Chapter 2: Perspectives on Human Communication

Belief system that represents a particular worldview

A set of statements that explain a particular phenomenon

The specific ways that scholars collect and analyze data which they then use to prove or disprove their theories

Scholars who study the art of public speaking and the art of persuasion

Scholars in the 19th century who promoted the study of the mechanics of public speaking, including proper pronunciation, grammar and gestures

Contemporary term for the behavioral approach

Assumption for social science approach: 1. Oriented toward ? A branch of psychology that focuses on the study of behavior as a science more specifically observable behavior. 2. They believe that the aim of communication research is to ?,? and explain human behavior with the ultimate goal of discovering ? that apply across situations and contexts

The social science approach theories and methods: 1. Common data collection methods include observing subjects in either laboratory or ? setting (relating to everyday, real-life situations, such as a classroom, cafe or shopping mall) using surveys, and conducting focused interviews 2. Analysis method: Confirm or Disconfirm their hypothesis through ? which are methods that convert data to numerical indicators, and then analyze these numbers using statistics to establish relationships among concepts

An interaction pattern in which one partner criticizes or tries to change the other partner, who responds be becoming defensive and then disengaging - either physiologically or physically (social science theory)

Some people believe that their is a relationship between type of ? An emotional tie, such as closeness young children develop with their caregivers infants have with their caregivers and their communication later in life - specific type who engage in conflict management by using criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling (withdrawal)

What are the ethical issues related to social science approach? 1. They use guidelines of the ? which is based on the medical profession and emphasizes no ? should be done to research participants, all participants must be ? of all actions of the research process and privacy and confidentiality

What are the strengths and weaknesses related to the social science approach? Strengths: 1. Beneficial at ? and ? communication patterns and ? their effects Limitations: 1. Communication is not always ? 2. Predictions based on ? may not hold true outside 3. Surveys cannot fully assess individuals thoghts and feelings

Contemporary term for humanistic (rhetorical) study

communication that is used to influence the attitudes and behaviors of others; the art of persuasion

A system of thought that celebrates human nature and its potential

Assumption for interpretive approach: emphasizes ? instead of predictability, of human behavior. Assumption is that humans create their own ? and that researchers must tap into these ? for a full understanding of human communication.

Theories and Methods of Interpretive Approach: 1. Type of method in which researchers study naturally occurring communication rather than assembling data and converting it to numbers 2. ? approach that tries to build a theory based directly on participants' experiences and words 3. The grounded theory is a type of ? which is an approach to understanding communication that focuses on specific aspects of the content of a text or group of texts 4. Theory that outlined the components of defensive communication, as well as what contributes to, and resulted from, defensive communication, and the context of defensive communication 5. Two types of Qualtiative methods used in interpretive research?

4 suggestions of the Becker Theory for how to repair the potential damage caused by defensive communication 1 partners engage in supportive communication by indicating that they understand the other's perspective, relating common experiences, forgiving each other and engaging in intimacy and behaviors or humor 2 The offending partner apologizes and admits wrongdoing after seeing the damage to the other partner 3 Preventing future defensive communication - in contrast to metacommunication that involves discussion of a past defensive communication 4 Partners have a brief period of physical or verbal withdrawal to give the couple some time to regain their composure and clarify their thoughts

Relating to studies in which researchers actively engage with participants

Used by researchers to examine texts or public speeches as they occur in society with the aim of interpreting textual meaning "the setting in which they occur" (physical space - classroom or pace of worship as well as broader environments - educational versus social; historical versus contemporary) - ethical issues are different than ethno since not interacting must be as accurate as possible with depiction of text and historical time period in which they occurred

Ethical issues of interpretive approach? 1. Ethnographic researchers strive for ? and ?, a ?? in their relationships with participants 2. Becoming friends involves ? acting in a humane, non exploitative way, while being mindful of our role as researchers 3. To ensure that researchers share their interpretations and conclusions with the study participants (co-researchers)

Strengths and Limitations of interpretive approach Strengths 1. In depth understanding of communication in ? situations and the insight it offers into the purpose of those messages Limitations 1. Does not allow us to discover ? about human behavior because it usually involves ? participants - or ? - as in the case of rhetorical analysis of texts 2. Researchers are ? to ppl they study which means they might not accurately ? communication patterns they see

An approach used not only to understand human behavior but ultimately to change society (different from interpretive gather larger groups as part of theoretical predictions always explores communication in larger societal contexts)

Assumptions of the critical approach: Critical approach rises from the ? which attempts to reveal the complexities of culture and the ways people actively participate in their culture and resists its powerful infleuences

Similar to rhetorical analysis; used to analyze cultural "products" such as media and public speeches (qualitative critical approach )

Ethical issues of critical approach? 1. ? relationship to the objects of their study so particularly concerned about how they present worldviews 2. A key ethical question in whether they have the ? to study, analyze and represent other people's views particularly when crossing racial/ethnic and class boundaries

Strengths and limitations of critical approach? Strength: 1. Emphasis on importance of ? such as economic, political and historical forces on communication (largely ignored by the other 2 approaches) 2. Acknowledgment of the role of ? in communication Limitations: 1. Lack of ? interaction who focus primarily on media communication such as film, TV music etc 2. Help us understand the roles of ... may not help us to ? better in our lives 3. Like interpretative can not ?

Review: 1. The social science approach seeks ? of certain communications phenomena and from them attempts to find ? that explain human communication 2. The interpretive approach uses content analysis, ethnographic field studies, and rhetorical analysis to take a more ? specific look at human communication 3. The critical approach seeks to uncover the element of ? that exists in every interaction and to use communication analysis to effect ?