Craig’s 7 Traditions | Communication theory | edX Series

Summary

In this edX series video, the complexity of communication is explored through Robert Craig's seven traditions of communication theory. The video explains how different approaches can help in understanding the essence of communication relevant to specific contexts. The seven traditions are outlined as cybernetic, sociopsychological, sociocultural, critical, rhetorical, phenomenological, and semiotic. Each tradition offers a unique lens for examining communication, from focusing on information processes to exploring interpersonal interactions, cultural contexts, language dynamics, and symbolism. The video emphasizes the importance of choosing the appropriate tradition to analyze communication effectively in various situations.

Highlights

• Craig's seven traditions provide different lenses for viewing communication. 🔍
• Cybernetic tradition sees communication as information processing. 🤖
• Socio-psychological tradition focuses on interpersonal interactions and behavior. 👫

Key Takeaways

• Communication is complex, involving multiple theories and approaches. 📚
• Robert Craig outlines seven traditions to help classify communication theories. 🎓
• Each tradition offers a unique perspective on communication processes. 🌍

Overview

In the intricate world of communication, theories abound! Robert Craig, a pivotal figure in the field, helps us navigate this complexity by introducing us to seven unique traditions of communication theory. These traditions serve as diverse lenses through which communication can be analyzed and understood, whether we are focusing on information transmission or the socio-cultural contexts that shape our understanding.

The traditions range from cybernetic, focusing on the system-oriented view of communication, to sociopsychological, which delves into interpersonal interactions and behavioral responses. Each tradition provides a different aspect to focus on, such as cultural reproduction in the sociocultural tradition, and the influence of language and ideology in the critical tradition.

Further, we explore traditions like phenomenological, which looks at communication as a self and others' experiential process, and semiotic, which decodes signs and symbols within communication. By understanding these traditions, one can better grasp the multifaceted nature of communication and choose the right approach for a specific research or practical need. Understanding these can dramatically alter our approach to both studying and practicing communication across various contexts.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Communication Theory The chapter begins by discussing the complexity of the communication process, characterized by numerous variables and components. It acknowledges the existence of two primary theoretical approaches in understanding communication: interpretive and objective theory and research. The introduction sets the stage for an in-depth exploration of communication theories, preparing the reader to delve into the nuances of these two distinct approaches.
• 00:30 - 05:00: Robert Craig's Seven Traditions of Communication Theory Robert Craig's theory revolves around categorizing the numerous definitions of communication into distinct, homogeneous traditions. He establishes seven traditions: cybernetic, sociopsychological, and sociocultural, among others. The focus is on understanding communication through these various lenses.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Cybernetic Tradition This chapter delves into various traditions and approaches to communication, highlighting critical, rhetorical, phenomenological, and semiotic perspectives. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how each tradition views communication, which is crucial for research and grasping the communication process. The discussion encourages pinpointing the essence of communication and identifying the key focus areas to determine the most suitable theory for a given situation.
• 05:30 - 07:00: Socio-Psychological Tradition The chapter discusses the cybernetic tradition in communication, which views communication as an information process. This perspective emphasizes the systems, such as individuals or organizations, and the channels used to transmit messages. Communication in this tradition is goal-oriented, involving a sender and a receiver, with the sender having a specific intent.
• 07:00 - 10:00: Socio-Cultural Tradition The chapter 'Socio-Cultural Tradition' discusses the communication process and the potential discrepancies that can occur between the sender's intended message and what the receiver decodes. It highlights that communication is not merely a linear process, but can be complex, influenced by the communication channel and the noise within it.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Critical Tradition The chapter elaborates on the cybernetic tradition within communication theories, highlighting the pivotal role of feedback. This aspect revolutionized the understanding of communication from a linear sender-receiver model to a more dynamic, transactional process where feedback allows adaptation of messages.
• 15:00 - 17:00: Rhetorical Tradition The chapter discusses the concept of Rhetorical Tradition, which focuses on communication as interpersonal interaction. It is part of the psychological tradition and falls under a behavioral approach, emphasizing stimuli and reactions. The central theme is understanding the cause and effect relationships in the communicative process, highlighting expression, interaction, and influence. The goal is to comprehend how individuals within different societies communicate and interact.
• 17:00 - 20:00: Phenomenological Tradition The 'Phenomenological Tradition' chapter discusses the origins and objective nature of socio-psychological theories. These theories emerge from psychology and sociology, emphasizing universal laws applicable to human interactions. The focus is on explaining and predicting human responses to stimuli based on these universal principles.
• 20:00 - 25:30: Semiotic Tradition In this chapter on the Semiotic Tradition, the focus is on communication as a symbolic process involved in the reproduction or production of social order. This tradition emphasizes the importance of context, culture, and social practices, moving away from individual or group responses to stimuli, and placing significant importance on the broader socio-cultural relationships and contexts.
• 25:30 - 27:00: Summary of the Seven Traditions This chapter delves into the significance of social practices and routines in shaping societal operations and understandings. It underscores how societal interactions lead to the creation of shared meanings and common understandings of the world. Through communication, individuals contribute to and solidify the collective perception of reality.

Craig’s 7 Traditions | Communication theory | edX Series Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] so as we already discussed that communication is quite a complicated process which has many particles many variables and many parts which we have to consider uh we outlined two big types of two big blocks of uh approaches within the theoretical background itself this is interpretive theory and research and objective theory research let's now focus on the communication
• 00:30 - 01:00 theory itself and uh i want here to talk about robert craig's seven traditions of communication theory he starts with the notion that many many definitions of communication exist so how can we distinct and how we can divide these approaches into more or less homogeneous parts well upon his uh classification he divides seven traditions cybernetic sociopsychological sociocultural
• 01:00 - 01:30 critical rhetorical phenomenological and semiotic each one of them sees communication differently which is very important for your research and for your understanding of the process what would be the essence of communication what would be the key point at which you want to focus uh in order to find out the theory that fits the best particular situation you need to understand what communication is for you in this particular context so
• 01:30 - 02:00 let's take a look at the first one cybernetic tradition sees communication as a sort of information processes so here we focus on the system we focus at the individuals or organizations and the channels which are used in order to transmit the message communication within this tradition is always goal oriented so we do have sender receiver and the sender has an initial
• 02:00 - 02:30 goal before he creates the message and utilizes particular communication channel to transmitted or send it still what is received by the receiver and decoded initially is different from the sender's message well at least it can be different still we see communication as a linear or more complex process but it is about the channel and the noise
• 02:30 - 03:00 which may appear and might not appear within the communicative process still cybernetic tradition on the theories that lie within the field of this approach they were the first one to outline the importance of the feedback which made and trans which transformed the way we perceive communication from this linear sender receiver but for the transactional when we got the feedback and we can adapt our message
• 03:00 - 03:30 and we can adapt our communication strategy itself so it's a psychological tradition sees communication as interpersonal interaction it lies under this umbrella of behavioral approach focusing on stimuli and reaction so here we speak about cause and effect relationships uh within the communicative process it's all about expression interaction and influence we want to understand how different societies how within the different societies each individual
• 03:30 - 04:00 would respond to pretty much the same stimulus so it originates in psychology and sociology it tends to be quite objective and the theories from the socio-psychological tradition are quite objective so basically they are seeking for this universal laws which would be applicable throughout the human interaction and they would try to explain us how we can predict
• 04:00 - 04:30 uh each or another uh relationship development uh within different contexts socio-cultural tradition sees communication as symbolic process in reproduction or production of social order it's all about context culture and social practices so if we were focusing in the previous tradition at the level of an individual or a group in the way how would they respond to the different stimulus here we place an enormous
• 04:30 - 05:00 importance on the context in the way how the society operate itself so the social practices which we which are our everyday routines and the way how we understand and see the world they are created due to the interaction so individuals tend to talk to each other and while they're communicating they create the shared meaning and the shared understanding on what the world is and what this particular
• 05:00 - 05:30 situation is if you want to conduct your research within this particular tradition you would want to focus at the practices of individuals at culture and at the context in which communication occurs discursive reflection is what communication for critical scholars it all originated with the uh frankfurt school of thought a group of german scholars operating soon after the second world war
• 05:30 - 06:00 language and ideology are two main focuses of the critical tradition as scholars believe that the group who controls the language can actually be dominant within the given society what do we call different words what do we call different things is the essential for the discursive reflection as we all live in this discourse uh which altogether is devoted or it can be reduced to
• 06:00 - 06:30 our understanding of life so when i use the word democracy what do i mean under this word uh do i mean just fair elections do i mean that there is some competition within the political elites or do i mean that there is an open dialogue between publics and uh those who are in power so i can think of different ways the first one is very instrumental as i see at the electoral cycle and i see
• 06:30 - 07:00 the institutions and i mostly devote to devote the word democracy and reduce the word democracy for this understanding of the formal structures in the second example i would give the broader sense for the word democracy as it can be seen as an overall structure of the society and an attitude of people towards the these institutions and towards these
• 07:00 - 07:30 processes so this difference is embedded in to the discourse which is dominant within the society ideology for critical scholars is also very important as it's embedded and it also reproduces through the different tools and through the different forms of media that's why critical scholars are focusing on media itself as a mass form of communication which transmits and trans transmits the
• 07:30 - 08:00 ideology to the broader publics and after all this ideology through media becomes a part of the overall discourse so to understand communication you should break this power balance and imbalance relationship and to understand who is in charge of this language creation when you come to the public presentations you do use all your art of public speaking this is rhetorical tradition and it
• 08:00 - 08:30 originates in ancient greece as we know that the most of the important steps and important suggestions on the way how to structure your public speech were developed it's all about rhetoric and the way how we can influence through verbal and non-verbal communication so here we talk about the different forms of communication and it's completely different from all the other listed traditions though it can be seen quite simple it's very important and essential for
• 08:30 - 09:00 the understanding of mass communication what is our experience and can we understand the experience of other can we really walk in other issues and this is the questions which were fundamental for the phenomenological tradition as it says the communication process can be seen and perceived differently by different people so communication as experience of self and others through the dialogue is a
• 09:00 - 09:30 key focus of this tradition we consider standpoints and perceptions of different people in different situations within the given context so if we try to understand how the minorities group understand the reality and how do they conduct their communication how do they navigate themselves through the communicative situations we would better understand the consequences of such interactions
• 09:30 - 10:00 phenomenological tradition questioning rhetorics and semiotics as the signs and symbols can be seen differently by people with different backgrounds and rhetoric as the art of public speaking does not usually work the same different audiences the next tradition is semiotic the one which was questioned by the previous tradition
• 10:00 - 10:30 so uh here we speak about signs and symbols as communication seen as sharing meaning through system of science what does it mean it means that we all have some clues about the reality and reality is not usually clearly spoken if we got into the conversation of two people who know each other quite well we might not completely understand what's going on or
• 10:30 - 11:00 we can misinterpret this uh conversation because these people would already have a list of already spoken so they have special names and special uh different jargon for the situations and for the previous experiences they already have and us trying to understand what are the signs and what are the symbols uh within the interaction is quite essential and important representation and transmission of the meaning is
• 11:00 - 11:30 always given through the signs and symbols as we take a look at the commercial in advertising why do luxury brands have different styles compared to the regular food and products which we can see on the tv screens well because they have different meaning and they want to send the message without actually naming it so decoding the signs which we see in all around the world and through the
• 11:30 - 12:00 process of communication is the central and key focus of the semiotic tradition itself to summarize here a little bit we do have seven traditions and each one of them sees communication differently cybernetic tradition it's all about the linear or not linear process but about the system through which we transmit our message so it's your psychological traditions focusing at an individual in this behavioral aspect of his communicating practices so so cultural
• 12:00 - 12:30 tradition uh would rely on the context and the culture and the way how do we reproduce this culture throughout the communication critical tradition is all about ideology and discourse rhetorical tradition is the art of public speaking so i mean not the rhetorical tradition is the art of public speaking itself but it's his communication as an art of public speaking sorry phenomenological tradition is focusing
• 12:30 - 13:00 on the way how do we understand the experiences of other people and the experiences of the communication practices themselves semiotic tradition all about science and symbol which we can decode or which we will fail to decode who knows so you can choose one of the traditions through which in particular situation communication would be seen in a best perspective as this tradition is more like a lens
• 13:00 - 13:30 as it helps us to focus on some essential characteristics of communicative process at the moment and neglect but educatedly neglect the others you