This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD
Along with a general discussion of theory, another related concept you sometimes see is the concept of a paradigm.
Q: What is a paradigm? A: Oh, about 20 cents.
But seriously, what is a paradigm and what is the relationship to theory and research?
Let's get a general introduction to the concept of a paradigm and also the person who greatly developed it, Thomas Kuhn.
Ans so, what is Kuhn's concepts of paradigm and paradigm shift?
While not as visually appealing, let's also take a quick look at this informative description of Kuhn and his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Kuhn's theory of scientific development can be used to understand the history of communication study and specific sub-fields within the discipline of communication.
For example see:
Rogers, E. M. & Hart, W. B. (2002). The histories of intercultural, development, and international communication. In W. B. Gudykunst and B. Moody (Eds.), Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, 2nd Edition (pp. 1-18). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.
Kuhn's ideas have also been used to tell paradigmatic history of agenda-setting theory.
Rogers, E. M., Hart, W. B. & Dearing, J. W. (1997). A paradigmatic history of agenda-setting research. In S. Iyengar & R. Reeves (Eds.). Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America (pp. 225-236). Thousand Oaks: CA, Sage Publications.
Before reading the agenda-setting chapter, it may be helpful to get a good grasp of the basics of agenda-setting theory.
Did you spot the parts of paradigmatic history just in this short video?
We've talked previously about what a theory is. We've defined it as an explanation of how or why something works.
For our discussion of communication theory let's start with a basic definition of the word theory and a common example from biology and we'll mix in a little flat-earth theory as well.
One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.
Let's start first in Japan some time ago and the story of a drowned boy-emperor, a small crab and the idea of artificial selection. Notice how theory and theory building starts with an observation of something in the world and then asking asking how and why. How's that work? Why does that happen? That is, it starts with a little curiosity.
In this short clip the process is explained in a different way. Slow the process down and catch each step. It starts with organisms vary.
Flat-Earth Theory
Now let's move to a different kind of theory, a theory that explains the world and our place in it by saying the Earth is flat, not round. What are your initial reactions to that idea?
This may lead to the idea that there are good theories and bad theories, better explanations of the world we observe and not so good explanations. How does one judge theories? How does one critique?
Let's go back to Dr. Sagan and see how he approaches the flat earth theory.
Dr. Sagan was a famous science communicator often appearing on TV from the 1970s to the 1990s to explain scientific concepts.
Let's update things now. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson follows in Dr. Sagan's footsteps as today's famous science communicator. You may have seen Dr. Tyson on TV or on the web.
Dr. Tyson offers his critique of the flat-earth theory.
How did he critique the flat earth theory? How do you judge a theory?
How much do you know about the development of the Internet and the use of computers as communication tools?
What would a timeline (a list of events) look like for the development of the Internet as a communication tool?
Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet? Examples: What year did email first appear? What year did blogs appear?
Zuckerman gives a good timeline (or list) in his brief talk.
What would you add to this timeline for more recent years? See the evolution of social media for the rest of the timeline.
Think of the Internet as the hardware and the World Wide Web as the software that runs on the Internet. The Web is not the hardware. It is collection of interconnected web pages that exist on the Internet.
Now, how did the Internet evolve as a medium of communication from email in the late '60 and early '70s to the web-based communication tools that we have today?
Update to Zuckerman video:
If we can think of the 1990s as the decade of the World Wide Web (web pages, blogs, etc.), we can think of 2000-2010 as the decade of social media. The decade got off to a slow start, but by...
2004: Facebook founded.
2005: YouTube founded. Note the strong social/sharing aspect of YT.
Dr. Wilbur Schramm
Founder of the social science study of communication (late 40s-50s) and key founder of development communication.
1950s:
Post-WWII & Cold War -- Newly independent nations struggling (the “terrible ascent”)
1960s:
Schramm: How to help them? His answer: w/ mass media - “the great multiplier.” Need to bring in mass media technology.
1970s:
Many countries implemented mass media programs.
1980s:
1) Concern with “Neo-imperialism”
Hamid Mowlana
2) Mowlana: users of mass media blind to the importance of traditional forms of communication in some societies/cultures. “Technology vs. Tradition” (Mowlana)
1990s:
Use of mass media to aid in development, but w/ caution regarding culture. Example: AIDS/HIV education in radio program in Tanzania & TV soap opera in China (Rogers)
2000s:
New issues and use of new communication technologies
(Sources: based on Mowlana, 1996, 1997, Stevenson, 1993, Rogers, 1997)
Now back to the 40s and 50s...
Coming out of World War II the U.S. was in good shape (economically, politically, etc.), but many of the nations of Europe faced problems.
Some of the series is available online. As you watch the clips below pay close attention to the Marshall Plan. What relationship does it have to development communication?
U.S. provided $$ and expertise in "reconstructing" Europe. U.S. foreign policy (lead by Truman) changed isolationism to “active leadership.” The U.S. offered the Marshall Plan* (more on Marshall Plan from CNN).
See the clips 0:00 to 1:50 and from about 20:30 to 28:00
Why should the U.S. help European countries after WWII?
humanitarian concerns (White Man’s Burden again?)
stop spread of communism!
Truman Doctrine: to defend freedom & democracy worldwide.
Edward T. Hall
After reconstructing Europe Truman offered the world “the benefits of our [U.S.] scientific advances and industrial progress… for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.”
This was called the Point Four Program. (Director, Edward Hall)
One of the key tasks taken on by Hall was teaching U.S. diplomats intercultural communication skills. The formal study of intercultural communication can be traced back to Hall and this program. Hall has been called the founding father of intercultural communication study.
The government lacked knowledge on how to develop nations, so they turned to academia. Development theories were developed in economics, psychology, political science, sociology, and communication. For example, Wilbur Schramm offered his theory/approach to development. By the mid-70s, development programs were recognized an ineffective. Schramm, Rogers and others recognized the faults.
Everett M. Rogers
What was wrong? According to Rogers (1976)
The old way of doing development programs had the following errors:
They assume infinite economic growth, ignore problems like population growth, pollution, etc., and do not take into account the "quality of life."
They emphasize technology and capital rather than labor, thus encouraging economic dependence on advanced countries. Low priority to agriculture.
It blames the developing countries for their failings, ignoring external factors beyond their control.
It takes an ethnocentric (Western) bias by emphasizing the modernization of "traditional" individuals.
(Sources: International Encyclopedia of Communication, "Development Communication," 1989; "Marshall Plan" Britannica Online.].).
NOTE: Three of the scholars mentioned above (Mowlana, Hall and Rogers) were professors of mine. They are part of my intellectual family. And, now you are part of this intellectual family too. As for Schramm, it actually turns out that I might be biologically related to "Uncle Wilbur." Born in the same small city, graduated from same undergrad college, same family tree roots, etc.
To best get a sense of Burke's approach to technological development, it would be helpful to see an example. In an episode of his 1970s TV series Connections he traced the development of TV and film back to the cannonball.
What does a cannonball have to do with TV and film?
How much do you know about the development of the Internet and the use of computers as communication tools? What do you recall from previous readings, notes and discussion?
Can you trace the development of the Internet using Winston's model?
What would a timeline (a list of events) look like for the development of the Internet as a communication tool? How does the history in video below fit into Winston's model? How, for example, does ARPANET fit into the history and Winston's model?
Starting with the late 1960s, what new communication tools appeared on the Internet? Examples: What year did email first appear? What year did blogs appear?
Zuckerman gives a good timeline (or list) in his brief talk.
What would you add to this timeline for more recent years?
See the evolution of social media for the rest of the timeline.
Along with a general discussion of theory, another related concept you sometimes see is the concept of a paradigm.
Q: What is a paradigm? A: Oh, about 20 cents.
But seriously, what is a paradigm and what is the relationship to theory and research?
Let's get a general introduction to the concept of a paradigm and also the person who greatly developed it, Thomas Kuhn.
Ans so, what is Kuhn's concepts of paradigm and paradigm shift?
While not as visually appealing, let's also take a quick look at this informative description of Kuhn and his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Kuhn's theory of scientific development can be used to understand the history of communication study and specific sub-fields within the discipline of communication.
For example see:
Rogers, E. M. & Hart, W. B. (2002). The histories of intercultural, development, and international communication. In W. B. Gudykunst and B. Moody (Eds.), Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, 2nd Edition (pp. 1-18). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.
Kuhn's ideas have also been used to tell paradigmatic history of agenda-setting theory.
Rogers, E. M., Hart, W. B. & Dearing, J. W. (1997). A paradigmatic history of agenda-setting research. In S. Iyengar & R. Reeves (Eds.). Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America (pp. 225-236). Thousand Oaks: CA, Sage Publications.
Before reading the agenda-setting chapter, it may be helpful to get a good grasp of the basics of agenda-setting theory.
Did you spot the parts of paradigmatic history just in this short video?
For our discussion of mass media theory let's start with a basic definition of the word theory and a common example from biology. A theory is an explanation for how something works, how something happens.
To get a good grasp of what a theory is, let's start by looking at a theory from the field of biology
One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.
Let's start first in Japan some time ago and the story of a drowned boy-emperor, a small crab and the idea of artificial selection.
In this short clip the process is explained in a different way. Slow the process down and catch each step. It starts with organisms vary.
Think of the Internet as the hardware and the World Wide Web as the software that runs on the Internet. The Web is not the hardware. It is collection of interconnected web pages that exist on the Internet.
Now, how did the Internet evolve as a medium of communication from email in the late '60 and early '70s to the web-based communication tools that we have today?
Update to Zuckerman video:
If we can think of the 1990s as the decade of the World Wide Web (web pages, blogs, etc.), we can think of 2000-2010 as the decade of social media. The decade got off to a slow start, but by...
2004: Facebook founded.
2005: YouTube founded. Note the strong social/sharing aspect of YT.
2006: Twitter founded.
etc.
Now, with an explanation of how the Internet works and how it evolved as a communication tool (e.g. social media), let's look how the Internet plays an important role in global communication (see next post).
Dr. Wilbur Schramm
Founder of the social science study of communication (late 40s-50s) and key founder of development communication.
1950s:
Post-WWII & Cold War -- Newly independent nations struggling (the “terrible ascent”)
1960s:
Schramm: How to help them? His answer: w/ mass media - “the great multiplier.” Need to bring in mass media technology.
1970s:
Many countries implemented mass media programs.
1980s:
1) Concern with “Neo-imperialism”
Hamid Mowlana
2) Mowlana: users of mass media blind to the importance of traditional forms of communication in some societies/cultures. “Technology vs. Tradition” (Mowlana)
1990s:
Use of mass media to aid in development, but w/ caution regarding culture. Example: AIDS/HIV education in radio program in Tanzania & TV soap opera in China (Rogers)
2000s:
New issues and use of new communication technologies
(Sources: based on Mowlana, 1996, 1997, Stevenson, 1993, Rogers, 1997)
Now back to the 40s and 50s...
Coming out of World War II the U.S. was in good shape (economically, politically, etc.), but many of the nations of Europe faced problems.
Some of the series is available online. As you watch the clips below pay close attention to the Marshall Plan. What relationship does it have to development communication?
U.S. provided $$ and expertise in "reconstructing" Europe. U.S. foreign policy (lead by Truman) changed isolationism to “active leadership.” The U.S. offered the Marshall Plan* (more on Marshall Plan from CNN).
See the clips 0:00 to 1:50 and from about 20:30 to 28:00
Why should the U.S. help European countries after WWII?
humanitarian concerns (White Man’s Burden again?)
stop spread of communism!
Truman Doctrine: to defend freedom & democracy worldwide.
Edward T. Hall
After reconstructing Europe Truman offered the world “the benefits of our [U.S.] scientific advances and industrial progress… for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.”
This was called the Point Four Program. (Director, Edward Hall)
One of the key tasks taken on by Hall was teaching U.S. diplomats intercultural communication skills. The formal study of intercultural communication can be traced back to Hall and this program. Hall has been called the founding father of intercultural communication study.
The government lacked knowledge on how to develop nations, so they turned to academia. Development theories were developed in economics, psychology, political science, sociology, and communication. For example, Wilbur Schramm offered his theory/approach to development. By the mid-70s, development programs were recognized an ineffective. Schramm, Rogers and others recognized the faults.
Everett M. Rogers
What was wrong? According to Rogers (1976)
The old way of doing development programs had the following errors:
They assume infinite economic growth, ignore problems like population growth, pollution, etc., and do not take into account the "quality of life."
They emphasize technology and capital rather than labor, thus encouraging economic dependence on advanced countries. Low priority to agriculture.
It blames the developing countries for their failings, ignoring external factors beyond their control.
It takes an ethnocentric (Western) bias by emphasizing the modernization of "traditional" individuals.
(Sources: International Encyclopedia of Communication, "Development Communication," 1989; "Marshall Plan" Britannica Online.].).
NOTE: Three of the scholars mentioned above (Mowlana, Hall and Rogers) were professors of mine. They are part of my intellectual family. And, now you are part of this intellectual family too. As for Schramm, it actually turns out that I might be biologically related to "Uncle Wilbur." Born in the same small city, graduated from same undergrad college, same family tree roots, etc.
Along with a general discussion of theory, another related concept you sometimes see is the concept of a paradigm.
Q: What is a paradigm? A: Oh, about 20 cents.
But seriously, what is a paradigm and what is the relationship to theory and research?
Let's get a general introduction to the concept of a paradigm and also the person who greatly developed it, Thomas Kuhn.
Ans so, what is Kuhn's concepts of paradigm and paradigm shift?
While not as visually appealing, let's also take a quick look at this informative description of Kuhn and his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Kuhn's theory of scientific development can be used to understand the history of communication study and specific sub-fields within the discipline of communication.
For example see:
Rogers, E. M. & Hart, W. B. (2002). The histories of intercultural, development, and international communication. In W. B. Gudykunst and B. Moody (Eds.), Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, 2nd Edition (pp. 1-18). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.
Kuhn's ideas have also been used to tell paradigmatic history of agenda-setting theory.
Rogers, E. M., Hart, W. B. & Dearing, J. W. (1997). A paradigmatic history of agenda-setting research. In S. Iyengar & R. Reeves (Eds.). Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America (pp. 225-236). Thousand Oaks: CA, Sage Publications.
Before reading the agenda-setting chapter, it may be helpful to get a good grasp of the basics of agenda-setting theory.
Did you spot the parts of paradigmatic history just in this short video?
The previous video clip introduced us to the life of Darwin and some of some of his key evolutionary concepts (e.g., natural selection and artificial selection).
We've talked previously about what a theory is. We've defined it as an explanation of how or why something works.
To get a good grasp of what a theory is, let's start by looking at a theory from the field of biology
One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.
Let's start first in Japan some time ago and the story of a drowned boy-emperor, a small crab and the idea of artificial selection.
In this short clip the process is explained in a different way. Slow the process down and catch each step. It starts with organisms vary.
To best get a sense of Burke's approach to technological development, it would be helpful to see an example. In an episode of his 1970s TV series Connections he traced the development of TV and film back to the cannonball.
What does a cannonball have to do with TV and film?
Previously we took Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and applied it to the study of communication broadly and international communication specifically. That is, we used the theory as a way of understanding the history of these fields of study. According to the theory, first this happens and then that happens. There is a pattern in the histories.
In a similar fashion, here we are going to use James Burke's ideas of scientific and technological development to understand the history (and prehistory?) of media technologies.
But, first who is James Burke?
To start to understand his approach, let's first recall our much earlier discussion on why we study history.
Note the reason that is in boldface. That will start to get us thinking like Burke.
Burke: "If you don't know how you got somewhere, you don't know where you are" (ep. 10, Connections).
With that reason in mind, let's next look at Burke's concept of the "Trigger Effect."
What's the "Trigger Effect" of which Burke speaks?
Burke laid out some of his ideas, including the Trigger Effect, in his TV series Connections from the late 70s.
Play video from 0:00 to about 4:50.
NOTE: If the video is not available online then see this transcript.
Now let's take a look at some of Burke's further thoughts on technological change. In the 10th episode of Connections, Burke... outlines....explains...
As you watch the beginning of episode 10 of Connections ("Yesterday, Tomorrow and You"), here are some questions to answer.
What did the plow triggers? The plow lead to what which lead to what? See what Burke means by connections?
As the title of the episode implies, what will be our technological future? Can we look at the trigger technologies around us and figure what the key triggers are? In what ways are these key triggers likely to act?
Is there anything we can learn from the past that would help us understand possible technological change in the future?
As Burke points out, this may be difficult to figure the future because of the way we've been taught the history of technological development.
The history has been presented to us as happening in a linear, discrete fashion. We are told history...
in packaged units (e.g. the history of agricultural technologies).
as the story of the "lonely genius in the garage with a light bulb" creating all by themselves (Eastman, Edison, etc.)
as sets of "Golden Ages" that began on such and such date and ended on such and such date.
According to Burke what is the problem with each of these ways of thinking?
These ways of thinking about the history of technological development makes you think in straight lines, when indeed, as Burke stresses that history is web of inter-connections.
Now, with this understanding of Burke's ideas, what do you see in terms of technological change in your future? What would think Burke would say of today's technologies, especially communication technologies?
---
Now with a good understanding of Burke's alternative approach to change, I'd encourage you to watch episode 9 of Connections in which Burke applies his ideas to tell a history (and prehistory?) of some media technologies.
As you watch episode 9 of Connections ("Countdown"), here are some questions to answer.
How are cannon balls connected to film and television? What is the path? What's the process? Can you list the steps and briefly explain each step in the process? Can you make the connections using Burke's approach?
. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.
. (See also background 
. (See also background 
. In the following video Sagan describes the process of artificial selection. As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.