COMM 303 Communication Theory Midterm Verified Guide
Linear/Standard/ Transmission Model of Communication ✅Signifier uses a channel to reliever a
message to the receiver, receiver can provide feedback, can be interpreted or communicated wrong due
to noise
Information Theory ✅Created by Shannon and Weaver, a technical engineering problem- how to
transmit data through wires?
Cybernetics ✅Designing and maintaining systems that takes feedback to change or maintain itself
Noise ✅Any physiological, physical, psychological and/ or semantic thing that interferes in our
understanding of the communication of a message
Signal ✅
Feedback ✅Response/ interpretation of the receiver to the sender
Sign ✅An object that represents something else, includes the signifier and the signified
Referent ✅The actual idea/ concept/ physical thing
Signified ✅Idea that pops in your head
Signifier ✅Something that stands in for the concept in one's mind
Encoding ✅Process of sending messages out
Decoding ✅Processing messages that are recieved
, Paradigm ✅Point of view, set of theories, model or exemplar, conceptual framework, set of
unarticulated assumptions about reality, world view
Scientific Paradigm ✅What is observed, what questions should be asked, how questions should be
structured, what predictions can be made, how research should be conducted, and how the results
should be interpreted
Positivism ✅Scientific philosophy that asserts that the only legitimate or valid kinds of information
come from the mathematical, statistical, or scientific explanations of reality, and that truth can only be
revealed through science
Classical Positivism ✅Belief that knowledge comes from verification and that all true knowledge
assumes only scientific observation/study.
Logical Positivism ✅Idea that knowledge comes from verification and that true knowledge includes
scientific observation and rational thought.
Post-Positivism ✅Acknowledging that the researcher influences the process of research
Hypothesis ✅Prediction about what a researcher expects to find in a study
Determinism ✅Humans and human actions are primarily caused by identifiable external factors and
internal attributes
Scientific Method ✅4 step process in which a researcher conducts "research" which can be done in
various ways
Inductive ✅An approach where concepts emerge from the process of thinking about what has been
observed.
Linear/Standard/ Transmission Model of Communication ✅Signifier uses a channel to reliever a
message to the receiver, receiver can provide feedback, can be interpreted or communicated wrong due
to noise
Information Theory ✅Created by Shannon and Weaver, a technical engineering problem- how to
transmit data through wires?
Cybernetics ✅Designing and maintaining systems that takes feedback to change or maintain itself
Noise ✅Any physiological, physical, psychological and/ or semantic thing that interferes in our
understanding of the communication of a message
Signal ✅
Feedback ✅Response/ interpretation of the receiver to the sender
Sign ✅An object that represents something else, includes the signifier and the signified
Referent ✅The actual idea/ concept/ physical thing
Signified ✅Idea that pops in your head
Signifier ✅Something that stands in for the concept in one's mind
Encoding ✅Process of sending messages out
Decoding ✅Processing messages that are recieved
, Paradigm ✅Point of view, set of theories, model or exemplar, conceptual framework, set of
unarticulated assumptions about reality, world view
Scientific Paradigm ✅What is observed, what questions should be asked, how questions should be
structured, what predictions can be made, how research should be conducted, and how the results
should be interpreted
Positivism ✅Scientific philosophy that asserts that the only legitimate or valid kinds of information
come from the mathematical, statistical, or scientific explanations of reality, and that truth can only be
revealed through science
Classical Positivism ✅Belief that knowledge comes from verification and that all true knowledge
assumes only scientific observation/study.
Logical Positivism ✅Idea that knowledge comes from verification and that true knowledge includes
scientific observation and rational thought.
Post-Positivism ✅Acknowledging that the researcher influences the process of research
Hypothesis ✅Prediction about what a researcher expects to find in a study
Determinism ✅Humans and human actions are primarily caused by identifiable external factors and
internal attributes
Scientific Method ✅4 step process in which a researcher conducts "research" which can be done in
various ways
Inductive ✅An approach where concepts emerge from the process of thinking about what has been
observed.
