Communication Theories
In class we had a presentation about communication theories.
First we talked about, what communication is. It is information-related behavior, necessary for the life process, and takes three common settings, as there are interpersonal -, machine-assisted -, or mass communication.
Afterwards we discussed the communication models of several Theorists in chronological order. We stated with Lasswell’s model of the year 1948, which depicts a linear model. The model says that the speaker sends a message through a communication channel to a listener or an audience to achieve an effect. Easier formulated the model basically asks the question “Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect.”
Next we discussed Shannon & Weaver’s liner communication mode of 1949. This model included a so called “noise source”, which can disturb the transmission of the message. Shannon is considered to be the father of information theory.
Shannon & Weaver’s Model:
The theorist Schramm build three models, whereas the second model is the further development of the first model. He developed the first model in 1954, where he included the concept of en- and decoding. With his second model he added the idea that the communication partners need a common field of experience in order to understand each other. In his third model he then includes the concept of feedback and the communication model becomes for the first time a circular process. Therefore, Schramm is regarded as the founder of communication studies.
Schramm’s Third Model:
The communication model of Westley and MacLean includes different media sources which they name in their model “events.” Those events are then either directly transmitted, through a communication channel, or they are pre-selected by an advocate, before they reach the audience. Interestingly this model does not have a feedback possibility for the message receiving party.
Kincaids's Convergence Model of 1979 shows communication as a process, and not a single event, where information is shared to reach a level of mutual understanding. Here communication is depicted as dynamic and cyclical.
In conclusion, communication models developed from liner to cyclical and dynamic models and also changed to adapt to mass communications methods. Communication models offer convenient ways to think, by easy structuring the communication process and provide a graphical checklist.
Personal experience:
I personally experienced, what Schramm describes with his second model, that the sender and the receiver of a message need to have a common expertise in the topic discussed. Otherwise the message will not be understood. The same expertise does not even have to be a difficult topic, it can simply be a difference in the language spoken. For example, my roommates in America are French. Since I am German and I can not speak French and they can not speak German, we have to agree upon a language which we both speak, which would be English.
Another example of personal experience is the importance of feedback. I think probably everyone experienced that before. May it be just a simple thing, like a misunderstanding, which can be managed by sending the message sender a feedback of non-understanding or a feedback in college. If I would not get a feedback on my assignments, homework, and exams I would not now what I would have to improve the next time.
Links:
More communication theories:
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/
Presentation on communication theories:
http://act.uwstout.edu/CBL/CommunicationTheory.ppt#256,1,Communication%20Theory
Theories of mass media communication:
http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/
In class we had a presentation about communication theories.
First we talked about, what communication is. It is information-related behavior, necessary for the life process, and takes three common settings, as there are interpersonal -, machine-assisted -, or mass communication.
Afterwards we discussed the communication models of several Theorists in chronological order. We stated with Lasswell’s model of the year 1948, which depicts a linear model. The model says that the speaker sends a message through a communication channel to a listener or an audience to achieve an effect. Easier formulated the model basically asks the question “Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect.”
Next we discussed Shannon & Weaver’s liner communication mode of 1949. This model included a so called “noise source”, which can disturb the transmission of the message. Shannon is considered to be the father of information theory.
Shannon & Weaver’s Model:
The theorist Schramm build three models, whereas the second model is the further development of the first model. He developed the first model in 1954, where he included the concept of en- and decoding. With his second model he added the idea that the communication partners need a common field of experience in order to understand each other. In his third model he then includes the concept of feedback and the communication model becomes for the first time a circular process. Therefore, Schramm is regarded as the founder of communication studies.
Schramm’s Third Model:
The communication model of Westley and MacLean includes different media sources which they name in their model “events.” Those events are then either directly transmitted, through a communication channel, or they are pre-selected by an advocate, before they reach the audience. Interestingly this model does not have a feedback possibility for the message receiving party.
Kincaids's Convergence Model of 1979 shows communication as a process, and not a single event, where information is shared to reach a level of mutual understanding. Here communication is depicted as dynamic and cyclical.
In conclusion, communication models developed from liner to cyclical and dynamic models and also changed to adapt to mass communications methods. Communication models offer convenient ways to think, by easy structuring the communication process and provide a graphical checklist.
Personal experience:
I personally experienced, what Schramm describes with his second model, that the sender and the receiver of a message need to have a common expertise in the topic discussed. Otherwise the message will not be understood. The same expertise does not even have to be a difficult topic, it can simply be a difference in the language spoken. For example, my roommates in America are French. Since I am German and I can not speak French and they can not speak German, we have to agree upon a language which we both speak, which would be English.
Another example of personal experience is the importance of feedback. I think probably everyone experienced that before. May it be just a simple thing, like a misunderstanding, which can be managed by sending the message sender a feedback of non-understanding or a feedback in college. If I would not get a feedback on my assignments, homework, and exams I would not now what I would have to improve the next time.
Links:
More communication theories:
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/
Presentation on communication theories:
http://act.uwstout.edu/CBL/CommunicationTheory.ppt#256,1,Communication%20Theory
Theories of mass media communication:
http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/
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