1. Philosophical Foundations: What is Theory?
Chapter Two
Philosophical Foundations:
What is Theory?

2. What is Communication?
Definition: “The process through which messages, both intentional and unintentional, create meaning” (Metts, 2004, p. 5).
Aspects:
Dialectical nature
Strategic and Consequential
Perceptual consequences
Behavioral consequences
Relational consequences

3. What happens on a first date that will lead people to go on a second date?
How can a student be successful?
What leads one broadcasting agency to become successful in a market?
What would make employees in a given organization more productive?

4. Theory is not behavior but an abstract representation of behavior
What is Theory?
Naïve or “lay” theories…
There is no single “correct” definition of theory
Definitions depend on assumptions and needs/goals of theorist
But all agree that theory if fundamentally an abstraction
Theory is not behavior but an abstract representation of behavior

5. Metaphors might help…
Theories are a Reduction of details to patterns of associations
A map
A fishing net
Spectacles

6. Difference between naïve theories and scientific theories
Both lay theories and scientific theories function to organize information, describe phenomena, explain how communication works, and sometimes predict future occurrences.
However, the important difference between lay theories and scientific theories is that scholars must be able to argue for the validity (truth or correctness) of their theories—they do this empirically, statistically, and/or logically

7. More Formal Definitions of Theory?
Abstractions of the social world…that explain how, when, or why something happens, and exist at varying levels of generality (Miller, 2005)
A description of concepts and specifications of the relationships between or among these concepts (Metts, 2004, p. 9)

8. What Theories Are Not
Theories should be distinguished from hypotheses, typologies, taxonomies, and models.
Hypothesis: A single statement about the relationship between two concepts
Typology: Thematic categories (e.g., types of immediacy cues in the classroom or types of power)
Taxonomy: Categories that are arranged hierarchically (types of animals)
Models: usually concerned with processes; draw on typologies, taxonomies, and theories but describe without predicting or explaining. Ex.: the stages of relationship development and deterioration

9. What a theory is not A hypothesis A model A taxonomy A paradigm
As depth of self-disclosure increases, relationships will grow
Compliance Gaining Strategies
REWARD APPEALS
1. Ingratiation
2. Promise
3. Debt
4. Esteem
5. Allurement
PUNISHMENT APPEALS…etc.

10. What is this?

11. What is this?

12. (Contact  more Intergroup liking)
What is this?
The more people from groups that do not like each other have contact or talk with each other, the more they will grow to like each other.
(Contact  more Intergroup liking)

13. What are the “parts” of a theory?
Miller (2005):
(1) description of phenomena,
(2) relationships among these phenomena,
(3) an underlying “storyline” that describes mechanisms at work, and
(4) links between the abstract theory and observed phenomena

14. First—some review!

17. What are the “parts” of a theory?
Metts (2004):
(1) concepts
(2) relationships among these concepts
Propositions OR Other statements
Propositions
Temporal
Correlational
Causal

18. What does a theory do? (Metts, 2004, p. 14)
Function
What the Theory Does
Organize
Describe
Explain
Predict

19. Functions of theories
To provide answers to interesting questions and/or solutions to important problems
Theories address empirical problems in which something about the observed world is puzzling
Theories address conceptual problems in which there are inconsistencies within a theory or with other theories
Theories address practical problems of daily life

20. How are theories developed?
Deductive approach to theory building: Abstract theories are developed early in process, then tested with empirical observations
Inductive approach to theory building: Theoretical abstractions are grounded on extensive empirical observation

21. Actual practice

22. How can I tell if a theory is good?
Metts Miller (Ch. 3; p. 44)
Utility
scientific & practical
Scope
Breadth (range of applicability)
Parsimony
Heurism
Falsifiability
Accuracy (entails falsifiability)
Consistency (internal and external)
Scope
Simple (Parsimony)
Fruitful (Heurism)

23. Paradigms > Theories The Paradox of Paradigms
Kuhn on Paradigms
Paradigms > Theories
The Paradox of Paradigms
Revolution versus accumulation

24. Paradigm shift as “Revolution”
Normal Science
Anomalies
“Revolution”
Crisis

25. Paradigms & Theories
Paradigm
Theory Type
Theory

26. Metatheoretical Commitments
Metatheory: “theory about theory” -- philosophical commitments
Metatheoretical commitments define different approaches to theory development and research practices
Three important aspects of metatheory are ontology, epistemology, and axiology

27. Ontology: The Nature of the Social World
Realist stance: The social world is seen as consisting of real entities, independent of an individual’s perception
Nominalist stance: The social world consists of names and labels we use to structure reality
Social constructionist stance: We create the social world through symbols and interaction but it then becomes a “reality” constraining our behavior

28. These positions are on a continuum
Realist Social Nominalist
Constructionist
Where do you fall on this continuum?

29. Epistemology: The creation and growth of knowledge (Table 2.1, p. 29)
Objectivist stance: Causal explanations of the social world are developed through separation of knower and known and use of the scientific method (observation, search for regularities in behavior; generalizable knowledge)
Subjectivist stance: Emergent and local understandings of the social world are developed through situated knowledge and reports of cultural insiders—researcher often becomes part of the group
Intersubjectivist stance…?

30. Paradigms: Burrell & Morgan’s View
Burrell and Morgan outline sociological theories, many of which also appear in communication research, on two continua.
These are continua, rather than simple categories (though they do inform Miller’s discussion).
The two are as follows:
1) Ontology/Epistemology (x-axis)
2) Axiology (y axis)

31. The Subjective-Objective Dimension
Ontology/
Epistemology
Subjective
Objective
(Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979: 3)

32. The Subjective-Objective Dimension
The subjectivist approach to
social science
The objectivist approach to
social science
Nominalism
Realism
ontology
Voluntarism
Determinism
human nature
Anti-positivism
Positivism
epistemology
Ideographic
Nomothetic
methodology
(Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979: 3)

33. Scientific key words CauseEffect, influence, affect, lead to
Factors, variables
Predict
Generalizable
Analytic/reductionistic
Quantitative (or qualitative)

34. Humanistic key words Contextual Interpretive Social construction
Holistic
Subjective
Qualitative (usually)

35. Axiology: The role of values in theory development
Most theorists now reject the idea that values can be totally eliminated from the research process
Three positions are still evident:
values only play a role in parts of the research process
values permeate the research process
values should direct the research process

36. Rephrased as questions:
Can research be value-free?
Should research be value-free?
What do you think?

37. The Social Change/Status Quo Dimension
Radical Social Change
Axiology
Regulation/Status Quo/Observation
(Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979: 3)

38. Critical key words Power (struggles, etc.)
Production and reproduction of social structures (like sexism, racism, classism)
Empowerment, emancipation, resistance
Social relations
Ideology, hegemony
Social change
NOTE: May be qualitative or quantitative

39. A very important note: Critical theory, at least in communication, is not a question of method or ontological/epistemological assumptions, but of the purpose of research:
Study 1: Does exposure to pornography lead men to see women in more objectified terms?
Study 2: In what ways does the movie, Thelma and Louise provide new (and empowering) narratives for women’s relationships?

40. Three (socially constructed) paradigmsnin communication!
RADICAL CHANGE
CRITICAL: Social change
SUBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
HUMANISTIC: Observe/ Interpret
SCIENTIFIC: Predict/ Control
(Source: Burrell and Morgan, 1979: 22)
REGULATION

41. Building Communication Theory Chapter 3

42. Two debates in “Communication”
1977: Laws, Rules Systems
1983: Scientific, Humanistic, Critical
Today’s debates?
1989: Rethinking Communication
What would you find at a communication conference today?
What do you find in the School of Communication at Illinois State University?