INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION SCIENCE
A First Look at Communication Theory by Em Gri n, Andrew Ledbetter Glenn Sparks
CHAPTER 1 - LAUNCHING YOUR STUDY OF COMMUNICATION THEORY
WHAT IS A THEORY AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Theory = set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work
• De nition by Judee Burgoon
• Provides a framework
• Set of hunches
• If a theory is a set of hunches, it means we aren’t yet sure we have the answer: a puzzle
• Without a puzzle, no theory
• Theories always involve an element of speculation, or conjecture.
• First test of your theory is de nitely in the hunch category.
• By referring to a plural “set of hunches” rather than a single “hunch,” Burgoon makes it clear that a
theory is not just one inspired thought or an isolated idea.
• Good theories de ne their key terms,
• A theory will also give some indication of scope.
↳ Theory construction involves multiple hunches.
• Informed hunches
• Before developing a theory, there are articles to read, people to talk to, actions to observe, or
experiments to run, all of which can cast light on the subject.
• At the very least, theorists should be familiar with alternative explanations and interpretations of the
types of phenomena they are studying.
- “Theories are sometimes de ned as guesses—but signi cantly as “educated” guesses. Theories are
not merely based on vague impressions nor are they accidental by-products of life. Theories tend to
result when their creators have prepared themselves to discover something in their environment, which
triggers the process of theory construction.” (Fred Casmir)
• Hunches that are systematic
• Theory as an integrated system of concepts.
• A theory not only lays out multiple ideas, but also speci es the relationships among them. In common
parlance, it connects the dots.
• The links among the informed hunches are clearly drawn so that a pattern emerges.
↳ Theories grow and mature over time!
IMAGES OF THEORY
Theory is a broad concept with di erent conceptualizations, expressed by di erent metaphors:
• Theories as nets
• Karl Popper: theories are “nets cast to catch what we call 'the world': to rationalize, to explain, and to
master it. We endeavor to make the mesh ever ner and ner.”
• Highlights the ongoing labor of the theorist as a type of deep-sea angler.
• Critic:
• The idea that theories could be woven so tightly that they’d snag everything humans think, say, or
do seems naive.
• The possibility also raises questions about our freedom to choose some actions and reject others.
• Theories as lenses
• The lens imagery highlights the idea that theories shape our perception by focusing attention on some
features of communication while ignoring other features, or at least pushing them into the back- ground.
• Two theorists can look at di erent aspects and result in to a di erent conclusion
• Danger: we might regard what is seen through the glass as so dependent on the theoretical stance of
the viewer that we abandon any attempt to discern what is real or true.
• Theories as maps
• A good map helps us understand unfamiliar terrain ➝ it’s designed with a purpose.
• A communication theory is a kind of map that’s designed to help you navigate some part of the
topography of human relationships.
• However, we must remember that the map is not the territory.
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, • No theory can fully portray the richness of interaction between people that is constantly changing,
always varied, and inevitably more complicated than what any theory can chart.
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?
Communication = the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response
1. Messages
• Messages (or texts) are central to communication scholars
• Text = a record of a message that can be analyzed by others (e.g., a book, lm, photograph, or any
transcript or recording of a speech or broadcast).
2. Creation of messages
• A message is constructed, invented, planned, crafted, constituted, selected, or adopted by the
communicator
• Either conscious or unconscious. But, they always have a meaning
3. Interpretation of messages
• The receiver has to decode the message (work out, sort out, piece together)
• Messages are polysemic—they’re open to multiple interpretations.
• Polysemic = a quality of symbols that means they’re open to multiple interpretations.
4. A relational process
• The ow of communication is always in ux, never completely the same, and can only be described
with reference to what went before and what is yet to come
• It takes place between two or more persons
• It a ects the nature of the connections among those people
• Celeste Condit: "Communication is a process of relating. This means it is not primarily or essentially a
process of transferring information or of disseminating or circulating signs (though these things can
be identi ed as happening within the process of relating)”
5. Messages that elicit a response
• When communicating, it is all about the response (verbal and non-verbal)
• E ect of a commercial, learning from a video like this, crying about a romantic scene in a movie ,
informing people in health campaign, talking with your best friends, etc.
What is communication science?
Communication: the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response
Theory: a set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work
↳ Compared to other disciplines, communication science is
• Object oriented
• Inter-disciplinary
Conclusion:
• Theory is a broad concept with di erent conceptualizations, expressed by di erent metaphors: lenses,
nets, maps
• The same goes for communication: a very broad concept
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,QUESTIONS
1. Suppose you share the aircraft mechanic’s suspicion that scholars who create theories would be all
thumbs working on a plane’s wings or engine. What would it take to transform your hunch into a
theory?
2. Which metaphor of theory do you nd most helpful—theory as a net, a lens, or a map? Can you think
of another image that you could use to explain to a friend what this course is about?
3. Suppose you want to study the e ects of yawns during intimate conversations. Would your research
be addressing communication as we’ve de ned it (the rela- tional process of creating and interpreting
messages to elicit a response)? If not, how would you change the de nition to make it include your
interest?
4. You come to this course with a vast array of communication experiences in interpersonal, group and
public, mass media, and intercultural contexts. What are the communication questions you want to
answer, puzzles you want to solve, or problems you want to x?
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, CHAPTER 2 - TALK ABOUT THEORY
How do communication scholars approach this?
Glenn Sparks: follows an objective approach:
= The assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased sensory observation;
committed to uncovering cause-and-effect relationships.
• Behavioral scientist = A scholar who applies the scienti c method to describe, predict, and explain
recurring forms of human behavior.
Marty Medhurst: follows interpretive approach:
• = The linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to texts and assumes that multiple meanings or
truths are possible.
• Rhetorician = A scholar who studies the ways in which symbolic forms can be used to identify with
people, or to persuade them toward a certain point of view.
e.g. Budweiser’s Super Bowl “Clydesdale” Commercial
- The Super Bowl commercial tells a visual story in 60 seconds. We see scenes of the newborn foal, his trainer asleep
in the sick colt’s stall, horseplay between them as the animal gains stature, and the fully grown horse running free
alongside the trainer’s truck. When it’s time for this magni cent animal to become part of a working team of
Clydesdales promoting beer, the trainer leads him into the company’s horse van and gazes wistfully as it disappears
down the road. Three years later, the man discovers the Clydesdales will be in a Chicago parade and drives to the
city to reconnect with his horse. He smiles with pride as the horse prances by, but blinders keep the animal from
seeing him. As the trainer walks sadly back to his truck, the harness is removed and the horse catches a glimpse of
him. The nal shots show the Clydesdale galloping down the street to catch up with his human friend, who then
buries his face in the horse’s mane as they are reunited.
• Objective approach tot the commercial (by Glenn Sparks)
• The commercial uses the resonance principle of communication:
• Tony Schwartz: successful persuasive messages evoke past experiences that create resonance
between the message content and a person’s thoughts or feelings.
• Resonance leads to persuasion. It’s not arguments that persuade people as much as it is memories of
personal experiences triggered by the message.
• Elements in commercial may trigger resonance ➝ positive attitude towards product ➝ increased
likelihood viewer will buy product
• How is it triggered?
• Story of a worker dedicated to its horse may tap into viewers’ deep memories of their own devotion to animals they once
nurtured
• The emotional scene at the end of the ad might stir reminiscence of your pet’s excitement when you would return home or
the tremendous relief at being reunited with one you thought lost
• What is this positive attitude?
• For beer drinkers, those good feelings may lead to more sales.
• For viewers who see drinking beer as a health risk, the good feelings may lead to positive thoughts about a company that
seems to care not only about selling beer, but also about taking good care of those splendid Clydesdales.
↳ In this case, persuasion may be measured both in beer sales and positive thoughts about Budweiser—a company well
aware that its success may lead to alcohol abuse among consumers and a bad corporate reputation.
• And, this can also be tested (which is typical of objective approach):
• Does the commercial lead to a positive attitude? Does this positive attitude lead to increased
likelihood of buying? (testing audience responses)
• Interpretive approach tot the commercial
• The story follows an archetypal mythic pattern of “birth- death-rebirth”:
• Young colt in barn (birth);
• taken care of by breeder (feeding, stroking coat, sleeping together);
• maturing to grown horse;
• taken away by Budweiser truck (death)
• years later they are reunited (rebirth)
• 3 years of importance: number has a symbolic meaning in christianity
• Just as Christians believe Jesus lay in the tomb for three days before his resurrection, so the
horse is gone for three years before he reappears. But once he re-emerges, it is as though he
never left.
• Carl Jung: Archetypal myths are those that draw upon a universal experience called the “collective
unconscious.”
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