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COT721S - COMMUNICATION THEORIES MEMO - 1ST OPP - NOV 2024 |
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n Am I BI A u n IVER s I TY
OF SCIEnCE
TECHnOLOGY
FACULTYOF COMMERCE, HUMAN SCIENCESAND EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGES
QUALIFICATION: BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION
•
QUALIFICATION CODE: 07BCMM
LEVEL: 7
COURSE CODE: COT721S
COURSE NAME: COMMUNICATION THEORIES
SESSION: NOVEMBER 2024
DURATION: 3 HOURS
PAPER: THEORY
MARKS: 100
EXAMINER:
FIRST OPPORTUNITY EXAMINATION MEMORANDUM
DR SEVEN KAMWI
MODERATOR: MR ISACK HA MATA
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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer the questions according to instructions.
2. Read all the questions carefully before answering.
3. Number the answers clearly
THIS MEMORANDUM CONSISTS OF 5 PAGES{Including this front page)
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Question 1
[Sx4=20 marks]
Briefly explain the following broad categories of the communication models and provide
examples.
a) Transmission/linear model category
Referred to as the Harold Lasswell formula - based on five questions: "who says
what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?"
Focuses on the message/sender's need to be pursued with little regard for the
receiver - they are regarded to be passive.
b) Ritual/expressive model category
Communication is regarded as sharing, participation, association, fellowship, and
the possessionof a common faith.
Perceives communication as performative - for pleasure or entertainment.
c) The publicity/display/attention model category
Here, the objective of the communication process is to capture attention to sell a
physical product or a social product.
In this model, the aspect of catching and holding the visual or aural attention of the
audience is critical.
d) The reception model category
Argues that in any communication, multiple meanings can be derived by the
receiver.
Hall argued that senders of messages "encode" what he called a "preferred
reading", but that the receivers of the message can "decode" it in their way and
give the message a "variant or oppositional meaning" based on their experiences
and outlook.
Question 2
[25 marks]
Choose one kind of mass media organisation in Namibia and analyse its structure and
operations.
(Students to choose any mass media organisation of their choice - marker to use
discretion)
Question 3
[10x3=30 marks]
Using relevant examples, discuss the following theories of interpersonal communication.
a) Politeness theory
PT clarifies how we manage our own and others' identities through interaction -
through the use of politeness strategies.
PT explains how and why individuals try to promote, protect, or "save face,"
especially when embarrassing or shameful situations arise unexpectedly.
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Three assumptions of Politeness Theory:
First, PT assumes that all individuals are concerned with maintaining face.
Two dimensions to the concept of face: positive and negative face
Positive face - includes a person's need to be liked, appreciated, and
admired by select persons. Thus, maintaining positive face includes using behaviours to
ensure that these significant others continue to view you in an affirming fashion.
Negative face - includes a person's desire to act freely, without constraints or imposition
from others.
Second, PT assumes that human beings are rational and goal oriented, at least with
respect to achieving face needs (Brown & Levinson, 1978, 1987).
Finally, PT maintains that some behaviours are fundamentally face threatening
(Brown & Levinson, 1978, 1987).
This means, you will threaten someone else's face, just as another person will, at
some point, threaten yours. These face-threatening acts (FTAs)include common
behaviors such as apologies, compliments, criticisms, requests, and threats (Craig,
Tracy, & Spisak, 1993).
b) Social exchange theory
Developed by Thibaut and Kelley (1959), SETclarifies when and why individuals
continue and develop some personal relationships while ending others.
It looks at personal relationships in terms of costs versus benefits. What rewards
do you receive from a given relationship, and what does it cost you to obtain those
rewards? Before making specific predictions, however, certain assumptions must
be understood.
The theory takes into account how satisfied you will be with the relationships that
you choose to maintain.
Three assumptions guide the SET:
First, Thibaut and Kelley (1959) argued that personal relationships are a function of
comparing benefits gained versus costs to attain those benefits.
Second, and intrinsically tied to the first assumption, people want to make the
most of the benefits while lessening the costs. This is known as the minimax
principle.
Last, Thibaut and Kelley maintained that, by nature, humans are selfish. Thus, as a
human being, you tend to look out for yourself first and foremost.
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c) Dialectical theory
argued that relationships are dynamic, thus impossible for a relationship to
maintain a certain level of satisfaction or reach a constant status quo.
It believes that partners continue to develop their relationships by managing a
series of opposing, yet necessary, tensions or contradictions
Four assumptions that guide DT:
Praxis - suggests that relationship trajectories are neither linear (always moving
forward) nor repetitive (cycling through the same things again and again).
Change/motion- presumes that the only guarantee in a relationship is that it will
change.
Contradictions - within every relationship, both partners have essential, yet
opposing needs.
Totality - recognizes that without interdependence, a relationship cannot exist.
Question 4
(10x3=30 marks]
Mass media affects the audience in various ways. Discuss the three mass media effects.
a) Uses and gratification theory
The uses and gratifications theory stands in stark contrast to the magic bullet
theory of mass communication. Rather than the media infusing people's minds
with ideas, this theory says that people are quite particular about choosing media
content that suits their needs.
These needs can range from the need for information, entertainment, and social
interaction to the need for relaxation, escape, or arousal.
The uses and gratifications theory suggests that audience members actively pursue
particular media to satisfy their own needs. The reciprocal nature of the mass
communication process no longer sees the media user as an inactive, unknowing
participant but as an active, sense-making participant who chooses content and
makes informed media choices.
As the audience, we tend to avoid the media that do not agree with our values,
attitudes, and beliefs. Schramm argued that we make media choices by
determining how gratified we will be by consuming a particular media.
The Uses and Gratifications Theory discusses the effects of the media on people. It
explains how people use media for their own needs and get satisfied when their
needs are fulfilled.
Also, this theory is in contradiction to the Magic Bullet Theory which assumes the
audience is passive. This theory has a user/audience-centred approach.
b) Cultivation theory
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CTis most frequently applied to television viewing and suggests that frequent
television viewers' perceptions of the real world become reflective of the most
common messages advanced by fictional television.
Cultivation research studies media effects. Cultivation theorists posit that
television viewing can have long-term effects that gradually affect the
audience. Their primary focus is on the effects on the attitudes of viewers as
opposed to created behaviours.
Heavy viewers of TV are thought to be 'cultivating' attitudes that seem to
believe that the world created by TV is an accurate depiction of the real world.
The theory suggests that this cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes
already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which
are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to
their audiences.
Many times, the viewer is unaware of the extent to which they absorb media,
many times viewing themselves as moderate viewers when, in fact, they are
heavy viewers.
c) Framing theory
The media draws the public attention to certain topics, it decides what people
think about, the journalists select the topics.
This is the original agenda-setting 'thought.
The way in which the news is brought, the frame in which the news is
presented, is also a choice made by journalists.
Thus, a frame refers to the way media and media gatekeepers organise and
present the events and issues they cover, and the way audiences interpret
what they are provided.
Frames are abstract notions that serve to organise or structure social meanings.
Frames influence the perception of the news of the audience, this form of
agenda-setting not only tells what to think about, but also how to think about
it.
-ENDOF MEMO-
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