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So now let's move on to the definition of the theory.

The most simple definition of the theory is what we know about and how we know it.

So it implies two parts.

First, is a generated knowledge about the way how universe works and how we know it.

So there is an understanding of the whole process, and the whole process

of getting this knowledge from the experiences of people or

generalizing different ideas which individuals come up with.

So here with a theory, we want to answer a few questions.

First, how does it work?

How do interpersonal relationship work?

How do family relationship work?

How does the media affect us and what is the cause of this?

What it is produces?

What this particular relationship will produce in future?

So as we know how it works right now,

we want to know what the consequences of this or another sort of the interaction.

Would it produce fear?

May be it will produce another relationship emerging there on the basis

of the previous ones.

Well these are the questions.

What causes it to happen?

What were the initial stimulus and initial factors that would define

the certain way that relationship will maintain and how it would be developing?

What should be the case of our studying?

And what should be the case for our research?

What are the particular frames?

And what is the framework basically of the whole process of human communication?

How do we use this term theory?

We do use it quite often, and I come up with different theories every day.

For example, the best coffee should be served before 10 AM in the morning,

and maybe later and after 10 AM, the coffee would taste better or

maybe it would taste worst.

For my case, it would taste worst, because I would be already waking up, and

I would not feel this excitement from the coffee.

But can we call this a theory?

Definitely no, but in this case, we are speaking about the commonsense theory.

Let's take a look to the interpersonal communication.

In a commonsense, you never tell any secret or

any embarrassing information to the person you first time meet in the bar.

This is very good advice, but it does not have any academic or

any other evidence apart from the individual experience of yours.

So never talking to strangers in a bar, well not never talking to strangers,

never telling them various secrets to the strangers in the bar,

that would be quite a common sense theory.

The other point when we use the term theory,

when we speak about working theory.

You definitely do study, or maybe you're a professional already, so you have some

sort of guidelines which navigate you through your professional process.

So in this case, working theory can be knowing the people you go in for

a meeting with.

Maybe this is the first time you meet and

you want to develop some sort of enterprise with them.

So you have to do kind of research about what other people and what

are you going to do with them in order to be successful during this meeting?

So you kind of conduct some sort of preparation and some sort of research.

This can be a part of your working theory which guides you through the professional

process.

And finally, scholarly theory.

This is what we're going to talk about.

Well, you will find this very practical and you will probably have some

assumptions about how you've already used this theory in advance before even knowing

that there is the whole theory developed about this communication process.

But how is it different from to you theories which we mentioned before,

it's commonsense and working theory.

Well, this is a systematic observation and

this is a systematic research which leads to the development

of some sort of generalization about the way how the world works.

So for example, if we already talked about the interpersonal communication.

And in the first case, you just have a little part of the knowledge, we will

guide you through this interpersonal communication with a stranger.

But there is the whole theory which is devoted to the way how

interpersonal communication which will develop between two individuals, and

this is the case of social penetration theory.

So basically, it says that while we're communicating with another person,

we would go through in certain stages and

we will disclose an information which can be totally different.

We'll start with the very superficial information and

exchange some data about ourselves.

So where are we from, what are we doing, what's our profession, and

the more communication developed, the deeper we go to the topics.

Which are close for

us, which are quite scary to share with people we don't really know.

Scholars outline that with the whole process of interpersonal

communication goes towards the self-disclosure.

Basically, the main point of the interpersonal communication is to

communicate the concept of self.

We want to share out very deepest secret, we want to share our fears,

we want to share our understanding of the world with another individual.

So this theory on the contrary of the first two,

outlines the whole steps in which communication would be developing.

And it implies a number of cases which were investigated and studied in advance.

How do we use this term in communication status?

We can see theory as an abstract understanding of the communication

process.

Well once my student in the class asked me question, she raised her hand and

she asked, why do we have to study things which are already there,

which they leaf through, but with different words?

Why do we have to learn these new words,

just to describe what's happening with us right here and right now?

That was a very good question, and basically what happens here is

that this new definition, they help us to create an understanding.

Before, naming the thing, we can't really say that the thing exists.

So this abstract understanding of a communication process is very useful.

As you acquire the terms and the definitions which will help you to go

through the thing and will help you to describe and understand what's going on.

The second approach is a lens, a lens or a framework through which we see and

interpret the world and our everyday practices.

How does it work here in this particular case?

Well, we probably have some students from different places, and

there would be different patterns of the communication.

And in this case, interpersonal communication can be developing

much faster than in other countries.

So this lens just can help us to limit the context of the communication and

help us to focus on a particular elements of the communicated processes and

couldn't forget about something else.

Anyway, when it comes to the public speech, we can talk about the rhetorics.

When it comes to the mediated communication, we talk about the channel

and the way how influence occurs between this medium and individual itself.

So this lens is quite a limitation.

Communication happens with us all the time and it's never ending process.

But in order to study something closer or understand a particular steps of

the communication development, we need to focus and we need to wear these lenses

to just limit our perspective at little point.

The third point is a systematic summary about the nature of the communication

process.

Here it comes with the real objective research which focuses on the very

important generalization.

So can be people seem the same?

Well, as we see communication through the lens,

definitely we cannot compare different people and different countries or

people who belong to different cultures.

But in this case, we can provide a sort of generalizations and

try to systemized the knowledge that we have.

So we can speak about the new knowledge which describes the patterns

of the communication.

So why do we need theory?

Well, the first case is to describe.

As I already told you about the case with my student, we need new terms and

new words to understand what is going on to focus on something.

And this would help us to explain why and how is it happening.

Humans are very special creatures, so we do need an explanation,

we need to know why does rain?

We need to understand why this speaker is more successful than another one.

We need to understand how the message that we read in

the newspaper would be understood by the other people.

The third point is to predict what going to happen.

Well the predictive power of theory is quite strong.

Because when we are guided by the theory, we can see a little bit further

as in the real life, we can usually see what's happening right here and right now.

Transformation of the reality and transformation of our values is

another very powerful potential of the theoretical approach.

So when we understand, we describe something, we explain it and we predict it

what going to happen, maybe we can be guided and we can adapt our lives somehow.

To adapt our values, to adapt our way of thinking, so we can make a better

world in which it would be comfortable and pleasant for us to live in.

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Defining Theory

Communication theory: bridging academia and practice

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