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11th Edition

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Chapter  4—Mapping the Territory

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  1. Introduction.
  1. Communication scholars hold widely divergent views as to what communication is.
  2. Robert Craig thinks practical application is a great starting point for developing a tool to help discriminate between theories.
  3. Communication theory is the systematic and thoughtful response of communication scholars to questions posed as humans interact with one another—the best thinking within a practical discipline.
  4. Craig identifies seven established traditions of communication theory.
  1. The socio-psychological tradition: Communication as interaction and influence.
  1. This tradition epitomizes the scientific perspective.
  2. Scholars believe that communication truths can be discovered by careful, systematic observation that predicts cause-and-effect relationships.
  3. Researchers focus on what is without their personal bias of what ought to be.
  4. Theorists check data through surveys or controlled experiments, often calling for longitudinal empirical studies.
  5. Griffin, Ledbetter, and Sparks wondered if there’s a way to predict which college friendships would survive and thrive after graduation.
  1. The practical question the authors sought to answer was, "What predicts friendship that lasts over time?"
  2. They approached this question from the socio-psychological tradition because it’s designed to identify cause-and-effect patterns.
  1. The cybernetic tradition: Communication as a system of information processing.
  1. Norbert Wiener coined the term cybernetics to describe the field of artificial intelligence.
  1. Wiener’s concept of feedback anchored the cybernetic tradition.
  2. Communication is the link separating the separate parts of any system.
  1. Theorists seek to answer the questions: How does the system work? What could change it? How can we get the bugs out?
  2. University of Washington communication professor Malcolm Parks studies personal relationships by asking both partners to describe their social network.
  1. The practical question Parks sought to answer was, "How are friendships shaped by other people that the friends know?"
  2. He approached this question from the cybernetic tradition because it’s designed to understand how information flows through social networks.
  1. The rhetorical tradition: Communication as artful public address.
  1. Greco-Roman rhetoric was the main communication theory until the twentieth century.
  2. Six features characterize the tradition.
  1. A conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals.
  2. A confidence in the efficacy and supremacy of public address.
  3. A setting of one speaker addressing a large audience with the intention to persuade.
  4. Oratorical training as the cornerstone of a leader’s education.
  5. An emphasis on the power and beauty of language to move people emotionally and stir them to action.
  6. Rhetoric was the province of males.
  1. Readers of Aristotle’s The Rhetoric may be surprised to find a systematic analysis of friendship.
  2. Rochester Institute of Technology rhetorician Keith Jenkins examined how Obama appealed to friendship in his 2008 campaign rhetoric.
  1. The practical question Jenkins sought to answer was, "How did Obama persuade people by appealing to close relationships?"
  2. He approached this question from the rhetorical tradition because it’s designed to understand how language changes the minds of others.
  1. The semiotic tradition: Communication as the process of sharing meaning through signs.
  1. Semiotics is the study of signs.
  2. Words are a special kind of sign known as a symbol.
  3. I. A. Richards was an early scholar of semiotics.
  1. His “proper meaning superstition” identifies the mistaken belief that words have a precise meaning.
  2. Meanings don’t reside in words or other symbols, but in people.
  1. Communication professor Michael Monsour (Metropolitan State University of Denver) recognized that the word intimacy used in the context of friendship might mean different things to different people, and the disparity could lead to confusion.
  1. The practical question Monsour sought to answer was, "What does the word intimacy mean to people in the context of friendship?"
  2. He approached this question from the semiotic tradition because it’s designed to understand how the meanings of symbols change between people and across time.
  1. The socio-cultural tradition: Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality.
  1. Communication produces and reproduces culture.
  2. Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf pioneered this tradition.
  1. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity states that the structure of a culture’s language shapes what people think and do.
  2. Their theory counters the notion that languages are neutral conduits of meaning.
  1. It is through language that reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed.
  2. Patricia Sias, a communication professor at the University of Arizona, takes a socio-cultural approach when studying friendships that form and dissolve in organizational settings.
  1. The practical question Sias sought to answer was, "What communication practices shape deteriorating workplace friendships?"
  2. She approached this question from the socio-cultural tradition because it’s designed to understand how communication creates social realities.
  1. The critical tradition: Communication as a reflective challenge of unjust discourse.
  1. Critical theory derives from the German Frankfurt School.
  2. The Frankfurt School rejected Karl Marx’s economic determinism, but embraced the Marxist tradition of critiquing society.
  3. Critical theorists challenge three features of contemporary society.
  1. The control of language to perpetuate power imbalances.
  2. Critical theorists are suspicious of empirical work that scientists say is ideologically free, because science is not the value-free pursuit of knowledge that it claims to be.
  3. Critical theorists see the “culture industries” of television, film, music, and print media as reproducing the dominant ideology of a culture and distracting people from recognizing the unjust distribution of power within society.
  1. Southwestern University communication professor Davi Johnson Thornton investigated the image of an interracial friendship on the TV show Psych.
  1. Her critical analysis of the show argues that its particular portrayal of black/white friendship might actually reinforce racism rather than work against it.
  2. The practical question Thornton sought to answer was, "What ideologies of interracial friendship are produced through the TV show Psych?"
  3. She approached this question from the critical tradition because it’s designed to critique how language and the mass media perpetuate unjust differences in power.
  1. The phenomenological tradition: Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue.
  1. Phenomenology refers to the intentional analysis of everyday life from the standpoint of the person who is living it.
  2. The phenomenological tradition places great emphasis on people’s perceptions and interpretations of their own subjective experiences. 
  3. The phenomenological tradition answers two questions: Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships? How can this problem be overcome?
  4. Ohio University professor emeritus Bill Rawlins works within this tradition as he studies friendship by taking an in-depth look at the actual conversations between friends.
  1. The practical question Rawlins sought to answer was, "How do people create mutual understanding in their friendships?"
  2. He approached this question from the phenomenological tradition because it’s designed to probe how people develop authentic human relationships.
  1. Charting the field of communication theory.
  1. These seven traditions have deep roots in communication theory.
  2. They have been mapped with respect to the objective/interpretive dichotomy.
  3. Some theories are hybrids that arise from multiple traditions.
  4. They might not cover every approach to communication theory—thus the addition of the ethical tradition.
  1. The ethical tradition: Communication as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways.
  1. Since ancient Greece, scholars have grappled with the obligations of the communicator.
  2. The NCA adopted a “Credo for Communication Ethics,” which tackles difficult questions about communication and ethics: Is it always our duty to be honest? What limits, if any, should exist on freedom of expression? When does persuasion cross the line into intimidation and coercion?
  3. Craig has responded to our proposed ethical tradition by noting that, to define it fully, we'd have to explain how it compares to every other tradition.
  4. Concern for ethics spreads across the objective-interpretive landscape.
  5. The ethical tradition encourages every other tradition to consider what is right or wrong, what is good or bad, and who is virtuous or evil.
  6. Craig’s framework of seven traditions helps us make sense of the great diversity in the field of communication.

Close

You can access the Outline for a particular chapter in several ways:

  • Switch to View by Theory, then select the desired theory/chapter from the drop-down list at the top of the page. Look in the list of available resources.
  • To quickly find a theory by chapter number, use the Table of Contents and link from there. It will take you directly to the theory with available options highlighted.
  • You can also use the Theory List, which will take you directly to the theory with available options highlighted.

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 OUTLINES


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 ESSAY






New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more
in this short
video overview
(3:01).

CHANGE TO View by Theory
Theory Outlines
11th Edition

From the Instructors Manual

List mode: Normal (click on theory name to show detail) | Show All details | Clear details

Chapter  4—Mapping the Territory

Close

  1. Introduction.
  1. Communication scholars hold widely divergent views as to what communication is.
  2. Robert Craig thinks practical application is a great starting point for developing a tool to help discriminate between theories.
  3. Communication theory is the systematic and thoughtful response of communication scholars to questions posed as humans interact with one another—the best thinking within a practical discipline.
  4. Craig identifies seven established traditions of communication theory.
  1. The socio-psychological tradition: Communication as interaction and influence.
  1. This tradition epitomizes the scientific perspective.
  2. Scholars believe that communication truths can be discovered by careful, systematic observation that predicts cause-and-effect relationships.
  3. Researchers focus on what is without their personal bias of what ought to be.
  4. Theorists check data through surveys or controlled experiments, often calling for longitudinal empirical studies.
  5. Griffin, Ledbetter, and Sparks wondered if there’s a way to predict which college friendships would survive and thrive after graduation.
  1. The practical question the authors sought to answer was, "What predicts friendship that lasts over time?"
  2. They approached this question from the socio-psychological tradition because it’s designed to identify cause-and-effect patterns.
  1. The cybernetic tradition: Communication as a system of information processing.
  1. Norbert Wiener coined the term cybernetics to describe the field of artificial intelligence.
  1. Wiener’s concept of feedback anchored the cybernetic tradition.
  2. Communication is the link separating the separate parts of any system.
  1. Theorists seek to answer the questions: How does the system work? What could change it? How can we get the bugs out?
  2. University of Washington communication professor Malcolm Parks studies personal relationships by asking both partners to describe their social network.
  1. The practical question Parks sought to answer was, "How are friendships shaped by other people that the friends know?"
  2. He approached this question from the cybernetic tradition because it’s designed to understand how information flows through social networks.
  1. The rhetorical tradition: Communication as artful public address.
  1. Greco-Roman rhetoric was the main communication theory until the twentieth century.
  2. Six features characterize the tradition.
  1. A conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals.
  2. A confidence in the efficacy and supremacy of public address.
  3. A setting of one speaker addressing a large audience with the intention to persuade.
  4. Oratorical training as the cornerstone of a leader’s education.
  5. An emphasis on the power and beauty of language to move people emotionally and stir them to action.
  6. Rhetoric was the province of males.
  1. Readers of Aristotle’s The Rhetoric may be surprised to find a systematic analysis of friendship.
  2. Rochester Institute of Technology rhetorician Keith Jenkins examined how Obama appealed to friendship in his 2008 campaign rhetoric.
  1. The practical question Jenkins sought to answer was, "How did Obama persuade people by appealing to close relationships?"
  2. He approached this question from the rhetorical tradition because it’s designed to understand how language changes the minds of others.
  1. The semiotic tradition: Communication as the process of sharing meaning through signs.
  1. Semiotics is the study of signs.
  2. Words are a special kind of sign known as a symbol.
  3. I. A. Richards was an early scholar of semiotics.
  1. His “proper meaning superstition” identifies the mistaken belief that words have a precise meaning.
  2. Meanings don’t reside in words or other symbols, but in people.
  1. Communication professor Michael Monsour (Metropolitan State University of Denver) recognized that the word intimacy used in the context of friendship might mean different things to different people, and the disparity could lead to confusion.
  1. The practical question Monsour sought to answer was, "What does the word intimacy mean to people in the context of friendship?"
  2. He approached this question from the semiotic tradition because it’s designed to understand how the meanings of symbols change between people and across time.
  1. The socio-cultural tradition: Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality.
  1. Communication produces and reproduces culture.
  2. Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf pioneered this tradition.
  1. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity states that the structure of a culture’s language shapes what people think and do.
  2. Their theory counters the notion that languages are neutral conduits of meaning.
  1. It is through language that reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed.
  2. Patricia Sias, a communication professor at the University of Arizona, takes a socio-cultural approach when studying friendships that form and dissolve in organizational settings.
  1. The practical question Sias sought to answer was, "What communication practices shape deteriorating workplace friendships?"
  2. She approached this question from the socio-cultural tradition because it’s designed to understand how communication creates social realities.
  1. The critical tradition: Communication as a reflective challenge of unjust discourse.
  1. Critical theory derives from the German Frankfurt School.
  2. The Frankfurt School rejected Karl Marx’s economic determinism, but embraced the Marxist tradition of critiquing society.
  3. Critical theorists challenge three features of contemporary society.
  1. The control of language to perpetuate power imbalances.
  2. Critical theorists are suspicious of empirical work that scientists say is ideologically free, because science is not the value-free pursuit of knowledge that it claims to be.
  3. Critical theorists see the “culture industries” of television, film, music, and print media as reproducing the dominant ideology of a culture and distracting people from recognizing the unjust distribution of power within society.
  1. Southwestern University communication professor Davi Johnson Thornton investigated the image of an interracial friendship on the TV show Psych.
  1. Her critical analysis of the show argues that its particular portrayal of black/white friendship might actually reinforce racism rather than work against it.
  2. The practical question Thornton sought to answer was, "What ideologies of interracial friendship are produced through the TV show Psych?"
  3. She approached this question from the critical tradition because it’s designed to critique how language and the mass media perpetuate unjust differences in power.
  1. The phenomenological tradition: Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue.
  1. Phenomenology refers to the intentional analysis of everyday life from the standpoint of the person who is living it.
  2. The phenomenological tradition places great emphasis on people’s perceptions and interpretations of their own subjective experiences. 
  3. The phenomenological tradition answers two questions: Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships? How can this problem be overcome?
  4. Ohio University professor emeritus Bill Rawlins works within this tradition as he studies friendship by taking an in-depth look at the actual conversations between friends.
  1. The practical question Rawlins sought to answer was, "How do people create mutual understanding in their friendships?"
  2. He approached this question from the phenomenological tradition because it’s designed to probe how people develop authentic human relationships.
  1. Charting the field of communication theory.
  1. These seven traditions have deep roots in communication theory.
  2. They have been mapped with respect to the objective/interpretive dichotomy.
  3. Some theories are hybrids that arise from multiple traditions.
  4. They might not cover every approach to communication theory—thus the addition of the ethical tradition.
  1. The ethical tradition: Communication as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways.
  1. Since ancient Greece, scholars have grappled with the obligations of the communicator.
  2. The NCA adopted a “Credo for Communication Ethics,” which tackles difficult questions about communication and ethics: Is it always our duty to be honest? What limits, if any, should exist on freedom of expression? When does persuasion cross the line into intimidation and coercion?
  3. Craig has responded to our proposed ethical tradition by noting that, to define it fully, we'd have to explain how it compares to every other tradition.
  4. Concern for ethics spreads across the objective-interpretive landscape.
  5. The ethical tradition encourages every other tradition to consider what is right or wrong, what is good or bad, and who is virtuous or evil.
  6. Craig’s framework of seven traditions helps us make sense of the great diversity in the field of communication.

Close

You can access the Outline for a particular chapter in several ways:

  • Switch to View by Theory, then select the desired theory/chapter from the drop-down list at the top of the page. Look in the list of available resources.
  • To quickly find a theory by chapter number, use the Table of Contents and link from there. It will take you directly to the theory with available options highlighted.
  • You can also use the Theory List, which will take you directly to the theory with available options highlighted.

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