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?
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.
. 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.