Communication Theory A Brief Introduction Information Information Theory
Communication Theory A Brief Introduction
Information
Information Theory • Genesis in the 1920 s • Much of the early work done at Bell Labs • Alan Turing used its principles to help break German enigma codes during WWII • Claude E. Shannon (1948) “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” • Concerned primarily with determining limits for data storage and transmission • Adapted theories from statistical thermodynamics (Shannon’s entropy)
Communication Theory
Simple on the surface
A First Look at Communication Theory Currently in its 9 th edition Cultural Studies Standpoint Theory Face Negotiation Theory Dramatism Agenda Setting Theory Social Penetration Theory Expectancy Violations Theory Symbolic Interactionism Communication Privacy Management Theory Relational Dialectics The Interactional View Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making Uses and Gratifications Critical Theory of Communication in Organizations Speech Codes Theory Coordinated Management of Meaning Cognitive Dissonance Semiotics Genderlect Styles Media Ecology Cultural Approach to Organizations Symbolic Convergence Theory Cultivation Theory The Rhetoric Communicative Constitutions of Organizations Social Judgment Theory Muted Group Theory Communication Accommodation Theory Uncertainty Reduction Theory Narrative Paradigm Social Information Processing Theory Elaboration Likelihood Model
Theories “Theories are simply explanations of how or why things happen the way they do. ” —Stone, Singletary, and Richmond, Clarifying Communication Theories: A Hands-On Approach
Theories “A theory offers an account of what something is, how it works, what it produces or causes to happen, and what can change how it operates. . Theories pursue one or more of four basic goals: description, explanation, prediction or understanding, and reform. ” —Wood, Communication Theories in Action, 2 nd edition
Theories provide frameworks • Help to generate research questions • Focus attention on particular aspects of questions, problems or phenomena • Make falsifiable predictions • Become refined through the research they generate Different theories are not necessarily in opposition to one another
Issues in Science and Technology Journalism Scientist Public
Issues in Science and Technology Journalism Scientist Journalist Public
Issues in Science and Technology Journalism Scientist Journalist
Issues in Science and Technology Journalism Journalist Public
And, of course, there are issues with: • The “noise” surrounding the whole process • The fields of experience • Sender • Receiver • Encoding • Decoding • Feedback
“Issues, ” then, is extremely broad • We can’t hope to cover every issue in the field • Nevertheless, we will be using communication theory as a way to organize our exploration of: • • • Constraints faced by science writers and editors The many roles of the journalist in the scientific enterprise Strategies for communicating science effectively The professional environment of science communicators The scholarly literature on science communication
Syllabus
For next week • Readings • “Scientists’ Intuitive Failures. . . ” • Science in Public, Chapter 2 • On Being a Scientist • Assignment I want each of you to find a scientific poster. It must be somewhere on campus. Online posters are not acceptable. You should take a picture or pictures of the poster for a 10 -minute, in class presentation in which you will tell us who the researchers are, what their world is like, what it is they’re trying to communicate, and to whom. You should each present a different poster.
STJR Orientation Today 11: 30 -1: 00 VENI 349
- Slides: 18