History

This model is also known as the Osgood-Schramm model of communication.

Unlike other communication models, this model is a circular or cyclical model
that consists of all the essential elements of communication.

Schramm’s Model of Communication was proposed in 1954 and had its

origins in the Shannon-weaver model. Initially, it was proposed by Charles
Osgood. He initially proposed that communication is not a linear model but a
circular model. This model was later amended by W.Schramm, who
mentioned it in his book.

This model takes a classic approach to explain the flow of communication. It

suggests that communication is a two-way path with the message continually
passing between the sender and receiver.

The basis for this model is that the message should be understood between
the sender and receiver. For example, an art professor will not be able to
explain past participle tense to a group of second standard students.

Elements of the Schramm model of communication include Encoder or

Sender, Decoder or Receiver, Interpreter, and message. This model states
that communication is a two-way highway, which means that information
passes between the sender and receiver.

One part of this model states that the message passes from the sender to the
receiver, but similarly, when the receiver sends a message back to the
sender, then role reversal takes place. The sender becomes the receiver and
vice versa.

This model states that two elements are required to send a message that is
the sender and the receiver, and both of them have to encode and decode the
message. This is crucial for the effectiveness and correct interpretation of the
message.

Usually, when information reaches the recipient, he aims to comprehend what

the sender is trying to convey. If the receiver cannot comprehend or decode
the message sent by the sender, then the entire process of communication is
of no use.
Therefore decoding and encoding should be considered as two crucial
parameters for effective communication.

The model emphasizes that communication is not complete until the sender
gets feedback from the receiver. The earlier model of communications used to
end when the information was sent to the receiver.

They followed a unidirectional flow of communication. On the other hand, this

model is based on the bidirectional flow of communication in which the sender
and receiver interchange their roles. Schramm was a firm believer that
communication is a two-way process.

In this model of communication, there is no fourth element, unlike Berlo’s

Communication model. The message starts from the sender; it is encrypted
and then passed on to the receiver.

This receiver decodes the message and understands it. Then an appropriate
reply is encoded by the receiver, who then becomes the sender and sent back
to the sender who is now the receiver.

Wilbur Schramm, a well-known communication theorist, developed a

straightforward communications model in his book “The Process and Effects of
Mass Communications“. In the model, Schramm shown as Aristotle did, that
communication always requires three elements – the source, the message and
the destination. Ideally, the source encodes a message and transmits it to its
destination via some channels, where the message is received and decoded.
Schramm’s Model of Communication was postulated by Wilbur Schramm in
1954, where he suggested that communication is a two-way process where both
sender and receiver take turns to send and receive a message.

Information is of no use unless and until it is carefully put into words and
conveyed to others. Encoding plays a very important role because it initiates the
process of communication by converting the thought into the content. The
Schramm Communication Model offers a classic approach to and explanation of
communication. It can be used to determine how communication between two
people works when they’re exchanging information, ideas, or attitudes. This
model was adapted from the theories of another theorist Osgood, so it is also
known as Osgood and Schramm Model of Communication or Encode-
Decode Model of Communication. Thus encoding and decoding are the two
most important factors of effective communication without which information can
never flow between two individuals.
Schramm’s Communication Model

Schramm’s Model is as follows:

Schramm’s Model has different parts for communications where

 The sender is the person who sends the message.

 The encoder is the person who turns the message to be sent into codes.
We need to think of the right words to say and in what order we should
send our messages to communicate our ideas to the message receiver.
 The decoder is the person who gets the encoded message which has
been sent by the encoder and converts it into the language
understandable by the person. When receiving a message, we need to
use our reading skills, listening skills, etc. to decode the message so it
makes sense to us.
 The interpreter is the person who works to understand and analyze the
message. The message is received after interpretation. The interpreter
and receiver are the same people. One person may interpret the
message in a totally different way to someone else. Or, they may not
understand it the same way as the encoder, meaning they have
‘misinterpreted’ the text.
 The receiver is the person who gets the message. He/she decodes and
interprets the actual message.
 The message is the data sent by the sender and the information that the
receiver gets.
 Feedback is the process of acknowledging the received message by the
receiver.
  Medium or media is the channel used to send the message.
 Noise is the interference and interruptions caused during the process. It is
also created when the intended meaning of the message sent by the
sender and the meaning interpreted by the receiver is different which
is known as Semantic Noise.

Note: From the message starting to ending, there is an interpretation that goes
on. Based on this interpretation only the message is received.

This model breaks the sender and receiver model it seems communication in a
practical way. It is not a traditional model. When the information reaches the
recipient his prime responsibility is to understand what the speaker intends to
convey. According to Schramm’s model, coding and decoding are the two
essential processes of effective communication. The Schramm Communication
Model is a cyclical communication model containing all basic principles of
communication.

Advantage

 Dynamic model- Shows how a situation can change

 It shows why redundancy is an essential part
 Assume communication to be circular in nature
 Feedback – central feature.

Disadvantage

This model does not talk about semantic noise and it assumes the moment of
encoding and decoding.

1. Source

The sender is termed as the source of the message since he’s the one who
composes and sends the message to the receiver. The message must be
clear and legible, understandable by the receiver, and the sender has to take
care of all of these things.

The sender has to ensure that the information or the message that he is
sending to the receiver is relevant, essential, and precise. The message is
usually encoded so that the recipient can decode and understand the
message later.
The source of the message is the originating element from which the
communication begins, but in the case of this model, it is the same place
where communication ends. That is, the sender becomes the receiver and
vice versa.

2. Receiver

The receiver is also known as the decoder of the message. The receiver is the
one to whom the sender’s messages are sent. There are multiple factors to
consider to ensure that the recipient understands the message by decoding it.

It is also crucial that the receiver understands the source correctly, and both of
them have common factors such as language, culture, understanding, etc.
Because if the sender is unable to communicate in the receiver’s language,
then the whole purpose of the messages is defeated.

Imagine a Japanese person and a Portuguese person trying to have a

conversation when both do not understand each other. There is not a lot that
will pass between them unless they have a translator or an interpreter.

Just like in coding, decoding is considered as a psychological process. The

brain interprets the message received by the receiver and records it to make
meaning.

he process of communication can be termed as successful only if the receiver

can understand the sender.

3. Message

The message is the core content of the communication, and it can be a text,
audio, video, or a combination of all. The message is the communication that
is passed from the sender to the receiver.

It can also be verbal or non-verbal, depending on the sender and the receiver.
However, the message plays a crucial role in every communication model
because it is the communication itself that is to be transferred from the sender
to the receiver.
Non-verbal expressions such as handshake, facial expressions, body
language, and verbal content such as text, audio, speech, message, pictures
are used to communicate the message.

Sometimes an interpreter may be present to ensure that the respective

receiver or the sender correctly understands the message. The interpreter
analyses and interprets the message for the sender as well as the receiver.

If the interpreter misunderstands the message, then the wrong information will
be sent to the receiver, which will fail the communication model.

4. Feedback

It is a well-established fact that the recipient plays a significant role in

communication models. Feedback is when the receiver starts transmitting
information based on the input which he has received from the sender. This
information is transmitted back to the sender. Therefore the sender in the
earlier process becomes the receiver.

Feedback can also be seen as a message because it satisfies all the criteria
of being a message. It originates on one side and ends on the other side.
Feedback may not be as descriptive as the message itself but can include
anything from a head nod in agreement to a speech.

Feedback is crucial to understand for the sender whether the receiver has
understood the information correctly. This improves the effectiveness of the
communication.

If the receiver is unable to comprehend the sender, the sender can make
appropriate changes to the communication and transmit it back to the
receiver. Questions such as ‘Can you please explain further?’ ‘Are there any
doubts?’ will help you to get feedback from the receiver.

5. Semantic Noise

The semantic noise is interruptions that are caused in the process of

communication. The noise disrupts the message, failing the message, and the
communication process.
The intended meaning with which the sender sends the messages may or
may not be understood by the receiver because of the presence of noise.
Noise is responsible for diluting the message and may also result in an
alteration of the meaning of the message.

For example, the sender sent the message, which says that “Buy one, get one
free. Offer for a limited time.”

But the receiver only hears the first part of the message, which is “Buy one get
one free.” Therefore, he understands that the offer is for an indefinite time,
although this was not the sender’s intention. Hence this is called semantic
noise.

Advantages

1. This is the first model of communication, which is not a linear

model. This does not assume that communication is a unilateral
process but considers it a bilateral process making it a circular
model. This model allows both the sender and receiver to compose
and send it to the other party, thereby allowing both to be in each
other’s role.
2. The concept of noise is included in the communication model,
which helps to understand the problems which may occur during
the decoding of the message by the sender.
3. Since there is a feedback system in this model of communication, it
makes it easier for the sender to understand if the message has
been received, interpreted, and comprehended by the receiver or
not. The sender can also check if the receiver understands the
message as the sender intended it.

Limitations

1. The model is based on the assumption that encoding and decoding

do not require any external assistance and takes place
independently and on its own. This is not the case in the process of
communication. Both encoding and decoding require assistance. If
a text message is sent to you, you cannot read it with a mobile
phone.
2. This model cannot deal with complex communication processes
and a communication model that has different levels in it. It
 primarily considers that there are a sender and receiver. In reality,
there may be multiple senders or receivers, and communication
can be a multistep process that is not considered by this model.

Conclusion:

Schramm’s model of communication has more practical usability than

Aristotle’s, Berlo’s, or Shannon and Weaver models.

This model can be considered as an amalgamation of classic elements as

well as modern elements like Semantic noise and feedback. It has more
practical applications than previous communication models.

Schramm’s Model of Communication-

An Interactional Model
 

Schramm’s Model of Communication

Notes by Sis P. Michelle Mathias fsp
 
Please Note: DO NOT CONFUSE THIS MODEL WITH THE OSGOOD AND SCHRAMM
CIRCULAR MODEL. Many websites show the students the Osgood and Schramm Circular
model. For the notes on Osgood and Schramm's model please refer to my Blog titled
OSGOOD AND SCHRAMM'S CIRCULAR MODEL
Wilbur Schramm elaborated on the model of Shannon and Weaver and arrived at the
conclusion that both the Sender and the Receiver have the encoding and decoding activities
occurring simultaneously. He thus made a model that showed a two- way possibility with
the concept of a feedback.He also included the concept of the 'field of experience'. 

Schramm’s model views communication as a process wherein the message is transmitted using a
medium by a sender to a receiver. 

 The message is encoded by the sender and sent using correct verbal and visual symbols and
transmitted. 
 The receiver decodes the message and can respond to this message from the sender which will
confirm the correct reception of the message that was sent. Thus, a feedback loop is created.  
  The concept of noise, interference and field of experience was included in this model by
Schramm.

Concept of Noise:
Noise is non-intelligent interruptions in the message process: it can happen at any point in the process,
and acts to blot out part or all of the message.(Blythe 2009, Sage Publications)

Concept of Interference:

Interference is intelligent interruptions in the message process, in other words alternative messages that
confuse the receiver. (Blythe 2009, Sage Publications)

Concept of field of experience:

 It is said the by 1971, Schramm published the updated version of his model wherein, he included the
concept of the ‘Field of Experience’ or the ‘Psychological frame of reference’ within which the
communication occurs. It is this ‘Field of Experience’ that broadened the concept of a common field of
understanding between the sender and the recipient. An individual’s experience, culture, background
influences his or her communication. The communication between people can be smooth when “the
sender’s field of experience and the receiver’s field of experience must overlap, at least to the extent of
having a common language.” (Blythe 2009, Sage Publications). An absence of this common field of
experience could contribute to a lack of understanding or varied types of noise that emanate from a
misunderstood communication.   

The model which was initially developed as a linear model with the gradual changes that Schramm
developed was considered to be an interactional model. Wilbur Schramm stated that communicator’s
communicate their message based on their field of Experience. The receivers of this message have their
own field of experience while decoding this message and giving a feedback. The more the field of
experience’s overlapped, the better was the understanding of the message.

https://michellemathiasfsp.blogspot.com/2020/12/schramms-model-of-communication.html

Communication studies and Notes on Mass Communication and Journalism

Sunday, 6 December 2020