an overview of communication theories

1. COMMUNICATION THEORIES &
MODELS
MODULE 1: THEORY
OVERVIEW

2. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication means that information is passed from
one place to another (Miller, 1951)
!
○ Communication is social interaction through symbols
and message systems (Gerbner, 1966)

3. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication is a process
○ Communication is transactional
○ Communication is symbolic
○ Communication is a social activity
○ Communication and intention

4. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication is a process
!
“dynamic, on-going, ever-changing, continuous. It
does not have a beginning , an end, a fixed
sequence of events. It is not static, at rest. It is
moving” (Berlo,1960).

5. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication is transactional
!
“people are simultaneously acting as source and
receiver in many communication situations. A
person is giving feedback…Each person is
participating in the communication
activity” (Ruffner, 1978).

6. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication is symbolic
!
“It requires signs and symbols that have relationships to
referents that are to some extent arbitrary.”
!
○ Communication is a social activity
!
“Serves as social vehicle”

7. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS COMMUNICATION ?
○ Communication and intention
!
“Communication occurs in those situations in
which a source transmits a message to a receiver
with conscious intent to affect behavior ”
(Miller, 1966)

8. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
WHAT IS THEORY ?
○ Any organized set of concepts and explanations
about phenomenon.
○ Any attempt to explain or represent an experience
(Littlejohn,2002)
○ An idea of how certain events happened

9. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
IMPORTANCE OF THEORY
○ Theories guide us in making decisions and taking actions. They
change from time to time as we observe new things and acquire
new perspective.
○ Theories identify patterns of events in the environment so we
know what to expect.
○ They draw our attention to important aspects of everyday life.
○ They help us decide what is important and what is not.
○ They enable us to predict what will happen next.
○ Littlejohn, 2002

10. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
NATURE OF THEORY
○ All theories are Abstractions
● Theory focuses on certain things and ignores others.
● No single theory will ever reveal the whole truth.
!
○ All theories are Constructions
● Theories are created by people
● Theory is the product of human judgment and social interaction
!
○ Littlejohn, 2002

11. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
BASIC MODEL OF INQUIRY
○ All inquiry involves three stages:
● Asking Questions
● Observation
● Constructing an Answer (theory)
!
○ Littlejohn, 2002

12. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
METAPHORS OF THEORY
○ Theories as NETS
● Theories are nets cast to catch what we call ‘the world’ (Popper, 1959)
● Theories are tools of the trade
!
○ Theories as LENSES
● Theories highlight the idea
● Theories shape our perception by focusing our attention on some
features
!
○ Theories as MAPS
● Theories are maps of the way to discover something
● Theories guide through unfamiliar territory
!
○ Griffin , 2009

13. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
HOW TO EVALUATE THEORY?
○ Theoretical Scope
● Refers to the comprehensiveness or inclusiveness.
● Relies on the principle of generality or the idea that a theory’s
explanation must be sufficiently general to cover a range of
events beyond a single observation.
○ Appropriateness
● Claims are consistent with their assumptions.
● Refers to the logical consistency between theories and
assumptions.
○ Heuristic Value
● Refers to the ability of the theory to generate new ideas for
research and additional theory.
● Theory acts as a springboard to develop new concepts.

14. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
HOW TO EVALUATE THEORY?
○ Validity
● Refers to the truth value of the theory.
○ Value or worth—whether the theory has value.
○ Correspondence or fit—concepts and relations specified by the theory can
actually be observed
○ Generalizability—the extent to which the tenets of the theory apply
across situations.
○ Parsimony
● Involves logical simplicity.
● If two theories are equally valid, the one with the simplest logical
explanation is said to be the best.
○ Openness
● It means that a theory is open to other possibilities.
● It is tentative, contextual and qualified.
● The theorist recognized that his or her construction is a way of looking
rather than a reproduction of reality.

15. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Rhetorical Tradition
● See communication as practical art.
● Communicators perceive problem or challenge that needs to
be dealt with through carefully design messages.
● Logical and emotional appeals are typically featured in
rhetorical theories.
● This tradition sees the work of communicator as governed by
art and method.
● It relies on a sense that words are powerful, that information
is useful in making judgments and that communication can
be evaluated and improved.
● Often challenge those views suggesting that words are not
action, that appearance is not reality, that style is not
substance and that opinion is not truth.

16. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Semiotic Tradition
● This tradition focus on signs and symbols.
● Treats communication as a bridge between the private worlds
of individuals and in which signs elicit meanings that may or
may not be shared.
● It is especially suited to address the problems of gaps,
misunderstandings and subjective responses.
● Include terms such as sign, symbol, meaning, referent,
code and understanding.
● Semiotic theories often lie in opposition to theories
suggesting that words have correct meanings, that signs
stand for objects, or that language is neutral.

17. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Phenomenological Tradition
● This tradition concentrates on personal experience, including
how individuals experience one another.
● Communication is seen as a sharing of personal experience
through dialogue.
● It responds to problems related to the erosion of strong
relationships.
● Include terms such as experience, self, dialogue, genuine,
supportiveness and openness.
● It resists discourses suggesting that communication is a mere
skill, that words and things are separate or that values are
separate from facts.

18. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Cybernetic Tradition
● Communication in this tradition is viewed primary as
information processing and the problem it addresses have
mostly to do with noise, overload, and malfunction.
● Include terms such as senders and receivers, information,
feedback, redundancy and systems.
● This tradition seems most plausible when issues relate to the
mind and brain, rationality and complex systems arise.
● This tradition challenges arguments that make a distinction
between machines and humans or that posit linear cause-effect
relationships.

19. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Sociopsychological Tradition
● This tradition concentrates primarily on those aspects of
communication that include expression, interaction and
influence.
● Address problems in which outcomes need to be manipulated.
● The discourse of this tradition accents behavior, variables,
effects, personalities and traits, perception, cognition,
attitudes, and interaction.
● Oppose to the claims that people are rational, that individual
know what they think and that perception is a clear route to
seeing what is real.

20. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Socio-cultural Tradition
● Social order as its centerpiece and sees communication as the
glue to society.
● The problems it addresses include conflict, alienation and
failure to coordinate.
● Features such as elements as society, structure, rituals,
rules and culture.
● Avoid arguments in favor of individual power and
responsibility, unitary self, or separation of human
interaction from social structure.

21. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
STANDPOINT OF THEORY?
○ The Critical Tradition
● This tradition see communication as a social arrangements of
power and oppression.
● Critical theories respond to the problem of ideology, power
and domination.
● Critical discourse includes such terms as ideology,
dialectic, oppression, consciousness raising, resistance,
and emancipation.
● Appeal in situation that include the self-perpetuation of
power, the values of freedom and equality and the importance
of informed discussion.

22. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
TYPE OF SCHOLARSHIP : SCIENTIFIC VS. HUMANISTIC
○ Scientific Scholarship
● Often associated with objectivity.
● Standardization and replications are important.
● Assume that the world has observable form, and they view
their task as seeing the world as it is.
● Believe that the world sits in wait of discovery. “out there”
activity.
● The goal of science is to observe and explain the world as
accurately as possible .
● They rely on agreement among observers.
○ If all trained observers report the same results, there is a
confident that the object has been accurately observed.

23. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS:
TYPE OF SCHOLARSHIP : SCIENTIFIC VS. HUMANISTIC
○ Humanistic Scholarship
● Often associated with subjectivity.
● Seek creative individuality.
● It aims to understand individual subjective response.
● Interested in individual cases than generalized theory.
● Stress the “in here” activity.
● Focus on discovering person.
● Seek alternative interpretations
● Especially well suited to problems of art, personal
experience and values.

24. QUESTIONS?

25. THANK YOU!!!
COMMUNICATION THEORIES &
MODELS
MODULE 1: THEORY
OVERVIEW
Racidon P. Bernarte, MA
PUP Open University and Graduate School