CA 348 COURSE PLANNING MATERIALS TENTATIVE SCHEDULE AND COURSE NOTES

COURSE HOME

• Abstract And Reference List (Dropbox) provides the assignment and grading rubric for this assignment due week 3.

• Academic Honesty explains the use expectations for using your own words.  Know that your professor may use plagiarism detection software, such as Turnitin, on your papers in this course.

• Communication gives you a dropbox and explains the ways you can reach your professor.

• Discussion Rubric gives the rubric and explains expectations for the interactive Discussion Board and netiquette for effective communication in the course.

• Doc sharing or Document Sharing has handouts about assignments and a PowerPoint for each chapter.  The PowerPoints are the same content as the weekly lectures, but are offered as an alternative for students who prefer the PowerPoint format.  Note, visuals in the PowerPoints are simply of the described learning anchor for the chapter and add no content to the PowerPoint.  .

• Core Assessment Research Paper gives you the instruction and rubrics for the Abstract and References assignment and the Research Paper will give you ideas about the main assignment for this course, which is due week 6.

• Getting Started explains your first steps in the course.

• Glossary provides key terms and definitions.

• Grading explains the weight of assignments.  Help and Resources provide University support links.

• Office and Contact Information gives you an array of important administrative details about this course and a discussion board for talking with other students.

• Schedule gives you an overview of the tentative schedule and assignment due dates.

• Syllabus should link to your professor's course information. Textbook, Software, Skills and Resources gives you the required textbooks, course goals for the course, and educational resource links.  Weblinks gives you important links you will need to use in the course.

• Week 1, 2, etc. will be revealed each week to provide the content for the course, including the lecture, discussion, and quiz for each chapter.  

   

ACADEMIC HONESTY

BE HONEST AND ETHICAL

What is ethical student behavior?

US society values private ownership, including ownership of ideas. Cite and reference all sources of information and ideas according to APA style. Academic integrity is crucial to this course, including the research paper. You will see basic expectations in your Park University catalog and in your APA manual.

USE YOUR OWN WORDS in everything you write or present in this course.

EVERY ASSIGNMENT NEEDS TO BE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY THE STUDENT ONLY FOR THIS COURSE.

BE RESPONSIBLE. When conducting research and preparing assignments, take precise, correct, and careful notes. Use your own words by paraphrasing, but remember to record a reference listing of the source you will use. Any notes where you copy the words of others need to be indicated by quotation marks and referenced so you remember the source. If you are unsure, go back and look it up.

What is unethical student behavior?

Plagiarism in this course is failure to use APA style by crediting the source of ideas or information.

Some examples of plagiarism include the following:

1. Using words from a journal article without using quotation marks.

2. Using a review of literature information from a journal article without indicating that you are citing the secondary source. You should look it up in the original source--primary source--if you plan to use the information.

3. Failing to use quotation marks when providing a direct quotation.

4. Failing to cite and reference the source of paraphrased ideas.

5. Using part or all of an assignment turned in previously in another course.

6. Using part or all of an assignment written by another student or someone else. 7. Coping cited text without using quotation marks for the real author's words.

Academic dishonesty includes unethical behavior, such as falsification of data.

Some examples of unethical research or writing include the following:

1. Quoting more than 200 words from a single source, even when using quotation marks, a citation, and reference listing.

2. Quoting an author's abstract or other published words in a review of literature.

Under Park University policy, academic dishonesty can result in a failing grade for the assignment or course, or expulsion. Previously in some communication courses, students have earned an "F" for assignments that appear to be plagiarized or an "F" in the course when a major course assignment (core assessment assignment) section appears to be plagiarized. 

BE WARNED!  Faculty may use plagiarism detection software to determine whether the content can be found through the Internet, published sources, or in an assignment submitted by another student at another university.  To learn more about how Turnitin works, for example, see http://turnitin.com/static/index.php

Any student who duplicates content--as identified by Turnitin software, for example--without direct quotation marks and proper citation should expect a course grade of "F."

The Style Manual for Organizational Communication Majors:

APA (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

READ and KNOW American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Requirements for this program:

Expectations of ethical behaviors pp. 11-20.

Compliance checklist p. 20.

Complying With Ethical, Legal, and Policy Requirements, p. 231-236.

Crediting Sources pp. 169-174.

WEBLINKS

The Weblinks in this course are tutorials, for exploration, and to provoke thought.  Links constantly change, so we cannot be responsible for links that don’t work.  If links move or don't work, you can use a search engine to find the site or something comparable.  In many cases, if you will copy the link and paste it in your Internet browser, it will work.  Operation should be more effective if you right click the link or operate it outside of eCollege.

APA Citation and Reference Style Formatting: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/  

Ebsco Communication and Mass Media Complete Database:  https://pegleg.park.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.asp  

Expectations for Students:  Regarding your course progress, please work out problems with your professor early in the course and in advance of any serious developments. Here are expectations of the course developer: http://ourwayit.com/Guidelines.html  

Griffin’s First Look at Communication Theory:  http://www.afirstlook.com/main.cfm/theory_list

Lane’s Communication Theory Site (University of Kentucky): http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/007workbook.html

Library Database Tutorial:  http://ourwayit.com/LibraryTutorial/

Syllabus:  http://www.park.edu/syllabus/list.aspx  

Wood Textbook Companion Site:  http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780534566395&discipline_number=48  

GETTING STARTED

HOW DO I ACCESS MY ONLINE COURSE?

If you are inside eCollege, obviously you are here. (grin) To get here, go to http://parkonline.org/ You can probably look around in there about a week before the course start date, but please understand that the course may not be completely ready until the first day of the term (Monday). 

WANT TO GET TO WORK?

1.    Check your course syllabus for assignments and details about your course http://www.park.edu/syllabus/list.aspx  This information may also be linked through the "Course Home," "Syllabus" link.

2.    You will want to buy BOTH textbook. Read the Course Home information in eCollege http://parkonline.org/  

3.    Skim your textbooks, reading chapters 1 and 2 in Wood’s Communication Theories in Action. 

COURSE PREREQUISITES

No course prerequisites. This course is designed for organizational communication majors, but ALL students are welcome!  Of course, English language learners are welcome. The course is the first step in preparing a senior project for organizational communication majors.  You will need be able to obtain a copy of BOTH course textbooks, to have Internet access, basic computer and communication skills, and effective academic writing skills.

COURSE CONTENT SOURCE CREDITS

Text of lectures, overviews, tests, and similar materials are directly quoted from the course textbooks or as cited and referenced. Clipart is from Microsoft or as indicated. This material is copyrighted. All rights reserved.   APA test questions are quoted directly from http://lib.usm.edu/legacy/tutorials/apatutorial/quiz.php?type=pre

DISCUSSION AND COMMUNICATION

IMPORTANCE OF ONLINE DISCUSSION AND ONLINE ETIQUETTE (NETIQUETTE)

This course requires frequent and active engagement in online discussion. Some tips for posting online include the following.

1. Keep posts short, but provide substance. Encouraging responses--"great post," "interesting comment,"--are always welcome, but do not satisfy the discussion thread assignment.

2. Keep confidences and do not use the real names of people, companies, or organizations.

3. Remember to login and post multiple times per week (e.g., Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) and respond to others so that you are actively engaged in a conversation, and not making isolated posts.  Due days are a guideline, but Sunday is the final deadline.

4. Avoid sarcasm and humor or indicate clearly (e.g., "Ha, ha," "grin," smiley face).

5. Avoid plagiarism in online discussion and use formal writing style.

6. As you read the course materials, find facts (research-based concepts), which you can apply to your own experiences to use in the discussion.

7. Seek to expand your thinking and experience about communication theories.

8. Seek to be open and nonjudgmental about the ideas of others by using rhetorical sensitivity and effective communication. Use empathy, diplomacy, and rhetorical sensitivity. Express your thoughts in a candid way so that you can be motivated to test yourself and improve your communication.

9. Keep confidences and do not use real names of individuals, companies, or organizations.

10. Use the Discussion Board to apply what you learn in the textbook, lectures, research articles, and other course readings.

WEEKLY DISCUSSION BOARD

Example Grading Rubric

COURSE DEVELOPER NOTES

Thank you for teaching this course! The Department of Arts and Communication appreciates your contributions to our department and student learning.

We hope you will find this course flexible and easy to use. If you notice problems or errors that need correction, please contact the course designer to implement the changes: Christina.Chang@park.edu

If you have suggestions for additional materials for the course, please contact Joan.Aitken@park.edu

ABSTRACT AND REFERENCE LIST ASSIGNMENT

Write title page, abstract, and reference list for your core assessment (Communication Research Paper).  The references need to be relevant peer-reviewed journal articles from Ebsco Host’s Communication and Mass Media Complete.  For additional information about the Core Assessment Research Paper, see the link under the Course home and Doc Sharing items.

Example Rubric

CA348 STEP ONE OF CORE ASSESSMENT

Title page, abstract, and reference list. 

GRADING SCALE

Mastery of Social Scientific Research Standards for assignment:  Earns 50 points

Nearing Standards:  Earns 40 points (80%)

Lacks Adequate Standards:  Earns 39-0 points

PROFESSOR’S COMMENTS

Note:  This assignment is not accepted late.

GRADING

EXAMPLE GRADING

·         35%  Discussion Board weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 (50 points each for 350 points) POSTS DUE WED, FRI, SUN.

·         10% chapter quizzes (maybe 5 questions each worth 2 points each) = 10 points each for 100 points DUE SUNDAY

·         5% Core Assessment  Abstract & Reference List (50 points)   DUE SUNDAY, WEEK 3.

·         5%  Midterm Test  20 questions at 2.5 points each or something comparable (50 points) DUE SUNDAY, WEEK 4.

·         25% Core Assessment RESEARCH PAPER (250 points)  DUE SUNDAY, WEEK 6.

·         20% Final Exam (200 points)  DUE FRIDAY, WEEK 8.

EXAMPLE GRADING SCALE

Typically, final grades are earned according to the following scale:

A = 900-1000

B = 800-899

C = 700-799

D = 600-699

F = 599 or below

EXAMPLE POINTS

1000 points = 100%

OFFICE

(CHRISTINA--A Discussion Board)

Here is a place where students can find course administrative information.

SYLLABUS

See your syllabus https://park.edu/syllabus/list.aspx or talk to your professor regarding student responsibilities and expectations in this course. Dr. Aitken is the course developer, but your professor has complete latitude to make minor or major revisions to this course, including assignments, due dates, policies, and expectations.

WHAT IS eCOLLEGE?

eCollege is the course environment for this class.  http://parkonline.org/ You will see course tools tabs across the top of the screen and course-specific content tabs along the left side.  Notice the “help” function in the upper right.

CONTACTING YOUR COURSE PROFESSOR

If you use the external email system, please use your @park.edu email address to send your message and give an informative subject line. Park’s email security system screens out most nonPark email as spam, so your professor may never receive emails from an external address.  You will see an email function tab at the top of your eCollege course screen.

To find staff contact information at Park: http://people.park.edu/Public/Default.aspx?TabKey=0&TaskItemKey=2&Screen=0  

COURSE ENVIRONMENT-- eCOLLEGE  CONTACT

If you have operational problems in the course, telephone or email eCollege directly.  They keep records so they can provide verification to your professor.

Email: helpdesk@parkonline.org

Phone: 1-866-301-PARK (1-866-301-7275)

WHERE DO I FIND IMPORTANT DEADLINES?

Many important deadlines for the course will be in your syllabus and the course schedule, under Course Home. In addition, you will want to be aware of the different Park University deadlines such as confirmation (payment for courses), adding or dropping a course, or withdrawing from a course. Please be sure to be aware of the academic calendar and if appropriate, review the policies and deadlines for adding, dropping, or withdrawing from a course. Remember, notices will be sent to your Park account only.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I’M LATE?

Please submit in the Dropbox (prior to the due) a physician's excuse or comparable documentation.  For such cases, make arrangements with your professor in advance of the due date.  Typically, the maximum extension is one week from the due date.  If you need special accommodations, contact Debra McArthur, Director of Academic Services, Debra.McArthur@Park.edu.

Be on time. The Core Assessment Research Paper will not be accepted after Sunday, week 6.  In a monochronic time culture like the United States, meeting deadlines is crucial to effective communication. Thus, being on time is a way of showing that you know the nonverbal meaning of time in the US culture and are communicating effectively.

HOW DO I FIND POLICIES AND RESOURCES?

Reading through the catalog-- Undergraduate Catalog --that applies to you is very important. It lists the policies and procedures that you are expected to follow. Another great resource of information is the Student Resource page. This page provides great information that can be referred to for the duration of your degree.

DISCUSSING GRADES

Because of federal FERPA regulations, faculty are advised not to discuss grades or other private information by email or phone because they cannot be sure they are communicating only with the student. Your professor may want you to communicate through the eCollege Dropbox system.

FACULTY RESPONSE

You should expect a response within 48 hours, so if you contact your professor and don't hear back, please contact your professor again. You may want to try a different means of contact for your second contact. If you telephoned, for example, your professor may not understand the return number message or may not have long-distance phone access. In that case, try again or send an email. 

GRADES TURN AROUND TIME:

Discussions: Typically, by midnight Tuesday following the final due date Sunday. Chapter Quizzes: Monday following the final due date on Sunday. Abstract & Reference List, Project: within one week after the due date.  

COURSE DEVELOPER

Dr. J. E. Aitken is the course developer for this course. Dr. Aitken has a degree in Communication Theory from Michigan State University.  She has two Master of Arts degrees and a doctorate in communication and education.  Previously, Dr. Aitken taught at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She has taught online courses for three universities.  Dr. Aitken has worked internationally in Jamaica and the People's Republic of China.  Dr. Aitken has published several books and more than 50 articles and book chapters.  Dr. Aitken’s most recent book is entitled Communicating (12th edition), Pearson.  Contact Dr. J. Aitken, Professor, Department of Arts & Communication, 229 Copley, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Park University, Parkville, MO 64152. Office and message:  816-584-6785. FAX Toll Free 877-334-1737 joan.aitken@park.edu

NOTE TO COURSE INSTRUCTOR

Please post a message below with your name, full contact information, contact preferences, and any additional administrative information for students.

TEXTBOOK, SOFTWARE, SKILLS AND RESOURCES

WELCOME TO THIS COURSE!  You will gain knowledge, skills, and values about communication theories.  The course is designed to help you understand research and theory development in the field of communication studies.  Our intention is to provide the foundation of communication theory and research to enhance your education and career.  You will learn how to answer your own questions about communication by using high quality databases, specifically, Ebsco Host's Communication and Mass Media Complete.  In addition, this course will be the first step in completing the Organizational Communication senior project for majors. 

We're glad you're here!

Wood, J. T. (2004). Communication theories in action: An introduction (3rd or most recent ed.).  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

ISBN-10: 0534566391

ISBN-13: 978-0534566395

Companion Site (Textbook) http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780534566395&discipline_number=48

AND

American Psychological Association (APA). (2010). Publication manual (6th ed.). American Psychological Association.

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

CA348: Theories of Communication. The study of communication theories with emphasis on people’s interaction with the media and one another.  The course focuses on how communication affects human attitudes and behavior. Includes a review of media influence in the individual, social, and political arenas. 3:0:3.

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Differentiate between scientific evidence and "common sense."

2. Identify and differentiate between the various functions of mass media.

3. Evaluate the various claims about power, influence and effects of mass media on      individuals and society.

4. Evaluate media effects theories as they apply to each medium.

5. Compare and contrast differences in media effects on young people and adults.

6. Apply at least one mass media theory to a daily life situation.

7. Synthesize and evaluate theories as they relate to particular research methodologies.

8. Identify the relationships between theories describing media effects and theories describing the effects of human communication.

9. Recognize the historical development of communication theory building.

10. Use theory to describe the contemporary symbolic environment.

Program Goals Addressed In This Course

PROGRAM GOALS

Communication Arts Program Goal #2 -- The graduate demonstrates effective communication across cultures and audiences in personal and professional life. The graduate recognizes the centrality of effective communication in societies and among peoples. (Outcomes 3,6,8).

Communication Arts Program Goal #3 -- The graduate engages in critical and strategic thinking in personal and professional decision-making. (Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8).

Communication Arts Program Goal #7 -- The graduate demonstrates awareness of the modern symbolic environment, discerns the implicit and explicit messages contained in a variety of texts, then applies that understanding of symbols and effects to personal and professional life. (Outcomes 5,6,9,10).

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE CA348

CA 348 CORE ASSESSMENT RESEARCH PAPER

A PRELUDE TO THE SENIOR PROJECT

Senior Project Assignment for Communication Arts  (Dr. Aitken’s Advisees)

The core assessment for this course is the first step in the senior project for Organizational Communication majors.  If you are not a major, you will simply prepare a research paper in an area of interest in Communication Studies. 

If you are an Organizational Communication major, you will want to understand the senior project as the final goal for the core assessment in this course.  Preparing for the senior project.  The senior project is a major, original student work designed for in-depth study in communication studies.  The student should focus on a topic of keen interest because of the amount of time and effort that will be involved. 

Phase 1:  Decide on a topic and write a review of literature in CA 348 Theories of Communication.

Phase 2:  Write the proposal in Communication Research, then collect and analysis the data in CA 491.

Phase 3:  Now is a unique time for you, as you transition from the role of student to professional.

Understand that each professor handles the senior project differently. These course materials were developed by Dr. Aitken, who probably will be your advisor if you take the course online.  Remember, your advisor may make substantive changes for your particular project because it is negotiated between you and your advisor.

This process takes much self-discipline and will power as you work independently on your project. You will have much freedom about your work, but you are encouraged to work consistently,  stay motivated, and keep focused.

The principal means of scientific communication is the research paper. Over the years, the format of such reports has become standardized in a way to best meet the requirements of scientific communication (see the APA manual for the format we typically use). The conventions for writing a scientific report are concerned with the organization of the report and the style of presentation. Report writing must be both brief and clear.

Title Page

Title (facts only)

Name

A Project Proposal in Partial Fulfillment of a Bachelor of Arts, Communication

Park University

Date

Abstract

Write an accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, nonevaluative, brief, coherent, and readable abstract (less than 100 words). An abstract of a report of an empirical study should describe:

·         the problem under investigation, in one sentence if possible;

·         the participants or subjects, specifying pertinent characteristics, such as number, type, age, sex.

·         the experimental method, including the apparatus, data-gathering procedures, complete test names;

Introduction

Introduce the problem. Why is this problem important?

State the purpose, rationale, research question (or hypothesis)

How do the hypothesis and the research design relate to the problem? What are key terms and their operational definitions? What are the theoretical implications of the study, and how does the study relate to previous work in the area? What theoretical propositions are tested, and how were they derived? You may want to give a research question, hypothesis, and null-hypothesis for practice. In reality, you'd just select one (question, hypothesis, or null-hypothesis).

Review of Literature

Discuss about three basic lines of research about the topic.  The theoretical basis of the study must be emphasized. The reader of the report must be able to understand how prediction follows from theory. The report must be clear in every detail concerning the manner in which the study was carried out. The report must show precisely how conditions were set up to permit manipulation or the study of the variables in the o order demanded by the hypothesis.  Discuss the theories that are the foundation for your area of study. Develop the background. What is the theory-building or theoretical foundation--cite specific theories--for the research?

Method

How you will conduct the study?  The report must be sufficiently detailed to permit the exact duplication of the study by another independent researcher. You will provide exact procedures.

Results

Just the facts.  Summarize what you found using the method of data collection.  (Not included in the proposal, but in the final project).

Discussion (Not included in the proposal, but in the final project).

Your opinion section, where you discuss your analysis of the results.  Finally, explain your interpretation of the results within the context of the theory. A scientific  report is a complete cycle beginning with theory and ending with theory. Your APA Publication Manual can be your guide.

References (emphasize peer-reviewed articles in the field of communication from EBSCO Host Communication and Mass Media Complete). Everything in the project must be cited, even if paraphrased.  Everything cited must be in the reference list.  Everything in the reference list must be cited in the project.

Appendix (e.g., texts that were analyzed, measure or unpublished test and its validation).

You can obtain information by reading the American Psychological Association Publication Manual and Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. An electronic version of the Strunk and White book is available: click here.

APA (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Course Planning Information for Online Course http://ourwayit.com/CA491/  

EXAMPLE SENIOR PROJECT

COMMUNICATION TOPICS AND TOPIC AREAS

Select a topic you like because you will need to work on the senior project in multiple courses over a significant time period.  You are not limited to the topics below; they are provided to generate ideas.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Communication Apprehension Among Customer Service Workers

Creating Positive First Impressions

Diversity to Strength

Using Organizational Communication Systems

Interpersonal Communication In The Workplace

Intercultural Communication in the Workplace

Effective Interviewing Skills

Teamwork

Credibility and Reputation in the Workplace

Workplace Gossip and Other Informal Communication Channels

Organizational Structure’s Effects on Communication

Communication Boundaries

Storytelling and Myths in Organizational Communication

Speechwriting

Leadership

Conducting a Workshop on the Kouzes and Posner 5 Leadership Practices Inventory

Planning for Leadership Change

Conflict Resolution

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Communication In Beginning, Maintaining And Ending Relationships

Communication Pragmatics / Interactional View (Watzlawick)

Competence (Spitzberg & Cupach)

Constructivism (Delia)

Coordinated Management Of Meaning (Pearce & Cronan)

Electronically Mediated Interpersonal Communication (E.G., Texting, Facebook)

Expectancy Violation (Burgoon)

Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (Schutz)

Identifying Common Compliance-Gaining Strategies Used In The Film Mean Girls

Interpersonal Deception (Buller & Burgoon)

Interpersonal Relationships In The Family

Listening As An Interpersonal Skill

Marital Communication (Fitzpatrick)

Nonverbal Communication

Relational Dialectics (Baxter & Montgomery)

Social Exchange (Thibaut & Kelley)

Social Penetration (Altman & Taylor)

Stages Of Relationship Development (Knapp)

The Self And Interpersonal Communication

Uncertainty Reduction (Berger & Calabrese)

Verbal Language

MEDIA

A Comparison of Soda and Cigarette Advertising Strategies Geared To Young People

An Analysis of Web Content on the _________ Site

Blogging

Digital Journalism

How Perceptions of Sound Emerge From Culture and Communication

New Media Literacy

Social Capital in Using Social Networking (e.g., Facebook)

The Merging of Journalism and Entertainment in the US

PUBLIC RELATIONS TOPICS

Creating a Media Campaign for _________ Organization

Creating a Media Kit for ____ Organization

Creating Effective Surveys

Creating Press Releases That Will Be Published

Facebook Marketing

How to Generate Publicity For Public Relations

Marketing Strategies Used In Public Relations

One-On-One Networking

Promotion of Special Events

Public Relations For Nonprofit Organizations

Today’s Role For Women In Public Relations

Using Electronic Surveys In Public Relations

Using New Media In Public Relations

CORE ASSESSMENT RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT

FOR CA 348

Due week 6 (8 week course)

Write the beginning of a research proposal for your senior project, with emphasis on writing the Review of Literature for your senior project.  In addition, present the content of your research paper to the class (via a speech presentation with PowerPoint).  

Core Assessment: The Research or term paper (worth 20% of the total grade).

Take a contemporary communication issue or question and predict a finding based on published research (see Core Assessment Rubric below).  This assignment will assess at least Learning Objectives #1, 2, 3, 5, 6.

Organizational Format (Use these headings as a minimum)

*Title Page

*Abstract

*Introduction

**Review of Literature

Method

**References

Appendix

*Make sure your core assessment contains all these items.

**Emphasis

Note the Senior Project Assignment so you clearly understand the end goal for the core assessment for this course.

RUBRIC FOR COURSE GRADING

Grading (Each objective worth 1 point)  No point if missing.

Competency—Full credit

Nearing Mastery

.8 point

Minimum Standard

.5 point

Automatic zero points and notification of student’s behavior to the appropriate University officials for the student’s record.

·         Failure to use quotation marks to indicate direct quotes. OR

·         Any content copied from Internet sites. OR

·         Turnitin plagiarism detection software indicates a substantial amount of content is copied from sources (not in student’s own words).

Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation shows solid research in review of literature.

__/5 points

1.      Uses primary sources--peer-reviewed journal articles.

2.      10 high quality sources.

3.      All sources from Communication & Mass Media Complete

4.      Organizes ideas into 3-5 threads.

5.      Synthesizes ideas into 3-5 threads.

 Application shows solid content.

__/5 points

6.      Provides research question in the introduction to guide research paper.

7.      Theories provide appropriate foundation for senior thesis.

8.      Basic idea of study appropriate for organizational communication.

9.      General idea to be studied is clear.

10.  Do-able research project idea.

Whole Artifact is well written

__/10 points

11.  Avoids opinion.

12.  No “I” statements or personal pronouns.

13.  All content in student’s own words.

14.  Paraphrasing sources clearly cited.

15.  Clear writing style.

16.  Uses direct and precise writing:  Avoids pronouns, metaphors, and other confusing writing.

17.  Uses headings to make organization clear.

18.  Frequent citations, all in APA style.

19.  Reference list in APA style.

20.  Substantive content (2500 words).

RUBRIC FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION

Competency

Grading (Each objective worth 1 point)

Exceeds Expectation

(2)

Meets Expectation

(1)

Does Not Meet Expectations

(0)

Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation

__/5 points

1.      Uses peer-reviewed journal articles.

2.      10 high quality sources.

3.      Sources from Communication & Mass Media Complete

4.      Organizes ideas into 3-5 threads.

5.      Synthesizes ideas into 3-5 threads.

Examines research findings and uses them appropriately to create arguments or as evidence in support of thesis.

Shows a clear understanding of other people’s research approach and findings

Able to identify strengths and limitations of research findings in the literature.

Examines research findings and uses them to create arguments or as evidence in support of thesis.

Shows some understanding of other people’s research approach and findings.

Can see the significant of said research but may not be able to evaluate it fully.

Examined some research findings, but does not use them appropriately to create arguments or as evidence in support of thesis.

Does not seem to understand others’ research work or their implications.

Unable to identify strengths and limitations of research findings in the literature.

 Application

__/5 points

6.      Provides research question in the introduction to guide research paper.

7.      Theories provide appropriate foundation for senior thesis.

8.      Basic idea of study appropriate for organizational communication.

9.      General idea to be studied is clear.

10.  Do-able research project idea.

 Selects appropriate theory to respond to the question.

 Selects a theory to respond to the question, but it is not quite clear that other theories were examined.

 Does not select an appropriate theory to respond to the question.

Whole Artifact

__/10 points

11.  Avoids opinion.

12.  No “I” statements or personal pronouns.

13.  All content in student’s own words.

14.  Paraphrasing sources clearly cited.

15.  Clear writing style.

16.  Avoids pronouns, metaphors, and other confusing writing.

17.  Uses headings to make organization clear.

18.  Frequent citations, all in APA style.

19.  Reference list in APA style.

20.  Substantive content (2500 words).

Presents a clear, arguable, and original thesis.

Effective structure, with a clear question paragraphing, smooth transitions, logical sequence of topics, and conclusion arising from the findings discussed.

Uses 9 or more appropriate sources and documents using APA style

Presents an arguable thesis, although main idea may be commonplace.

Reasonable paragraphing, though discussion may wander briefly and may lack smooth transitions.

Uses 5-9 sources. APA style is adequately used

No arguable point, or presents merely a summary of ideas presented in class.

Difficult to follow. Sequence of topics not logical, may be repetitive or have unclear paragraphing.

No valid conclusion related to findings

Fewer than 5 sources and APA style not followed consistently.

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION BOARD 

Put this information at the beginning of each week’s discussion board:

In this week’s discussion board, post to all required threaded and engage in interactive conversation with other students in at least two threads, for a total of at least 6 substantive posts. Thanks for engaging with others!

Week 1:  Welcome to the course.  Please contribute to each thread in an interactive way (minimum 6 posts).  Use correct APA style in writing and giving references.

1. Get Acquainted

Tell us about yourself and what you would like to learn in this course.

2.  Chapter 1

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 1.

3.  Chapter 2

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 2.

4.  Core Assessment

What is the topic you are thinking about for your senior project and the research paper for this course?

5.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

Week 2:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Be sure to interact in conversation with other students.  Use correct APA style in writing and giving references.

1. Prereading  (Required for Wednesday)

What do you already know and what do you need to learn about building, testing, and developing communication theories?

2.  Chapter 3 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 3.

3.  Chapter 4 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 4.

4.  APA (Required for Sunday)

What is something you learned from your APA reading this week?

5.  Core Assessment (Required for Sunday)

Discuss ideas from a peer-reviewed journal article you read during your Communication and Mass Media Complete database research this week. Be sure to give a correct APA reference listing of the source of your post.

6.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

  Week 3:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Be sure to interact in conversation with other students.  Use correct APA style in writing and giving references.

1. Prereading  (Required for Wednesday)

What do you already know and what do you need to learn about using language and performance theories?

2.  Chapter 5 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 5.

3.  Chapter 6 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 6.

4.  APA (Required for Sunday)

What is something you learned from your APA study this week?

5.  Core Assessment (Required for Sunday)

Discuss ideas from a peer-reviewed journal article you read during your Communication and Mass Media Complete database research this week. Be sure to give a correct APA reference listing of the source at the bottom of your post.

6.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

  Week 4:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Be sure to interact in conversation with other students.  Use correct APA style in writing and giving references.

1. Prereading  (Required for Wednesday)

What do you already know and what do you need to learn about how we construct meaning through communication and the nature of interpersonal communication dynamics?

2.  Chapter 7 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 7.

3.  Chapter 8 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 8.

4.  APA (Required for Sunday)

What is something you learned from your APA reading this week?

5.  Core Assessment (Required for Sunday)

Discuss ideas from one peer-reviewed journal article you read during your Communication and Mass Media Complete database research this week. Be sure to give a correct APA reference listing of the source of your post.

6.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

Week 5:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Be sure to interact in conversation with other students.  Use correct APA style in writing and giving references.

1. Prereading  (Required for Wednesday)

What do you already know and what do you need to learn about how interpersonal relationships evolve and the influence of communities on communication?

2.  Chapter 8 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 8.

3.  Chapter 9 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 9.

4.  APA (Required for Sunday)

What is something you learned from your APA reading this week?

5.  Core Assessment (Required for Sunday)

Discuss ideas from a peer-reviewed journal article you read during your Communication and Mass Media Complete database research this week. Be sure to give a correct APA reference listing of the source of your post.

6.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

 Week 6

No graded discussion

There is no required discussion this week so you can concentrate on finishing your core assessment due Sunday.

Week 7:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Be sure to interact in conversation with other students.  Use correct APA style in writing, citing, and giving references.

1. Prereading  (Required for Wednesday)

What do you already know and what do you need to learn about theories of mass communication and  critical communication theories?

2.  Chapter 11 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 11.

3.  Chapter 12 (Required for Friday)

Discuss an idea that interests you from chapter 12.

4.  Alternative Viewpoints Welcome (Optional)

Feel free to critically evaluate this week’s theories or present alternative perspectives you have.

Week 8:  Please contribute to all required threads and options as you wish for a minimum of 6 substantive posts. Use correct APA style in writing.

1.     Course Reflections (Required by Friday)

What are the two most important communication theories you learned about in this course and why?

2.     Closure (Required by Friday)

Describe one communication theory you learned in this course, which you applied to your everyday life.  Explain.

WEEK 1

Learning objectives:

·         To describe communication as a field of study.

·         To identify basic principles of theory building in communication.

Assignments

1.         Read Preface, Chapter 1 & 2 in Wood’s text by Friday

2.         Discussion Board.  Participate multiple days (by Wed., Fri., & Sun.)

3.         Skim APA Manual by Friday

4.         Skim course materials and assignments (including senior project & core assessment).  Make sure you begin thinking of a communication topic you enjoy or a question you have, which can serve as the focus of your core assessment and eventual senior project.  If you are a communication major, your research paper in this course will be the first step in preparing your senior project.

5.         Complete Chapter 1 & 2 quiz       

6.  Explore the Wood textbook companion site: http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534566391&discipline_number=48    

Please read assigned chapters IN ADVANCE of content discussion.

The learning anchor for the chapter one is penguins.  The first chapter is about the field of communication.  Many of the behaviors of penguins are much like those of humans.  Penguins show leadership and achieve amazing communication in their migration and creation of community.  What perils might a bird face that are similar to what a researcher of communication theories faces?

The learning anchor for chapter two is fortune telling.  Theories are all about predicting the future.  Why are we interested in being able to predict the future?

PREFACE

We learn the history of an intellectual discipline to appreciate its identity.

Theories that have charted the communication field's evolution and led to its current status as an intellectually vibrant, socially relevant area of study and practice.

1.  You may develop an appreciation of the PROCESS of theorizing as an intellectual activity.

2.  You should gain insight into the concerns and goals that motivate scholars to develop theories.

Values of Studying Communication Theories

1.  Enhance your insight into the issues, principles, and problems that characterize the discipline today.

2.  Enlarge your understanding of experiences in your personal life and lives of those around you.

REFLECTION:  Agree or Disagree?

Theories and theorists vary widely not only in what they study but also in the fundamental assumptions they make about human nature, knowledge, communication, and the goals of the theory.

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER ONE: COMMUNICATION AS A FIELD OF STUDY 

In 1970, Frank Dance, a communication theorist, counted over 100 definitions of communication proposed by experts in the field.

REFLECT ON THIS:  What do you think?

We actively construct meaning.

Communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings.

Communication is a process, which means it is ongoing and always in motion.

Systemic means that communication involves a group of interrelated parts that affect one another.

Symbols are abstract, arbitrary, and ambiguous representations of other things.

Meaning is the heart of communication because we create it.  

Communication with others not only affects our sense of identity but also directly influences our physical well-being. People who lack close friends have greater levels of anxiety and depression than people who are close to others.

REFLECT ON THIS:  Apply Research Findings

Can you think of an example or story from your personal experience that supports scholarly research findings?

1.  Heart disease is more common among people who lack strong interpersonal relationships.

2.  People in disturbed relationships tend to have low self-esteem and more headaches, alcoholism, cancer, and sleep disorders.

3.  Arthritis patients who have good relationships with friends and loved ones have less severe symptoms and live longer.

4.  There is a link between good relationships and physical and mental health.

5.  Social isolation and lack of intimates are correlated with increased problems in physical and psychological well-being.

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION:

Relationships

Professional Impact

Culture and Society

Relationships

Communication critically affects our relationships. We build connections with others by revealing our private identities, remembering shared history planning a future, and working out problems and tensions.

Communication is essential for healthy and enduring relationships.

Good communication in intimate relationships involves listening skillfully, expressing your own ideas clearly, and responding with empathy and understanding.

Good relationships are about more than the big moments, but the mundane, small talk, routine talk that weaves lives together is essential.

For couples involved in long-distance romances, the biggest problems are missing the nonverbal communication that occurs in face-to-face interaction and not being able to share small talk.

PROFESSIONAL IMPACT

Communication skills affect professional success.

No company is prepared to teach employees how to deal with people and communicate effectively.

Cultural Impact

Communication skills are essential for a healthy society.

Breadth of the Communication Field

All areas can affect interpersonal communication!

Western traditions go back to Aristotle, who viewed communication as a practical art.

AREAS OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES

Intrapersonal communication

Interpersonal communication.

Small group and teams

Public communication

Performance, including stories (narratives).

Media and new technologies. Media reinforce cultural stereotypes about race and ethnicity. Media can distort reality.

Organizational communication, including the personal relationships among coworkers, organizational culture (identity and codes of thought and action that are shared by members of an organization).

Intercultural communication. Less obvious are cultural differences between people who speak the "same" language. Within the US there are distinct communication cultures based on race, gender, affectional preferences, and ethnicity.

THE HEART OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

Symbolic Activities

Meaning

CAREERS IN COMMUNICATION

Research

Public Relations

Advertising

Education

Human Relations

Management

REVIEW CHAPTER 1

communication:  A systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings.

fantasy theme:  An idea that spins out in a group and captures its social and task foci.

intercultural communication:  The branch of communication field that studies communication among people from different cultures, including distinct cultures within a single country.

interpersonal communication:  Communication between people. Interpersonal communication exists on a continuum ranging from impersonal (between social roles) to highly personal.

intrapersonal communication:  Communication with oneself, including self-talk, planning, and reflections.

meaning:  The significance conferred on experiences and phenomena; meaning is constructed, not intrinsic to communication. In general systems theory, communication has two levels of meaning: the content level, which concerns the information in a message; and the relationship level, which concerns what the message implies about the power, liking, and responsiveness between the communicators.

monitoring:  Observing and managing our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Monitoring is possible because humans are symbol users.

organizational culture:  Understandings about identity and codes of thought and action that are shared by members of an organization.

process:  The quality of being ongoing, in flux, ever changing. Communication is a process.

symbol:  An arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representation of other phenomena. Symbols are the basis of language, much nonverbal behavior, and human thought.

systemic:  Related to systems, which are organized and interacting wholes in which all parts interrelate. Communication is systemic.

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2 LECTURE

UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION THEORIES

Our visual anchor for learning this chapter is fortune telling.  Have you ever read your horoscope or had your fortune told?  Find information about your Chinese Horoscopes on the Internet.  Below are a couple examples quoted from http://www.tuvy.com/entertainment/horoscope/fire_tiger.htm

Chinese Horoscope

WATER PIG Horoscope

Feb 16, 1923 to Feb 23, 1924

Feb 13, 1983 to Feb 1, 1984

Pig people are friends for life. Their relationships are very deep, devoted, and rich beyond measure. The Pig people are noble and give and receive lots of hugs. They are gallant and extend old-fashioned chivalries towards people they meet. Pig People are quiet, studious, and thorough. On the other hand, they have a quick temper and sometimes have to pay for their rash impulsiveness. However, no one can overcome their inner strength; they have such tremendous fortitude and jump the goal post very time. The Pig will have an abundance of good fortune and an abundance of years. The Pig will know a life filled with serenity and riches.

Soup, Oolong Tea, and Candied Ginger are among keys to good health!!

WOOD RAT Horoscope

Feb 5, 1924 to Jan 23, 1925

Feb 2, 1984 to Feb 19, 1985

Rat people are so charming and attractive they are always surrounded by friends and admirers. They can also be lone tumbleweeds, seldom making lasting friendships. Known as Perfectionists, they never want to lose face. It takes an understanding friend to get them to "put on the dancing plumes." Rat people have vivid imagination and are known for creating extraordinarily magic moments in time. Not surprisingly, the sensitive Rats have the gift of insight and clairvoyance, so you better watch out what you think around them! Rats enjoy being leaders and pacesetters and usually enjoy extraordinary success in life.

Hearty Bean Soup is one of the keys to good health for a Rat!!

REFLECT ON THIS:  What is our fascination with predicting the future?

If a goal of a communication theory is to enable prediction, how is that similar to fortune telling?

PEOPLE ACT ON THEORIES, often without realizing it in their everyday lives.

Theories are attempts to make sense of things.

A theory offers an account of what something is, how it operates.

Theories are human constructions--symbolic ways we represent phenomena.

GOALS OF THEORIES

1.  Description

2.  Explanation

3.  Prediction, control, and understanding.

4.  Reform (pursuit of positive social change)

STANDARDS FOR EVALUATING THEORIES:

1.  scope

2.  testable

3.  simplicity

4.  useful

5.  heuristic

SCOPE

Scope refers to the range of phenomena a theory describes and explains.

Some theories focus on very narrow realms of communication, and others advance grand perspectives.

How well does a theory answer questions: The WHAT question and the HOW or WHY question?

A theory clarifies what it considers ESSENTIAL in communication.

LAWS-BASED explanations argument that anytime x happens, y will follow, or that x and y are usually related. Laws-based explanations may be either causal or correlational.

There are no universal laws in communication.

Rules-based explanations aim to articulate the patterns that describe and explain what happens in a specific type of communication situation or relationship. Thus, RULES have a more restricted scope than LAWS. Rules are regularities.

TESTABILITY

Can the theory be tested?

PARSIMONY

Parsimony refers to appropriate simplicity.

UTILITY

Is there practical value? Kurt Lewin said that there is nothing so practical as a good theory.

HEURISM

Provokes new ideas, insights, thinking, and research.

BALANCING CRITERIA

A particular theory may fare well on some of the above criteria and poorly on others.

Theories, like foods, can be assessed in different ways that lead us to different conclusions about their merit.

PERSPECTIVE FOR STUDYING POINTS OF VIEW

Theorists choose which kind of communication to focus on. Theorists make different choices about what they will focus on in studying a particular kind of communication.

Theorists also vary in the goals they pursue.

Theorists differ in what they regard as a good explanation.

Some theories cannot work together because they reflect fundamentally opposed views of human beings or of knowledge (p. 47).

A theory asks particular questions.

REVIEW CHAPTER 2

causal:  A form of explanation that asserts that one phenomenon directly determines another.

control:  The use of explanations and predictions to govern what a phenomenon actually does.

correlational:  A form of explanation that asserts that two things go together but not that one causes the other.

description:  One goal of theory; the use of symbols to represent something and to identify its parts.

explanation:  One goal of theorizing; an effort to account for why and/or how something works.

heurism:  A criterion for evaluating theories; the capacity of a theory to provoke new insights, thoughts, and understandings.

laws-based explanation:  A theoretical explanation of the form," Anytime x happens, y will invariably or probably follow, "or "x and y always or almost always go together."

parsimony: One criterion for evaluating theories; the appropriate simplicity of a theory.

prediction:  Projecting what will happen to a phenomenon under specified conditions or exposure to particular stimuli.

reform:  One goal of theorizing; the use of theory to instigate change in pragmatic life. Also called "producing positive social change."

rules-based explanation:  A form of theoretical explanation that articulates regularities, or patterns, in human behavior that are routinely followed in particular types of communication situations and relationships.

scope:  One criterion for evaluating theories; the range of phenomena a theory describes and explains.

testability:  The extent to which a theory's claims can be appraised. Testability is one criterion for evaluating a theory.

theory:  An account of what something is, how it works, what it produces or causes to happen, and what can change how it operates. Theories are points of view, human constructions.

understanding:  One goal of theorizing; gaining insight into a process, situation, or phenomenon, not necessarily with the goal of predicting or controlling it.

LEARNING THEORY SUGGESTS that students learn more if they review what they have just learned and if they preview and prepare for what they plan to learn. Take several minutes to talk with a friend about what you learned in this lecture.

"The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous."

Shana Alexander

END WEEK 1 LECTURE

 

WEEK 2

Learning Objectives:

·         Investigate a communication topic through Ebsco Host Communication & Mass Media Complete Database, in order to find peer-reviewed journal articles.

·         Write a review of literature using American Psychological Association (APA) style.

·         Explain the process of theory building and how it applies to early communication theories.

Assignments:

1.         Read Chapter 3 & 4 in Wood text by Tuesday.

2.         Read APA chapters 1 & 2 in detail.

3.         Decide on your specific communication topic for your research paper (core assessment).  Begin your research on that communication topic.  Start finding peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles in Ebsco Host Communication & Mass Media Complete Database.  Access here:  https://pegleg.park.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.asp  If you’ve never used the database before, here is a Library Database Tutorial:  http://ourwayit.com/LibraryTutorial/  

4.         Discussion Board.

5.         Complete Chapter 3 & 4 quiz       

The learning anchor for chapter 3 is the literary detective Sherlock Holmes, who is a Private Investigator much like the Principal Investigator of communication research.

The learning anchor for chapter 4 is polar bears.  You probably know that this species is endangered.  Scientists are working to solve problems that endanger the polar bear.  Communication scientists also work to solve problem.

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3 LECTURE

BUILDING AND TESTING THEORY 

Sherlock Holmes was known for his ability to investigate, observe carefully, solve problems, and make deductions.  These skills are like those of the communication scholar, who observes communications, analyzes research, and draws conclusions in the form of theories.

REFLECT ON THIS:

Do theories of human communication describe how humans actually communicate?

Or do they reflect individual theorists' perceptions and perspectives?

What do you think?!?!

VIEWS OF HUMAN NATURE

Ontology are assumptions about human nature. The assumptions theorists make about humans can't be proved or disproved scientifically; they are matters of faith or belief.

DETERMINISM-------------FREE WILL

Determinism assumes that human behavior is governed by forces beyond individual control, usually the twin forces of biology and environment.

On the other end of the ontological spectrum is the belief that humans have free will and that they make choices about how to act.

For Heidegger, thrownness refers to the fact that we are thrown into a multitude of arbitrary conditions that influence our lives and opportunities.

WAYS OF KNOWING

Epistemology: the branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge, and is concerned with how we know.

DISCOVERING TRUTH

Single or multiple truths???? 

POSITION ONE: OBJECTIVITY

·         There is a singular truth. Objectivism is the belief that reality is material and external to the human mind.

·         Objectivity the quality of being uninfluenced by values, biases, personal feelings, and other subjective factors when perceiving material reality.

·         Believers in objective truth presume that the true nature, or meaning of any act of communication can be determined.

POSITION TWO: MULTIPLE REALITIES (STANDPOINT THEORY)

CREATING MEANING

·         Those who believe that there are multiple realities would regard it as entirely reasonable that different people interpret communication in varying ways.

·         Standpoint theory--the material, social, and symbolic circumstances of a social group shape what its members experience, as well as how they think, act, and feel.

·         Is knowledge based on the existence of phenomena (the falling tree) or on human perceptions (hearing it fall).

PURPOSES OF THEORY

University Laws

A law is an inviolate, unalterable fact that holds true across time and space.

Universal laws may be more applicable to natural science than to human behavior, including communication.

Situated Rules

There are no laws that explain human communication across all time and circumstances.

We seek theories as the articulation of rules that describe patterns in human behavior.

BEHAVIORISM: A form of science that focuses on observable behaviors and that assumes meanings, motives, and other subjective phenomena either don't exist or are irrelevant.

Behaviorists believe that scientists can study only concrete behaviors, such as what people do or say.

Human motives, meanings, and intentions are beyond the realm of behavioristic investigation.

Skinner believed that human behavior is a response to external stimuli. He was well known for referring to the mind as a "black box," the contents of which cannot be known and which are irrelevant to science.

All that can be measured is concrete, objective behavior.

. 

MEANINGS

Many scholars aren't convinced that behaviorism is desirable. Theorists who reject behavioral views of science believe that the crux of human activity is meaning, not behaviors themselves. What is distinctively human is free will or the ability to make choices and the capacity to create meanings (crucial to humanists).

John Searle wrote about brute facts, which are the objective, concrete phenomena or observable behaviors that behaviorists study. Institutional facts are what brute facts MEAN, what humanists wish to study.

QUALITATIVE METHODS

Valuable when we wish not to count or measure phenomena but to understand the character of experience, particularly how people perceive and make sense of their communication experience.

Textual analysis--also called interpretative analysis--involves describing communication texts and interpreting their meaning.

Ethnography attempts to discover what things mean to others by sensitive observation of human activity. They rely on unobtrusive methods, which are means of gathering data that intrude minimally on naturally occurring interaction.

Critical analysis suggests that research should make a real difference in the lives of human beings. Critical scholarship is one important way to change oppressive or wrong practices in the world.

ASSESSING RESEARCH

Validity refers to the truth or accuracy of a theory in measuring what it claims to measure.

External validity refers to the generalizability of a theory. Internal validity is that the theory's design and methods do what they claim to do.

Reliability is the consistency.

Significance is the conceptual or pragmatic importance of a theory.

REVIEW CHAPTER 3

Can you explain in your own words or give a personal example?

behaviorism:  A form of science that focuses on observable behaviors and that assumes human motives, meanings, feelings, and other subjective phenomena either don't exist or are irrelevant to behavior.

brute fact: An objective, concrete phenomenon unadorned by interpretations of meaning.

critical analysis: Research that goes beyond description and explanation to argue for changes in communicative practices that are judged to be oppressive, wrong, or otherwise undesirable.

descriptive statistics: Numerical representations of human behavior that describe populations, proportions, and frequencies.

determinism: The belief that human behavior is governed by forces beyond individual control, usually biology, environment, or a combination of the two.

epistemology:  The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of knowledge, or how we know what we know.

ethnography:  A qualitative method of research that interprets actions so as to generate understanding consistent with the frameworks of those who perform the actions.

experiment:  A controlled study that systematically manipulates one thing (called the independent variable) to determine how it affects another thing (called the dependent variable because what it does depends on the independent variable).

external validity:   The generalizability of a theory across contexts, especially those beyond the confines of experimental situations.

gender:   A socially created system of values, identities, and behaviors that are prescribed for women and men. Unlike sex, which is biologically determined, gender is socially constructed.

humanism: A form of science that focuses on human choices, motives, and meanings and assumes that the reasons or causes of human behavior lie within humans, not outside of them.

hypothesis:   A carefully stated, testable prediction of a theoretical relationship or outcome.

institutional fact:  The meaning of an act, event, or other phenomenon; interpretations of brute facts.

internal validity:   The degree to which the design and methods used to test a theory actually measure what they claim to measure.

law:   An inviolate, unalterable fact that holds true across time and space. Also called universal law and covering law.

meaning:   The significance conferred on experiences and phenomena; meaning is constructed, not intrinsic to communication. In general systems theory, communication has two levels of meaning: the content level, which concerns the information in a message; and the relationship level, which concerns what the message implies about the power, liking, and responsiveness between the communicators.

objectivism:   The belief that reality is material, external to the human mind, and the same for everyone.

objectivity:   The quality of being uninfluenced by values, biases, personal feelings, and other subjective factors.

ontology:  The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of humans.

operational definition:   A precise description that specifies how to observe the phenomena of interest. Operational definitions provide clarity and precision to research hypotheses and research questions used to test theory.

qualitative methods:  Forms of research that involve probing and interpreting the subjective meanings of experience.

quantitative methods:  Forms of research that involve gathering quantifiable data.

reliability:  A criterion for evaluating theoretical research that concerns the consistency of particular behaviors, patterns, or relationships.

research question:  A question that specifies the phenomena of interest to a scholar but does not predict relationships between phenomena. Research questions are less formal than hypotheses.

sex:  The biological and genetic quality of maleness or femaleness; not the same as gender.

significance:  The conceptual or pragmatic importance of a theory.

social desirability bias:  A tendency for research participants to give responses that they perceive as socially acceptable, which may not be honest.

standpoint theory:  The view that the material, social, and symbolic circumstances of a social group shape what members of that group experience, as well as how they think, act, and feel.

survey:  A quantitative method of research that relies on instruments, questionnaires, or interviews to find out about feelings, experiences, and so forth.

text:  All symbolic activities, written, oral, or nonverbal; a form of data useful in qualitative research.

thrownness:  The arbitrary conditions of the particular time and place of an individual's life.

unobtrusive methods:  Means of gathering data that intrude minimally on naturally occurring interaction.

validity:  A criterion for evaluating a theory. Validity has both internal (the theory measures what it claims to measure) and external (the theory applies to real life beyond the laboratory) dimensions.

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4 LECTURE

AN EARLY COMMUNICATION THEORY: GENERAL SEMANTICS

The visual learning anchor for this chapter is the polar bear.  Think about the scientific research that is going on right now in hopes of saving the endangered polar bear.  You might want to examine a website that discusses the nature of the research.  The difficulty the polar bear has with the melting of ice is considered a symptom of world climate change and warming.  Often, scientists learn new information by looking for evidence of something specific, which leads them to more general conclusions.  The endangerment of the polar bear is a symbol of the potential dangers of global warming.  This chapter is about how we communicate through symbols.  The polar bear is representative.  Symbols are representative.

Even though general semantics is no longer influential in the field of communication, it made and makes valuable contributions to our understanding of what happens when people talk to one another.

CHARACTER OF SYMBOLS

Symbols are arbitrary.

Symbols are abstract.

Symbols are ambiguous.

MEANINGS ARE CONTEXTUAL.

Korzybski believed that communication problems often occur when we rely on our maps, or words, to assign meanings instead of referring to the territories, or actual phenomena of experience.

Intension-al orientations to communication and meanings are based on internal factors, or what's inside of us--our own definitions, associations, and fields of experience related to words we speak, hear, and read.

Extension-al orientations are based on observation and attention to objective particulars that distinguish phenomena from one another.

REMEDIES FOR MISUNDERSTANDING

Etc.

Indexing

Feedforward--anticipate effects of communication and adapt to the anticipated effects in advance.

Critical Assessment of General Semantics

Too simplistic.

Misrepresents the character of symbols and language.

Lacks applied value.

REVIEW CHAPTER 4

Can you explain in your own words or give a personal example?

extensional orientation:

A view of meaning and communication that is based on objective particulars of phenomena.

feedforward:

In general semantics theory, the process of anticipating the effects of communication and adapting it in advance of actually engaging in communication.

Indexing:

Associating referents (such as names) with specific dates, situations, and so forth to remind ourselves that meanings change; advocated by general semanticists as a remedy for misunderstanding.

intensional orientation:

A view of meaning and communication that is based on factors inside individuals (biases, experiences, etc.).

END WEEK 2

WEEK 3

Learning objectives:

To apply theories about symbolic activity.

To analyze communication based on performance theories.

Assignments:

1.            Read Chapter 5 & 6 by Tuesday.

2.            Finish reading APA manual.

3.            DUE in Dropbox:  Abstract and Reference list due. 

You should have a clear topic after researching in Communication and Mass Media Complete.  The abstract can be very brief.  The purpose of this research is . . . The research question to be answered is . . . The References list need to contain 10 sources in APA style.  These sources need to be relevant ones, which you will be able to summarize, cite, and reference in your Review of Literature.

4.            Discussion Board.

5.            Complete Chapter 5 & 6 quiz     

Learning anchors:

Mardi Gras and drama are the learning anchors for chapter 5 about Theories about Symbolic Activity because of the parallels between communication and the theater.  We often dress up and put on a show.

Lady Ga Ga is the learning anchor for chapter 6, which is Theories about Performance.   Communication is often about performance, taking risks, and showing both the front and back sides of the stage.

WEEK 3 LECTURE

WRITING STYLE

Get help with your draft. . .  You can visit Online Writing Lab  (OWL, CDL 200).

Abstract
The problem under investigation is. . .
The participants or subjects will be. . .
The method will be used. . . (probably brief and general at this stage of your proposal)
The findings, including statistical significance levels if you have a hypothesis. . . (not in proposal)
The conclusion and the implications or applications. . . (not in proposal).

Introduction
Introduce the problem. 
All FACTS and citations—not like an English introduction.
Develop the background.
State the purpose and rationale. 
Use Formal, Academic Style.

Avoid Personal Pronouns
No I, you, me, my, our, us, we.  Instead use formal style.

NO:  I am going to study. . .

YES:  This study will investigate. . .
Avoid pronouns.
Use nouns, which are more precise.
Or, use a noun referent (e.g. these ideas).

Use Quotation Marks
 For all direct quotations.
Avoid direct quotations.

In American English, generally the punctuation goes inside the quotation marks.
 
Any direct quotation needs a page number or paragraph number, like this:  (Neer, 2012, p. 723) or (Janis, 2010, para. 12)
Paraphrase, but you still need to include a specific citation information for paraphrasing, like this:  (Neer, 2012).

Write for Factual Clarity
Write for clear, logical, academic communication.
Avoid creative writing conventions such as setting up ambiguity, inserting the unexpected, and omitting the expected.
Avoid questions except for a single research question to guide the piece.

Use Formal Academic Style
Avoid abbreviations and instead type entire words.
Avoid get and instead use a more specific verb used instead.
Avoid etc. and so on. Instead delineate what you mean.
Avoid contractions.

Last Names Only
According to Neer and Pearce (2012) . . .

Use Language of Gender Equity
His or her
He or she

Use Nouns Instead of Pronouns

Avoid it.
Use a noun to say what you mean.

Use Facts and Avoid Opinion
Avoid opinions and judgments.

Verb Tenses (Action)
Future tense for what you will do.

In Your Review of Literature Use
PAST
PRESENT PERFECT

In Your Discussion:
PRESENT TENSE

Pay Attention to to Grammar

Dash
Use the dash--two hyphens--to indicate only a sudden interruption in the continuity of a sentence.
 YES: These subjects--from the first and second groups--were tested separately.
Use Commas
Between elements (including before and and or) in a series of three or more items.
Example: Use the comma, period, and other punctuation correctly.

Colon (:)

Use a colon between a grammatically complete introductory clauses and a final phrase or clause that illustrates, extends, or amplifies the preceding thought.

Do not use a colon after an introduction that is not a complete sentence.    

YES: The change contained three elements: beliefs, behavior, and skills.    

YES: The scholars have agreed on the outcome: Media-related violence accounts for ten percent of violence.  
Capitalize the first word after the colon.

Possessive Case
To indicate ownership, use apostrophe followed by s.   Create the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in the letter s by adding an apostrophe and s.
YES: player's
YES: Chris's research study design.

Avoid Plagiarism
Walker (2002) compared reaction times.    In a recent study of reaction times (Walker, 2006),    Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, and Rock (2006) found. . .   “ . . . findings were consistent" (Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, & Rock, 2010, p. 278).    . . . throughout the current literature (Adams & Warley, 2006; Casanova, 2002; Ellerby, 2005).    Omit the year from subsequent citations after first citation within a paragraph.   Look up in your APA manual how to cite and reference.

References

Include a Reference List at the end of your proposal.
Include every source cited in the paper in the reference list.
Reference list needs to contain ONLY sources cited.
Cite all sources whether paraphrased or quoted directly.
Give page number or paragraph number of direct quotations.

There is much information in the APA manual.  Be sure you are familiar with the content.

CHAPTER 5

THEORIES ABOUT SYMBOLIC ACTIVITY 

Mead regarded symbols as the foundation of both personal and social life (SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM).

Mind and self are acquired in the process of interacting with others.

Mind is the ability to use symbols that have common social meanings.

Self is the ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others.

Looking glass self.  Symbolic interactionists explain that we learn to see ourselves mirrored in others' eyes.  Our perception of how others see us are lenses through which we perceive ourselves.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is when individuals live up to the labels others impose on them.

Humans have the distinctive ability to be both the subjects and the objects of their experience.

I AND ME

I is impulsive, creative, spontaneous, and generally unburdened by social individuality and of criminal and immoral behavior.

ME is the socially conscious part of the self, who reflects on the I's impulses and actions.

The ME is analytical, evaluative, and above all aware of social conventions, rules, and expectations.

Mead saw the I and the ME as complementary.

Symbolic interactionists claim that our meanings for things reflect the perspectives of both particular others and the generalized other.  Individuals also use the perspective of the generalized other to decide what things mean.

HOW PEOPLE CREATE MEANING

People act on the basis of what things mean to them.  Thus, meanings are the basis of behavior, including communication.

Symbolic interactionist claim that meanings are formed in the process of interacting symbolically with others in a society. 

Symbolic interactionists believe that the meanings individuals confer on experiences, feelings, events, activities, other people, and themselves reflect the internalized perspectives of particular others and the generalized other.

Symbolic interactionists believe that people act on the basis of what things mean to them AND that meanings are formed in the process of interacting symbolically with others in a society.

Blumer insists that individuals construct their action through a process of personal interpretation.

DRAMATISM - Burke

KEY CONCEPTS:

·         IDENTIFICATION 

·         GUILT 

·         HIERARCHY

·         PERFECTION

·         THE NEGATIVE

·         PURGING GUILT

THE DRAMATISTIC PENTAD (HEXAD)

CONCERNS

1.         The theory is obscure and confusing.

2.         Is guilt all there is?

What do you think of the NARRATIVE THEORY, by Walter Fisher?

"Most of the major advances in social life have come about because people told new stories that contested popular views and established ideas about life" (Wood, 2004, p. 113).

NARRATIVE RATIONALITY

Not all stories are equally compelling.  We judge stories on the basis of a distinctively narrative form of rationality, thought to be quite different from conventional criteria of rationality.  The two standards for assessing narrative rationality are coherence and fidelity.

COHERENCE:  Do all parts of the story seem to fit together believable?

FIDELITY:  The extent to which a story resonates with listeners' personal experiences and beliefs.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

Incomplete description.

Too broad.

Conservative bias (preservation of existing or established values and practices).

REVIEW CHAPTER 5

act

One element in the dramatistic pentad; that which is done.

agency

One element in the dramatistic pentad; the means or channel through which an act is performed.

agent

One element in the dramatistic pentad; the one who performs an act.

attitude

In the dramatistic hexad, incipient action based on how an actor positions herself or himself relative to others and the contexts in which she or he acts; the sixth element that Kenneth Burke added to the original dramatistic pentad, making it a hexad.

coherence

In narrative theory, a standard for judging the quality of a story according to whether it is internally consistent, complete, and believable.

consubstantiality

In dramatism, identifying with another or becoming common in substance.

dramatism

The point of view that life is a drama that can be understood in dramatic terms such as act, agent, scene, agency, and purpose. Identification is viewed as the primary goal of symbolic interaction, and guilt is viewed as the ultimate motive for communication.

dramatistic pentad (hexad)

The method of conducting dramatistic analysis of communication in terms of act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. Later, attitude was added as a sixth element of the method, making it a hexad.

fidelity

In narrative theory, one standard for judging a story's quality according to whether it "rings true."

generalized other

In symbolic interaction theory, the organized perspectives of a social group, community, or society.

guilt

In dramatism, any tension, discomfort, sense of shame, or other unpleasant feeling that humans experience; the motive of all human action.

hierarchy

In dramatism, a social ordering in which phenomena, including people, are classified into groups with different value, status, or rank.

Interaction

In symbolic interaction theory, the phase or part of self that is impulsive, creative, and unconstrained by social norms and knowledge.

looking glass self

In symbolic interaction theory, the image of oneself that one gains by seeing the self mirrored in others' eyes.

ME

In symbolic interaction theory, the phase or part of self that is socially aware, analytical, and evaluative.

mind

In symbolic interaction theory, the ability to use significant symbols. Mind is acquired through symbolic interaction with others.

mortification

In dramatism, a method of purging guilt by blaming ourselves, confessing failings, and seeking forgiveness.

narrative paradigm/narrative theory

The point of view that humans are natural storytellers and that most, if not all, communication is storytelling.

narrative rationality

In narrative theory, the judgment of the quality of narratives, or stories, according to their coherence and fidelity.

negative

In dramatism, the capacity to say no; the basis of moral conduct and thought.

particular other

In symbolic interaction theory, an individual who is significant to another person.

perfection

In dramatism, our imagined ideal or perfect form of things and ourselves. The inability to achieve perfection is a source of guilt.

purpose

One element in the dramatistic pentad; the reason for an act.

ratio

In dramatism, the proportion of different elements in the dramatistic pentad.

role taking

In symbolic interaction theory, an individual's internalization and perception of experiences from the perspective of another person or persons.

scapegoating

In dramatism, displacing sins into a sacrificial vessel whose destruction serves to cleanse an individual or group of its sins.

scene

In the dramatistic pentad, the context in which an act is performed.

self

In symbolic interaction theory, the ability to reflect on oneself from the perspective of others. Self is not present at birth but is acquired through symbolic interactions with others.

self-fulfilling prophecy

Behaving and seeing ourselves in ways that are consistent with how others label us.

substance

In dramatism, the general nature or essence of some thing or person.

symbolic interactionism/symbolic interaction theory

The point of view that claims society predates individuals, who acquire minds and selves in the process of interacting symbolically with other members of a culture. Symbols are also necessary to the functioning and continuation of collective life.

victimage

In dramatism, a method of purging guilt by identifying an external source (a scapegoat) for some apparent failing or sin.

CHAPTER 6

THEORIES ABOUT PERFORMANCE

Photo source:  http://www.zimbio.com

All of us create and project images that suit our purposes in various moments.

Turner defined humans as homo performans to emphasize that humans are defined by their participation in rituals, social drama, and improvisational, creative performances in daily life.

Dramaturgy is performances in everyday life.

Performance ethnography explores how social communities are sustained and their values expressed and sometimes changed through performative practices such as rituals, ceremonies, rites of cultural practice, and oral history.

DRAMATURGICAL THEORY (PERFORMANCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE)

Goffman:  "It is social situations that provide the natural theatre in which all bodily displays are enacted and in which all bodily displays are read."

FRAMES are models we rely on to make sense of experience.

Frames typically reflect cultural knowledge; they vary from culture to culture.

"IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT is the process of managing setting, words, nonverbal communication, and dress in an effort to create a particular image of individuals and situations.  According to Goffman (1959), our efforts to create and project certain impressions may be either highly calculated or unintentional" (Wood, 2004, p. 119-120).   In this class, you are in-training to be a communication or business professional, so you need to pay attention to how you are managing your image and impression, particularly when making a presentation to the class.

FRONT STAGE is what is visible to an audience, whereas the BACK STAGE includes all that is not visible to an audience.  The back stage is where people behave in ways that might undermine their front stage performances.

To fully appreciate how social interaction works as drama, we must recognize both the front stage and the back stage of the theater.

Communicators know how to keep backstage behaviors out of view of the audience so they don't invalidate the front stage performance.

Knowing there is a backstage where we can let our hair down and relax helps us tolerate the sometimes stressful front stage work we do.

PERFORMANCE ETHNOGRAPHY (CONQUERGOOD)

Cultural performances are an intimate, universal aspect of human experiences; thus, studying them gives us insight into cultural life.

Ethnography is a method of interpreting actions in a manner that generates understanding in the terms of those performing the actions.

Geertz describes thick description as giving a fuller account by working to understand the meanings of activities from the perspective of those engaged in them.

Glassie insists that "ethnography is interaction, collaboration."

Conquergood explains that in ethnography, "instead of speaking about them, one speaks to and with them."

DIRECT, BODILY EXPERIENCE

Participant-observation is a distinctive method of ethnography.  By being not only an observer but also an active participant in a culture and sometimes even an activist on behalf of that culture.

Hermeneutic circle consists of near-experience and distance experience concepts and meanings.  Distance experience meanings have meaning to people outside of that particular culture or social community.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Some performance studies scholars are interested in understanding and performing personal and oral histories, including ones told by regular people in everyday contexts about ordinary events.

Personal narratives entail testimony which consists of statements based on personal experience about what someone, some activity, or something is, did, believes, feels like, or means.

SELF CHECK  

Consider this list of concepts.  Imagine that you have a test where you have to write a paragraph about each item. 

How many do you know?

Misuse of ethnography.

Performance as political action.

Gender comes into being only as it is performed.

Without social conventions that prescribe masculinity and femininity, we could not perform gender.

Gender reflects a reiteration of a norm.

Communication theories and theorists vary widely in their findings and the assumptions they make about human nature, knowledge, communication, and the goals of the theory.  See Wood, J. T.  (2004).  Communication theories in action: An introduction.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Photo source http://www.allgoodseats.com/

REVIEW CHAPTER 6

back stage

In dramaturgy, behaviors and appearances that are not visible to audiences (or others in an interactional situation).

dramaturgical model

The view of everyday life in which social interaction is performance, settings of interaction are stages, people are actors, and viewers are audiences.

dramaturgy

In communication theory, a theory that describes, explains, and predicts human behavior in terms of dramatic actions and settings. Also called dramaturgical theory.

ethnography

A qualitative method of research that interprets actions so as to generate understanding consistent with the frameworks of those who perform the actions.

frame

In dramaturgy, the ways people define situations for themselves and others.

front stage

In dramaturgy, behaviors and appearances that are visible to audiences (or others in an interactional situation).

hermeneutic circle

A process that consists of (1) meanings of behaviors and practices that reflect the understandings of those who are behaving, (2) meanings that are removed from the actors but represent the understandings of someone studying or viewing actors, and (3) translating the former into terms understandable in the vocabularies and experiences of the latter. Ethnographers move within the hermeneutic circle as they try to understand and represent practices that initially are unfamiliar to them.

impression management

In Goffman's dramaturgical theory, the process of managing settings, words, nonverbal communication, dress, and appearance in an effort to give others a specific view of oneself.

narrative

Telling a story about experience, identity, and so forth. Narratives are not necessarily objective representations or re-creations of experiences and identities.

participant-observation

A method often used in ethnographic research, in which the researcher-observer is also a participant in the situation being studied.

performance ethnography

A presentation that is based on intimate acquaintance with and understanding of people and experiences in a specific culture or social community and that seeks to make those people and experiences knowable to audiences who are not part of the indigenous groups.

Photo source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/

performativity

The extent to which performance realizes (or makes real) identities and experiences. It is both the doing (the act of performing) and what is done (the reiteration or challenging of social norms in performance).

personal story

An account that announces how people see themselves and how they wish to be seen by others in an organization.

testimony

A statement based on personal experience about some action, experience, person, event, or other phenomenon.

thick description

An ethnographic method that describes cultural practices from the point of view of people who are members of the particular culture or social community being studied.

 

WEEK 4

Learning objectives:

·         To evaluate how people construct meaning.

·         To apply interpersonal dynamics theories to everyday communication.

Assignments:

1.            Read Chapter 7 & 8 by Tuesday

2.            Discussion Board.

3.            DUE:  Midterm test on chapters 1-8 and APA manual

4.            You should be making solid progress in writing your research proposal at this point, particularly the Review of Literature.  Don’t procrastinate.

Learning anchors:

Hiking is the learning anchor for chapter 7, which is about Theories about How People Construct Meaning.   Like hiking, our communication carries us forward, can be hard work, and can aid in our discovery of meaning.

Signs are the learning anchor for chapter 8, which is about Theories of Interpersonal Dynamics. Signs, like communication, give us cues, directs us, and are sometimes confusing.

CHAPTER 7

THEORIES ABOUT HOW PEOPLE CONSTRUCT MEANING

RULES THEORY and CONSTRUCTIVISM extend the premises of symbolic interactionism by providing more detailed accounts of how individuals construct meanings.

RULES THEORY is the Coordinated Management of Meaning

Rules theory is concerned with how humans construct meaning for their communication.

COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF MEANING (COMM.):  We use communication rules to coordinate meanings in interaction with others.

CMM is an interpretive theory that assumes human communication is rule guided and rule following.

HIERARCHY OF MEANINGS

Pearce and Cronen believe that we rely on a hierarchy of meanings to interpret experiences.  The hierarchy consists of multiple levels of meaning, and each level is contextualized by higher levels in the hierarchy.

SELF CHECK  

How many do you know?

1.    Content (Lowest level.)

2.    Speech Act (Communication is action.)

3.    Episode (A recurring routine of interaction that is structured by rules and that has boundaries.)

4.    Relationships (The somewhat scripted ways we interact with particular others.)

5.    Autobiographies (An individual's view of himself or herself that both shapes and is shaped by communication.)

6.    Cultural Patterns ( An understanding of speech acts, episodes, relationships, and autobiographies that is shared by particular social groups or societies.)

Rules allow us to make sense of social interaction and guide our own communication so that we coordinate meanings with others.

Logical force describes the felt obligation to act.

Sometimes we feel we must do something because of prior actions, such as promises we've made.

CONSTRUCTIVISM (Kelly) focuses on cognitive processes that we use to create meaning.

Cognitive schema--knowledge structure.

Prototypes are the broadest cognitive structures, ideal, or optimal examples of categories of people, situations, objects.

Personal constructs--the second-broadest knowledge structures are building blocks.  Examples would be intelligent-unintelligent, uninteresting-interesting.

Stereotypes are predictive generalizations about how a person will behave.

COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY

·         Personal constructs are the centerpiece of constructivist theory building.

·         Constructivists believe that people vary in the complexity, or sophistication, of their interpretive processes.

·         Differentiation is measured by the number of distinct interpretations an individual uses to perceive and describe others.

·         Abstraction is the extent to which a person interprets others in terms of internal motives, personality traits, and character.

·         Organization is the degree to which a person notices and is able to make sense of contradictory behaviors.

·         Person-centered --cognitively complex people are more capable of engaging in sensitive communication that is tailored to particular others.

·         The research inspired by constructivist theory is impressive and growing

REVIEW CHAPTER 7

abstraction

One of three measures of cognitive complexity; the extent to which an individual interprets others in terms of internal motives, personality traits, and character as opposed to more concrete factors such as actions, physical appearance, and so forth.

autobiography

One of six levels in the hierarchy of meanings; an individual's view of himself or herself that both shapes communication and is shaped by communication.

cognitive complexity

In constructivist theory, the degree to which an individual's interpretive processes are differentiated, abstract, and organized.

cognitive schema (pl. schemata)

A knowledge structure on which individuals rely to interpret experience and construct meanings.  There are four types of cognitive schemata: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts.

constitutive rule

In CMM theory, a rule that defines what counts as what in communication (for example, what counts as support, meanness, joking, praise).

constructivism

The point of view that humans create meanings by relying on four basic cognitive schemata, or knowledge structures. There are four types of cognitive schemata: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts.

content

One of six levels in the hierarchy of meanings; the denotative or literal meanings of words in communication.

coordinated management of meanings (CMM)

See rules theory.

cultural pattern

One of six levels in the hierarchy of meanings; understandings of speech acts, episodes, relationships, and autobiographies that are shared by some groups and some societies.

differentiation

One of three measures of cognitive complexity; the number of distinct interpretations (constructs) an individual uses to perceive and describe others. More cognitively complex individuals use more constructs to interpret others than do less cognitively complex individuals.

episode

One of six levels in the hierarchy of meaning; a recurring routine of interaction that is structured by rules and has boundaries.

hierarchy of meanings

In rules theory (coordinated management of meaning), the multiple levels of meaning, each contextualized by higher levels.  We rely on the hierarchy of meanings to interpret communication.

logical force

In CMM theory, the degree to which a person feels he or she must act or cannot act in a situation.

organization

One of three dimensions of cognitive complexity; the extent to which a person notices and is able to make sense of contradictory behaviors.

person-centeredness

The ability to tailor communication to particular individuals with whom we interact. Individuals who are highly complex cognitively seem capable of more person-centered communication than do less cognitively complex individuals.

personal construct

One of four cognitive schemata used to interpret experience; a bipolar scale of description (for example, happy-unhappy).

prototype

One of four cognitive schemata; an ideal or optimal example of a category of person, situation, object, and so on.

regulative rule

In CMM theory, a rule that tells us when it's appropriate to do a certain thing and what we should do next in an interaction.

relationship

In rules theory, one of six levels in the hierarchy of meanings; a scripted form of interaction that we engage in with a particular other.

rule

Regularity in behavior that is consistent within a particular situation or situations but is not assumed to be universal. Rules are guides for behavior, not determinants of it.

rules theory

The point of view that socially constructed and learned rules guide communication. Also called coordinated management of meaning (CMM) theory.

script

One of four cognitive schemata; a routine, or action sequence, that reflects our understanding of how a particular interaction is supposed to proceed.

speech act

In rules theory, one of six levels in the hierarchy of meaning; an action that is performed by speaking (for example, pleading, joking, apologizing, inviting).

stereotype

One of four cognitive schemata; a predictive generalization about a person's behavior that is based on general knowledge about the group to which we classify the person as belonging.

strange loop

In CMM theory, an internal conversation (intrapersonal communication) by means of which the individual is trapped in a destructive pattern of thinking and/or acting.

CHAPTER 8

THEORIES ABOUT INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS

Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson proposed interactional also known as pragmatic theory.

Consider how your perception and processing may affect the way you communicate interpersonally.

Contexts originated with von Bertalanffy, who pioneered the idea under the name of general systems theory.

SYSTEMS THEORY

All life forms, social as well as biological, can be understood only as complex, organized wholes called systems.

·         All parts are interrelated.

·         Systems are organized wholes.

·         The whole is more than the sum of its parts.  For example, the family is more than each individual alone. Openness is the extent to which a system affects and is affected by factors and processes outside of it.  Most human relationships are fairly open.

·         Systems strive for, but never achieve, equilibrium.  Absolute balance isn't possible for living systems.

·         All communication is either symmetrical (reflects equal power) or

complementary (reflects different levels of power).

LEVELS OF MEANING

We are always communicating (one cannot not communicate).

1.  Content meaning is basic.

2.  Relationship meaning is about the relationship between people. Beck calls the relationship level of communication "hidden meanings."  Hidden meanings are very powerful aspects of relationship systems because they express and sustain the emotional climate between people.

3.  Metacommunication is communication about the communication (commentary on the content level).

PUNCTUATION is the way communication episodes start and stop.  Communication tends to go smoothly as long as all parties agree on punctuation.

COMMUNICATION AND POWER

All communication is either symmetrical (reflects equal power) or

complementary (reflects different levels of power).

The Palo Alto group worked with troubled families, where power comes in many forms (passive-aggression, games, manipulation, and is often central and continuous in family interaction.

Parallel relationships are those in which power is equal overall but distributed so that each individual has primary authority or control in certain realms.

Critical assessment of interactional theory:

·         Theory is not testable.

·         Theory overemphasizes power between communicators.

·         Theory ignores intent.

DIALECTICAL TENSIONS:

1.    Integration versus Separation

2.    Stability versus Change

3.    Expression versus Privacy

DIALECTICAL THEORY (BAXTER AND RAWLINS)

Dialectics are contradictory or opposing tensions.  There can be periods in which the contradictory impulses of dialectics do NOT generate tension.

Contradiction is conflict, opposition, contrast, or discrepancy between two things.

Process is that change always exists and moves the relationship forward.

Integration versus Separation

Stability versus Change

Expression versus Privacy

Our Response

·         Selection:  Satisfy one need and ignore or deny the contradictory one.

·         Separation:  Satisfy one need in one situation and other in other situation.

·         Neutralization:  Compromise that doesn't fully satisfy.

·         BEST is Reframing:  Transforms perceptions into positive.

DIALECTICAL TENSION

PUSH - PULL

REVIEW CHAPTER 8

complementary

In interactional theory, of or pertaining to a form of communication and a type of relationship in which power is unequal between individuals.

content meaning

One of two levels of meaning identified by interactional theorists; the literal significance, or denotative meaning, of communication.

dialectical moments

In dialectical theory, momentary periods of equilibrium between opposing dialectics in the larger pattern of continuous change that marks relationships.

dialectical theory

The point of view that certain tensions between contradictory desires are inherent in personal relationships.

dialectics

In dialectical theory, points of contradiction that cause tension and impel change in relationships. Three relational dialectics have been identified: autonomy -connection, openness-closedness, and novelty-routine.

general systems theory

Theory originated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, which claims that all living organisms are dynamic wholes that function as a result of organized interaction among parts.

homeostasis

A steady state; equilibrium; balance. General systems theory claims that living systems (relationships, for example) strive for, but never fully sustain, homeostasis. Dialectical theory, on the other hand, claims that continuous change is the very nature of relationships.

interactional theory

A theory built on the premise that communication and relationships are systems in which meaning is established through contexts, punctuation, and content and relationship levels of meaning.

metacommunication

Communication about communication.

neutralization

In dialectical theory, the method of responding to the tension of relational dialectics by means of a compromise that meets both dialectical needs to a degree but satisfies neither need fully.

openness

In general systems theory, the extent to which a system affects and is affected by factors and processes outside of it. Living systems may be more or less open to outside influence and more or less influential on their contexts.

parallel relationships

In interactional theory, relationships in which individuals have equal power overall but power is distributed so that each person has greater power in particular spheres of activity.

process

The quality of being ongoing, in flux, ever changing. Communication is a process.

punctuation

In interactional theory, subjective designations of the start and stop of particular communication episodes.

reframing

In dialectical theory, a method of managing relational dialectics that involves transforming the perception of dialectical needs as opposing, and reframing them as unified, complementary, or otherwise allied.

relationship meaning

In interactional theory, one of two levels of meaning in communication; what communication reflects about feelings and relationships between people. Relationship-level meanings may express liking, power, and/or responsiveness.

selection

In dialectical theory, one means of managing relational dialectics that involves satisfying one need in a dialectic and ignoring or denying the contradictory one.

separation

In dialectical theory, one means of managing relational dialectics that attempts to meet both contradictory needs in a dialectic by satisfying each one in separate situations or spheres of relational life.

symmetrical

In interactional theory, of or pertaining to a form of communication and relationships in which power is equal between partners.

WEEK 5

Learning objectives:

·         To describe the typical evolution of relationships.

·         To identify the influences of communication communities.

Assignments:

1.            Read Chapter 9 & 10 by Tuesday

2.            Discussion Board

3.            Complete Chapter 9 & 10 quiz.

4.            Write your Review of Literature for your core assessment (communication research proposal).  Finish that part this week.

Learning anchors:

Basketball is the learning anchor for chapter 9, which is about Communication and the Evolution of Relationships.  In basketball, like in relationships, we play on a team, work for the other’s success, and need to feel equity.

Cycling is the learning anchor for chapter 10, which is about Theories about Communication Communities.  Cycling is the anchor because like bikes, communication communities carry us forward, make our tasks easier, and often determine where we will go and the opportunities we have.

CHAPTER 9

THEORIES ABOUT COMMUNICATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF RELATIONSHIPS

The learning anchor or theme for chapter 9 is basketball.   

When we play on a basketball team, it requires us to adapt our strengths and needs to those of the other people on the team.  We have to work together, sometimes working hard only to make sure someone else succeeds. 

When we face an opposing team, we have to figure them out, try to read what they will do next, and adapt what we do to their behaviors.  So it is in relationships, where we try to reduce the uncertainty of our new encounters as quickly as possible so we can understand and predict. 

If you feel like your basketball team is too much work, cutting into study time, not a winning combination, or not worth the effort, you may decide to change your approach or even quit the team.  This is like Social Exchange Theory, where we evaluate the costs and rewards of each interpersonal relationship.  Unless we feel the rewards outweigh the costs, we will change or end the relationship.

A winning basketball team is not created overnight, it takes time and development.  There are ups and downs and changes over the years in building a successful team.  The same happens in relationships.  Developmental theories focus on how relationships develop, grow, and decline over time.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY

I.  Uncertainty reduction theory is a laws approach that includes axioms.

A.  Uncertainty reduction theory relies on the belief that human behavior is predictable.

     1.  Laws-based explanations assume that human behavior is the result of invariant laws.

     2.  Laws-based explanations assume human behavior is determined by external stimuli.

B.  Axioms are statements that are presumed to be true on face value and do not require proof.

     1.  Uncertainty reduction theory includes 7 axioms as its foundation.

·         Given the high level of uncertainty present at the onset of the entry phase of relations, as the amount of verbal communication between strangers increases, the level of uncertainty for each person in the relationship decreases.  As uncertainty is further reduced, the amount of verbal communication increases.

·         As nonverbal affiliative expressiveness increases, uncertainty levels decrease in an initial interaction situation.  In addition, decreases in uncertainty level cause increases in nonverbal affiliative expressiveness.

·         High levels of uncertainty cause increases in information-seeking behavior.  As uncertainty levels decline, information-seeking behavior decreases.

·         High levels of uncertainty in a relationship cause decreases in the intimacy level of communication content.  Low levels of uncertainty produce higher levels of intimacy.

·         High levels of uncertainty produce high rates of reciprocity in self-disclosing communication.  Low levels of uncertainty produce low reciprocity rates.

·         Similarities between persons reduce uncertainty; dissimilarities produce increases in uncertainty.

·         Increases in uncertainty level produce decreases in liking.  Decreases in uncertainty level produce increases in liking.

     2.  The most basic claim of the theory is that uncertainty is uncomfortable so people communicate to reduce uncertainty.

     3.  These same axioms also appear to apply to intercultural communication.

Agree or Disagree? 

Some CRITICS argue that uncertainty reduction theory is inappropriate for describing, explaining, and predicting human behavior. There are two major criticisms of uncertainty reduction theory.

  A.  The theory is narrow in scope.

     1.  It focuses only on uncertainty, which is not the only influence on how relationships develop.

     2.  Other influences may be more important in the growth and decay of relationships.

  B.  The theory is invalid.

     1.  Critics assert that some of the basic axioms on which the theory rests are invalid.

     2.  If axioms are not true, then the laws derived from axioms are not reliable.

  C.  Proponents of uncertainty reduction theory admit that some of the theory's axioms are of dubious validity.

     1.  Proponents say the theory can be developed and refined to be valid.

     2.  Defenses of uncertainty reduction theory have been neither strong nor convincing.

III.  Social exchange theory is actually a group of theories that share three common assumptions.

  A.  Humans evaluate their relationships by making cost-benefit analyses designed to maximize individual profit.

     1.  We measure rewards, which are positively valued phenomena we get from being in relationships.

     2.  We measure costs, which are negatively valued phenomena we incur from being in relationships.

     3.  The net outcome (O) of a relationship is rewards minus costs:  R - C.

B.  We use standards of comparison to assess the meaning of net outcomes of relationships.

C.  People prefer equitable relationships to inequitable relationships.

     1.  Equity concerns whether a relationship is fair over time.

     2.    Both feeling under-benefited and over-benefited in a relationship cause dissatisfaction and relational stress.

3.  Equity in terms of housework and caregiving is of primary importance in most dual-worker families.

IV.  There are four major criticisms of social exchange theories.

  A.  The theory has little heuristic value.

  B.  The theory is not testable.

  C.  The theory is inappropriate for humans and human relationships.

  D.  Research fails to confirm some of the key claims of social exchange theories.

V.  Developmental theories focus on how relationships develop, grow, and decline over time.

  A.  First generation developmental theories had serious limitations.

     1.  They were excessively and inappropriately linear.

     2.  They implied an inevitability to relational development.

     3.  They did not include, nor apply to, a number of intimate relationships, such as gay and lesbian commitments.

     4.  They focused on external, observable phenomena to define stages in relational life.

  B.  Second generation developmental models are more sophisticated and useful.  James Honeycutt emphasized that relationships develop not because of events themselves, but because of how we interpret events.

 C.  Individual have "imagined trajectories," which are their understandings and expectations of the typical paths relationships follow.

     1.  They are a type of knowledge schemata that guides how we think about what is happening between us and others.

     2.  Relationships may also have turning points, which exist when we interpret certain relational events or moments as significant in changing the direction or nature of a relationship.

VI.  Second generation developmental theories have not been seriously criticized.

REVIEW CHAPTER 9

axiom

A statement that is presumed to be true on its face and therefore does not require proof or explanation.

comparison level (CL)

In social exchange theory, a subjective standard of what we expect in a particular type of relationship such as friendship or romance.

comparison level of alternatives (CLalt)

In social exchange theory, a relative measure that evaluates how good a particular relationship is in comparison to real or perceived alternatives to that relationship.

cost

In social exchange theory, anything that has negative value to an individual.

developmental theory

The point of view that relationships evolve through stages defined by participants' expectations, perceptions, and meanings.

equity

In social exchange theory, the fairness of a relationship to individuals over time.

intercultural communication

The branch of communication field that studies communication among people from different cultures, including distinct cultures within a single country.

reward

In social exchange theory, anything that has positive value for an individual.

social exchange theory

The point of view that in relationships people try to minimize costs, maximize rewards, and ensure equity.

social penetration model

One of the first-generation theories of relational development; likens the development of personal relationships to peeling the layers of an onion to move progressively toward the center or core self.

trajectory

A personal understanding of various tracks in relationships. Trajectories define relational courses based on past experiences and observations.

turning point

A critical event, process, or feeling that individuals perceive as marking a new direction or intensity in a personal relationship.

uncertainty reduction theory

The point of view that uncertainty motivates communication and that certainty reduces the motivation to communicate.

CHAPTER 10

THEORIES ABOUT CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION COMMUNITIES

Cycling is the learning anchor because like bikes, communication communities carry us forward, make our tasks easier, and often determine where we will go and the opportunities we have.

A  number of theories focus on relationships between COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE.

The outsider within is a person who is inside a particular social group through daily interactions and activities but is also excluded from that group because the person is not "one of them."

I. A. COMMUNICATION REFLECTS CULTURAL VALUES AND PERSPECTIVES.

1. The language of different cultures reflects different view of identity. Western cultures tend to emphasize individual, whereas many Eastern cultures place greater emphasis on family and community.

2. In the process of learning language, we learn our culture's values.

B. Language reflects cultural views of identity.

1. Cultures vary in the extent to which they define this in terms of individual or collective/communal criteria.

2. Cultures vary in the extent to which they assume this is rooted in family ties.

II. STANDPOINT THEORY entails three central ideas and a premise about the relationship between standpoint and communication. 

 A. Cultures are organized hierarchically so that different groups experience dissimilar power, opportunities, and perspectives.

Standpoint theory traces how distinct social groups within a society shape members' experiences, knowledge, and ways of interacting.

Speech community theory offers a more specific analysis of how interaction with particular social groups shapes styles of communication that differ for women, men, and members of different ethnicities.

Organizational culture theory illuminates the role of communication increasing and sustaining distinct cultures in organizational life.

1. Societies define distinct groups not only as different but as differentially worthy, valuable, or capable.

2. Standpoint arises out of the material, social, and symbolic conditions that shape a group's experiences.

3. Standpoint is not a birthright.

4. Standpoint is an achievement--something that is accomplished only if someone who is born into a group engages in political struggle to understand and critically question the conditions that shape the group's life.

     1.  Georg William Fredrick Hegel discussed the master-slave relationship and noted that the master and slave experience the "same relationship" in distinct ways because of their standpoints.

     2.  Because members of every social group experience culture from the perspective of their groups, all perspectives are partial.

Critical race theory examines how laws and legal institutions have constructed race.

Race is a social, not scientific, construction.

SITUATED KNOWLEDGES

· Knowledge is situated in social circumstances.

· Refers to the overall ways of perceiving, experiencing, and knowing that are shaped by our social locations.

· Some standpoints are more complete and thus more accurate than others.

POWER

· Subjugated groups have no personal investment in maintaining, much less justifying, the status quo.

· Subordinate positions of power, their comfort and well-being and perhaps their survival depend on understanding the views, values, and even the moods of their masters.

· Muted group theory explores how dominant groups control language and meanings and silence others.

· Dominant groups want to preserve a system of power relations that benefits them.

· The richest way of knowing is as an outsider within.

Groups of LESSER power in a society have a MORE comprehensive, more accurate knowledge of social life than groups of a higher social position.

COMMUNICATION

· We develop standpoints by communicating with others in our groups and by participating in society as a whole.

· Social location is a primary influence on the experiences, opportunities, and understandings of group members.

Two RESERVATIONS about standpoint theory have been voiced.

A. The theory inappropriately privileges marginalized standpoints.

B. Standpoint theory obscures human diversity.

SPEECH COMMUNITIES

Different social groups teach members distinct styles of communicating and interpreting the communication of others.

Langer discussed discourse communities--language is the key to shared cultural life.  Collective life is possible only when a group of people shares a symbol system and the meanings associated with it.

Speech community: 

·         A group of people who share not only a common language but also understandings of rules and norms that guide how members of the group practice and interpret speech activities.

·         Exists when a group of people understands goals and styles of communication in ways not shared by people outside of the group.

MASCULINE communities emphasize instrumental communication that . . .

FEMININE speech communities emphasize relational communication that involves . . .

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."

Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)

REVIEW CHAPTER 10

collegial story

An account about one member of an organization told by a different member of the organization.

communication rules

Regular patterns in the use and interpretation of verbal and nonverbal behaviors and their functions within a particular group.

corporate story

A narrative that serves to convey the values, style, and history of an organization. Told to newcomers, stories perform socialization; told among veteran members of an organization, stories serve to bind members together and vitalize the organization's ideology.

critical race theory

A theory that examines how laws and legal institutions construct race and uses race as a critical perspective for questioning cultural views of justice and fairness.

organizational culture

Understandings about identity and codes of thought and action that are shared by members of an organization.

organizational culture theory

A point of view that focuses on the ways in which communication creates and sustains distinct customs, understandings, and perspectives within particular organizations.

outsider within

A person who is both inside a particular social group through regular interactions with members of the group and outside of the group because he or she is defined as not "one of them."

personal story

An account that announces how people see themselves and how they wish to be seen by others in an organization.

rite

A dramatic, planned set of activities that brings together aspects of cultural ideology into a single event.

ritual

Communicative performance that is regularly repeated in an organization and that members of an organization come to regard as familiar and routine.

situated knowledges

In standpoint theory, the idea that any individual's knowledge is situated within her or his particular circumstances and that there are thus multiple knowledges, not a singular one.

speech community

A group of people who share understandings of communication that are not shared by people outside of the group.

speech community theory

The point of view that explains the communication styles of particular social groups with reference to the cultures in which members of the groups are socialized.

standpoint

The viewpoint and knowledge that grow out of political awareness of and struggle with material, symbolic, and social circumstances that shape the lives of a particular group.

standpoint theory

The view that the material, social, and symbolic circumstances of a social group shape what members of that group experience, as well as how they think, act, and feel.

thick description

An ethnographic method that describes cultural practices from the point of view of people who are members of the particular culture or social community being studied.

vocabulary

Language used by members of a culture, social group, or institution. The languages of particular groups reflect their experiences, values, norms, and ideology.

white studies

An emerging discipline that focuses critical attention on what whiteness means (and has meant) and how whiteness is and has been constructed as "normal" in Western cultures.

WEEK 6

WEEK 7

Learning objectives:

To evaluate theories of mass communication.

To explain the purpose of critical communication theories.

Assignments:

1.            Read Chapter 11 & 12 by Tuesday

2.            Discussion Board.

3.            Take quiz.           

The learning anchor for chapter 11. Theories of Mass Communication is the movies.  Movie directors shape films like mass communication often shapes the direction of our life stories.

Softball and baseball are the learning anchor for chapter 12, Critical Communication Theories.    Why do men play baseball and women play softball?  Softball and Baseball typify how men and women can be separated.

CHAPTER 11

THEORIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION

This chapter discusses theories of mass communication.

How do media influence communication?

TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM claims that some single cause determines other aspects of life (McLuhan). 

·Expectation of immediate answer, resolution, information.

·Less careful checking of details.

·Hurried approach.

·Multitasking.

·Shortened attention span.

CULTIVATION THEORY claims that technology--particularly television--has a cumulative effect in shaping  our view of reality.

·Children's sex-role stereotypes seem directly related to the amount of commercial television they watch.

·Television can make people think more alike.

·Mean world syndrome:  The belief that the world is a dangerous place full of people who cannot be trusted and who are likely to harm us.

·Media tend to support and normalize established cultural practices and values.

SELF CHECK

Consider this list of concepts.  Imagine that you have a test where you have to write a paragraph about each concept.  How many do you know from reading this chapter?

1.         cool media

2.         cultivation

3.         cultivation theory

4.         cultural mainstream

5.         determinism

6.         electronic epoch

7.         hot media

8.         literate epoch

9.         mainstreaming

10.       mean world syndrome

11.       multitasking

12.       print epoch

13.       resonance

14.       technological determinism

tribal epoch

REVIEW CHAPTER 11

cool media

McLuhan's term for media that include incomplete sensory data and thus require human involvement and participation.

cultivation

In cultivation theory, the cumulative process by which television fosters beliefs about social reality, including the belief that the world is more dangerous and violent than it actually is.

cultivation theory

The point of view that television promotes a view of social reality that may be inaccurate but that viewers nonetheless assume reflects real life.

cultural mainstream

In cultivation theory, the general view of social life that television constructs.

determinism

The belief that human behavior is governed by forces beyond individual control, usually biology, environment, or a combination of the two.

electronic epoch

The fourth era in McLuhan's media history of civilization, ushered in by the invention of the telegraph, which made it possible for people to communicate personally across distance.

hot media

McLuhan's term for media that include relatively complete sensory data and hence do not require significant human participation.

literate epoch

The second era in McLuhan's media history of civilization, inaugurated by invention of the phonetic alphabet and during which common symbols allowed people to communicate in writing.

mainstreaming

In cultivation theory, the effect of television in stabilizing and homogenizing views within a society; one of two processes used to explain television's cultivation of synthetic world views.

mass communication

Collective term for forms of communication aimed at large audiences.

mean world syndrome

In cultivation theory, the belief that the world is a dangerous place full of selfish, mean people who cannot be trusted and who are likely to harm others. Cultivation theorists assert that the mean world syndrome is fostered by heavy viewing of television.

multitasking

Engaging in two or more activities at once or in interacting, overlapping ways.

print epoch

The third era in McLuhan's media history of civilization, in which invention of the printing press made it possible to mass-produce written materials so that reading was no longer restricted to elite members of society.

resonance

In cultivation theory, the extent to which something (specifically, phenomena on television) is congruent with personal experience; one of two mechanisms used to explain television's ability to

cultivate synthetic world views.

technological determinism

The point of view that media decisively influence how individuals think, feel, and act, as well as how they view collective life.

tribal epoch

The first era in McLuhan's media history of civilization, during which the oral tradition reigned and face-to-face talking and listening were primary forms of communication.

CHAPTER 12

CRITICAL COMMUNICATION THEORIES

Scholars are divided on the question of whether it is appropriate for theories to have strong and explicit motives of SOCIAL REFORM.

FEMINISM:  Men and women who recognize the equal value of all human beings and seek to diminish discrimination and oppression based on sex.  Feminism is concerned with gender and gender inequities.

GENDER IS A SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED--human created--system of values, identities, and activities that are prescribed for women and men.

Patriarchy is concerned with values, institutions, and practices that reflect the experiences, values, and interests of men as a group and protect their privileges while simultaneously denying, dismissing, and/or devaluing the experiences, values, and interests of women as a group.

UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE

The universe of discourse that prevails at any moment in the life of a culture shapes the understandings of all who participate in the universe of discourse.

Most feminist theorists believe there are multiple ways of perceiving the world and that no one way is absolutely true or best. 

Remember standpoint theory's emphasis on situated knowledges.

MUTED GROUP THEORY

Muted group theory:

·         A focus on how language names experiences and therefore determines what is socially recognized.

·         Close attention to the way that a dominant discourse silences, or mutes, groups that are not in a society's mainstream.

Ardener and Ardener first suggested that women's experiences have been muted by masculine bias.

How does this affect communication?

The power to name experiences is equal to the power to construct reality.

NAMING = REALITY

IDEOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

Ideology is a code of meanings that shape how a group of people sees and acts in the world.

REVIEW CHAPTER 12

critical theories

A group of theories that seek to produce change in oppressive or otherwise undesirable practices and

structures in society.

cultural studies theories

A group of related theories that seek to unmask and challenge the techniques by which privileged groups maintain their privilege and power in society.

culture

Both the ideology of a society and the actual, concrete practices that occur in that society.

feminist theories

A group of theories related by their focus on gender and its derivative, power.

gender

A socially created system of values, identities, and behaviors that are prescribed for women and men. Unlike sex, which is biologically determined, gender is socially constructed.

ideological domination

In cultural studies, the set of meanings, values, and concrete practices that has the greatest power and the adherence of the greatest number of people at a given moment in the life of a culture.

ideology

The ideas, values, beliefs, and understandings that are common to members of a social group and that guide the practices and customs of the society.

inclusion stage

The first stage in feminist theorizing; the work of this stage is to raise consciousness of gendered inequities.

masculine bias

Giving primary or exclusive attention to men's behaviors, beliefs, and contexts and using these phenomena to describe and explain social life. Bias exists because roughly half of the social world (that is, women) is not studied and is therefore not represented in theories that are developed.

muted group theory

A feminist theory that claims that women (and other groups) have been silenced because (white, heterosexual, middle-class) men have had the power to name the world and thus to constitute experience and meaning.

overdetermination

The idea that aspects of social life, including ideological domination, are determined by multiple, often overlapping and interacting causes rather than by any single cause.

patriarchy

Literally, "rule by the fathers"; in feminist theory, the cultural values, institutions, and practices that reflect and normalize the experiences of men as a group while denying, dismissing, and/or devaluing the experiences, values, and interests of women as a group. Patriarchy does not refer to individual men but to a cultural system established by and reflective of men as a group.

revisionist stage

The second stage in feminist theorizing, during which the goal is to re-vision (or revise) cultural practices, structures, and modes of interpreting experiences in ways that do not marginalize women and their activities.

sex

The biological and genetic quality of maleness or femaleness; not the same as gender.

standpoint theory

The view that the material, social, and symbolic circumstances of a social group shape what members of that group experience, as well as how they think, act, and feel.

superstructure

In Marxist theory, the social institutions and practices that assist in reproducing and normalizing the underlying economic system of a society.

symbolic interactionism/symbolic interaction theory

The point of view that claims society predates individuals, who acquire minds and selves in the process of interacting symbolically with other members of a culture. Symbols are also necessary to the functioning and continuation of collective life.

theatre of struggle

A term used by cultural studies theorists to describe the ongoing battle for ideological control of cultures.

theory

An account of what something is, how it works, what it produces or causes to happen, and what can change how it operates. Theories are points of view, human constructions.

WEEK 8

Learning Objectives

·         To speculate about future research in communication studies.

·         To synthesize ideas learned in the course.

Assignments:

1.         Read chapter 13 about communication frontiers.  Chapter 14  gives a final look at communication theories.

2.         Discussion Board due Friday.

3.         DUE Friday:  Final Exam   

The learning anchor for these last two chapters is the Park University mascot:  Pirates.  Pirates originally were adventurous and clever.  They were daring and talented, much like communication theorists and researchers have to be.  The future of this field depends on scientists who dare to look in new directions.  We will depend on their clever interpretations, and forward thinking.

CHAPTER 13

THE EFFECTS OF POSTMODERN THEORIZING

The modern period began near the end of the 19th century and ended around the start of World War I. 

The postmodern period is sometimes considered after World War II.

The study of communication became established in the 1960s, which was also a time of social unrest.

I.  The modern period began near the end of the 19th century and ended around the start of World War I. Postmodern theories began after World War I.

II.  Postmodern theories are a significant influence on current communication research and theorizing. 

·Postmodernism is an intellectual and political movement that does its work through critical analysis, and challenged the notion that a particular social order is natural and right.

·Your project uses critical analysis of media text as it relates to  communication.

·Uncertainty theory and exchange theory are consistent with modernist worldviews because both claim there are predictable, durable patterns in how relationships develop.

·Postmodernism marks the fall of grand narratives.  Grand narratives are coherent stories that cultures tell about themselves, their practices, and their values.

·Postmodern theories emphasize localized action and disparage terms such as "culture" and "society," which suggest a homogenous social order.

·Postmodernists claim each person is fragmented and continuously changing.

·Postmodern theories regard language as perhaps the most important means for constituting subjects and the social order.

·Within postmodern thinking, meaning is considered highly precarious.

III.  Nam Paik challenged the notion that a our use of media is natural and right.

  Look on the Internet to find examples of Paik’s artwork about media.  What do you think?

REVIEW CHAPTER 13

We've discussed the post modern communication theories about narratives and language.  These theorists suggest that communication should be a force for changing the social order.

commodification

In postmodernist theory, the process by which phenomena, including people, are treated as products to be acquired and used.

discursive structures

Michel Foucault's term for deeply ensconced ways of thinking about and expressing identity and conducting social life. Gender, race-ethnicity, and socioeconomic class are examples of discursive structures that reflect and embody cultural ideologies.

grand narrative

A coherent story that a culture tells about itself, its practices, and its values.

meaning

The significance conferred on experiences and phenomena; meaning is constructed, not intrinsic to communication. In general systems theory, communication has two levels of meaning: the content level, which concerns the information in a message; and the relationship level, which concerns what the message implies about the power, liking, and responsiveness between the communicators.

micropolitics

Resistance to existing structures and practices of power at local, sometimes personal levels. This decentered type of resistance to existing power structures is associated with postmodernist assumption that power itself is often not located in one central place but diffused throughout society.

modernity

Roughly from the end of the 19th century to the start of World War I; the period in which society was believed to be coherent and absolute truth was thought to be knowable through the methods of science.  Order was highly valued," high" and "low" culture were distinguished in nature and value, and individuals were assumed to be rational, autonomous, and stable.

nihilism

The denial of any absolute basis for making meaningful distinctions among values, moral codes, social practices, and forms of social organization.

postmodern

The post-World War II era of social life that emerged after modernism. Postmodern society is described as fragmented, uncertain, and continuously in flux; the individual is described not as a core self but as a range of selves brought forth by and embodied in particular contexts.

postmodernism

An intellectual and political movement that began after World War II and flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Postmodernism challenges the modernist views that life is orderly, the self is coherent, and a particular social order is natural and right.

relational self

In postmodern theory, a self that has no stable core but is formed in particular relationships and changes as it enters and leaves relationships.

sous rature

Literally, "under erasure."  Term coined by Jacques Derrida, a postmodernist, to call attention to the necessity of words to refer to phenomena and simultaneously the inability of words to fully represent them.

subject

Term used by postmodern-poststructural theorists to distinguish persons as individuals and to call attention to subjectivity as a way of being-a process, not a fixed essence.

symbolic interactionism/symbolic interaction theory

The point of view that claims society predates individuals, who acquire minds and selves in the process of interacting symbolically with other members of a culture. Symbols are also necessary to the functioning and continuation of collective life.

CHAPTER 14

COMMUNICATION THEORIES IN ACTION

I.  Scholars are no longer limited to the orthodox goals of theory.

  A.  Among theorists there are disagreements about appropriate goals of theories.

     1.  Most theorists agree that description and explanation are basic goals of theorizing.

     2.  Some scholars emphasize control and prediction as additional goals, whereas other scholars seek understanding and interpretation.

     3.  Among theorists there is controversy about the appropriateness of positive social change as a goal of theorizing.

·Five widely accepted standards for judging the qualities of theories are scope, testability, parsimony, utility, and heuristic strength.

·There are a range of theories of communication relevant to  relationships.

Some theories are compatible and some are not compatible.

·There is value in learning about a range of theories.

·Applying multiple theories to specific communication situations cultivates sophisticated understanding and social progress.

II.  Communication theories exist in contexts that affect what they are and what goals they pursue.

REVIEW CHAPTER 14

agency

One element in the dramatistic pentad; the means or channel through which an act is performed. 

constructivism

The point of view that humans create meanings by relying on four basic cognitive schemata, or knowledge structures.

coordinated management of meanings (CMM)

See rules theory.

critical theories

A group of theories that seek to produce change in oppressive or otherwise undesirable practices and structures in society.

cultivation theory

The point of view that television promotes a view of social reality that may be inaccurate but that viewers nonetheless assume reflects real life.

cultural studies theories

A group of related theories that seek to unmask and challenge the techniques by which privileged groups maintain their privilege and power in society.

dramatism

The point of view that life is a drama that can be understood in dramatic terms such as act, agent, scene, agency, and purpose. Identification is viewed as the primary goal of symbolic interaction, and guilt is viewed as the ultimate motive for communication.

epistemology

The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of knowledge, or how we know what we know.

ideology

The ideas, values, beliefs, and understandings that are common to members of a social group and that guide the practices and customs of the society.

interactional theory

A theory built on the premise that communication and relationships are systems in which meaning is established through contexts, punctuation, and content and relationship levels of meaning.

narrative paradigm/narrative theory

The point of view that humans are natural storytellers and that most, if not all, communication is storytelling.

ontology

The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of humans.

reform

One goal of theorizing; the use of theory to instigate change in pragmatic life. Also called "producing positive social change."

rules theory

The point of view that socially constructed and learned rules guide communication. Also called coordinated management of meaning (CMM) theory.

standpoint theory

The view that the material, social, and symbolic circumstances of a social group shape what members of that group experience, as well as how they think, act, and feel.

symbolic interactionism /symbolic interaction theory

The point of view that claims society predates individuals, who acquire minds and selves in the process of interacting symbolically with other members of a culture. Symbols are also necessary to the functioning and continuation of collective life.

technological determinism

The point of view that media decisively influence how individuals think, feel, and act, as well as how they view collective life.

uncertainty reduction theory

The point of view that uncertainty motivates communication and that certainty reduces the motivation to communicate.

These lecture materials quoted directly or closely adapted from Communication Theories in Action, by Julia Wood.  This page for use by staff preparing an online course for students who have purchased the book and are currently enrolled in CA 348, Park University.

All rights reserved by the holder of the original copyright.