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Lecture Notes
Chapter 2: Histories and Contexts of Communication
Outline and Key Terms
I. The Challenges of Writing History
A. There are many different perspectives.
B. There are many different beliefs about the origins of communication – at least on the
surface.
C. Describing history, like communication, is presentational, with a particular spin put on
things.
1. Each historian writes from a particular perspective and with major interests.
2. Historiography, an area of study of communication, studies the persuasive
effect of writing history in particular ways and the reasons why particular reports
and analyses are offered by specific authors.
D. Communication research and theory develop and change as scholars work.
1. One key goal of research is to make developments and corrections to our
understanding.
2. Such changes lead to reevaluation of what has happened and had been assumed
to be true before.
a. Formerly viewed as reliably classic studies are seen in a new light and
their importance is diminished.
b. Replacement classics also fade as new approaches and critiques become
available.
II. The Development of a Discipline
A. The roots of communication study began well before Aristotle.
1. The first essay on communication, addressed to Kagemni, son of Pharaoh Huni
dates to 3000 BCE.
2. Earliest existing book on effective communication, Precepts, written by
Ptahhotep in Egypt, dates to approximately the year 2675 BCE.
3. The communication discipline was formalized for academic study from studies
of rhetoric, elocution, and speech.
4. The first formally organized professional association devoted to
communication, the Eastern Communication Association, was founded in 1910.
5. A number of other associations have been developed throughout the world.
6. These associations provide the discipline with a presence in the larger
academic community.
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7. These associations also provide the publication of academic journals and
conferences, which are two of their most important functions.
a. Journals publish academic research.
b. Conferences bring academics together to develop and share issues
related to the discipline and its instruction while sharing and discussing
research.
III. The Emergence of Areas of Study
A. Communication was devoted to public speaking, debate, and performance
from the start.
1. People studied public speaking or speech rather than communication.
2. Public speaking is still a major part of the basic communication course
but is no longer the major area of study in communication.
3. The importance is now on understanding everyday behaviors, not
special events like speeches by single individuals.
B. During communication’s first century as a discipline, three major areas
emerged – Rhetorical Criticism, Interpersonal Communication, and Mass
Communication.
1. Rhetoric and Rhetorical Criticism
a. The study of rhetoric originated in public address.
b. Aristotle and Socrates taught the sons of wealthy citizens.
c. Study of rhetoric later expanded into the area of writing.
d. Formal sites of higher education placed rhetoricians in English
departments.
e. Scholars interested in public address distanced themselves from
English, arguing that literature and public address and performance
are not all the same.
f. Rhetorical criticism and theory went beyond the creation and
delivery of a speech.
g. Rhetorical criticism enabled students to describe, interpret, and
evaluate the spoken word.
h. While rhetorical criticism has undergone massive changes,
rhetoric’s value and position in universities were not called into
question during its emergence.
2. Interpersonal Communication
a. As associations were being formed, increasing interest emerged
regarding interactions between people.
b. Scholars from multiple disciplines—linguistics, psychology,
sociology, and others—began to study interpersonal interaction.
c. Interpersonal communication scholars had no academic
department to call home.
d. By the end of World War II, speech and rhetoric departments
were experiencing problems.
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e. Social scientific revolution occurred in which scholarship
involving experiments and statistical analysis work were on the
rise.
f. Speech and rhetoric departments were engaged in other types of
scholarship.
g. Scholars of interpersonal communication found themselves in
speech departments and others were forced to study new subject
matter.
3. Mass Communication
1. Scholars from multiple departments studied mass media.
a. Newspapers
b. Books
c. Radio in the early part of the previous century
2. Scholars had no official academic home.
3. Initially, scholars found a home in journalism departments.
a. The arrangement benefited those studying mass
communication and those studying journalism.
b. Scholars established an academic home, and the research
provided legitimacy for journalism education.
c. Mass media scholars clashed with those already in the
departments, and did not fit in journalism departments.
IV. Coming Together (Kind of) as Communication Studies
1. Public speaking is still an area of study in basic communication courses, but
advanced courses are limited.
2. Rhetorical criticism is studied but is not limited to public address.
a. Rhetorical criticism now more likely to study all influences on
communication.
1) Media content
2) Technology
3) Even architecture
3. Interpersonal communication has grown in popularity with undergraduate and
graduate students.
a. Tends to focus on close personal relationships rather than two people
talking with one another.
b. Studying social and personal relationships now has a dominant presence
in the discipline.
4. Mass communication and journalism are still connected at some universities.
a. The study of media generally occurs in communication studies rather
than journalism.
b. The primary reason for this separation is the introduction of other media
besides the newspaper.
c. Radio (1940s) and television (1950s) came on the scene.
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d. Communication scholars also became interested in the study of media,
which is now a major area of communication studies, especially with the
rise of social media.
V. Future of Communication and the Relational Perspective
A. History writing often assumes things stop at the present and that the present
is how things should be as a result of a “logical unfolding” of developments.
B. We must assume that the discipline is not done developing.
C. A future direction for the discipline involves a relational perspective.
1. A relational perspective can be taken in any area of communication
studies.
2. The future of the discipline can benefit from applying a relational
perspective even more broadly.
D. In many colleges and universities, departments related to communication
studies are listed among one of the largest majors.
E. The knowledge and skills taught in this discipline are most sought after by
employers.
VI. Methods of Studying Communication
A. The nature of communication is expansive, and many challenges have been
experienced in its development intertwined with scholarly concerns about methods.
1. Differences in methods are significant because they point researchers at
different sorts of information and different questions.
2. Three influential approaches are social scientific, interpretivist, and critical.
a. Many communication scholars do not view these three as mutually
exclusive.
b. Research may encompass more than one approach.
B. Social Scientific Approach
1. This approach views the world as objective, causal, and predictable.
a. Laboratory experiments
b. Precise measurements of behavior
c. Emphasis on statistical numerical analysis of what is studied
2. Researchers seek to describe communication activity and discover connections
between phenomena or causal patterns.
3. Social scientists assume that Truth exists.
a. Truth is independent of the researcher.
b. Truth will be discovered by different researchers using the same
methods.
c. If Truth exists, certain assumptions must be made.
1) Reality is objective and exists externally to humans.
2) Because a True reality exists, human communication is
predictable and causal connections can be discovered.
4. Social scientific approach uses experiments and questionnaires/surveys.
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a. Experiments generally involve the manipulation of experience
to determine responses.
b. Questionnaires or surveys gather information from people and provide
data reported by participants.
1) One type asks people to recall a particular situation or
interaction.
2) Another type provides people with a scenario and asks them to
respond to that situation.
5. One advantage to the social scientific approach is that studies are easy to mount
and can involve large numbers of participants.
6. A second advantage is strong agreement between different types of social
scientists regarding the way assessments can be made of behavior.
7. A third, and potentially primary advantage, is its ability to explain patterns
of observations theoretically and to derive new predictions from previous work.
8. The primary assumption, that human behavior is fixed and predictable, has
been challenged.
a. Human behavior tends to be created an unpredictable rather than fixed
and predictable.
b. People tend to create their own unique realities rather than reacting to
an established shared reality.
9. Another disadvantage is that all of the variables that affect communication and
cannot be identified.
10. Additionally, research methods are often culturally insensitive.
a. Race, religion, gender, sexuality, education, national origin, age,
socioeconomic status, and other demographics are not taken into account.
b. Dominant social views are often privileged.
11. Researchers may impose too many restrictions on subjects.
12. Participants may not always be honest about the answers they provide.
a. Respondents may tell researchers what they think they want to hear or
what they think will make them look good (“social desirability effect”).
13. Convenient samples of participants are often used with social scientific
research.
a. Nearby
b. Readily accessible, such as students
c. College students are not representative of other groups.
C. Interpretivist Approach
1. Interpretivist approach seeks to understand and describe the communication
experience.
a. Frequently involves observation of communication in natural settings
b. Employs interviewing and textual analysis methods
2. The approach rejects the idea that a single reality exists and that causal
connections can be discovered.
a. Communication is seen as creative, uncertain, and unpredictable.
b. Interpretivists do not believe that the Truth exists.
3. Interpretivists reject the idea that research can be value free.
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a. Researchers are viewed as interpreting whatever is being studied based
on their own knowledge and perspectives.
b. Interpretivists believe that neutrality cannot exist; no researcher can be
truly objective.
4. Interpretivists often use grounded theory to analyze data.
a. Grounded theory works from the ground up.
b. Grounded theory focuses on observations grounded in data and
developed systematically.
c. Data are gathered and examined repeatedly with the expectation that
knowledge and understanding will emerge.
5. Data used by interpretivists tend not to be quantitative.
a. Interpretivist research uses symbolic activity as data.
b. May include nonverbal behaviors or spoken words.
6. Interpretivists use direct observation and participant observation
(ethnography) to gather data.
a. Direct observation involves observing communicative activity by a
particular group without the researcher engaging in interactions.
b. Participant observation involves interacting with the group without
doing anything that would alter what would have already taken place.
7. Interpretivists use interviews that result from asking questions and engaging in
general conversation about an issue.
a. Interviews can be like questionnaires.
b. Interviews allow for follow-up questions and probing deeper into
information, however.
8. Textual analysis is also used to analyze recorded communication.
a. Visual
b. Audio
c. Both
9. One advantage of the interpretivist approach is that it provides a deep
understanding of communication that cannot be gained by other perspectives.
10. A second advantage is the study of communication in a natural context.
11. A third advantage is interpretivists’ recognition of the observer in the results
obtained.
12. One disadvantage of the approach is its limited scope of understanding.
13. A second disadvantage with the approach involves researcher accuracy and
perspective.
14. Third disadvantage is that the methods used by interpretivists are time-
consuming.
D. Critical Approach
1. The critical approach seeks to identify the hidden but symbolic structures and
practices that create or uphold disadvantage, inequity, or oppression of some
groups in favor of others.
a. Studies attempt to uncover hidden or explicit power within a societal
group.
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b. Feminist critical theorists may expose how men’s contributions to
society are privileged over those of women.
2. The critical approach assumes society is advantageous to one set of people over
others.
a. Some members of society have greater ability to impose their values on
others and to establish the nature of taken-for-granted aspects of society.
b. Oppression and advantage are transacted through communication and
other means.
c. Another concern is that certain types of experiences are valued and
expressed because of power dynamics while others are not valued and
expressed.
3. Methods used in the critical approach are similar to those used in the
interpretive approach.
a. Interviews
b. Textual analysis
4. One advantage of the approach is its importance in redirecting the thinking of
communication scholars toward more awareness of inequities in society.
5. One disadvantage of the critical approach is the criticism that it gives itself
power and the right to identify the nature of inequity and how inequity might be
challenged.
6. It must also be noted that clarity regarding whether or not assessment of power
is accurate is in question.
VII. Improving Communication Studies through the Relational Perspective
A. Communication Education and Instructional Communication
1. A uniquely major area of study is devoted to improving communication
instruction.
a. Communication education involves teaching communication itself.
b. Instructional communication involves the study of teaching as
communication.
2. There are a number of programs of research in these areas.
a. Nonverbal immediacy
b. Teacher power
c. Teacher credibility
d. Affinity seeking
e. Humor
f. Clarity
g. Social communication style and orientation
h. Teacher misbehaviors
i. Argumentativeness
j. Verbal aggression
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k. Communication apprehension
3. Relationships develop within the classroom and all academic contexts.
a. Among students and instructors
b. Among students and advisers
c. Among students themselves
d. Among instructors themselves
B. Cultural Communication
1. There are four areas of cultural communication study.
a. Intracultural communication studies communication within a single
culture.
b. Intercultural communication studies instances when members of
different cultural groups interact.
c. Cross-cultural communication compares the communication of different
groups.
d. Critical cultural communication examines power issues within cultural
contexts and seeks to promote social justice and contest hegemony.
C. Family Communication
1. Family communication is often considered part of interpersonal
communication.
a. Interpersonal communication includes romantic relationships,
friendships, and social relationships.
b. Family communication, because of its importance, has become a
specific area of study.
2. Relationships within the family are the primary focus.
a. Family structure
b. Specific relationships within family units
c. Conflict
d. Divorce
e. Traditions
f. Storytelling
g. Violence
h. Celebration rituals
D. Group Communication
1. Small group research emerged in the 1970s and now includes a number of
perspectives.
a. Functional theory of communication in decision-making groups
b. The decision development perspective
c. Symbolic convergence theory
d. Structuration theory
e. Bona-fide groups theory
f. Socio-egocentric
2. The study of leadership communication has strengthened the area in
recent years.
3. People in groups rarely have no history with one another.
a. They enter into group situations with preexisting relationships.
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b. These relationships influence their interactions and decision making.
c. Group members with little shared history often generate relational
alliances and adversaries within the group.
E. Interpersonal Communication
1. A general term for the study of relationships
2. Study the ways relationships, identities, and meanings are created through
interactions.
F. Media
1. Media or media studies are the recognized terms for the study.
2. There are three primary areas of media study.
a. One area studies the impact of technology, or a particular medium,
on the construction of knowledge, perceptions, and social systems.
b. The second area studies media content, including television genres or
video game content.
c. A third area studies people’s reactions to technology and media content.
3. Recently, communication scholars have recognized that people actively
interpret media content in a variety ways and use content and technology for a
number of different reasons.
a. The formation and maintenance of relationships occur partly through
their use of technology.
b. People’s use and understanding of technology and media content are
based largely on relationships.
G. Health Communication
1. The study of health communication began in the 1980s.
a. Early research focused on interactions between patients and doctors and
public campaigns concerning health issues.
b. Health communication is now more focused on provider-patient
communication, which recognizes the interactions that happen between
patients and many types of health care providers.
2. Communication involving any treatment or health-related issue is now studied.
a. Within social networks of friends, family, and acquaintances
b. Among health care providers
c. Health campaigns and information sharing, which increasingly focuses
on Internet use when seeking medical information
H. Organizational Communication
1. Communication taking place within an organization or workplace is the
primary focus of organizational communication.
2. The sharing of information within an organization was originally the focus.
3. The processing of information and the creation of meanings and relationships
within organizations in workplaces are increasingly studied.
I. Persuasion
1. The study of persuasion can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Romans when
Aristotle and Cicero wrote books about friendship and persuasion.
a. Study of persuasion led to initial interest in interpersonal interaction
among teachers in speech departments.
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b. Many teachers interested in persuasion had received rhetorical training
and turned toward other forms of communication than rhetorical analyses.
2. Study of persuasion examines the ways in which thinking and behavior can be
modified.
3. Persuasion can involve many contexts and areas of communication.
a. Interpersonal
b. Media
c. Others
4. Persuasion is sometimes called coercion, compliance, brainwashing,
influence, manipulation, indoctrination, or propaganda.
5. Some suggest that symbol using is inherently persuasive.
J. Political Communication
1. The study of political communication can be traced to the ancient Greeks and
Romans.
2. Study emerged in the 1970s and fully developed in the 1980s.
3. Scholars study a number of areas of political communication.
a. Campaign strategy
b. Voter behavior
c. Campaign advertisement
d. News media coverage
e. Candidate speeches
f. Candidate debates
g. Communication once a politician is elected
h. The Internet as a political tool
4. Relationships are key in political communication.
a. Candidates strive for positive relationships with voters.
b. Relationships are formed within campaign staffs and among volunteers.
5. Vitally important to political communication research is the impact that talk
about candidates and political issues among friends, family, acquaintances,
has on voters’ perceptions and actions.
K. Public Relations
1. The study of public relations encompasses understanding the ways in which
organizations communicate and should communicate with the general public.
2. The study of public relations is concerned with how organizations can
influence the public views of them and their activities.
a. Public relations is about developing relationships between organizations
and the public.
b. An important area of concern within public relations is the ways in
which organizations are discussed among people who share relationships.
L. Rhetorical Criticism
1. Rhetorical criticism, it may be argued, serves as the basis of all communication
study, if it can be recognized as the analysis of symbolic activity.
2. Rhetorical criticism has developed beyond the study of public address.
3. Study entails the analysis of many areas.
a. Digital communication
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b. Cartoons
c. Memorials
d. Billboards
e. The human body
4. Approaches to rhetorical criticism directly or indirectly involve relationships.
a. Incorporating relational perspective can result in further development
and understanding.
b. Any analysis or study of symbolic activity can strengthen through the
recognition of relationships.