OBJECTIVE- QUANTITATIVE. INTERPRETIVE- QUALITATIVE.
7 Traditions
SpCRSScCP
1. Socio-Psychological- processes of interaction & influence (cause and effect). Explains why and predicts what will happen next. OBJECTIVE
2. Cybernetic- communication as a system of information processing. How does a system work? Correlation. OBJECTIVE
3. Rhetorical- Communication as an artful public address. Interpretation of texts. OBJECTIVE
4. Semiotic- Process of sharing meaning through signs. Survey, close reading, coding, historical analysis. SIGNS. MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
5. Socio-Cultural- As the creation and enactment of social reality. Interview, close reading, survey. INTERPRETIVE
6. Critical- As a reflective challenge of unjust discourse. Critique of: control of language to perpetuate power imbalance, role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to injustice, blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings. INTERPRETIVE
7. Phenomenological- experience of self and others through dialogue. Interview, personal reflection, analysis of stories & conversations. INTERPRETIVE
Theories
1. Symbolic Interactionism Theory-ch 5- George Herbert Mead. Interpretive. Socio-Cultural.
Explores the interplay between the self and the society in which we live. Symbolic interactionists argue that people act toward other people or events on the basis of meaning they assign to them. MIND, SELF, SOCIETY.
MIND- Importance of meanings for human behavior. Ability to use symbols that have common social meanings. SELF- Concept of who one is. Ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others. SOCIETY- The relationship between the individual and society. The web of social relationships humans create. ASSUMPTIONS- Knowledge does not exist before experience. Knowledge is changing. Knowledge arises through thought, interaction and society. MIND- Meaning is created in interaction between people. Humans act toward others on the basis of the meanings those others have of them. Meaning is modified through and interpretive process SELF- Individuals develop their self-concept through interactions with others. Self-concepts provide an important motive for behavior. SOCIETY- People and groups are influenced by cultural and social processes. Social structure is worked out through social interactions. CRITICISM- Too broad to be useful. Covers too much ground to fully explain specific meaning- making processes. Tries to do too much and scope needs to be refined. Focuses too much on individual. Ignores some important concepts that are needed to make explanation complete.
2. Expectancy Violations Theory-ch 7- Burgoon. Objective. Socio-psychological. Developed in response to earlier theories of norm violation, which suggested that breaking the rules is always bad. It was originally focused on proxemics specifically, but has expanded its scope greatly since. 1) For virtually any sort of interaction we have with others, we have developed expectations for their behavior 2) Not all violations of expectation are inherently positive or negative. 3) One critical factor in evaluating a violation is the “reward value” of the other, and we tend to respond more positively to violations by more rewarding others 4) “Rewarding” interactants may actually be better off violating expectations, than conforming to them ASSUMPTIONS- clearly demonstrate the importance of nonverbal messages and information processing CRITICISM- Doesn’t predict anything. Testable, practical, simple, pretty good.
3. Social Penetration Theory-ch 9- Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor . Objective. Socio-psychological.
Observations-
1) Superficial information is exchanged more often & sooner than
