{"id":31,"date":"2015-08-24T18:39:35","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T18:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/introductiontocommunication1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=31"},"modified":"2019-01-20T17:31:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T17:31:09","slug":"31","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-sta101\/chapter\/31\/","title":{"raw":"Defining Communication Study","rendered":"Defining Communication Study"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>What is Communication Study?<\/h2>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215444\/Whatiscomm.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-349\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215444\/Whatiscomm-241x300.png\" alt=\"Chart showing five boxes. Two on top read &quot;Who?&quot; and &quot;What?&quot; Two in middle read &quot;What channel?&quot; and &quot;To whom?&quot; One on bottom reads &quot;What are the results?&quot;\" width=\"241\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>When we tell others that we teach Communication, people often ask questions like, \u201cDo you teach radio and television?\u201d \u201cDo you teach public speaking?\u201d \u201cDo you do news broadcasts?\u201d \u201cDo you work with computers?\u201d \u201cDo you study Public Relations?\u201d \u201cIs that Journalism or Mass Communication?\u201d But, the most common question we get is, \u201cWhat is that?\u201d It\u2019s interesting that most people will tell us they know what communication is, but they do not have a clear understanding of what it is Communication scholars study and teach in our academic discipline. In fact, many professors in other departments on our campus also ask us what it is we study and teach.\r\n<div class=\"thumb tleft\">\r\n<div class=\"thumbinner\">\r\n<h3 class=\"thumbcaption\">Ancient Depiction of Human Communication<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nBruce Smith, Harold Lasswell, and Ralph D. Casey provided a good and simple answer to the question, \u201cWhat is Communication study?\u201d They state that, <b>communication study<\/b> is an academic field whose primary focus is <i>\u201cwho says what, through what channels (media) of communication, to whom, [and] what will be the results.\u201d<\/i>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_350\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215445\/Nuovo_regno_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia_conversazione_1352-1336_ac_ca_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-350\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215445\/Nuovo_regno_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia_conversazione_1352-1336_ac_ca_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a stone carving depicting two men holding spears, facing each other\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a> Egyptian antiquities in the Brooklyn Museum[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAlthough they gave this explanation almost 70 years ago, to this day it succinctly describes the focus of Communication scholars and professionals. As professors and students of Communication, we extensively examine the various forms and outcomes of human communication. On its website, the <a class=\"external text\" href=\"http:\/\/www.natcom.org\/discipline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">National Communication Association<\/a>\u00a0(NCA), states that <b>communication study<\/b> <i>\u201cfocuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels and media. The discipline promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.\u201d<\/i> They go on to say, \"<i>Communication is a diverse discipline which includes inquiry by social scientists, humanists, and critical and cultural studies scholars.<\/i>\" Now, if people ask you what you\u2019re studying in a Communication class, you have an answer!\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<h2>What is Communication Study?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215444\/Whatiscomm.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-349\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215444\/Whatiscomm-241x300.png\" alt=\"Chart showing five boxes. Two on top read &quot;Who?&quot; and &quot;What?&quot; Two in middle read &quot;What channel?&quot; and &quot;To whom?&quot; One on bottom reads &quot;What are the results?&quot;\" width=\"241\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>When we tell others that we teach Communication, people often ask questions like, \u201cDo you teach radio and television?\u201d \u201cDo you teach public speaking?\u201d \u201cDo you do news broadcasts?\u201d \u201cDo you work with computers?\u201d \u201cDo you study Public Relations?\u201d \u201cIs that Journalism or Mass Communication?\u201d But, the most common question we get is, \u201cWhat is that?\u201d It\u2019s interesting that most people will tell us they know what communication is, but they do not have a clear understanding of what it is Communication scholars study and teach in our academic discipline. In fact, many professors in other departments on our campus also ask us what it is we study and teach.<\/p>\n<div class=\"thumb tleft\">\n<div class=\"thumbinner\">\n<h3 class=\"thumbcaption\">Ancient Depiction of Human Communication<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bruce Smith, Harold Lasswell, and Ralph D. Casey provided a good and simple answer to the question, \u201cWhat is Communication study?\u201d They state that, <b>communication study<\/b> is an academic field whose primary focus is <i>\u201cwho says what, through what channels (media) of communication, to whom, [and] what will be the results.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_350\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215445\/Nuovo_regno_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia_conversazione_1352-1336_ac_ca_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-350\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-350\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/892\/2015\/10\/23215445\/Nuovo_regno_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia_conversazione_1352-1336_ac_ca_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a stone carving depicting two men holding spears, facing each other\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-350\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Egyptian antiquities in the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although they gave this explanation almost 70 years ago, to this day it succinctly describes the focus of Communication scholars and professionals. As professors and students of Communication, we extensively examine the various forms and outcomes of human communication. On its website, the <a class=\"external text\" href=\"http:\/\/www.natcom.org\/discipline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">National Communication Association<\/a>\u00a0(NCA), states that <b>communication study<\/b> <i>\u201cfocuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels and media. The discipline promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.\u201d<\/i> They go on to say, &#8220;<i>Communication is a diverse discipline which includes inquiry by social scientists, humanists, and critical and cultural studies scholars.<\/i>&#8221; Now, if people ask you what you\u2019re studying in a Communication class, you have an answer!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-31\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Survey of Communication Study. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Scott T Paynton and Linda K Hahn. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Humboldt State University. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/Survey_of_Communication_Study\">https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/Survey_of_Communication_Study<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of communication questions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Spaynton. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Whatiscomm.png\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Whatiscomm.png<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of stone carving. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Sailko. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Nuovo_regno,_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia,_conversazione,_1352-1336_ac_ca,_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis.JPG\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Nuovo_regno,_fine_della_XVIII_dinastia,_conversazione,_1352-1336_ac_ca,_da_el_amarna_poi_hermopolis.JPG<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":1367,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Survey of Communication Study\",\"author\":\"Scott T Paynton and Linda K Hahn\",\"organization\":\"Humboldt State University\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/Survey_of_Communication_Study\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Image of 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