Lecture 2 Basic Concepts in
Communications Studies
Objectives:
Understand some key terms in the field
for further studies
Learn briefly the technological and
social approaches to communication(s)
studies
Brain storming
Communication vs,
Communications
Communication
The act of
communicating;
On the physical and
technical aspect of
communication
activities
Communications:
The phenomena of
communicating;
collective term for all
communication
activities;
On the social aspect
of communication
activities
Activity 1,physicalize a phone
conversation
The picture can be described
as:
A man (speaks )
Message (to)
A telephone (connected by)
Cables (to a)
Receiver
In communications studies,
this can be put as:
Sender
Code
Medium
Channel
Receiver
Sender
The information source
Can be individual,group,and institution
Image,credibility,and techniques of the
sender have an effect on the outcome
of the communication process
Code
A system of meaning
Sign,the basic physical vehicle of
meaning in a language
Encode,making code
Decode,interpreting code
Medium
The technical or physical means of converting
the code (the message) into something that
can be transmitted along the channel
The presentational media,the voice,the face;
The representational media,books,paintings,
photographs,writing,architecture,interior
decoration,gardening,etc.
The mechanical media,telephones,radio,
television,computer,etc.
Channel
The physical means of transmission
Light waves,sound waves,radio waves,
telephone cables,the nervous system,
and the like
Receiver
The destination of information
Audience,the collective word for receivers in
mass communication process
Feedback,the transmission of the reaction of
the receiver back to the sender
Effect,changes on action and attitude of the
receiver
Information
The capacity to reduce uncertainty
Objectivity (quantification)
Social approaches to
communications studies
Media and society
Mass society
Marxist perspectives
Functionalism
Critical political-economy
Modernization and development
Communication technology determinism
The information society
The concept of,mass”
Mass,great volume,range or extent (as
of people or production)
Large aggregate
Undifferentiated
Mainly negative image
Lacking order
Reflective of mass society
Activity 2,Discussion on
“Mass”
Do you agree with the above
interpretation of,mass”?
With mass media in mind,find out what
“mass” denotes in terms of sender,
message,media,audience,and effect,
Assignment
Discuss the characteristics of the following
media and think about the social context as
well as the relationship between the form and
the content of the media:
Oral language,written language,printing,
telegraph,telephone,radio,movie,television,
video recorder,Internet
Models of mass
communication process
The dominant paradigm
A transmission model
A ritual or expensive model
A publicity model,communication as display
and attention
A reception model,Encoding and decoding of
media discourse
Sts are encouraged to find examples for these
models and to formulate their own models
Communications Studies
Objectives:
Understand some key terms in the field
for further studies
Learn briefly the technological and
social approaches to communication(s)
studies
Brain storming
Communication vs,
Communications
Communication
The act of
communicating;
On the physical and
technical aspect of
communication
activities
Communications:
The phenomena of
communicating;
collective term for all
communication
activities;
On the social aspect
of communication
activities
Activity 1,physicalize a phone
conversation
The picture can be described
as:
A man (speaks )
Message (to)
A telephone (connected by)
Cables (to a)
Receiver
In communications studies,
this can be put as:
Sender
Code
Medium
Channel
Receiver
Sender
The information source
Can be individual,group,and institution
Image,credibility,and techniques of the
sender have an effect on the outcome
of the communication process
Code
A system of meaning
Sign,the basic physical vehicle of
meaning in a language
Encode,making code
Decode,interpreting code
Medium
The technical or physical means of converting
the code (the message) into something that
can be transmitted along the channel
The presentational media,the voice,the face;
The representational media,books,paintings,
photographs,writing,architecture,interior
decoration,gardening,etc.
The mechanical media,telephones,radio,
television,computer,etc.
Channel
The physical means of transmission
Light waves,sound waves,radio waves,
telephone cables,the nervous system,
and the like
Receiver
The destination of information
Audience,the collective word for receivers in
mass communication process
Feedback,the transmission of the reaction of
the receiver back to the sender
Effect,changes on action and attitude of the
receiver
Information
The capacity to reduce uncertainty
Objectivity (quantification)
Social approaches to
communications studies
Media and society
Mass society
Marxist perspectives
Functionalism
Critical political-economy
Modernization and development
Communication technology determinism
The information society
The concept of,mass”
Mass,great volume,range or extent (as
of people or production)
Large aggregate
Undifferentiated
Mainly negative image
Lacking order
Reflective of mass society
Activity 2,Discussion on
“Mass”
Do you agree with the above
interpretation of,mass”?
With mass media in mind,find out what
“mass” denotes in terms of sender,
message,media,audience,and effect,
Assignment
Discuss the characteristics of the following
media and think about the social context as
well as the relationship between the form and
the content of the media:
Oral language,written language,printing,
telegraph,telephone,radio,movie,television,
video recorder,Internet
Models of mass
communication process
The dominant paradigm
A transmission model
A ritual or expensive model
A publicity model,communication as display
and attention
A reception model,Encoding and decoding of
media discourse
Sts are encouraged to find examples for these
models and to formulate their own models
