COMM 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Empiricism, Human Behavior, Metatheory
16 Sep 2016
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The body of speculation on the nature of theory and research (what are the assumptions that scholars make when thinking about theory) Answer the questions: what communication phenomena should be observed? (what counts as communication, how should it be observed? (interviews, surveys, experimental research etc. , what should be the goals of theory/research? (4 goals: explain, describe, predict, control) Ontological: branch of philosophy concerned with studying the nature of reality, attempt to define what reality is- communication being grounded in the real world, questions/assumptions. People who believe in no choice believe that it"s individual because they respond to stimuli. Other scholars believe communication is a social event (people work together to negotiate meaning or come to a common understanding) Does the context matter (the physical context (where does the transaction take place) or the relationship), some believe the meaning of words will change based on context so can"t predict anything.
