Theories of Miscommunication

Throughout history the great unwashed had their media to communicate intimately matters of public interest. Therefore today stilt parley i. e. newspapers, magazines, journals, radio, television, film, video and many much are non new. The history of rush confabulation however evolved over time where by from each one polish was dominant during a certain period of time as discussed below. The oral communication refining was dominant during the pre-literate or pre-industrial time, they used the spoken joint for communication, vigor was indite, no news reports, television, and radio.Everything meant what it was supposed to mean, nothing was like read in the midst of the lines. The contrast of oral culture was memory. People relied on their memory, powerd a higher value on the present tense. Oral communication is still dominant in areas where the written culture does not exist. Their histories are verbally told by means of stories and myths. The written and printed communi cation culture started much or less 6000 old age ago with carvings and cave painting, phonetic alphabets put up been kn aver for little more than 3000 years ago, and writing as we know it today started way back in 800 BC.After the written word came into existence the spoken word became casual. Writing makes records for the creation of a historical sensibility for example skill. In 1450s a German, Johann Gutenberg invented the printed press. Publishing contributed to the advancement of literacy, publishing contributed to institutions much(prenominal) as schools and by the end of eighteenth century, printing press had created an entirely new in orchestrateation and nap communication culture.Electronic communication culture is todays new form of communication, the electronic and digital media dominate the mass communication culture. like a shot something is true because its on the television and internet not because its printed in the newspaper. In the 19th century, photography and film brought about the graphic revolution. Television however is the most dominant communication middling. When defining mass communication one has to define it from divergent perspectives because of its background and latest developments.For this reason mass communication has to be finished the various theoretic perspectives of mass communication which are. Media-materialist, emphasis is on the technical aspects and how engineering science of medium impacts on the nature of media messages and audiences for example difference between radio and television. Social culturist influence the kindly factors an media exertion and reception and functions of companionable media are emphasized. With the social materialist media and content are mainly seen as reflection on association.Mass communication has got central points such(prenominal) as communication, medium, message, and recipient, or audience, public nature of mass communication and diverse content of mass communication. A communicator is unremarkably a collective body a convention of people responsible for the production of programs, news bulletins, films, newspapers, websites and many more. A medium or a media is usually of technical nature and can involve complicated production and dispersal technologies and techniques. Also the channel through which the media content is transmitted and distributed. A message has both concrete and move up gist.It is concrete in the form of content being produced for example the newspaper story you can hold and read, a message is abstract in terms of the meat encoded in the content by the communicator and the meaning the reader, befooler,listener attaches to and derives from the content through their own interpretation of the content. An audience is heterogeneous and usually unknown, without audience there is no media. Other questions related to the focal points in any definition of mass communication are for instance what we mean by mass in mass communica tion? What do we mean by public sphere, publicness, and democracy?These questions feel been start outed from a number of theoretical perspectives. Lets look at the theories. Julia wood in her confine communication opening, explains theories scientific value and that it teaches us how to describe, interpret, understand, evaluate, and predict a phenomenon. It also o provides an over view of the development of a discipline. Its relations with other disciplines and its future developments. For example effect theories revolve about on the effect of the media on soulfulnessal behavior and the developed into a more holistic ascend to the effects of the media on party and culture in general.Effect theories started from a behaviorist perspective nearly associated with the positivism and behaviorism of the social sciences in the in the first part of the 1900s and then moved onto the more critical advancees presently practiced in the social sciences. Theory teaches us skills of descr ibing, interpreting understanding, evaluating, and predicting a phenomenon such skills can become entrenched in ways we take away to deal with our everyday relations such as relationships with colleagues and family members. Goals of theory are to then describe explain understand, predict control and reform.Theory has got twist blocks such as Ontology where we distinguish between devil broad views of humanity, determinism and humanism. Epistemology which in philosophical terms is the science of knowledge, we distinguish it between two varied schools the objective truth and inbred experience. Purpose according two Wood concerns the purpose of theory, its also distinguished between two schools the familiarist and situationalists. Focus the fourth building block is concerned with the two broad schools behaviorism and humanism.When evaluating theory Wood 200041-47 suggests five criteria scope, where we have to establish how well and how much a theory describes and explains, Testa bility, where a theory can be theorized about and investigated by different researchers and they arrive at the similar conclusion. Parsimony which refers to simplicity. A theory does not have to be complex. The fourth criterion is utility where theories need to have a practical value in terms of our understanding, controlling and improving of the phenomenon. The goals of mass media are to understand the structures involved and the human agency in influencing these structures.Understanding of the media and its structural relationships will come from different theoretical approaches as discussed below. Different authors have different ways of categorizing theories, Little John (1992341-374) distinguishes between macro and micro theories, Mcquail(200061-16) distinguishes between theories and approaches concerned with the relationships between media and society and between media and culture and a third branch of new theories and approaches concerned with relationships between new media and culture society.How we think about the power of media, the media effects on behavior, and the functions of the media in society and so on is usually done from a specific theoretical approach. Below we distinguish between the seven perspectives. The positivistic approach emphasizes on scientific methods on knowledge derived from scientifically processed and analyzed data about a phenomenon. The scientific method requires that all phenomena should be treated in the same way. In research the same rules and same requirements have to be applied and met regardless of the phenomena under investigation.Assumptions in positivism Application of the scientific method involves processes of empirical research which will yield objective findings and will ensure that no subjective elements intervene to influence the validity of the findings. This reasoning rests on the assumption that phenomenas are governed by universal laws which may be relevant through the application of the scientific me thod. It comp burn ups of certain fixed steps which must(prenominal) be followed by all researchers and requires use of standardized procedures and techniques.A researcher is only important in the sense that he or she must apply the method correctly. Empiricism is usually related to the born(p) sciences and is also called scientific method. The concepts of objectivity and measurement are highly valued. Behaviorism concentrates on the experimental abstract of human behavior. To a great degree this method still underlies the analysis of communication problems as kill within the framework of positivistic approaches Functionalism is usually associated with the sociology of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Talcott Parsons (1902-1979).It concentrates on repetitive observable phenomena or observable indicators of phenomena. advantageousness and mass communication. In positivistic research the emphasis is mainly on the efficient working and focusing of the media, efficient production of media content, functions of the media, medias effect on people and society. Weaknesses of positivistic approach The weaknesses originated from the work of German sociologist Max Weber 91864-1920) he drew his work from Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) who emphasized the difference between the natural and social sciences.Dilthey maintained that as social researcher would only gain insight into the social world by not distancing himself or herself from it claiming to objective. Human action is not just observable response to stimuli but it is ground on interpretation and understanding. Although positivistic research may claim that its findings are objective because of its use of scientific methods, human behavior itself is scientific and based on values intentions, interpretations, understandings, meanings and contents which may differ from person to person group to group and circumstance to circumstance.Critical approach. The development of critical thinking on mass communication has a l ong history. Critical thinking about mass communication started with what is called mass society theory. Mass society theory was formulated at the turn of 19th century and continued through the middle of 20th century. Began as a reaction to technological innovation that in turn gave rise to industrialization and urbanization. Assumptions Media has the power to influence the minds of average people. Media has corrupt minds. Media can initiate social chaos. Critical theory todayCritical theorists today are primarily concerned about medias ideological manipulation of the large number and capitalistic use and misuse of the media by owners to foster capitalized values. We have to describe as closely as possible the ideological instrument of society. These are instruments such as church, the economy, military and media. These instruments are responsible for production, circulation and distribution of ideology. The concept of ideology is therefore the center of the critical approach. Assu mptions Media are symbolic forms of expressions for example literature,theatre ,paintings, and many more.Assumes that the media and its different forms and genres like editorial comments can be read as texts. There is a relationship between production conventions and ideologies. There is a close relationship between media politics and the economy. Political economy is an comprehensive for all those theories and analytical approaches which seek to understand how sparing and political relationships, interests and affiliations determine the nature and functioning of social institutions and the impact or lack of impact of these relationships on social transformation and development.Public sphere. A German philosopher Jurgen Habermas (1979) argues that the modern market oriented media undermine the idea of public sphere as a place for debate where consensus can be reached on the basis of which rational actions can be taken. Criticisms of critical theory. It does not realise the libert arian, informative, educational and democratizing use of goods and services of media. Does not acknowledge the entertainment value of media for billions of people. Production theory has its bottom in the phenomenology and symbolic interactionism.Phenomenology is a point of departure in the social sciences from the work of the Austrian philosopher Alfred Schutz (1899-1959) Assumptions verity is not coursen, but it is a structure of meanings constituted by human beings. The shared world is a pre structured word experienced inter subjectively. Symbolic internationalism centers on the process whereby meaning is socially constructed. Assumptions Reality is not given but created by human beings by virtue of their capacity to give meaning to their experiences. Meaning is embodied in symbols.On both phenomenology and symbolic interactionism emphasis is on meaning and how meaning is constructed. Semiotics is the study of signs and codes. How signs and codes convey meaning. The aim is to sharpen our critical awareness on the ways in which media use signs and codes to reflect represent and imitate aspects of reality with the purpose of conveying a message. technological determinism This focuses on the technology of mass communication and how such technology determines the nature of mass communication and its role in society and the lives of people.Its aim is that a single cause determines all other aspects of life. Like economic determinism and biological determinism. Criticism against technological determinism. Lacks empirical support, its based on experimental research Does not acknowledge other research Information society approach concerns the role of the new media, information and communication technology in society. Its three broad enquiries are definition, characterization and description of new media, impact of Information communication on society, and policy related to new media. Post structuralist approach. s characterized by new social, economic, technolo gical, global and heathenish dynamics. Post modernity societys structuralism emphasizes on the relationship between assign and its meaning and the role of the producer or author of texts to encode a specific meaning into texts. Post-colonial theory and Afrocentric approach seeks to situate and understand phenomena within the context of the larger and unequal geo political histories of global and cultural power. normative theory concerns the perceived and ideal roles of the media which are to play in a society or ought to exercise if certain social values are to be observed or attained.