This document provides an introduction to communication theory, defining it as a systematic summary about the nature of the communication process that focuses attention on concepts, clarifies observations, predicts behavior, and enables personal and social change. It distinguishes between commonsense, working, and scholarly theories, and identifies key criteria for evaluating theories including accuracy, practicality, succinctness, consistency, and acuity.

1. Introduction to Communication Theory

2.  Everyday view of communication is the flow
of information from one person to another.
 Communication: the process by which people
interactively create, sustain, and manage
meaning.

4.  Communication competence: balancing
effectiveness and appropriateness.
◦ Effectiveness: extent to which you achieve your
goals in interaction.
◦ Appropriateness: fulfilling social expectations for a
particular situation.
 Understanding theory will allow for a proper
balance of effectiveness and appropriateness

5.  Abstract understanding of communication
process.
 Move beyond describing a single event by
providing a means by which all like events can be
described.
 Defined: systematic summary about the nature of
the communication process.
 Functions include:
◦ Focusing attention on particular concepts
◦ Clarifying our observations
◦ Predicting communication behavior
◦ Generating personal and social change

6.  Commonsense theory
◦ Theories-in-use
◦ Created through personal experiences
◦ Are often the basis for our decisions on how to
communicate
◦ E.g.: Never date a colleague; it always ends up badly

7.  Working theory
◦ Generalizations made in particular professions
about the best technique for doing something
◦ More systematic than commonsense theory
represent agreed-on ways of doing things in
professions.
◦ E.g.: Audience analysis should be done prior to
presenting a speech.

8.  Scholarly theory
◦ Has undergone systematic research
◦ Provide more thorough, accurate, and abstract
explanations for communication
◦ Typically more complex and difficult to understand
◦ E.g.: The media do not tell us what to think, but
what to think about (agenda-setting theory)

9.  Accuracy
◦ Correctly summarizes the way communication
actually works
◦ Look at research studies that use the theory and
see whether the research supports the theory or
fails to support it.

10.  Practicality
◦ How well the theory can be used to address real-
world communication problems
◦ A theory with more applications is better than a
theory without practical uses
◦ Look for how the theory has been used in the
research literature as well as a theory’s professional
application

11.  Succinctness
◦ Is the theory formulated as simply as possible?
◦ Compare how much of communication is explained
by the theory versus how many concepts are being
used to explain it

12.  Consistency
◦ The most useful theories have internal and external
consistency
◦ Internal consistency means that the ideas of the
theory are logically built on one another
◦ External consistency refers to the theory’s
consistency with other widely accepted behaviors

13.  Acuity
◦ The ability of a theory to provide insight into an
otherwise intricate issue
◦ You need to think, “Wow, I never realized that!”

14.  Case Study 1: Evaluating Groupthink
◦ How accurate is groupthink?
◦ How practical is groupthink?
◦ Is the theory appropriately succinct? Or is it overly
simple or overly complex?
◦ Is groupthink consistent with other theories about
group communication? Does it demonstrate internal
consistency?
◦ Does groupthink demonstrate acuity?

15. Edward de Bono

16.  The six thinking hats allows us to conduct
our thinking as a conductor might lead an
orchestra. We can call forth what we will.

18. • Neutral and objective
• Concerned with objectives, facts and
figures

19. • Cool…
• Organization of thinking

20. • Cautious and careful
• Points out the weaknesses
in an idea

21. • The emotional view

22. • Creativity
• Growth and new ideas

23. • Optimism
• Hope and positive thinking

24.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnk
lfYs
 Describe the “I Have a Dream” speech to a
class of MBA students in Estonia.