A perfect core text for introduction to communication or communication theory classes, Questions of Communication puts theory into context by using an accessible question and answer format — each chapter begins with a topical question and then shows students how different theories have sought to answer it.
ROB ANDERSON is a professor in the department of communication at Saint Louis University and has taught courses in interpersonal and mass communication theory and practice for over twenty years. Among his numerous other articles and books, he is the co-author of Before the Story (Bedford/St. Martin's, 1989).
VERONICA ROSS is a professor in the department of communication at Greenville College.
N.B. Each chapter ends with "Reviewing Key Theories," "Testing the Concepts," and "You, the Researcher". Introduction: "Why Study Communication?" Reasons for Learning the Ways of Knowing Some Direct Talk about How Textbooks Are Written
The Doubting Game and the Believing Game
Stages and Types of Learning Perry's Harvard Study Belenky and Colleagues' Women's Ways of Knowing Study Knowledge in an Ethical Framework 1. "How do We Learn About Communication?" The Importance of Questioning and Theorizing Theorizing as an Everyday Occurrence
The Attitude of Availability
The Theory-Building Cycle in Communication Science as Methodical Inquiry The Cycle Evaluating Theories What Do Communication Theorists Hope to Accomplish (Other Than Building Theories)? Covering Laws or Rules? Systems Theory 2. "When Have We Communicated?" Theorizing Communication Communication: A Cure?
Defining Communication Realistically
Communication: Continually Changing? What Is a Process? The Difficulties of Process Orientation Mutuality and Transaction Individualistic Approaches: One to Another? Mutualistic Approaches: Both Sides Now? Meaning Meaning is Processual Meaning is Personalized Meaning is Co-Constructed Meaning is Multidimensional Intention and the Definition of Communication: A Controversy
Models of Communication 3. "How Do External Contexts Affect Our Meanings?" Theorizing Contexts Context
Physical and Psychological Context: Nonverbal Life and the Theory of Immediacy The Nonverbal Message System: How Is It Theoretically Important? Immediacy Physical Settings: Environment and Space Social Context: Communicators and Technologies in Situations Social Levels of Communication A Communication Systems Model of Social Context 4. "How Do We Become Selves?" Theorizing Personal Experiences The Assumptions of Experience Surprise Sensing Self from "Who You Aren't" Perception, Not Reception Perception and Activity Selectivity Language In-Forms Personal Experience The Centrality of the Symbol: The Language Bridge to Social Life Inner Speech Theory Linguistic Relativity Theory Symbolic Interactionism Cognitive Organization and Planning Difference(s) Constructivist Theory Action Assembly Theory 5. "How and Why Do We Create Relationships?" Theorizing Interpersonal Communication "Ensnared" in Narcissism?
What Do People Need as Communicators? Social Exchange Theory: Rewards American Pragmatism: Social Contact FIRO Theory: Inclusion, Control, and Affection Relational/ Interactional Theory Axiom 1: "The Impossibility of Not Communicating" Axiom 2: "The Content and Relationship Levels of Communication" Axiom 3: "The Punctuation of the Sequence of Events" Axiom 4: "Digital and Analogic Theory" Axiom 5: "Symmetrical and Complementary Interaction" Interpersonal Perception Theory
Rules Theory The Source of Rules Defining Rules Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory Ethnomethodology: Uncovering Everyday Rules Dialectical Theory
Dialogic Theory Dialogic Meeting and a Philosophical Anthropology The Person-Centered Approach Hermeneutics and Productive Communication Dramaturgical Theory The Theatrical Metaphor The New Rhetoric of Identification Impression Management Symbolic Convergence 6. "How Do We Coordinate Our Actions toward Common Goals?" Theorizing Organizational Communication Defining "Organization" is Tougher Than You'd Think
Management-Based Theorizing: Organizations Manage Their Members' Communication Metaphor: The Machine Research Assumptions: Quantitative Social Science Organizations as Producers: Classical Management Theory Organizations as Collections of Individual Needs: Human Relations/ Resources Theory Systems-Based Theorizing: Organizations Contain Communication SubSystems Metaphor: The Organism Research Assumptions: Quantitative or Qualitative Social Science Organizations as Sets of Roles: Structural-Functionalist Theory Organizations as Both Causes and Effects: Structuration Theory Discourse-Based Theorizing: Organizations are Constituted by Communcation Metaphor: The Conversation Research Assumptions: Interpretative/ Qualitative Social Science Organizations as Conversations: Conversational Autonomy Theory Organizations as Cultures: Organizational Culture Theory Organizations as Sites of Power: Democratic Participation Theory 7. "How Do We Develop Cultural Flexibility?" Theorizing Cultural Communication Defining Culture
Culture: Basic Theoretical Concepts and Approaches Cultural Syndromes Borderlands and Border Crossings High- and Low-Context Cultures Theorizing about Cultural Dilemmas The Role of Theoretical Critique Articulation Theory: The Dilemma of Power Feminist Theorizing and Muted Group Theory: The Dilemma of Gender Afrocentric Theory: The Dilemma of Race Kinds of Cultural Communication Theories Emic Theorizing: Revisiting Organizational Culture Etic Theorizing: Cross-Cultural Contexts 8. "How Does Rhetoric Change Our Minds?" Theorizing Persuasive Communication Changing Minds and Minding Persuasion Mind Persuasion Concepts from the Rhetorical Tradition of Persuasion Classical Rhetorical Theory Occasions for Rhetoric Inartistic and Artistic Persuasive Appeals Types of Artistic Proofs Concepts from the Interpersonal Tradition of Persuasion Persuasion as a Helping Relationship Compliance Gaining Theory Mutual Persuasion Theory 9. "How Powerful are Mass Media?" Theorizing Media Systems Have Media Changed How We Make Psychological Sense? Medium Theory: Media Extend and Change Our Senses Medium Theory and the Human Sensorium Have Media Controlled Our Cultural and Social Behaviors? Shot with a "Magic Bullet"? Two-Step and Multi-Step Flow of Influence Theorizing Uses and Gratifications Theorizing Cultivation Theorizing Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, and Critical Theorizing Are Mass Communication and Interpersonal Communication Different Processes? Para-social Interaction Play Theory Spiral of Silence Theory The Theory of Mediated Place 10. "When is the Effective Choice the Ethical Choice?" Theorizing Communication Ethics The "Whether" Question
Theoretical and Philosophical Foundations for Ethical Communication Decisions Deontological Approaches Teleological Approaches Egalitarian Approaches Beyond "What Works": Specific Theories of Communication Ethics Virtue Ethics Taoist Ethics Dialogic Ethics Marketplace of Ideas Ethics Communitatian Ethics 11. "Why Does Communication Matter?" The Status of Communication Studies Studying Communication in a Discipline, an Interdiscipline, or a Field--And Why Does It Matter?"
Studying Communication in a Disciplined Way
Communication Departments in Higher Education Carving Knowledge into Slices: Who Decides? Communication Studies Departments and Majors A Healthy Discipline Knowing Your Past: A Discipline That Charts Its History Knowing Your Neighbors: A Discipline of Connections, Not Boundaries Knowing Your Content: A Discipline with Core Concepts Knowing Your Potential: A Discipline That Anticipates a Future