Communication - Communication Notes

Communication

• It plays a pivotal role in various facets of life, from personal relationships to professional environments, and is essential for expressing oneself, understanding others, and achieving common goals.

Communication Models

There are basically 8 major models of communication that are very important.  These models come under three main categories of communication models. 

1. Linear model – only looks at one-way communication.
2. Interactive model – looks at two-way communication.
3. Transactional model – looks at two-way communication where the message gets more complex as the communication event (e.g. conversation) progresses.

Linear Communication Model

• Describes communication as a linear, one-way process in which a sender intentionally transmits a message to a receiver (Ellis & McClintock, 1990).
• This model focuses on the sender and message within a communication encounter.

Examples of Linear Communication Models

• Aristotle’s model of communication (350 B.C.)
• Harold Lasswell (1948) 
• The Shannon-Weaver model (Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver)- (1949)
• Berlo’s S-M-C-R model 1960.

1. Aristotle's Model of Communication: (300-350 BC)

Aristotle's model tells us that we should look at five elements of a communication event to analyze how best to communicate and they are: speaker, speech, occasion, target audience and effect.  
He also identified three elements that will improve communication: 

• Ethos (credibility)
• Pathos (ability to connect)
• Logos (logical argument).  

2. Lasswall's Model of Communication

• By: Harlod Lasswall in 1948.

This model seeks to ask 5 important questions:

Who? -> Says what? -> In which Channel? -> To Whom?-> With what effect?

• Who? 
  • Sender- who formulates and spreads a message.
• Says What?
  • Message- that the sender spreads.
• In Which Channel?
  • Medium- that is used to convey and spread the message.
• To Whom?
  • Audience- receiver(s), like a target group or an individual who receive/s the message.
• With What Effect?
  • The effect is the result the message leads to.

3. The Shannon and Weaver Model: 

By Claude Shannon (Mathematician) and Warren Weaver Model (Engineer) (1949)

• It is known as the “mother of all models”.
• Introduced noise concept
• Known as mathematical theory.

The Shannon-Weaver model represents six essential communication elements:

• Information source: (Sender)
• Transmitter (Encoder)
• Channel (Medium)
• Receiver (Decoder)
• Destination, 
• Noise source. (could interrupt the message)

4. Berlo’s S-M-C-R Model 

Berlo’s S-M-C-R(1960) model explains communication in four steps:

• S: Source, 
• M: Message,
• C: Channel, and
• R: Receiver.

Interactive model of communication

• Describes communication as a process in which participants alternate positions as sender and receiver and generate meaning by sending messages and receiving feedback within physical and psychological contexts (Schramm, 1997).
• The interactive model is also less message focused and more interaction focused. While the linear model focused on how a message was transmitted and whether or not it was received, the interactive model is more concerned with the communication process itself.
• According to this model, exchange of ideas and messages takes place both ways form sender to receiver and vice versa.

5. The Osgood-Schramm model (1954)

Note: This is a revised model.

• Osgood-Schramm Model provides a two-way form of communication, where communication between the sender and receiver occurs in a circular rather than a linear way. 
• As per Schramm model of communication (1954), there is a source, who encodes a signal, and there is a receiver, who decodes the signal.

In this model, Schramm has stressed the importance of feedback and noise which are considered essential elements of communication process.
Schramm’s Model has different parts for communications:

• The sender
• The encoder
• The decoder
• The receiver
• The message 
• Feedback
• Medium
• Noise

Charles Egerton Osgood popularized the notion that communication was circular rather than linear, meaning that it required two participants taking turns sending and receiving a message.

6. The Westley and Maclean model
By: Bruce Westley and Malcom MacLean (1957)

• It is based on the assumption that messages in mass communication pass through different check point called 'gatekeeper' before they are actually received by audience.
• Embraces the importance of feedback in communication.

Transactional models

• They look at two-way communication where the message gets more complex as the communication event progresses.
• A process in which communicators generate social realities within social, relational, and cultural contexts. 

7. Barnlund’s Transactional Model

By: Dean Barnlund, 1970.

• This model based on public, private, and also behavior cues.
• Multi-layered communication process with feedback.
• The eight elements of Barnlund’s communication model are: person, encoding, decoding, public cues, private cues, verbal, behavioral cues, nonverbal behavioral cues, and message.

8. Dance’s Helical Model
By: Frank Dance 1967

• Communication is represented as a spiral process, from a person's birth to the present.
• Cyclical,
• Influenced by time and experience,
• Continuous,
• Non-Repetitive