Reading Summary - Ch. 2 PDF

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Reading Notes, Ch. 2 TALK ABOUT THEORY - Behavioral Scientist - a scholar who applies the scientific method to describe, predict, and explain recurring forms of human behavior (Glenn Sparks) - Rhetorician - a scholar who studies the ways in which symbolic forms can be used to identify with people, or to persuade them toward a certain point of view (Marty Medhurst) Two Communication Scholars View a Diehard Fan - Ad: Peyton Manning for Mastercard - Support for your team is priceless - especially when they’ve screwed up. It’s something money can’t buy. “For everything else, there’s Mastercard.” Glenn: An Objective Approach - Objective approach - the assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased sensory observation; committed to uncovering cause-and-effect relationships - Ad relies on celebrity appeal to better public image of Mastercard - Persuasive technique - Attempt to explain as well as predict - Source credibility theory (Carl Hovland/Walter Weiss) - perceived competence and trustworthiness of a speaker or writer that affects how the message is received - Ex. Peyton is a famous football player - people trust him - Theory of Opinion change - when people forge a bond of identification with a highly attractive figure, they’ll gladly embrace his persuasive pitch - Identification - a perceived role relationship that affects self-image and attitudes; based on attractiveness of the role model and sustained if the relationship remains salient - Objective scientist would research and effectiveness - Did credit card sales spike? - Were the cards used more often? - Test effect on viewers who don’t know Peyton Manning Marty: An Interpretive Approach - Interpretive Approach - the linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative texts; assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible - The ad identifies manliness with money - become part of the team - Theory of dramatism explains the symbolic action - Dramatistic Pentad (Kenneth Burke) - A 5 pronged method of rhetorical criticism to analyze a speaker’s persuasive strategy - act, scene, agent, agency, purpose - Agent - Peyton Manning - Scene - everyday activities shown - Act - Peyton’s coaching in the proper attitude - Agency - use of typical football jargon and gestures - Purpose - acquisition/use of a Mastercard - Observe symbolic forms as they move “from what through what to what.” - Ad moves from blunders/confusion to positive attitudes and confident spending through symbolic dramatic action

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Interpreted message - manliness is being a positive part of the home team, and a Mastercard can get you there. Objective or Interpretive World Views: Sorting Out the Labels - Glenn - social scientist who works objectively - scientist/objective scholar - Marty - rhetorical critic of interpretive study - Not always rhetoricians - Humanists - study what it’s like to be another person in a specific time and place - Postmodern communication theorist call themselves - hermeneuticists, poststructuralists, deconstructivists, phenomenologist, cultural studies researchers, social action theorists - Usually involve a combo of these terms - Interpretive analysis - scholarship concerned with meaning - Interpretive scholars, interpreters = whole group - Rhetoricians, humanists, postmodernists, critical scholars = subgroups - Humanistic scholarship - study of what it’s like to be another person in a specific time and place; assumes there are few important panhuman similarities Ways of Knowing: Discovering Truth or Creating Multiple Realities? - Epistemology - the study of the origin, nature, method, and limits of knowledge - Scientists believe there is 1 truth - found via sensory observation - Researchers pool ideas to build collective body of knowledge about how the world works - Good theories mirror nature - remain constant as long as conditions remain similar - Interpreters regard truth as socially constructed via communication - Language creates social reality - always changing - Truth is subjective because meaning is interpretive - Relativists - arbitrarily assign meaning on a whim - Objectivity = myth -- can’t separate the knower/known - “Truth is a struggle, not a status.” - multiple meanings Human Nature: Determinism or Free Will? - Determinism - the assumption that behavior is caused by heredity and environment (scientist - passive) - Free-will Purists - insist every human act is voluntary (interpreter - active) - Scientists describe behavior as a response to prior stimulus - Ex. Kelman’s theory of opinion change suggests a cause/effect inevitability - Interpreters - believe in voluntary action - no need to ask why - “True choice demands to be its own cause and explanation.” - ISSUE - Individual freedom goes up, predictability of behavior goes down - Contrast of views - only free will is exempt from laws of physics - Humanism threatened by limits of human choice The Highest Value: Objectivity or Emancipation? - Values - priorities; questions of relative worth

- Guides what we think, feel, do - Scientists see difference between knower/known - Rhetoricians see range of free choice in knowledge - Empirical evidence - data collected through direct observation - Unbiased by personal philosophy - Let the evidence speak for itself - objectivity! - Interpreters do use personal philosophy - Value socially relevant research that frees people from any oppression economic, political, religious, emotional - Knowledge is never neutral - Every theory has 2 priorities - effectiveness and participation - Effectiveness - successfully communicating info, ideas, and meaning to others; persuasion - Participation - increasing the possibility that all points of view will affect collective decisions and individuals being open to new ideas; difference, opposition, independence - Scientists focus on effectiveness; interpreters on participation - Emancipation - liberation from any form of political, economic, racial, religious, or sexual oppression; empowerment Purpose of Theory: Universal Laws or Interpretive Guides? - Glenn - makes theories that apply to everyone - “One size fits all” (scientist) - Marty - interpret particular communication text in specific context - “Custom made, one of a kind” - Both views have same goal, very separate vocabularies Objective or Interpretive: Why is it Important? - Familiarize self with a theory underlying assumptions about truth, human nature, purpose of theory, and values ● Art ex. - Realism vs. Abstract Expressionism ○ You’ll get if if you know the initial point of view - Metatheory - theory about theory; the stated or inherent assumptions made when creating a theory - Classification is a good way to keep all the theories straight - Better to comprehend and find correlations/connections Plotting Theories on an Objective-Interpretive Scale - Most theorists don’t fall neatly into just one category - Objective/Interpretive are just 2 ends of a continuum - It’s a moving scale between the 2! ● Fig. 2-2, p. 22 - Classification map of all 32 theories!...