Rent 9780534516277 | Communication Theories in Action : An Introduction

Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

This text introduces students to a select set of leading theories in the communication field and demonstrates how these theories apply to their lives. Its chapters group theories coherently so that students can compare and contrast different approaches to particular interests in the field (for example: relationships, performance, language, and mass communication).

Preface	p. xvi
Thinking About Communication and Theory
Opening	p. 1
Values of Studying Communication Theories	p. 2
Knowledge of the Field	p. 2
Practical Value	p. 2
The Focus of Communication Theories in Action	p. 4
Selective Focus on Theories	p. 4
Attention to the Process of Theorizing	p. 4
Tensions Among Th... MOREeories	p. 4
Communication as a Field of Study	p. 7
A Definition of Communication	p. 9
Values of Communication	p. 11
Personal Impact	p. 11
Relationship Impact	p. 12
Professional Impact	p. 13
Cultural Impact	p. 14
Breadth of the Communication Field	p. 15
Intrapersonal Communication	p. 15
Interpersonal Communication	p. 17
Group and Team Communication	p. 17
Public Communication	p. 18
Performance	p. 19
Media and New Technologies for Communication	p. 19
Organizational Communication	p. 21
Intercultural Communication	p. 23
The Heart of Communication Research	p. 24
Symbolic Activities	p. 25
Meaning	p. 27
Careers in Communication	p. 28
Research	p. 28
Public Relations and Advertising	p. 28
Education	p. 29
Consulting	p. 30
Human Relations and Management	p. 30
Summary	p. 31
Key Concepts	p. 31
Understanding Communication Theories	p. 32
The Goals of Theory	p. 33
Description: What Is It?	p. 34
Explanation	p. 36
Understanding, Prediction, and Control	p. 37
Reform	p. 39
Standards for Evaluating Theories	p. 41
Scope: How Much Does the Theory Describe and Explain?	p. 41
Testability: Is It Testable?	p. 44
Parsimony: Is It Appropriately Simple?	p. 45
Utility: Is It Useful?	p. 46
Heurism: Does It Generate New Thought or Insights?	p. 46
Balancing Criteria for Evaluating Theories	p. 47
A Perspective for Studying Theories	p. 48
Theories Reflect Points of View	p. 48
Different Theories Are Not Necessarily Incompatible	p. 49
Theories Have Limited Focus and Scope	p. 51
Summary	p. 51
Key Concepts	p. 53
Building and Testing Theory	p. 54
Building Blocks of Theory	p. 54
Views of Human Nature	p. 65
Ways of Knowing	p. 60
Purposes of Theory	p. 63
Focus of Theorizing	p. 65
Testing Theories	p. 68
Hypotheses and Research Questions	p. 68
Quantitative Research	p. 70
Qualitative Analysis	p. 73
Critical Scholarship	p. 76
Assessing Research	p. 77
Summary	p. 79
Key Concepts	p. 79
Communication Theories
An Early Communication Theory	p. 81
General Semantics	p. 81
The Special Character of Symbols	p. 82
Symbols Are Arbitrary	p. 82
Symbols Are Abstract	p. 83
Symbols Are Ambiguous	p. 84
Meanings Are Contextual	p. 84
Remedies for Misunderstanding	p. 88
Etc.	p. 89
Indexing	p. 89
Feedforward	p. 90
Critical Assessment of General Semantics	p. 92
Too Simplistic	p. 92
Misrepresents the Character of Symbols and Language	p. 92
Lacks Applied Value	p. 93
Summary	p. 94
Key Concept	p. 95
Theories About Symbolic Activity	p. 96
Symbolic Interactionism	p. 96
Mind	p. 97
Self	p. 98
I and ME	p. 98
Role Taking	p. 99
Critical Assessment of Symbolic Interactionism	p. 102
Dramatism	p. 103
Identification	p. 105
Guilt	p. 106
The Dramatistic Pentad (Hexad)	p. 108
Critical Appraisal of Dramatism	p. 109
Narrative Theory	p. 111
The Narrative Paradigm	p. 112
Good Reasons	p. 113
Narrative Rationality	p. 114
Critical Assessment of Narrative Theory	p. 118
Summary	p. 120
Key Concepts	p. 121
Theories About Performance	p. 122
Dramaturgical Theory (Performance in Everyday Life)	p. 123
Dramaturgical Model	p. 124
Impression Management	p. 126
Front Stage/Back Stage	p. 127
Critical Assessment of Dramaturgical Theory	p. 128
Performance Ethnography	p. 130
Ethnography	p. 130
Direct, Bodily Experience	p. 131
The Hermeneutic Circle	p. 132
Personal Narrative	p. 133
Responsibility	p. 135
Critical Assessment of Performance Ethnography	p. 137
Performance as Political Action	p. 139
Performativity	p. 139
Cultural, Political Critique	p. 141
Critical Assessment of Political Performance Theory	p. 143
Summary	p. 144
Key Concepts	p. 145
Theories About How Individuals Construct Meaning	p. 146
Rules Theory or the Coordinated Management of Meaning	p. 147
Hierarchy of Meanings	p. 147
Rules	p. 151
Logical Force	p. 154
Critical Assessment of CMM Theory	p. 157
Constructivism	p. 158
Cognitive Schemata	p. 158
Cognitive Complexity	p. 161
Person-Centeredness	p. 163
Critical Assessment of Constructivist Theory	p. 164
Summary	p. 166
Key Concepts	p. 166
Theories of Communication Dynamics	p. 167
Interactional Theory	p. 167
Communication Systems	p. 168
Levels of Meaning	p. 173
Punctuation	p. 174
Communication and Power	p. 175
Critical Assessment of Interactioanl Theory	p. 177
Dialectical Theory	p. 179
Root Terms	p. 179
Relational Dialectics	p. 182
Responses to Dialectics	p. 185
Critical Assessment of Dialectical Theory	p. 187
Summary	p. 189
Key Concepts	p. 190
Theories About Communication and Relational Evolution	p. 191
Uncertainty Reduction Theory	p. 192
Laws of Behavior	p. 192
Theoretical Axioms	p. 193
Beyond Personal Relationships	p. 194
Critical Assessment of Uncertainty Reduction Theory	p. 196
Social Exchange Theory	p. 198
Evaluation of Relationships	p. 199
Standards of Comparison	p. 200
Equity and Inequity	p. 202
Critical Assessment of Social Exchange Theory	p. 204
Developmental Theories	p. 207
Viewing Relationships Developmentally	p. 207
First-Generation Developmental Theories	p. 208
Second-Generation Developmental Theories	p. 210
Relationship Trajectories	p. 210
Critical Assessment of Developmental Theories	p. 214
Summary	p. 215
Key Concepts	p. 216
Theories About Communication Cultures	p. 217
Communication and Culture	p. 218
Standpoint Theory	p. 219
Locations in Cultural Life	p. 220
Situated Knowledges	p. 221
Accuracy of Different Standpoints	p. 222
Standpoint's Relation to Communication	p. 223
Critical Assessment of Standpoint Theory	p. 225
Speech Communities	p. 227
Speech Community Theory	p. 227
Rules of Communication	p. 228
Misunderstandings	p. 230
Critical Assessment of Speech Community Theory	p. 232
Organizational Culture	p. 233
Organizations as Cultures	p. 233
Communication and Organizational Culture	p. 234
Thick Description	p. 239
Critical Assessment of Organizational Culture Theory	p. 240
Summary	p. 241
Key Concepts	p. 242
Theories of Mass Communication	p. 243
Technological Determinism	p. 244
Media History of Human Civilization	p. 245
The Medium Is the Message/Massage	p. 247
Hot and Cool Media	p. 249
Critical Assessment of Technological Determinism	p. 249
Cultivation Theory	p. 251
Cultivation	p. 252
The Power of Synthetic Reality	p. 254
Assumptions of Cultivation Theory	p. 256
Critical Assessment of Cultivation Theory	p. 259
Summary	p. 264
Key Concepts	p. 266
Critical Communication Theories	p. 267
Feminist Theories	p. 268
Gender	p. 269
Patriarchy	p. 269
Patriarchal Universe of Discourse	p. 270
Multiple Ways of Knowing	p. 271
Critical Assessment of Feminist Theories	p. 273
Muted Group Theory	p. 275
Masculine Bias	p. 275
Muted Language/Muted Experience	p. 276
The Power to Name	p. 277
Resistance to Dominant Discourses	p. 278
Critical Assessment of Muted Group Theory	p. 280
Cultural Studies Theories	p. 281
Culture	p. 283
Ideological Domination	p. 284
The "Theatre of Struggle"	p. 286
Overdetermination	p. 287
Response to Dominant Ideologies	p. 288
Critical Assessment of Cultural Studies Theories	p. 289
Summary	p. 291
Key Concepts	p. 293
Communication Theories in Action: A Final Look	p. 294
An Integrating Perspective on Communication Theories	p. 294
The Process of Theorizing	p. 295
Communication Theories in Review	p. 299
The Value of Theoretical Plurality	p. 302
Putting Theories into Practice	p. 303
Theories Cultivate Understanding	p. 303
Multiple Theories Promote Social Progress	p. 306
Communication Theories in Social Contexts	p. 307
The Frontiers of Communication Theory	p. 308
The Critical Edge in Theorizing	p. 308
Postmodern Puzzlings	p. 309
Postmodern-Poststructural Communication Theories	p. 311
Summary	p. 315
Key Concepts	p. 316
Glossary	p. 317
References	p. 331
Name Index	p. 355
Subject Index	p. 359
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Julia T. Wood is Professor of Communication at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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