Mid Term Test of ACT

SUBJECT: ADVANCED COMMUNICATION THEORY

MID TERM TEST

1.       In class we discussed about research “ideology,” following Guba and Lincoln’s (2005) discussion on paradigm in communication research. What is your research “ideology” and how do you situate your current and future research in the research paradigm? Please use your research topic as a case.

Research is guided by a set of beliefs or ‘world-view’ known as paradigm. Guba and Lincoln (1994) identified the 4 major type of paradigm as: Constructivism, Positivism, Post-positivsm, and Critical theory. There is no definite prove that one paradigm is superior to the others, that is why they are debateable.

Looking at my research topic which is “Building relationship in the context of educational cooperation between Indonesia and Thailand towards ASEAN Community 2015”, I might identify my research ideology as Post-positivism.

According to Killam (2013) on her video entitled ‘Complex Research Terminology Simplified: Paradigms, Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology’, Post positivism is a paradigm with critical realism ontology which believes that truth exist but it can not be perfectly detected due to flawed ways of finding it as well as the nature of phenomenon.

I found this video  on youtube and it really helps me in understanding the complex terminology regarding the paradigm topic. Killam also mentioned that in Post-positivism a theory can not be proven, but a strong case can be made for it by disapproving alternatives of explanations. In my research I will depend on case studies of the relationship between Indonesians and Thais in their cooperation as citizens of two different nations with different cultural backgrounds, values, and norms but with one objective to be engaged in  the ASEAN Community 2015. The methodology of my research will incorporate a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

2.       Craig (1999) explains about communication as “a transmission model” and “a constitutive model.” How do you think Craig reconcile the two models?

Transmission model, considered as a conventional model. It basically sees communication as a process of sending messages from sender to receiver or merely a process of transferring information. This model has been argued by many communication theorists as philosophically flawed, ideologically backward, and fraught with paradox.

On the other side, to critique the transmission model, a constitutive model pictures communication as a process that produces and reproduces shared meanings. Shared meaning means the mutual understanding of a specific message between sender and receiver.

3.       Craig (1999) also divided communication theories into seven traditions. Given the characteristics of each tradition, which one do you think is your communication theory “ideology?” Use your research topic as a case.

Among the seven tradition theory of communication, I might say that the theory ideology of my research topic would be the sociocultural tradition where communication considered as a symbolic process that produces and reproduces shared sociocultural patterns.

As I mentioned before, my research topic would be “Building relationship in the context of educational cooperation between Indonesia and Thailand towards ASEAN Community 2015”. The two nations involved in my research represent two different sociocultural environments.

In order to build relationship with other people or institutions from other countries, one should pay attention to characteristics of people from different culture, customs, and values, as well as the best communication approach that would be suitable to deal with them.

4.       In their Chapter on “Communicator,” Littlejohn and Foss’ (2008) mentioned several communication theories in the context. Please pick one theory that you find intriguing and explain it. Please also discuss how the theory can help you better understand human communication.

According to Littlejohn and Foss (2011), there are five theories about communicator; the sociopsychological tradition, the cybernetic tradition, the sociocultural tradition, the rhetorical tradition, and the critical tradition.

One theory that I find intriguing is the sociopsychological tradition which drives us to associate communicators as individuals. In my opinion, this theory will help us better understanding human communication. The drive of this theory is to understand how and why human beings behave the way they do, and most of the theories are in research of psychology. This sociopsychological theory has two types of theory: (1) Trait theory, which assumes that how individuals communicate to others depends on the traits exhibited as individuals and the environment in which they find themselves, and (2) Cognitive theory which describes that how individuals communicate to others depends on the information or knowledge that they already posses.

References

Craig, Robert T. 1999. Communication Theory as A Field. International Communication Association

Guba, Egon G & Lincoln, Yvonna S. 1994. Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research. Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Killam, Nurse. 2013, September 23. Complex Research Terminology Simplified: Paradigms, Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvpxBVCo0c

Littlejojhn, Stephen W & Foss, Karen A. 2011. Theories of Human Communication Tenth Edition. Illinois, USA: Waveland Press, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/147168513/Theories-of-Human-Communication-Littlejohn-1