Traditions of Communication

TheoryChapter 3

Robert T. Craig, Ph.D.

• “Communication theory as a field”• Published in 1999• Lead to the 7 traditions of comm theory• Areas of scholarly focus based on researchers

interest in how communication works to spread thoughts, influence individuals, and shape our world

Semiotic Tradition

• Views communication as the mediation by signs• Objects and words are symbols• Symbols have meaning because:• They relate to other symbols• You organize them to understand life

• Semiotics is:• Study of signs & what they represent

Signs vs. Symbols

• Wedding Rings• How are they a sign?• What do they symbolize?

Triad of Meaning

Semiosis

Three Divisions of Semiotic

• Semantics• What meaning?• Ex. Pink Sky at night . . .

• Syntactic• Relationship between signs and rules used to

combine into meaning• Verbal and nonverbal

• Pragmatics• Practical relationship between context and

meaning

Phenomenological Tradition

• Defined: Interpretation by the individual

• Key Ideas:• Phenomenon• Observable event, object, or condition through

individual perception

• Phenomenology• How we understand the world

Three Basic Principles of Phenomonology

• Knowledge comes from direct experience

• How you relate to an object determines its meaning

• Language is the vehicle of meaning

Variations of Phenomenological Tradition

• Classical• Edmund Husserl• Used bracketing to create highly objective

view

• Phenomenology of Perception• Maurice Merleau-Ponty• Perception provides foundation for

understanding• Subjective view

Hermeneutic Phenomenology

• Martin Heidegger

• Knowledge gained by experience through interpreting communication

Cybernetic Tradition

• Communication is system created by the sum of its parts

• Complex system that uses networks to connect different parts

Variations in Cybernetic Tradition

• Basic System• Formalized structures that can be observed and

analyzed from outside

• Cybernetics • Emphasis on the feedback loop and how circular

forces can be used to maintain balance & create change

• Information Theory• Evaluates signal transmission and the impact of

noise

• General System Theory• Looks for commonalities among different

systems

• Second – order cybernetics • What we observe • Determined by how we observe it• Impacted by what is observed

Sociopsychological Tradition

• Focus on Individual

• Key Ideas:• “Science of Communication”• Research focuses on message processing• Provide insight into how information is

processed

• Evaluates inputs and outputs of Cognitive system

• Behavioral Theories• Looks at how people behave in communication

situations

• Cognitive Theories• Evaluate thought

• Biological Theories• How genetics affects behavior

Sociocultural Tradition

• Evaluates interaction in social groups

• Variations:• Symbolic Interactionism• Social structures are created and maintained

through interaction

• Social Construction• Evaluates how knowledge in constructed through

interaction• Social groups create common experience

• Sociolinguistics • Impact of culture

• Philosophy of language• Language games

• Ethnography• Groups create meaning verbally and nonverbally

• Ethnomethodology• Science of observing behavior

Critical Tradition

• Evaluates production of privilege, power, and oppression through communication

• Key Ideas:• Work to understand power structures that

dominate society• Evaluate oppression through communication

Rhetorical Tradition

• Rhetoric• Use of symbols

• Five Cannons of Rhetoric• Invention• Arrangement• Style• Delivery• Memory