Wood Chapter 2 Theories1 Understanding Communication Theories Review from last class: How does mediated communication affect interpersonal communication? Consider this McLuhanish piece: By way of introduction into theory building, do you have a theory about nonverbal communication? &feature=PlayList&p=F35C9F56FDB8A863&playnext=1&index=15http:// &feature=PlayList&p=F35C9F56FDB8A863&playnext=1&index=15

Wood Chapter 2 Theories2 Theories 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.

Wood Chapter 2 Theories3 Goals of theories Description Explanation Prediction, control, and understanding. Reform (pursuit of positive social change)

Wood Chapter 2 Theories4 ASSIGNMENT: Develop a theory of communication for your classroom. Identify and describe the most important features of communication in your classroom. Explain how the features interact and what happens as they do. Offer an understanding of what the communication in your classroom means and how it is subjectively experienced by individuals in the class. Predict what will happen in the future, and define ways you could control future events in the classroom. Identify what should be the case for communication in your class. Are there any communication practices that oppress or discriminate against certain members of the class? If so, what needs to be changed to end or reduce the disadvantage? Does the communication that takes place support the goals of learning fully? If not, how should it be changed to improve learning?

Wood Chapter 2 Theories5 Standards for evaluating theories: scope testable simplicity useful heuristic

Wood Chapter 2 Theories6 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.

Wood Chapter 2 Theories7 Theories need to be: 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.

Wood Chapter 2 Theories8 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.

Wood Chapter 2 Theories9 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.

Wood Chapter 2 Theories10 To Do Sign up for case leadership. Figure out an approach for the course research paper.