The Communication Capstone

The Communication Inquiry and Theory Experience

Editors:

Brian H. Spitzberg, Daniel J. Canary, and Heather E. CanarySan Diego State University

S A N D I E G O

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Brief Contents

Part I Knowing Who We Are and Where We’ve Been 1

Chapter 1 Communication as a Discipline: History and Intellectual Content 2

Chapter 2 Orienting to Communication: The Nature of Communication 14

Part II Knowing How We Know What We (Claim to) Know 31

Chapter 3 Knowing What We Don’t Know Yet: Major Paradigms of Knowing 32

Chapter 4 Knowing What We Already Know: The Process of Background Research 43

Chapter 5 Knowing What We Think We Know: Theorizing as a Way of Knowing 60

Chapter 6 Critical and Rhetorical Ways of Knowing 76

Chapter 7 Interpretive and Ethnographic Ways of Knowing 92

Chapter 8 Performative Ways of Knowing 105

Chapter 9 Conversation Analytic Ways of Knowing 120

Chapter 10 Quantitative Ways of Knowing, Part I: Key Principles 136

Chapter 11 Quantitative Ways of Knowing, Part II: Four Research Methods in Communication 151

Part III Knowing Where We Are and What Our Communication Is Doing 165

Chapter 12 Gender in Communication 166

Chapter 13 Interpersonal and Relational Communication 179

Chapter 14 Argument, Persuasion, and Influence 196

Chapter 15 Conflict Management Communication 212

Chapter 16 Small Group Communication and Teams 226

Chapter 17 Organizational Communication and Leadership 237

Chapter 18 Intercultural Communication 250

Chapter 19 Health Communication 264

Chapter 20 Political Communication, Movements, and Campaigns 277

Chapter 21 Public Speaking 294

Chapter 22 Mass Communication 310

Chapter 23 Mediated Communication 321

Part IV Knowing Why Knowing About Communication Matters 337

Chapter 24 College, Communication, and Careers 338

Detailed Contents

Preface: Communication and the Capstone Course xv

Introduction Knowing What a Communication Degree Means xviii

Part I Knowing Who We Are and Where We’ve Been 1

Chapter 1 Communication as a Discipline: History and Intellectual Content 2Shifts in U.S. Higher Education 3

Journalism and Speech as Academic Disciplines 3Tracing the Roots of Communication 4

The Three Histories of the Communication Discipline 5Speech History 5Journalism History 6Communication History 6

What Communication Scholars Study 7Communication as Shaper of Individual and Public Opinion 10Communication as Language Use 10Communication as Information Transmission 10Communication as Developer of Relationships 12Communication as Definer, Interpreter, and Critic of Culture 13

Chapter 2 Orienting to Communication: The Nature of Communication 14The History of Human Communication, Writ Large 15Axioms of Language and Communication 17

Axiom 1: Communication Comprises (a) Symbolic and Nonsymbolic, (b) Verbal and Nonverbal, and (c) Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Forms 17

Axiom 2: Communication Involves Thought (Reference), Symbol (Sign), and Referent (Signified) 18Axiom 3: In Social Contexts, Communication Is Inevitable 19Axiom 4: Communication Occurs on Both Content (Report) and Relationship (Command) Levels 19Axiom 5: Communication Comprises Both Nature (Genetic) and Nurture (Environmental) Influences 19Axiom 6: Communication Generally Reduces Entropy 20Axiom 7: Communication Involves Distortion and Inaccuracy 20Axiom 8: Communication Is Contextually Contingent 20Axiom 9: Communication Is a Systemic Process 21Axiom 10: Communication Is Socially Constructed and Constructive 22

The Nature of Nonverbal Communication 22Nonverbal Communication Is Nonlinguistic 22Nonverbal Communication Is Analogic 22Nonverbal Communication Is Hard-Wired in the Human Brain 24Nonverbal Communication Is Continuous 24Nonverbal Communication Is Phylogenetically Primary 25Nonverbal Communication Is Developmentally Primary 25

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Nonverbal Communication Is More Universal and Cross-Cultural Than Verbal Communication 25Nonverbal Communication Is Naturally Redundant 26Nonverbal Messages Are the Primary Form of Emotional Communication 26Nonverbal Communication Is Multichanneled 26

Part II Knowing How We Know What We (Claim to) Know 31

Chapter 3 Knowing What We Don’t Know Yet: Major Paradigms of Knowing 32Scholarly Spaces: An Ethnological Analogue 32Theories and Methods as Arguments 34Methodological Rationales 36

Theories as Ways of Knowing 36Critical and Rhetorical Ways of Knowing 36Interpretive and Ethnographic Ways of Knowing 37Performative Ways of Knowing 38Conversation Analytic Ways of Knowing 38Quantitative and Experimental Ways of Knowing 40

Methodological Pluralism 41

Chapter 4 Knowing What We Already Know: The Process of Background Research 43Précis: Scholarly vs. Intuitive Ways of Knowing 44Finding Out What We Already Know 48

Search Engines (Other Than Google) 49Scholarly vs. Nonscholarly Sources 50

Being Responsible for What We (Claim to) Know 53Identifying Plagiarism 53Secondary Citations 55

Voicing What We Know 56Appendix: A Brief Overview of a Professional Style Guide: APA Basics 57

Chapter 5 Knowing What We Think We Know: Theorizing as a Way of Knowing 60The Nature of Theories and Paradigms 61Defining Theory 61Paradigms 62

Theory in the Humanistic (Interpretive) and the Scientific Paradigms 62Varieties of Paradigms 63The Status of Proof and Disproof 63

Evaluating Theory 66Necessary Qualities 66Desirable Qualities 68Comparative Qualities 68Critical Qualities 68

The Process of Modeling 69Hypothesizing 71Types of Hypotheses 72On the Art of Explanation 72Building a Model (of Dysfunctional Relationships) 73

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Chapter 6 Critical and Rhetorical Ways of Knowing 76Little Rhetoric vs. Big Rhetoric 77Foundational Scholarship on Big Rhetoric 80

Kenneth Burke 80Argumentation and Rhetoric 82

Critical Approaches to Big Rhetoric 85Feminist Rhetoric 86Economic Rhetoric 86Critical Race Rhetoric 87Queer Rhetoric 88Disability Rhetoric 88Environmental Rhetoric 89

Chapter 7 Interpretive and Ethnographic Ways of Knowing 92Starting From Where You Are 92Observation and Thick Description 94

Field Notes and Writing 94Reflexivity 96

Interviewing in Ethnographic Research 97Field Work Comes First 99Investigate the Historical and Political Background of the Context 99Interviewing in Context 99Clarifying and Narrowing the Focus of the Interview 100Recognizing Activism and Advocacy Experienced Through Interviewing 100

Autoethnography 101Data Analysis and Representation 103

Asides, Commentaries, and Memos 103Accuracy and “Reliability” 103

Chapter 8 Performative Ways of Knowing 105Defining Performance 106

Understanding Key Concepts 106Performance and the Performative 108

Historical Tracings: Communicating (in) the Past and Performance in the Present 108Approaches to Understanding Communication as Performance 109

Dramaturgical Approach: Burke and Goffman 109Cultural Approach: Bauman, Schechner, and Turner 112Liminality, Communitas, and Social Drama 114Language Approach: Derrida and Butler 116

Applications of Performance Theory 117

Chapter 9 Conversation Analytic Ways of Knowing 120Fundamental Assumptions and Verification Procedures for Conversation Analysis 121How Does “Knowing” Get Accomplished in Social Interaction? 124

Assessing, Agreeing, and Disagreeing 125Claiming Insufficient Knowledge 127The Difference “Knowing” Makes in Families and Health 129

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Pursuing and Avoiding Bulimia as Wrongdoing 129Claiming Epistemic Authority in the Midst of Family Cancer 130

Exercises for Listening to and Analyzing Conversations 131

Chapter 10 Quantitative Ways of Knowing, Part I: Key Principles 136Conducting Quantitative Research 137Formulating Research Questions and Hypotheses 139Design 142

Sampling 142Measurement 143

Basic Statistics for Quantitative Research 145

Chapter 11 Quantitative Ways of Knowing, Part II: Four Research Methods in Communication 151The Survey Method 152The Experimental Method 154The Content Analysis Method 157The Observational Method 158

Features of Observational Research 158Observational Data Collection 159Observational Data Coding 163

Part III Knowing Where We Are and What Our Communication Is Doing 165

Chapter 12 Gender in Communication 166Theoretical Approaches 167

The Biological Perspective 168The Psychological Perspective 168Critical/Cultural Theories 169

Fundamental Considerations of Gender 170Interdisciplinarity 170Intersectionality 171Feminism 171

Gender as Performed 173Gender Diversity vs. Binary 173Masculinity 174Violence 175

Gender in Communication Praxis 176Family 176Education 177Work 177

Chapter 13 Interpersonal and Relational Communication 179Defining Interpersonal Communication 180The Communicator: Distal and Proximal Influences on Communication Behaviors 181

Distal Factors 182

x | The Communication Capstone

Proximal Factors 184Relational Communication 185Lifespan Attachments 186

Early Childhood Relationships: Attachment 186Adult Relationships: Relationship Development 187Adult Relationships: Relationship Maintenance 189Adult Relationships: Relationship Termination 190

Putting It Together: Interpersonal Communication Competence 191

Chapter 14 Argument, Persuasion, and Influence 196Argumentation 197

Deduction 197Induction 198Abduction 199Warranting (Toulmin) Argument Model 199

Persuasion 199Success 200Attitudes and Behavior 202

Central Theories 203Social Judgment Theory 203Elaboration Likelihood Model 204Cognitive Dissonance Theory 204Reasoned Action Approaches 205

Social Influence Theories 208Interpersonal-Level Social Influence 208Group-Level Social Influence 210Influence Through Social Norms 210

Chapter 15 Conflict Management Communication 212The Importance of Conflict 212Definitions, Differences, and Distinctions 213Tactics, Strategies, and Styles 215Two Models of Conflict Communication 215

The Dual Concern Model 215The Strategic Choice Model 218

Conflict Patterns 220Reciprocity 220The Four Horsemen 221The PAIN Model 222

Chapter 16 Small Group Communication and Teams 226The Foundations of Small Groups 226Theories of Small Group Communication 227

Systems Theory 227Functional Theory 227Structuration Theory 228Symbolic Convergence Theory 229

Decision-Making 229

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Groupthink 230Groups vs. Teams 232

Team Settings 234Professional Health Communication 234Healthcare Teams 235

Chapter 17 Organizational Communication and Leadership 237A Brief History of Theories 238

Scientific Management Theories 238Human Relations and Resources Theories 238Systems Theory 239Organizational Culture Theory 239Communicative Constitution of Organizations 240Critical Organizational Communication Theories 241

Major Concepts in Organizational Communication 241Superior–Subordinate Communication 242Job Satisfaction 242Organizational Socialization 243Organizational Identification 243Motivation 244

Leadership 246Trait Perspective 246Situational Perspective 247Transformational Leadership 247

Leadership as Communication 249

Chapter 18 Intercultural Communication 250Foreign Service Institute and Edward T. Hall 252Why Study Intercultural Communication? 253Recent Movements 254Diverse Approaches to Intercultural Communication 255

Metatheoretical/Research Approach 256The Social Scientific Approach 256Culture as a Variable 257The Interpretive Approach 258Culture as a Speech Code 258The Critical Approach 259Culture as a Site of Power Struggle 259Defining “Cultural Identity” Across Approaches 259

Intercultural Communication Praxis 260

Chapter 19 Health Communication 264Health Communication as a Discipline 265Wellness and Illness Models 266Communicating Health in Personal Relationships 267Communicating in Patient–Provider Relationships 268

A Basic Framework: Offers, Responses, and the Inadequacy of Biomedicine 268Illness, Disease, and Treating Patients as Persons 268

xii | The Communication Capstone

Studying Communication During Medical Interviews 269Medical Interviews Unfold in Phases 269Patient-Initiated Actions and Medical Authority 269

Communicating Health and Well-Being at Work 270Communicating Health and Illness in the Community 272

Cultural Conceptions of Health and Illness 272Community Health Campaigns 272

Communicating Public Health Campaigns 274

Chapter 20 Political Communication, Movements, and Campaigns 277Political Communication: Movements and Campaigns 278Defining Key Concepts 279

Communication 279Politics 279Communication and Politics 280

Assumptions About Political Communication 281Assumption #1: By International Comparisons, U.S. Voters Display Irrational, Apathetic,

and Ignorant Political Attitudes 281Assumption #2: U.S. Voters Rely Heavily on Heuristic Shortcuts to Make Political Decisions 281Assumption #3: Symbols, Labels, and Messages are Contingent, Struggled Over, and Up for Grabs 282

Media and Campaign Communication 283Media Educate 284Media Replace 284Media Filter 284Media Simplify 285Media Condition and Reward 286

Narrative and Political Communication 286Effective Political Crisis Management 290

Chapter 21 Public Speaking 294The Central Place of Presentations 295Key Assumptions and Guiding Principles 296

Public Speaking and Perceived Competence 296Public Speaking and Democracy 296Public Address in a Democracy Induces Cooperation 296Public Address and Symbols 297Public Speaking and You 297

Core Concepts 298Communication Apprehension 298Balancing Risk and Reward 298Be Prepared 299Fight Perfection 299Release Adrenaline 299Be a Convincing Actor 299Visualize Success 300Be Rational 300

Organization 300The Introduction 301The Body 301

Detailed Contents | xiii

The Conclusion 302Delivery 302

Vocal Delivery Tools 302Nonvocal Delivery Tools 304

Visual Aids 306Misuses of PowerPoint 306Competent PowerPoint Tips 307

Excel in the Question-and-Answer Session 307Assume We Have Questions 307Recognize Face 308Handle Objections with Grace and Aplomb 308End on Your Own Terms 308

Chapter 22 Mass Communication 310Contemporary History of Mass Mediated Communication 313Mass Communication Theories 313

Strong vs. Weak Effects Models 314Uses and Gratifications 314Spiral of Silence 315Agenda Setting 315Cultivation 316Social Learning 316Diffusion of Innovations 317Mediatization 317

Chapter 23 Mediated Communication 321From Traditional to Interpersonal to Masspersonal 321

Media Competence 323Motivational Components of Media Competence 325Knowledge Components of Media Competence 326Skills Components of Media Competence 329Contextual Factors of Media Competence 332

The Once Future, Now Present, of Mediated Communication 334Big Data 334Evolving Uses and Gratifications 335

Part IV Knowing Why Knowing About Communication Matters 337

Chapter 24 College, Communication, and Careers 338Communication Is Ubiquitous 340Therefore, Communication Competence Is Important 340Communication Competence Is Becoming More Important 342People Overestimate Their Own Communication Competence 344Communication Incompetence Is Common 345Does College Education Help in General? 346

Earnings Benefits 347

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(Un)Employment Benefits 347Health Benefits 348

Does the Communication Degree Help in Particular? 348The Marketability of the Communication Degree 348The Intersection of Marketplace and Matriculation 349Some Select Recommendations for Communication Majors 349

Glossary 352

References 378

Index 419

About the Editors/Authors 427

xv

PrefaceCommunication and the Capstone Course

Capstone courses are common in communica-tion-related degree programs and represent a variety

of pedagogical models. This textbook, The Communica-tion Capstone: The Communication Inquiry and Theory Experience, abbreviates to CITE, a homonym for “sight,” as in “insight,” as well as an abbreviation for “citation,” involved in research and credibility. CITE seeks to address these kinds of questions in four important ways.

First, CITE provides broad, senior-level review of the discipline authored by experts in their respective fields. There are many textbooks for the student entering the uni-versity or the major of communication. However, there are few written for the student about to graduate and seeking a synopsis of his or her discipline. As such, the chapters have been authored by scholars, all of whom have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and many of whom are award-winning researchers and instructors. The textbook is written with minimal compromise to reading level or lowest common denominators. The text seeks to specify the most essential knowledge and learning outcomes that we expect a graduate with a degree in communication to know, both in terms of what we know and how we know it. The purpose of this text is to ensure a senior level of knowledge of a set of core concepts, principles, and empirical facts about communication as a field of study, a profession, and a fundamental process in people’s lives and in society as a whole. Think of it as a text that covers the 200 or so things anyone with a degree in communication ought to know.

Second, CITE facilitates assessment of the value and effectiveness of a major or minor. The text and its ancil-lary materials facilitate completion of the communication major or minor, and assessing if the curricula have done a good job of educating students regarding the field of com-munication. In particular, because this capstone textbook partially parallels information introduced in the major’s gateway courses, it gauges the extent to which the same corpus of key concepts and principles has been reinforced and integrated throughout the communication curric-ulum. Because this course covers content from courses across most majors, but not all students will have taken all courses in their major, some of the materials will be new and some will be review.

Third, the design of CITE involves the linking of learning objectives directly to assessments. Each chapter specifies a set of learning objectives—the things students are supposed to know—and the exam items are written directly from these learning objectives. In this design, it is crystal clear what communication majors are expected to know, and performance in the course is directly tied to this knowledge. In viewing the capstone experience as an “exit” experience in the degree, the text’s learning objectives and the examination items developed from those learning objectives represent a fairly direct index of the sum total of the content knowledge students have learned about communication.

Fourth, CITE is flexibly designed to be selectively taught by your instructor. That is, there are more chapters and topics than will likely be assigned over the course of a given class. Thus, most instructors will select those chapters that best reflect the particular majors or minors involved in their program. Further, many instructors may find that there is a need to supplement the CITE textbook with readings or assignments that cover topics not currently included in this text. The field of communication is very diverse, and different programs and institutions represent their degrees with very diverse curricula and subjects. No text can comprehensively cover the entire discipline. As a consequence, while CITE attempts to provide a broad representation of the discipline, in your particular class your instructor is likely to select some subset of chapters to cover, and may also supplement the chapters in the text. This is inevitable, by design, and reflects an appropriate adaptation of the materials to the audience.

CITE is focused intentionally more on cognitive learning objectives of communication curricula than on applied forms of knowledge. Because different colleges and universities have different learning objectives for the communication skills and abilities to be assessed in the capstone, this text is intended to provide the intellectual content for the major or minor as a whole. Such knowledge then can provide a scholarly context within which skills such as presentations, group interaction, leadership, inter-viewing, service learning, community engagement, or other project-based activities can be guided by the instructor.

xvi | The Communication Capstone

Each chapter follows a similar format. It begins with a list of approximately a dozen student learning objec-tives from which test items are derived. Most chapters then provide a summary exposition of the (a) history; (b) key assumptions or guiding principles; (c) key terms; (d) ethical issues; and (e) core concepts, methods, models, and/or theories relevant to their topic areas. For the con-textual chapters, each chapter examines a few select but exemplary theories or significant studies that provide important insights into the subject. Clearly, there are far more theories and principles than can possibly be covered in one textbook, so the theories selected are intended to reflect exemplary theories in each area, but this selection is far from exhaustive, and may well be supplemented by your instructor.

CITE’s organization is guided by the idea that a disci-pline is primarily defined by its approaches to and contexts or functions of knowledge. A discipline helps to organize, and is organized by, the knowledge it has accumulated in the past, how it claims to know things, what it claims to know, and how it claims things should or should not be known. These approaches to knowing (methodology), understanding (theory), evaluating (ethics), and practice (skills) represent the core contents of a discipline.

The sequence of units in the course follows a par-ticular logic. The first part examines who we are as a discipline and where we have come from. Thus, a chapter examines the history of the discipline (Chapter 1), and another chapter introduces the basic axioms of verbal and nonverbal communication (Chapter 2). The second part examines how we know what we claim to know (Chapter 3). It is difficult to understand and evaluate a claim about a theory or skill if the methods by which that claim was reached are not understood first. Thus, the chapters in this unit examine the major conceptual and methodological paradigms in the field; that is, the tools we use to construct what we know. The second chapter in this unit reviews how we know what we already know by examining the process of background research and formatting styles for writing about such research (Chap-ter 4). The third chapter in this section explains how we think we know by examining theories and models as conceptual tools to guide any other research method (Chapter 5). Then, the major methodological toolboxes of the field are examined, ranging from the more his-torical and critical (critical and rhetorical, Chapter 6) to more qualitative (interpretive and ethnographic, Chapter 7; performative, Chapter 8), naturalistic (conversation

analysis, Chapter 9), and quantitative and experimental (Chapters 10 and 11) methodologies.

The third part examines what we know primarily in regard to core contexts and functions of communication. The chapters examine the role of gender in communication (Chapter 12); interpersonal and relational communica-tion (Chapter 13); argument, persuasion, and influence (Chapter 14); conflict management (Chapter 15); group and team communication (Chapter 16); organizational and leadership communication (Chapter 17); intercul-tural communication (Chapter 18); health communication (Chapter 19); political communication (Chapter 20); public speaking (Chapter 21); and mass and mediated commu-nication (Chapters 22 and 23).

The final unit of the text asks how knowing why matters to your life by examining careers and communication (Chapter 24). The communication degree and the knowl-edge and skills it offers are examined in light of the evolving job market and its potential professional trajectories.

Thus, CITE is based on these principles:

1. We cannot know what needs to be known until we know what is already known. Thus,

2. Knowing what is already known allows us to know how we claim to know what we claim to know. Thus,

3. Knowing what we know and how we know it allows us to know what we are talking about. Thus,

4. Knowing what we are talking about allows us to competently evaluate what we, and others, claim to know. Thus,

5. Knowing what we know, how we know it, and how to evaluate it, allows us to know where we can go with what we know.

That is, a student first needs orientation to the core subject matter, its history, and its key terms and principles. But, when presented with specific knowledge claims about content (e.g., females are more nonverbally expressive than males), it is natural for a student to ask “How do we know that?” Thus, after the initial orientation to history and key concepts, the text moves to establish that communication is a scholarly domain with serious methodologies that systematize the ways we know what we claim to know. With this foundation, students then are better equipped to process the kinds of content claims made in particular functional and contextual areas of communication cov-ered in the remainder of the course. Put simply, a person

Preface | xvii

first needs to have a working vocabulary of concepts to discuss a subject matter at all. Second, that person then needs to know why claims made about those concepts are credible before being presented with such claims. Third, only when the topography of the discipline is explained, and the ways in which that discipline knows what it knows is explained, is a person equipped to fully understand what the discipline claims to know, the ethical implications of such knowledge, and what can and should (and should not) be done with such knowledge. The bookends of this organization also have the chronological advantage of “looking back” (history), “looking at the present” (ori-enting), and “looking ahead” (careers).

As a final note about the CITE text, instructors and students alike may find it of interest to know that all roy-alties from this textbook are contractually committed to assisting students. No royalties or fees are provided to or for any of the authors or editors. This textbook was written as a labor of love by scholars who have a deep sense of identification with their discipline, in the hope of improving the Capstone experience, and providing students a more comprehensive appreciation of the dis-cipline their degree represents.

Acknowledgments

No project such as this arises ex nihilo, and thanks are due to those who contributed their talents and efforts. Among these are those who facilitated this project admin-istratively (Dr. William Snavely and Dr. Heather Canary), those who assisted with editing (Daniel J. Canary and Dr. Heather Canary), exam item pool development (John Paul Whaley, Laura Horton, and Colter Ray) and the Cognella team (Todd Armstrong, Tony Paese, and Alia Bales) who managed strategic editing and marketing of this text. Of particular note is a former undergraduate and graduate student, Alanna McLeod, who devoted substantial time and effort, as well as her extraordinary intellect and keen eye for detail, to the editing of a late draft version of this book. Alanna volunteered to do this out of sheer desire to assist the project and to occupy the amazing clockwork of a mind that she possessed. Her one-time presence in the School of Communication’s hallways and faculty offices is missed by all those who knew her. Thanks are also due to the extended family of current and former Aztecs at San Diego State University who contributed chapters, friend-ship, and continuing collegial support. Finally, having

designed and taught our Capstone course for well over a decade, thanks to all the students who, upon the precipice of graduation, engaged the materials of this ever-evolving text and contemplated the meaning of their degree.

We are especially grateful to the many reviewers who gave helpful feedback for this version of the book:

Betsy Wackernagel Bach (University of Montana)

Steven A. Beebe (Texas State University)

Bradley J. Bond (University of San Diego)

Leila Brammer (University of Chicago)

Janie Harden Fritz (Duquesne University)

Elizabeth M. Goering (Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis)

LaKresha Graham (Rockhurst University)

Annette M. Holba (Plymouth State University)

Jimmie Manning (University of Nevada, Reno)

Joseph P. Mazer (Clemson University)

Nina-Jo Moore (Appalachian State University)

Alfred G. Mueller II (Neumann University)

Rick Olsen (University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Armeda C. Reitzel (Humboldt State University)

Sarah E. Riforgiate (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

Tara J. Schuwerk (Stetson University)

Anne M. Stone (Rollins College)

Michelle T. Violanti (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

xviii

You exit the auditorium after receiving your bachelor’s degree, and a local news reporter sticks a

microphone in front of you and asks, “And what was your major?” You say, “Communication.” She then asks, “So, what is that major? Tell us something about communi-cation that we don’t already know.”

You enter the personnel office of an organization in which your job interview will take place, and after the initial introductions, the interviewer inquires: “So, you’re a communication major. Tell me something useful that this degree prepared you to do for our organization.”

After failing to get that previous position, you interview again at another organization. The first prompt from the interviewer is, “How about you tell me an interesting story and offer a moral to it?”

You go to dinner for Thanksgiving and your uncle asks what you are studying in college. You (proudly) answer, “Communication,” and he follows with, “I didn’t know you could major in that. So, what can you do with that major?”

A degree in any major in higher education is sup-posed to mean that the degree recipient knows things that a person without such a degree does not know, either intuitively or with a modicum of experience or research (i.e., something beyond an incidental Google search). So, what do you know that your interviewer, your family, your employer, your noncollegiate peers, or others in general society do not know? This text seeks to address many of these kinds of questions and more.

***

You are a graduating senior in the discipline of communi-cation. Presumably you selected the communication major because it called to you and because you feel an affinity to its contents, its values, and its potential for your future. Perhaps you stumbled into the major for lack of a clarion call from some other major. At either end of this spectrum of motives, this text seeks to ensure that you know the history, the scope, and the nature of the discipline that will be inscribed on your degree, which will travel with you for the remainder of your life as a significant reflection of your bona fides and of your own curriculum vitae. We hope that upon completion of this course you will not only have a deep sense of pride in your selection of major or minor, but also that your instructors will have pride in you representing the education they strove to provide you.

You should not be surprised that although the book is written in the American Psychological Association (APA) style, the format and authorial “voice” varies across chapters. For example, ethnographers and scientific scholars not only use different methods to study com-munication, but they also represent their approaches to communication in different writing and authorial styles. Recognizing the voice of authorship is an important step toward both developing your own voice and toward developing multiple voices for writing to put in your own communication toolbox.

The National Communication Association (NCA; www.natcom.org), the largest professional association of communication scholars and students in the world, has an extensive website with resources on the nature of the field. Its learning objectives for the discipline are perhaps more general, but they are not that different from the ones developed throughout this text. The NCA learning outcomes are reproduced on the next two pages.

IntroductionKnowing What a Communication Degree Means