Communication theory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is about the discipline. For the journal, see Communication Theory (journal).
Communication theory is a field of information theory and mathematics that studies the technical
process of information[1] and the process of human communication.[2]
Additionally communication theory is “any systematic summary about the nature of the
communication process” (Dainton, 2019). It “is a coherent field of metadiscursive practice, a field of
discourse about discourse with implications for the practice of communication” (Craig, 1999, pg. 120)
and seeks to “provide conceptual resources for reflecting on communication problems” (p. 130).

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Origins
o 1.2Models of communication
 2Elements of communication
 3See also
 4References
 5Further reading
 6External links

History[edit]
Main articles: A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Jakobson's functions of language, Outline
of communication, and Harold Innis's communications theories
Origins[edit]
"The fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or
approximately a message selected at another point."[1] Claude Shannon (1916–2001)
The origins of communication theory is linked to the development of information theory in the early
1920s.[3] Limited information-theoretic ideas had been developed at Bell Labs, all implicitly assuming
events of equal probability.
Harry Nyquist's 1924 paper, Certain Factors Affecting Telegraph Speed, contains a theoretical
section quantifying "intelligence" and the "line speed" at which it can be transmitted by a
communication system.
Ralph Hartley's 1928 paper, Transmission of Information, uses the word "information" as a
measurable quantity, reflecting the receiver's ability to distinguish one sequence of symbols from any
other. The natural unit of information was therefore the decimal digit, much later renamed
the hartley in his honour as a unit or scale or measure of information.
Alan Turing in 1940 used similar ideas as part of the statistical analysis of the breaking of the
German second world war Enigma ciphers.
The main landmark event that opened the way to the development of communication theory was the
publication of an article by Claude Shannon in the Bell System Technical Journal in July and
October 1948 under the title "A Mathematical Theory of Communication".[1] Shannon focused on the
problem of how best to encode the information that a sender wants to transmit. He also used tools
in probability theory, developed by Norbert Wiener. They marked the nascent stages of applied
communication theory at that time. Shannon developed information entropy as a measure for the
uncertainty in a message while essentially inventing the field of information theory.
In 1949, in a declassified version of his wartime work on the mathematical theory
of cryptography ("Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems"), he proved that all theoretically
unbreakable ciphers must have the same requirements as the one-time pad. He is also credited with
the introduction of sampling theory, which is concerned with representing a continuous-time signal
from a (uniform) discrete set of samples. This theory was essential in enabling telecommunications
to move from analog to digital transmissions systems in the 1960s and later.
In 1951, Shannon made his fundamental contribution to natural language
processing and computational linguistics with his article "Prediction and Entropy of Printed English"
(1951), providing a clear quantifiable link between cultural practice and probabilistic cognition.
Models of communication[edit]
Main article: Models of communication
The studies on information theory by Claude Elwood Shannon, Warren Weaver and others,
prompted research on new models of communication from other scientific perspectives
like psychology and sociology. In science, a model is a structure that represents a theory.[4]
Scholars from disciplines different from mathematics and engineering began to take distance from
the Shannon and Weaver models as a 'transmissible model':
They developed a model of communication which was intended to assist in developing a
mathematical theory of communication. Shannon and Weaver's work proved valuable for
communication engineers in dealing with such issues as the capacity of various communication
channels in 'bits per second'. It contributed to computer science. It led to very useful work on
redundancy in language. And in making 'information' 'measurable' it gave birth to the mathematical
study of 'information theory'

— D. Chandler, [5]

According to Robert T. Craig in his foundational publication, Communication Theory as a
Field (1999), communication theory “consist of seven traditions that are […] characteristic of the
field: rhetoric, semiotics, phenomenology, cybernetics, sociopsychology, sociocultural theory, and
the critical approach.”
"Communication is a process of expression, interaction, and influence, in which the behavior of
humans or other complex organisms expresses psychological mechanisms, states, and traits and,
through interaction with the similar expressions of other individuals, produces a range of cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral effects.” (Craig, 1999, p. 143)

Elements of communication[edit]
Basic elements of communication made the object of study of the communication theory:[6]

 Source: Shannon calls this element the "information source", which

"produces a message or sequence of messages to be
communicated to the receiving terminal."[1]
 Sender: Shannon calls this element the "transmitter", which
"operates on the message in some way to produce a signal suitable
for transmission over the channel."[1] In Aristotle, this element is the
"speaker" (orator).[7]
  Channel: For Shannon, the channel is "merely the medium used to
transmit the signal from transmitter to receiver."[1]
 Receiver: For Shannon, the receiver "performs the inverse
operation of that done by the transmitter, reconstructing the
message from the signal."[1]
 Destination: For Shannon, the destination is "the person (or thing)
for whom the message is intended".[1]
 Message: from Latin mittere, "to send". The message is a concept,
information, communication, or statement that is sent in a verbal,
written, recorded, or visual form to the recipient.
 Feedback
 Entropic elements, positive and negative

See also[edit]
 Morse theory
 Almgren–Pitts min-max theory
 Digital Morse theory
 Discrete Morse theory
 Jacobi set
 Lagrangian Grassmannian
 Lusternik–Schnirelmann category
 Morse–Smale system
 Sard's lemma
 Stratified Morse theory

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Shannon, Claude Elwood (2011) [July and
October 1948]. A Mathematical Theory of Communication (PDF). The
Bell System Technical Journal. p. 55. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
2. ^ Dainton, Marianne; Elain D. Zellei; et al. (2011). Applying
Communication Theory for Professional Life (PDF). Sage Publications.
p. 247. ISBN 1-4129-7691-X. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
3. ^ Management Effectiveness and Communication, MBA 665, Online
Resources, Communication Models. Bob Jones University. 2008.
Retrieved November 5, 2011.
4. ^ Frigg, Roman and Hartmann, Stephan (2009). Models in Science.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved November
6, 2011.
5. ^ Chandler, Daniel (1994). The Transmission Model of
Communication. University of Western Australia. Retrieved November
6, 2011.
6. ^ Communication process (PDF). Center for Literacy Studies of the
University of Tennessee. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
7. ^ Richard Whately; Douglas Ehninger; David Potter (1963). Elements
of Rhetoric: Comprising an Analysis of the Laws of Moral Evidence.
Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-2974-8.
Retrieved November 7, 2011.
[1] [2] [3]
Further reading[edit]
 Chandler, Daniel. Transmission Model of Communication (1994). Daniel
Chandler, 1994. Web. October 10, 2009.
 Cooren, F. (2012). Communication theory at the center: Ventriloquism and
the communicative constitution of reality, Journal of Communication,
Volume 62, Issue 1, 1 February 2012, 1–20. Retrieved
from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01622.x
 Craig, R. T. (1999). Communication theory as a field, communication
theory, Volume 9, Issue 2, 1 May 1999, 119–161, Retrieved
from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.1999.tb00355.x
 Dainton, M., Zelley, E. D. (2019). Applying communication theory for
professional life: A practical introduction. 4th ed., Page 17. Thousand
Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved
from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NjtEDwAAQBAJ&oi=f
nd&pg=PP1&dq=Dainton+2004+Communication+Theory+Sage+Publicatio
n&ots=ZFKmtfQg9W&sig=7tuPShBWxhvF1cbSQRKrmaK3Jik#v=onepage
&q&f=false
 Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York, NY:
Anchor/Doubleday, 1959. 73.
 Lanham, Richard A. Analyzing Prose' 2nd (2003): 7, 10.
 Littlejohn, S. W.,Theories of human communication. 7th edition, Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth, 2002.
 Emory A Griffin, A first look at communication theory. 3rd edition, New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. ISBN 0-07-022822-1
 Miller, K., Communication Theories: Perspectives, processes, and
contexts. 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
 Werner, E., "Cooperating Agents: A Unified Theory of Communication and
Social Structure", Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 2, L. Gasser and M.
Huhns, eds., Morgan Kaufmann and Pitman Press, 1989. Abstract
 Werner, E., "Toward a Theory of Communication and Cooperation for
Multiagent Planning", Theoretical Aspects of Reasoning About Knowledge:
Proceedings of the Second Conference, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers,
pp. 129–143, 1988. Abstract PDF
 Robert, Craig T. "Communication." Encyclopedia of Rhetoric (2001): 125.
 Rothwell, J. Dan. "In the Company of Others: an introduction to
communication." 3rd Edition, New York, NY; Oxford University Press,
2010. 11–15.
 A First Look At Communication Theory by Em Griffin (Published by
McGraw-Hill)
 Communication Theory: Epistemological Foundations by James A.
Anderson
 Communication Theories: Origins, Methods and Uses in the Mass Media
(5th Edition) by Werner J. Severin and James W. Tankard
 Theories of Human Communication (9th Edition) by Stephen W. Littlejohn
and Karen A. Foss
 Communication: Theories and Applications by Mark V. Redmond
 Communication Theories: Perspectives, Processes, and Contexts by
Katherine Miller
 Communication Theory: Media, Technology and Society by David Holmes
 Building Communication Theory by Dominic A. Infante, Andrew S. Rancer,
and Deanna F. Womack
 The Communication Theory Reader by Paul Cobley
  Clarifying Communications Theories: A Hands-On Approach by Gerald
Stone, Michael Singletary, and Virginia P. Richmond
 An Introduction to Communication Theory by Don W. Stacks, Sidney R.
Hill, and Mark, III Hickson
 Introducing Communication Theory by Richard West and Lynn H. Turner

External links[edit]
Wikibooks has a book on
the topic
of: Communication
Theory

Library resources about

Communication theory

 Resources in your library

 Resources in other libraries

 American Communication Association

 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
 Central States Communication Association
 Eastern Communication Association
 International Communication Association
 National Communication Association
 Southern States Communication Association
 Western States Communication Association

show

Communication studies

show

Social sciences

1. ^ Cooren, F (1 February 2012). "Communication theory at the center:

Ventriloquism and the communicative constitution of reality". Journal of
 Communication. 62 (1): 1. More than one
of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
2. ^ Craig, R. T. (1 May 1999). "Communication theory as a
field". communication theory. 9 (2): 119. More than one
of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
3. ^ Dainton, M; Zelley, E. D. (2019). Applying communication theory for
professional life: A practical introduction (4 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA,
US: Sage Publications, Inc. p. 17.
Categories:
 Communication theory
 Human communication
 Linguistics
Navigation menu
 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Search

 Main page
 Contents
 Featured content
 Current events
 Random article
 Donate to Wikipedia
 Wikipedia store
Interaction
 Help
 About Wikipedia
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Contact page
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Upload file
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Wikidata item
 Cite this page
Print/export
 Create a book
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
In other projects
 Wikibooks
 Wikiquote
Languages
 ‫العربية‬
 Dansk
 Español
 Français
 Gaeilge
 한국어
 Bahasa Indonesia
 Italiano
 Svenska
5 more
Edit links
 This page was last edited on 29 November 2018, at 16:27 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional
terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Developers

 Cookie statement

 Mobile view