communication theory - History of communication theory, Communication Theory Framework, Some realms of communication and their theories, More Information

The application of information theory to human communication in general. Communication is seen to involve an information source encoding a message which is transmitted via a channel to a receiver, where it is decoded and has an effect. Efficient, error-free transmission is assumed to be the primary goal, especially in engineering contexts. Attempts to apply this model more generally have been criticized for neglecting the importance of other factors, such as feedback, social context, and the active role played by human receivers in the production of meaning.

There is much discussion in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication. Since communication theory remains a relatively young field of inquiry and integrates itself with other disciplins such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology, one probably cannot yet expect a conceptualization of communication which all or most of those who work in the area would share. One of the issues facing scholars is the possibility that establishing a communication metatheory will negate their research and stifle the broad body of knowledge in which communication functions.

History of communication theory

In the history of philosophy, Aristotle first addressed the problem of communication and attempted to work out a theory of it in The Rhetoric.

Humanistic and rhetorical viewpoints and theories dominated the discipline prior to the twentieth century, when more scientific methodologies and insights from psychology, sociology, linguistics and advertising began to influence communication thought and practice.

Communication Theory Framework

It is helpful to examine communication and communication theory through one of the following viewpoints:

Mechanistic: This view considers communication to be a perfect transaction of a message from the sender to the receiver. Systemic: This view considers communication to be the new messages created via “through-put”, or what happens as the message is being interpreted and re-interpreted as it travels through people

Inspection of a particular theory on this level will provide a framework on the nature of communication as seen within the confines of that theory. Communication studies often borrow theories from other social sciences. While many of these have become "departments of communication", they often retain their historical roots, adhering largely to theories from speech communication in the former case, and from mass media in the latter. The great divide between speech communication and mass communication becomes complicated by a number of smaller sub-areas of communication research, including intercultural and international communication, small group communication, communication technology, policy and legal studies of communication, telecommunication, and work done under a variety of other labels.

These "levels" of communication provide some way of grouping communication theories, but inevitably, some theories and concepts leak from one area to another, or fail to find a home at all.

Assumptions

Another way of dividing up the communication field emphasizes the assumptions that undergird particular theories, models, and approaches. While this approach also tends to have as its basis institutional divisions, theories within each of the seven "traditions" of communication theory that Robert Craig suggests tend to re-inforce one another, and retain the same ground epistemological and axiological assumptions. His traditions include:

rhetorical - practical art of discourse semiotic – intersubjective mediation through signs phenomenological - experience of otherness, dialogue cybernetic - information processing sociopsychological - expression, interaction and influence critical - discursive reflection sociocultural - reproduction of social order (Miller, 13)

Craig finds each of these clearly defined against the others, and remaining cohesive approaches to describing communicative behavior. The idea (as argued by Vygotsky) of communication as the primary tool of a species defined by its tools remains on the outskirts of communication theory. It finds some representation in the Toronto School of communication theory (alternatively sometimes called medium theory) as represented by the work of Innis, McLuhan, and others. It seems that the ways in which individuals and groups use the technologies of communication — and in some cases are used by them — remain central to what communication researchers do.

Some realms of communication and their theories

message production: Constructivist Theory, Action Assembly Theory message processing: Elaboration Liklihood Theory, Innoculation Theory discourse and interaction: Speech Acts Theory, Coordinated Management of Meaning developing relationships: Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Social Penetration Theory ongoing relationships: Relational Systems Theory, Relational Dialectics organizational: Structuration Theory, Unobtrusive and Concertive Control Theory small group: Functional Theory, Symbolic Convergence Theory media processing and effects: Social Cognitive Theory, Uses and Gratifications Theory media and society: agenda setting, spiral of silence culture: Speech Codes Theory, Face-saving Theory(Miller, v-viii)

More Information

There is a wealth of information available about communication and communication theory. Included here are some examples of texts, journals, and organizations focusing on communication theory.

The following list is a survey of Communication Theory texts currently available on Amazon.com:

Communication Theory: Epistemological Foundations by James A. Anderson Communication Theories: Origins, Methods and Uses in the Mass Media (5th Edition) by Werner J. Redmond Communication Theories: Perspectives, Processes, and Contexts by Katherine Miller Communication Theory: Media, Technology and Society by David Holmes Building Communication Theory by Dominic A. Womack The Communication Theory Reader by Paul Cobley Clarifying Communications Theories: A Hands-On Approach by Gerald Stone, Michael Singletary, and Virginia P. Some Communication Journals that emphasize theory are as follows:

Argumentation Communication Abstracts Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies Communication Education Communication Monographs Communication Quarterly & Communication Research Reports Communication Research Communication Studies Communication Theory Communications and the Law Continuum - Journal of Media and Cultural Studies Critical Studies in Media Communication Discourse Studies Howard Journal of Communications Human Communication Research Journal of Applied Communication Research Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media Journal of Communication Journal of Communication Inquiry Journal of Language Identity and Education Journal of Mass Media Ethics Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development Journal of Public Relations Research Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Journalism - Theory Practice and Criticism Journalism History Journalism Studies Language in Society Listening - Journal of Religion and Culture Mass Communication and Society Media Culture and Society Multilingua - Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication New Media and Society Philosophy and Rhetoric : Paper for Muse Participants Political Communication PR Reporter Public Relations Quarterly Rhetoric and Public Affairs Rhetorica Text - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse Vital Speeches of the Day Women's Studies in Communication Word and Image Written Communication

Finally, there are many Communication Organizations that create a network of scholars who actively pursue and test theories. Examples of Communication Organizations with contact information are:

American Communication Association Central States Communication Association Eastern Communication Association International Communication Association National Communication Association Southern States Communication Association Western States Communication Association

Some theorists

A list of people who have contributed to communication theory in its broadest sense includes:

Irwin Altman (1939 - ) Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE) Roland Barthes (1915 - 1980) Leslie Baxter Charles Berger Ernest Bormann Martin Buber (1878 - 1965) Judee Burgoon Kenneth Burke (1897 - 1993) John Cacioppo Vernon Cronen Stanley Deetz Jesse Delia Leon Festinger (1919 - 1989) Walter Fisher Clifford Geertz (1926 - ) George Gerbner (1919 - 2005) Dennis Gouran William Gudykunst Jürgen Habermas (1929 - ) Stuart Hall (1932 - ) Randy Hirokawa Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) Harold Innis (1894 - 1952) Irving Janis (1918 - 1990) Cheris Kramarae Maxwell McCombs Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980) Denis McQuail George Herbert Mead (1863 - 1931) Barbara Montgomery Dennis Mumby Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann Michael Pacanowsky Richard Petty Quintilian (35 - 95) I. Richards (1893 - 1979) Gerry Philipsen Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) W Barnett Pierce Claude Shannon (1916 - 2001) Donald Shaw Muzafer Sherif (1906 - 1988) Deborah Tannen (1945 - ) Dalmas Taylor Stella Ting-Toomey Paul Watzlawick (1921 - ) Warren Weaver (1894 - 1978) Karl Weick Eric Werner

Bibliography

Emory A Griffin, A first look at communication theory. ISBN 0-07-022822-1 Miller, K., Communication Theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts. Werner, E., "Cooperating Agents: A Unified Theory of Communication and Social Structure", Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Vol.