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Defining communication, its types and levels
KEY CONCEPTS:
1. Communication is a complex system of exchanging information.
2. Communication is present in different types and levels.
3. Types refer to the different forms of communication.
4. Levels are dependent on the receiver in the communication process.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Highlight the importance of communication media
2. Distinguish mass communication from other levels of communication
3. Identify the factors vital in communication media
What is communication?
“Communication is one of those human activities that everyone recognizes but few can
define satisfactorily” (Fiske, p.1, 2011).
Why? Because it is multi-disciplinary, it intersects with academic areas such as
psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, literature, and philosophy
For our discussion and reference, we will look at four different models and definitions:
(1) Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication
(2) Laswell’s communication model
(3) Em Griffin’s definition
(4) Osgood and Schramm’s model of communication
Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication
It is one of the earliest and most influential communication models showing a
simple linear message transmission. This communication model emphasizes five
essential components, namely: source, transmitter, channel, receiver, and destination.
The communication channels in this model are telephone cables and radio waves.
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Figure 1: Shannon-Weaver communication model (Fiske, 2011, p. 6)
Laswell’s Communication Model
For the longest time, we mainly viewed communication based on Harold Lasswell’s
definition, which is a simple message transmission from a sender to a receiver. The flow
of communication, according to Laswell, can be described using the following questions:
Who?
Says what?
Through which channel?
To whom?
With what effect?
Figure 2: Laswell’s Communication Model (Baran, 2021, p. 5)
Griffin’s Definition
"Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages
that elicit a response" (Griffin, E., p. 6, 2019).
Features of communication by Griffin:
Messages – one of the cornerstones of communication study
- it involves “talking and listening, writing and reading, performing and
witnessing, or, more generally, doing anything that involves ‘messages’ in any
medium or situation
- ‘text,’ another word for message used by communication theorists, used in
academic research. So when we say a text, it can refer to a book, a transcript, a
video, a song, etc.
Creation of Messages – when a communicator creates a message or text, the
content and form of the text is “constructed, invented, planned, crafted,
constituted, selected, or adopted”
Interpretation of Messages – “Words don’t mean things, people mean things”
- “Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign
to those people or things.” - Herbert Blumer
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A Relational Process – communication is a process, a process of relating, it has
something to do with relationships because one, it involves two or more persons,
and because it affects the nature of the connections among those people.
Messages that Elicit a Response – what is the effect of the message, and how
would you respond?
Osgood and Schramm’s Model of Communication
“Communication researcher Wilbur Schramm, using ideas originally developed by
psychologist Charles E. Osgood, developed a graphic way to represent the reciprocal
nature of communication (Figure 1.2). This depiction of interpersonal communication—
communication between two or a few people—shows that there is no clearly
identifiable source or receiver. Rather, because communication is an ongoing
and reciprocal process, all the participants, or “interpreters,” are working to
create meaning by encoding and decoding messages. A message is first
encoded, that is, transformed into an understandable sign and symbol system.
Speaking is encoding, as are writing, printing, and filming a television program. Once
received, the message is decoded; that is, the signs and symbols are interpreted.
Decoding occurs through listening, reading, or watching that television show” (Baran,
2021, p. 5)
Figure 3: Osgood and Schramm’s Model of Communication (Baran, 2021, p. 6).
Types of Communication:
a. Nonverbal Communication – the use of body language, gestures, and facial
expressions to convey information (e.g.: frown, grin, smile, dancing)
b. Verbal Communication – the use of language to transfer information through
speaking or sign language (e.g.: talking, newscasting)
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c. Written Communication – the use of symbols in a common system to transfer
information (e.g.: writing in a notepad, typing in a computer, printing on a packaging
box)
d. Visual Communication – the use of visual representations to convey information
(e.g.: photographs, paintings, sketches, charts)
Different types of communication can be used with each other to achieve a more
effective communication.
Levels of Communication:
a. Extra-personal Communication – communication between human beings and non-
human beings (e.g.: talking to dogs, plants)
b. Intrapersonal Communication – communication occurring within the mind of a
person (e.g.: talking to self while creating an artwork)
• In the case of talking to a Superior Being, the level of communication depends on the
belief that the Superior Being exists. Extra-personal communication suggests that there
is Someone listening to you while you pray, while Intrapersonal communication
suggests otherwise.
c. Interpersonal Communication – communication between two or more persons
(e.g.: talking to a friend)
d. Organizational Communication – communication between groups of persons with
a diverse or uniform level of thinking (e.g.: organizational meeting)
e. Mass Communication – communication considering the mass as the consumer of
information (e.g. State of the Nation Address, caucus, newscast)
Mass communication and culture
Excerpts from Baran, 2021
- “Culture is the learned behavior of members of a given social group” (p. 8)
- “Culture serves a purpose. It helps us categorize and classify our experiences; it
helps define us, our world, and our place in it” (p. 10).
- Culture can be limiting or liberating.
- “Despite the fact that culture can limit and divide, it can also liberate and unite.
As such, it offers us infinite opportunities to use communication for good—if we
choose to do so” (p. 14)
- “We are the people involved in creating and maintaining the culture that defines
us. We are the people involved in mass media industries and the people who
compose their audiences. Together we allow mass communication not only to
occur but also to contribute to the creation and maintenance of culture” (p. 14).
- Everyone involved has an obligation to participate responsibly. For people
working in the media industries, this means professionally and ethically creating
and transmitting content. For audience members, it means behaving as critical
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and thoughtful consumers of that content. Two ways to understand our
opportunities and our responsibilities in the mass communication process are to
view the mass media as our cultural storytellers and to conceptualize mass
communication as a cultural forum” (p. 14).
References and for further reading:
Baran, S.J., & Davis, D.K. (2021). Introduction to mass communication. Media Literacy
and culture (11th ed). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Fiske, J. (2011). Introduction to communication studies (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Griffin, E., Ledbetter, A., Sparks, G. (2019). A First Look at Communication. New York,
NY:Mc Graw Hill Education
O’Hair, D., Weimann, M., Mullin, D.I., Teven, J. (2015). Real Communication. Boston, MA:
Bedford/St. Martin’s
