SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF COMMUNICATION
Understanding of the phenomena of our lives begins with a hypothesis that can be tested and a theory that can be examined. In explaining the usefulness of theories, McGuire ( 1981) called them maps. "Knowledge is not a perfect map of the thing known but without it one has to move through the environment with no map at all" (p. 42 ). Each of us has maps, theories about communication.
-3-
The trick is in making proper use of the theory, which involves recognizing the brilliant partial insight into reality that is provided by any theory's special perspective, seeing its applicability to a specific problem whose puzzling aspects it can illuminate, while at the same time recognizing its limitations and being open to alternative theoretical insights from which guidance can be obtained as one's initial theory begins to prove unsatisfactory. (p. 42 )
Theory is needed because no matter how long and hard people examine any object of inquiry--communication in this case--it will not reveal itself. Only by developing and testing hypotheses and weighing the lines of arguments advanced by different theories can the secrets of human communication be unlocked.
This book offers many maps. Each should increase your understanding of communication even if you do not agree with the points it makes. The theories may give you insights into how to communicate more effectively. Many theories in the chapters that follow probably will confirm your own observations about the dynamics of how people communicate in relationships, in organizations, and as they encounter mass media. The discussions may give you new and important insights into how communication works. Without maps, people wander helplessly and aimlessly. A good theory should help you to avoid being helpless and aimless. In fact, you have spent a lifetime developing theories of communication, probably without realizing what you were doing.
When you ask why you should study communication theories and research, realize that you already are a communication theorist. Each day you may watch television programs to be entertained, view commercial advertisements to learn about new products, or watch news broadcasts to find out information. You might say, "Tonight I deserve to reward myself with a couple of laughs on TV." Or you might decide to tune into the news to find out what is happening or to see how the weather report might affect your weekend plans. Researchers, as well as you, want to know why and how people select, think about, and respond to such programs. When you begin to converse with someone, you follow a theory that you have worked out regarding interpersonal interaction. If you want to borrow something from someone, you are likely to use a theory about what to say and do if the person is reluctant to grant your wish. You might be less mindful of what you say on the way into an office to work than if you are going to visit a friend who is suffering from cancer. When you participate in a meeting you do so according to some theory you have formed about group dynamics, leadership, and turn taking.
You may not consciously think of these theories all the time, or even much of the time, but, if you were pressed to do so, you would be able to explain why you are communicating as you are. To understand and explain why people do what they do are key roles of theories.
Scholars have discovered that people employ theories they have created to guide the way they engage in communication. Exploring this line of analysis, B. J.O'Keefe
-4-
O'Keefe and McCornack ( 1987) reasoned that during conversations, each participant operates out of a theory of conversation. The success of each set of conversational participants may depend on the extent to which their conversational goals are similar and whether they use their theories competently as they communicate to achieve their outcomes.
Theory can give orderly, as opposed to whimsical, explanations of events, interactions, and processes in which you engage each day. When you study theories and research that supports them, you should be able to clarify and improve your theories. Reading the theories and research in this book should increase your insight and help you communicate better, but we make no guarantees. Theory, research, and practice of communication are interrelated. Broadcasters and editors want to understand how and why viewers use television, listeners use radio, or readers use print journalism. This knowledge can help them develop programming. It can shape editorial policies. By understanding communication, government regulators and media managers can create laws and policies, such as designating movies by codes (G, PG, R, or NC-17). Research is used by advertisers of products and services, public relations practitioners, public speakers, and other professional communicators. Many large advertising and public relations companies support extensive applied research programs. Insight into communication can improve employee performance in many occupational contexts: business, health and medical service, legal practice, and others. For instance, researchers study doctor-patient communication to increase the likelihood that patients will tell their doctors the truth about symptoms and to improve the likelihood that doctors can persuade patients to take the prescribed medication. Understanding interpersonal communication may help people communicate more effectively with family members, thereby increasing the pleasure of family life.
For these reasons, we are convinced that studying communication is a benefit.
People are naturally curious about communication and generate explanations for the vital aspect of their lives. Professional researchers (e.g., faculty members) study theory and research to be able to assist students' understanding of the phenomena of their life experiences. Applied researchers use theory and research to increase the effectiveness of applied communication, such as advertising. For these reasons, the study of communication is not merely an intellectual challenge. It has value because it can make our personal and professional lives better. This chapter lays a foundation for studying communication. It explains how systematic inquiry entails observation, analysis, generalization, and prediction.
As people engage in daily communication activities, they naively construct and apply theories of communication. In contrast, social scientists go beyond mere intuition and personal observation to understand human communication by
-5-
constructing theories and then conducting research to test them. Behind systematic inquiry and research is the desire to discover order in our social universe. Systematic study requires researchers to go beyond mere observation of behavior, such as noting that some people watch more television or are more persuasive than others. Researchers are interested in observable behavior patterns, such as noting that people meet and greet one another ritualistically.
Research probes the human mind and looks for patterns of communication behavior to discover why people communicate as they do and to learn what effects communication has on opinions and relationships.
Your study of human communication will be easier and more rewarding, even fascinating, if you catch the spirit of observing and thinking about communication behavior with a sense of wonder. You may, for instance, wonder why sometimes a person will understand you quite clearly and at other times you can't seem to get that person to understand you no matter what strategies you try.
Are you causing the problem or is the other person? Or are both of you at fault?
Many other questions may prompt research. Why are some television shows entertaining and others not? Why do some people prefer one kind of television show over other programs? Why do some television programs make you laugh and others make you cry? Do all people greet one another in the same ways, for instance, saying "Good morning," even when the weather is miserable and they are ill? If not, why are there differences? And what are the different greeting patterns? Why do people ask the questions they do when they meet for the first time? How do they communicate to reduce the uncertainty they feel toward the world around them, their relationships with other people, and their own sense of competence? Why do some companies run smoothly with each employee seeming to understand what is going on, whereas in other companies nothing goes properly? Why do some employees feel miserable about their jobs and believe that no one in the department involves them in the flow of information and decision making?
Questions such as these show how inquisitive people can be about the ways they communicate. Seeking answers to these and other questions indicates the desire to understand communication to make it serve us better. To do so requires systematic investigation of the major factors that influence how and why people communicate as they do.