COMM 1100 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Explanatory Power, Orthogenesis, Optimal Control

• School: Ohio State University
• Department: Communication
• Course: COMM 1100
• Professor: Simon Lavis

Document Summary

Theory- a set of systematic informed hunches about the way things work: hunches- theory begins with ideas, hunches are informed- not jus wild stabs in the dark, hunches are systematic- there must be a system/logic involved. Metaphors to visualize theories: theories as nets. Better theory smaller mesh catches more of the world: theories as lenses. Helps us focus attention, appreciate detail in a certain area: theories as maps. Lecture 1. 3-worldview and the social scientific approach to communication. Used to help guide us through unfamiliar territory. Epistemologies (worldviews: positivist/post positivist (objective approach) Believe world is made up of objective truths. Use scientific methods to uncover those truths (positivists) or aim to reach those truths (post positivists: constructivist (subjective/interpretive approach) Belief that we, as humans, make meaning. Rather than identify knowledge, we make meaning. More collaborative in practice: pragmatic (know loosely) Uses theory of knowledge or method that best answers their questions.