Building Communication Theory

This introductory text describes four major theories of communication with an emphasis on how theories are tested by communication researchers. Both trait and situational research is discussed. The fourth edition features new material on the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, message design logics, relational dialectics, face-work theory, spiral of silence theory, and the health beliefs model. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Concern with various matters related to humans as they communicate has led to an increase in both research and theorizing during the second half of the 20th century. As a matter of fact, so many scholars and so many disciplines have become involved in this process that it is virtually impossible to understand and appreciate all that has been accomplished so far. This book focuses on one important aspect of human sense-making -- theory building -- and strives to clarify the thesis that theories do not develop in some sort of social, intellectual, or cultural vacuum. They are necessarily the products of specific times, insights, and mindsets. Theories dealing with the process of communication, or communicating, are tied to socio-cultural value systems and historic factors that influence individuals in ways often inadequately understood by those who use them. The process-orientation of this book inevitably leads to an emphasis on the perceptions of human beings. Thus, the focus shifts from the subject or area called "communication" to the act of communicating. Finally, this volume offers insight into how the process of human sense-making has evolved in those academic fields commonly identified as communication, rhetoric, speech communication or speech, within specific socio-cultural settings.

This book provides a thorough analysis of the scientific, critical, and cultural questions at the foundation of theory-building in communication and other social sciences. Any claim to knowledge, the author explains, can be analyzed in terms of a series of characteristics: the object of its explanation, the explanatory form and evidentiary method employed, its characteristic explanations, the scope of its performance, and its consequences of value. From identifying basic epistemological questions to exploring the impact of the "knowledge industry" on society, the volume offers readers the analytical tools to understand, compare, and evaluate theories and their use both inside and outside the classroom. The book also includes a systematic analysis of communication's most influential theories and traces their genealogies across different content fields and disciplines.

This volume explores the concept of communication as it applies to organizational theory. Bringing together multiple voices, it focuses on communication’s role in the constitution of organization. Editors Linda L. Putnam and Anne Maydan Nicotera have assembled an all-star cast of contributors, each providing a distinctive voice and perspective. The contents of this volume compare and contrast approaches to the notion that communication constitutes organization. Chapters also examine the ways that those processes produce patterns that endure over time and that constitute the organization as a whole. This collection bridges different disciplines and serves a vital role in developing dimensions, characteristics, and relationships among concepts that address how communication constitutes organization. It will appeal to scholars and researchers working in organizational communication, organizational studies, management, sociology, social collectives, and organizational psychology and behavior.

In this revision of a long-enduring classic, Kraft draws upon faith experience and the social sciences to make pastors, preachers, missionaries, and religious educators aware of the mystery of human communication in the service of God who calls all into communion. The question is how to communicate with these other cultures so that the message is effectively transmitted and received? How to we recognize the gaps--of language, tradition, life experience--that separate us and build bridges over them.

Click ′Additional Materials′ to read the foreword by Jerald Hage As straightforward as its title, How to Build Social Science Theories sidesteps the well-traveled road of theoretical examination by demonstrating how new theories originate and how they are elaborated. Essential reading for students of social science research, this book traces theories from their most rudimentary building blocks (terminology and definitions) through multivariable theoretical statements, models, the role of creativity in theory building, and how theories are used and evaluated. Authors Pamela J. Shoemaker, James William Tankard, Jr., and Dominic L. Lasorsa intend to improve research in many areas of the social sciences by making research more theory-based and theory-oriented. The book begins with a discussion of concepts and their theoretical and operational definitions. It then proceeds to theoretical statements, including hypotheses, assumptions, and propositions. Theoretical statements need theoretical linkages and operational linkages; this discussion begins with bivariate relationships, as well as three-variable, four-variable, and further multivariate relationships. The authors also devote chapters to the creative component of theory-building and how to evaluate theories. How to Build Social Science Theories is a sophisticated yet readable analysis presented by internationally known experts in social science methodology. It is designed primarily as a core text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in communication theory. It will also be a perfect addition to any course dealing with theory and research methodology across the social sciences. Additionally, professional researchers will find it an indispensable guide to the genesis, dissemination, and evaluation of social science theories.

Featuring contributed chapters from established and emerging communication theorists with varied cultural backgrounds and identities, Communication Theory: Racially Diverse and Inclusive Perspectives decenters traditional views of communication by highlighting perspectives from the global majority. The text deviates from a white-colonial-normative theoretical core to provide students with a more holistic exploration of communication theory. The book helps readers understand how the communicative experiences of marginalized groups represent important theoretical frames necessary for a full, comprehensive view of communication. It offers innovative conceptions of communication theorizing centered in and through the perspectives of African American/Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous/First Nations people. Through the presentation of canonized theories alongside innovative, cutting-edge theories, the text challenges students to expand and enhance the ways in which they see, use, and apply communication theory. A unique feature of the text is the inclusion of storied reflections-personal narratives that reveal scholars at various stages of their careers ruminating on their own experiences with theory. These reflections demonstrate how ethnic and racialized standpoints can inform and advance scholarship within the discipline. Communication Theory presents an inclusive, holistic approach to communication theory and inspires continued exploration, research, and theory in the discipline. It can serve as a primary textbook as well as a companion volume to other textbooks on communication theory.