04:192:200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Nominalism, Metatheory, Scientific Method

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Communication
• Course: 04:192:200
• Professor: C R A I G Scott

Document Summary

Communication: beyond definitions: can consider domains where it is used and studied, sub-disciplines in field based on level of analysis, process studied, or context, similar divisions in everyday interaction, can consider competence issues, effectiveness, appropriateness. Inquiry is the systematic study of experience that leads to understanding and knowledge (littlejohn, 2001: moves beyond every day, common experience, three parts, asking questions, making observations, constructing answers, theory shapes and is shaped by this process. Scholarly theories: all theories, speculation, conjecture, informed guesses, and intuition about how and why things work as they do, lay/commonsense theories. There is nothing so practical as a good theory . Theories as tradeoffs: tradeoffs are made between accuracy, generalizability, and simplicity (if one or two are increased, the other(s) are decreased, you want it to apply to most people (generalizability) How are theories developed: deductive approach to theory building, abstract theories are developed early in process, then tested with empirical observations.