of cultural objects. By consuming and displaying certain communicative texts and strategies, we are both claiming certain identity positions, and simultaneously rejecting others. -Production: here refers to the production of meaning. Meaning can be produced and reproduced in a number of ways. An individual may produce meaning about themselves in the way they dress or wear their hat. Apple™ produces meaning about itself in the way they design and build the iPhone™. A terrorist organization may produce meaning about itself by making videos they put on Youtube. This act of meaning production may be unproblematic within mainstream culture, and help maintain the hegemony, the dominance of a particular set of schema or values. Alternatively, this production may challenge dominant beliefs or values in some. A pop culture example of this might have been early Lady Gaga, whose mode of dress was confrontational because it deviated from existing cultural schema about appropriate dress for someone of her class, race, gender and occupation. -Consumption: The flip side of production is consumption. Consumption of texts, whether they be an outfit, a conversation, or a pop-song, reflects cultural values and expectations - conforming to values and expectations leads to unproblematic consumption - it's what is expected, it fits our internalized schema. Texts that do not fit this schema are confronting, challenging, even shocking. To continue to use Lady Gaga as an example, when she released a nine-minute long music video centered around a narrative of female violence, it was shocking both in terms of its format (which wasn't standard MTV fare) and its narrative structure. -Regulation: finally, regulation refers to the forces which constrain the production, distribution, and consumption of texts. These forces may be explicit, such as the television broadcasters code of conduct, or they may be implicit, such as the blogger litmus test of 'would you say this in front of your mother? *when considering communication within a cultural context, to remember that there are multiple factors influencing the production of text and meaning.*
Identify some common post-positivistic methodologies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, etc.).
-experiments (dating profile with only 1 thing different) -survey (asking numerically how much you like Zoom) -content analysis (prevalence of violence in a bunch of children's cartoons watched)
Explain the traits of positivism and post-positivism (bias and the role of the researcher).
-positivist paradigm of exploring social reality is based on the idea that one can best gain an understanding of human behaviour through observation and reason. ... -According to the positivist paradigm true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment (scientist in lab) POST POSITVIST -researchers using this method will use replicable methods that require little intervention from the researchers to produce some generalizable results -quantitative methods: statistics, surveys, content analysis -golden standard: establish causality -avoid confirmation bias: pay attention to what you already believe and read data in a way that can disprove a hypothesis -to reduce bias, minimize role of researcher in results -believe there is some way to get ahold on reality
Define interpersonal communication
2nd bookmark
Explain and distinguish voluntary/involuntary and social/personal relationships
2nd bookmark
Discuss what Knapp's staircase relationship model is attempting to predict and explain.
3 bookmark
Explain uncertainty reduction and self-disclosure and how they are associated with relational development
3 bookmark
Describe the Gottmans' "bids for attention" and their "Four horses of the apocalypse."
4th bookmark
Discuss why it is so difficult to pick out a liar based simply on nonverbal cues.
5th
Explain the idea of "display norms" in relation to nonverbal communication.
5th
Explain direct effects research and uses and gratifications research.
6th
Explain boyd's notion of social privacy contexts and collapsing contexts online.
7th
Define and discuss Pariser's concept of "filter bubbles."
8th
Define panopticonism and discuss its implications.
8th
Explain the concept of participatory surveillance.
8th
What the key takeaway from Lewis's report on YouTube?
8th
Explain Nissenbaum's concept of contextual privacy.
9th
Briefly explain the concept of a "medium."
A "medium" is the means by which the content and/or message is presented. For example, speech and writing are invented mediums. A book and a movie can both have the same message/story, but they are two different mediums. A medium is what is between communicators.
List and provide an example of Westin's categories of privacy types.
Behind 8th
Explain "thick description" and why it is important in interpretivist research.
Capturing nuances of the event To really illustrate how they communicate naturally and function within their own environment
Jack and Jan are starting to date more routinely. Their separate friend groups know about their relationship. One day, Jack and Jan are get into an argument. Jack discusses the argument with friends in detail in order to identify a solution. After they've made up, Jack reveals that he talked about the argument with his friends. This upsets Jan are, who says that no one needs to know the details about their personal relationship. Jack is shocked that Jan are is upset about this AND that Janare didn't also just talk about it with friends. Which relational dialectic are they working through?
Concealment-revelation
Sarah is a middle school student living in Seattle. Recently she was thinking about asking for her parents to buy her a new laptop. She got her parents to sit down for a conversation and explained her reasons for such a request, just like they usually do with other family issues. Her parents listened to her reasons, acknowledged her needs, but explained that under the current economic situation, they have made the decision to NOT purchase a new laptop for her. Which type of family communication pattern is Sarah's family?
Consensual
Explain the traits of interpretivism (constructivist, meaning focused, naturalistic setting, participatory research).
Constructivist: detailed understanding of specific social realities Meaning focused: seeks to understand how participants create and negotiate meaning Naturalistic: occurs in a natural setting, like the environment the participants normally belong to Participatory: the researcher is a participant in the natural environment and does qualitative research
Explain some common post-positivistic method concerns (convenience sampling, self-selection, self-reporting, and statistical significance).
Convenience sampling: asking mostly college students to represent most adults self-selection: if people are choosing to be in a study, you may not really be hearing from who has been affected self-reporting: web surveys rely on people being 100% honest which just might not happen statistical significance: degree to which we can say the results we saw in our sample will show up in the general population
Explain the statement "correlation is not causation."
Correlation is when 2 things are related to one another, but does not necessarily mean they caused one another. If there is a correlation between ice cream sales and shark attacks, it does not mean the ice cream is causing the attacks. There is a third factor (like summer, warm weather, more people at beaches) that is in involved .
Which of the following claims about critical researchers is FALSE:
Critical researchers believe that power relations cannot be changed or replaced
Symbols must be either spoken or written words to communicate meaning.
False
Which element is NOT included in the transmission model?
Feedback
Define and explain the concept of cultural hegemony.
Framed as common sense How a group of people should look a certain way is hegemonic Cultural texts contribute to this
Which of the following is NOT one of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse," described by John and Julie Gottman, that predict relational dissolution?
Infidelity
Jason and Jennifer met each other on a dating app and have been going out for a couple of months. They spend a lot of time together and both like the way their relationship is going. Now Jason wants to officially ask Jennifer to go to his friend's party as a couple. Jason's move indicates which stage of the staircase model?
Integrating
Which of the following is NOT an aspect of culture in the Circuit of Culture (du Gay et al., 1997)?
Interaction
Which of the following methods is NOT routinely used by quantitative researchers?
Interviews
Last quarter in your biology course, you were randomly assigned a lab partner. You saw each other nearly everyday, and would check-in via text almost every morning to stay on top of the assignments. You got along well, and even got pizza together after class a few times. Even though you don't see them anymore, you still look back fondly on your time together. This relationship is an example of what type of interpersonal relationship?
Involuntary and social
Which of the following is NOT an element of Wood's definition of communication?
It requires the intentional transmission of information
Which of the following is NOT associated with the ritual view of communication?
Knowledge
Provide and explain examples of media affordances and message affordances.
MEDIA AFFORDANCES Carrying capacity: what the message load a system can handle is Message durability: how quickly a message will degrade Message distribution speed: how quickly a message can get to its destination Source control over message casting: how much you get to pick who gets your message (broadcasting doesn't control who gets content) MESSAGE AFFORDANCES Available modalities: how much recipients can access it Message accessibility: how quickly/easily you can find it Message availability: how much of the message are you seeing at one pass (newspapers vs one article on your phone) Control over presentation: if you read a book, you have no control over font, page color, etc. versus a digital book
The 2016 NPR article by Tara Haelle "Do parents invade children's privacy when they post photos online?" concludes that:
Navigating online privacy with your children is an ongoing process
Name one way in which verbal and nonverbal communication can relate to one another.
Nonverbal communication can be used as repetition of the content of the verbal message. For example, one may nod their head while saying "yes". It is the same message using a different channel.
Thinking rhetorically means balancing ALL of the following EXCEPT:
Objectivity
Define and distinguish ontology and epistemology.
Ontology: the study of the nature of reality Epistemology: what is the nature of knowledge
Explain the role of the critical researcher (relationship to object of study and the goals of critique).
POWER RELATIONS FUNDAMENTALLY AFFECT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY Researcher is always part of the inquiry Recognize positionality by naming it GOAL - to shift the world/power, not just name it
Explain some common critical method concerns (audience and interpretation).
Positionality: we are all apart of power systems Polysemy and audiences: make sure you're not oversimplifying audiences, and make sense of potential multiple meanings Persuasive interpretation: can I provide enough evidence of my interpretation to convince readers with textual evidence
In the ____________ research paradigm, researchers want to detach themselves and their assumptions from their object of study.
Post-positivist
Explain Anil Dash's understanding of "public."
Public is not just what can be viewed by others, but a fragile set of social conventions about what behaviors are acceptable and appropriate. the vast majority of what we do exists on a continuum that is neither clearly public nor strictly private. BEHIND 8TH
Explain the implications of the definition (systemic, process, interactive, symbolic, meaning).
Systemic: communication exists within preexisting webs of meaning (larger structures that dictate how we talk, etc.) Process: communication is ongoing and dynamic People: we are looking at humans Interactive: communication is represented through things and words symbols: can be verbal or nonverbal things, not just words meaning: communication is mutually constructed and affects our social reality
The Pony Express is an example of what media affordance?
The Pony Express is an example of a carrier type of media, meaning that communication occurs physically, such as actually delivering letters. The Pony Express is an example of the media affordance of message distribution speed because it takes time for them to traverse the land in order to relay messages back and forth between the communicators.
What did Marshall McLuhan mean by his famous line "the medium is the message"?
The manner of presentation fundamentally affects the content.
According to research about social connections, which of the following is FALSE?
The quantity of social support is as important as the quality of it
Explain how and why ontology/epistemology influence the choice of a research paradigm.
These affect how you study the communication phenomenon These 2 combined create the paradigm
According to Dr. Kristina Scharp, what is something post-positivist and critical researchers have in common that interpretivist scholars may stay away from?
They aim to find a cause and effect
ALL of the following are ideal characteristics of post-positivist theories EXCEPT:
Thick description
Define and explain the transmission, interaction, and transactional model of communication.
Transmission: includes a sender, a receiver, a channel that a message travels through, and noise which is anything that can affect the quality of a message Interaction: includes a sender/receiver, a receiver/sender, a channel that a message travels through, feedback that comes from both people involved, and message encoding and decoding on both ends. All of this occurs within a context, which affects how communication occurs Transactional: Includes 2 communicators who both encode and decode a message, and noise
Discuss the key elements of the communication privacy management theory (ownership, coordination, permeability, etc.).
behind 3rd bookmark
Discuss what the relational dialectics model is attempting to explain.
behind 3rd bookmark
Explain the relational turning points approach and explain how it differs from Knapp's relational stages model.
behind 3rd bookmark
Discuss some of the myths about family estrangement.
behind 4th
Explain why the "Mehrabian number" is incorrect.
behind 4th
List and describe the four different types of family communication patterns.
behind 4th
Explain the "beauty bias."
behind 5th
Define and distinguish media effects moderators and mediators.
behind 6th
Explain technological determinism and provide an example.
behind 6th
Define and provide an example of social comparison theory.
behind 7th
Define social sorting.
behind 7th
RHETORICAL
go to bookmark
Researchers will combine methods in what we call _________ research.
mixed methods
Please fill in the following blanks (Put your answers in the correct order):
ontology and epistemology
