Chapter 1
Phenomena
Concept
Term
Typologies: instrument for classification result in space of ideas and concepts
Generalizing science is interested in testing hypotheses and theories by means of empirical data,
with a view to arriving at evermore general hypotheses and theories explaining the phenomena
under study in terms of causes and effects.
Classic, particularizing scholarship, on the other hand, is less interested in testing hypotheses
and theories, but rather in using them as tools, interpretative devices for understanding the
concrete case under study in terms of intentions and goals - intentions and goals fulfilled and
achieved or failed and missed.
Two very important criteria are the accessability of the knowledge stored and the permanence of
storage.
In the humanities as well as in the behavioural and social sciences there are two main ways of
regarding society: as characterized primarily by conflict, or primarily by consensus.
A typology of paradigms (adapted from Burrell and Morgan)
Functionalism' - the consensus-oriented, objectivistic perspective - was thus leading the field.
Chapter 2
The hand, the brain and tools produced for a purpose, were important steps in our development,
but only with language did we become really human.
A better name for race, therefore, would perhaps be geographical variants. No variant has ever
been absolutely pure, but there seem to be three main geographical variants: the Indo-European,
African and Asian variants.
The science of signs is called semiotics.
A sign which is similar to what it signifies is often called an icon.
A sign which, directly or indirectly, is closely related to a different phenomenon is often called a
symptom.
If the sign is not only closely related but directly caused by what it signifies, it is often called an
index or a signal.
Elephants, for instance, can signal over large distances by way of infrasound calls, and so can
whales. Apes can also learn how to use a number of signals at will, (for example chimpanzees,
especially the pygmy chimpanzees called bonobos which appear to be mor e closely related to
human s than are other apes). Bonobo apes have been trained to understand and use a relatively
large number of signs reproduced on cards etc., applying their meaning in various, fairly
complex ways
In spite of all this however, there is widespread agreement that only human beings have brains
able to produce symbols.
All human languages thus have a fully developed
phonology (a system of rules for aspects of pronounciation: pitch etc.);
syntax (a system of rules for relating the verbal symbols to each other);
semantics (a system of rules for relating the verbal symbols to aspects of reality); and
pragmatics (a system of rules for relating the verbal symbols to the actions of the
communicants).
A crucial difference between the now extinct homo neanderthalensis and homo sapiens,
however, may have been that while our language builds mainly on symbols, theirs probably did
not, or not to the same extent, in spite of the fact that their brain was larger than ours. The
difference, then, seems to have been located in brain structure or brain functions, not in brain
size.
The act of lying comes naturally to all of us, from time to time. Most of us have told wellprepared lies. And then there is the socially acceptable lie. We feign pleasure at an unexpected
visit although we may not actually like the visitor. When a friend becomes ill or grows old, we
feel we need not always tell him how ill or old he really looks.
2.2 interaction and communication
full human communication, thus: interaction (i.e., mutual influence), which is both
intersubjective (i.e., mutually conscious), and intentional, purposive, and which is carried out by
means of a system of signs, mostly building on a system of verbal symbols, characterized by
double articulation, and in its turn building on fully developed systems of phonology, syntax,
semantics and pragmatics.
In spite of its small population, however, New Guinea is said to boast about 1,000 languages.
2.3 forms of communication
1. verbal and non-verbal
2. mediated communication
2.4 functions and acts of human communication
One aspect of this development is that it is so multifaceted. That is so because the functions of
human communication are many and important indeed
Function of communication:
the informative function of communication;
• the control function of communication;
• the social function of communication; and
• the expressive function of communication.
There are several different lists of such speech acts. A somewhat simplified list featuring five
speech acts is as follows:
• a statement: 'He is leaving';
• a question: 'Will he leave?';
• an order: 'Don't leave!';
• a declaration: Τ promise to leave';
• an exclamation: 'Wow!'.
Successful speech acts are called felicitous. Obviously, for a speech act to be felicitous, the
conditions necessary for that specific speech act must be present.
2.5 Level of communication
Individual: Intra-individual (self-reflection)
Groups: individuals with some reciprocal communication (networks)
Formal organizations
Municipality
Communities
Towns
Societies
Nations
States
2.6 patterns of communication
direction and initiative
4 types:
1. order
2. consultation
3. registration
4. report
Discussion board 2
Speech act fails
Gaming communities
Newbie cannot understand common game slang
Put myself in his shoes
Everything new to him
Violate one of Grice’s maxims
“They should be correct in relation to generally accepted norms.“
Therefore, “Some speech acts can fail, that is they are not perceived, understood and/or
responded to.”
Chapter 4
Individual communication:
Intrapersonal, interpersonal and group communication
Discussion board
Etymology of individual: derives from Latin word
Each person is a social unit constituted by at least two way of communication:
intra and inter
intra and inter affected by higher levels communication
individuals always involved in higher levels communication
Indeed, all communication between immigrants and natives, between local populations and
foreign tourists or business people travelling abroad is, or could be regarded as, international
communication.
4.1.2 Factors influencing individual communication
Inside and outside individual; characteristics influenced
by both societal and social structures,
by the individual's position in the social structure of his society, and
by the specific situation at the moment of communication.
A basic characteristic of any individual is his or her personality, affect both intra and inter
individual communication
A basic characteristic of the society is its communicative structure (how communicative
resources organized within the community and how they are distributed between individual)
- How the society works affect individual communication
Communicative structure relates social structure
Individual’s position in social structure affects individual communication
Ascribed roles include roles defined in terms of age and gender, race and nationality.
Achieved roles include those defined in terms of, for instance, education, job, trade, profession.
Hybrid interpersonal + mass communication = mass meeting
Emergent characteristics are phenomena not existing at individual level
4.2 Intra and inter individual communication
Consciousness, in the sense of being both aware of one's own existence and capable of reflecting
on it, is what characterizes the human individual, as opposed to all other animals.
The degree of individual consciousness is highly variable, over time and between different
situations. Below full consciousness there are also some not immediately accessible,
subconscious and/or unconscious processes going on all the time.
the four classical types of ' temperament': the sanguine and phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic
temperaments, supposedly characterized by the domination of one of the four bodily fluids, at the
time distinguished between blood and phlegm, yellow and black bile.
Introvert extrovert neurotic nonneurotic
Figure 4.1 Four types of personality, page 77
Personality affected by biological, psychological phenomena, but also affected by material,
social, and cultural phenomena;
4.3 interpersonal communication
it appears that intercultural agreement is stronger with respect to t h e type of emotion, expressed
by a given facial expression, than to the strength of the emotion expressed.
its general characteristics and the variations caused by a large n u m b e r of other variables, the
most important of which are age, gender, personality, education, occupation, social class, a n d
nationality.
Each variable, in combination with the other variables, defines a n u m b e r of different social
roles to be played
4.3.2 Individual communication differentiated
we tend to prefer communicating with people not too different from ourselves with respect to
these variables.
4.3.3 Variation and stability in individual communication
T h e r e are several ways to d o so, the three m o s t characteristic being simulation, inhibition a
n d masking: when simulating, you show feelings you d o n ' t have; w h e n inhibiting, although
you may have quite strong feelings, you d o n ' t show t h e m ; w h e n masking you show one
feeling, although you really experience quite another one.
4.3.4 Taking turns and other norms of reciprocity
4.4 Group communication
4.5 Function of group communication
4.6 Strength of the weak tie
4.7 Mediated individual and group communication