An integrated approach to communication theory and research

COM M UNICATION SERIES

Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillman, General Editors

Selected titles in Communication Theory and Methodology subseries (]ennings Bryant, series

advisor) include:

PLANNING STRATEGIC INTERACTION

Attaining Goals Through Communicative Action

Berger

MEDIA EFFECTS: ADVẠNCES IN THEORY AND RESEARCH

TKird Edition

Bryant/Oliver

AMERICAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

The Remembered History

Dennis/WaneUa

CRAFT1NG SOC1ETY

Ethnicity, Class, and Communicacion Theory

EUis

MESSAGE PRODUCTION

Advances in Communicacion Theory

Greene

HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY AND RESEARCH

Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges, Second Edition

Heath/Bryant

HOLLYWOOD PLANET

Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency

Olsson

AMERICAN PRAGMATISM AND COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

Perry

ANALYZING MEDIA MESSAGHS

Using Quancitative Content Analysis in Research

Riffe/Lacy/Fico

\N INTEGRATED APPROACH

TO COMMUNICATION

THEORY AND RESEARCH

Second Edition

Edited by

D o n w . S ta c k s

M ic h a e l B . S a liu e n

R

Routledge

Taytor & Francis Group

NEW YORK AND LON DON

First published by

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,

10 ỉadustrial Avcnuc

M«hwah, New Jers«y 07430

Reprìnted 2010 by Routledge

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publicaúon Data

A n integrated approach to communication theory and rescrach / edited by Don w . Stacks and

Michael B. Salwen. — 2nd ed.

1. Communication— Methodology. 2. Mass media— Methodology. I. Stacks, Don w. II. Salwen,

Michael Brian.

P91.I558 2008

302.201—dc22

2008016359

ISBN 10:0-8058-6381-8 (hbk)

ISBN 10:0-8058-6382-6 (pbk)

ISBN 10:0-203-88701-8 (ebk)

Routledge

Tầylor & Francis Group

711 Third Avenue

Ncw York, NY 10017

Routledge

Tầylor & Francis Group

2 Park Squarc

Milton Park, Abingdon

Oxon OX14 4RN

p. cm.

ISBN 13:978-0-8058-6381-9 (hbk)

ISBN 13:978-0-8058-6382-6 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0'203-88701'l (ebk)

CONTENTS

PreỊace to the 1996 Edition

Preface to Second Edition

ARTI

'tudying “T h e o ry ”— D oing “ R esearch”

Integrating Theory and Research: Starting with Questions

DON w . STACKS AND MICHAEL B. SALWEN

Thinking about Theory

STEVEN H. CHAFFEE

Thinking Quantitatively

MICHAEL J. BEATTY

4 Thinking Qualitatively: Hermeneutics in Science

JAM ESA. ANDERSON

PRTII

Niss C o m m unication: A pproaches an d C o n c em s

5 Mass Communication TKeory and Research: Concepts and Models

BRADLEY s. GREENBERG AND MICHAEL B. SALWEN

6 Media Gacekeeping

PAMHLA ]. SHOEMAKER AND TIM p. vos

7 The Agenda-Setting Role of the News Media

SEBASTIÁN VALENZUELA AND MAXWELL MCCOMBS

ix

xiii

1

3

13

30

40

59

61

75

90

V

8 Cultivation Analysis: Research and Practice

NANCY SIGNORIELLI AND MICHAEL MORGAN

9 Theories and Methods in Knowledge Gap Research

CECILIE GAZ1AN0 A N D EMANUEL GAZ1ANO

10 ưses and GratiĂcations

ZIZI PAPACHARISSI

11 Spiral of Silence: Communication and Public Opinion as Social Control

CHARLES T. SALMON ANDCARROLL J. GLYNN

12 International Communication

ROBERT L. STEVENSON

13 Violence and Sex in the Media

JENNINGS BRYANT AN D R. GLENN CUMMINS

14 Social Science Theories of Traditional and Internet Advertising

SHELLY RODGERS, ESTHER THORSON, AND YUN JIN

PART r a

H u m a n C om m unication A pproaches and C on cem s

15 Human Communication Theory and Research: Traditions and Models

VIRGINIA p. RICHMOND A N D JAMES c . MCCROSKEY

16 The Rhetorical Perspective: Doing, Being, Shaping, and Seeing

J. DAV1D CISNEROS, KR1STEN L. MCCAULIFF, AND VANESSA B. BEASELY

17 Persuasion

MICHAEL D. MILLER AND TIMOTHY R. LEVINE

18 Interpersonal Communication

CHARLES R. BERGER

106

122

137

153

169

181

198

221

223

232

245

260

19 Modeling Cultures: Toward Grounded Paradigms in Organizations and Mass C ulture 280

MARK Y. HICKSON III, JHAN BODON, ANDTHERESA BODON

C O N T E N T S

20 Intercultural Communication

THOMAS M. STEINFATT AND DIANE M. MILLETTE

21 Intrapersonal Communication and Imagined Interactions

JAMES M. HONEYCUTT, CHRISTOPHER M. MAPP, KHALED A. KNASSER, AND JOYCEIA M. BANNER

22 Nonverbal Communication

AMY s. EBESU HUBBARD AND JUDEE K. BURGOON

23 Small Group Communication

JOSEPH A. BONITO, GWEN M. WITTENBAUM, AND RANDY Y. HlROKAWA

24 Watch Your Neighbor Watching You: Applying Concertive Control in Changing

Organizational Environments

PHILLIP K. TOMPKINS, YVONNE J. MONTOYA, ANDCAREY B. CANDRIAN

*ART IV

ntegrated A pproaches to C om m unication

5 Internet Communication

MARCUS MESSNER AN D BRUCE GARRISON

'b Organizational Legitimacy: Lessons Learned from Rnancial Scandals

MARCIA w . DISTASO AN D TERRIA. SCANDURA

7 Diffusion of Innovations

EVERETT M. ROGERS, ARVIND SINGHAL, AND MARGARET M. QUINLAN

2 Credibility

CHARLES c . SELF

2 Political Communication

LYNDA LEE KAID

3' Public Relations and Integrated Communication

DOUG NEWSOM

3] Health Communication

CHARLES ATKIN A N D KAMI SILK

vii

299

323

336

348

370

387

389

406

418

435

457

473

489

32 Feminist Theory and Research

KATHARINE SARIKAKIS, RAMONA R. RUSH, AUTUMN GRUBB-SWETNAM, A N D CH RISTINA LANE

33 Communication Ethics

DONALD K. WRIGHT

PARTV

F u tu re of T h eo ry and R esearch in C om m unỉcation

34 Communication Theory and Research: The Quest for Increased Credibility

in the Social Sciences

TONY ATWATER

35 The Future of Communication Theory and Research

HARTMUT B. MOKROS AND GUSTAV w . FR1EDRICH

Contributors

Index

PREFACE TO THE 1996 EDITION

The Integrative Process

This volume íòcuses on integrating theory and research in communication study. The terms

“heory” and “research” are often linked together, like bread and butter, bagel and cream cheese,

ơ speech communication and mass communication. Ít is stating the obvious to say that theory

aid research should be simìlarly linked together. Despite the obviousness of this statement, it

om m ents on our fielđ that a volume such as this rhat links communication theory and research

ii the same chapters is needed.

O ur purpose in editing this volume is to provide both seasoned scholars and beginning stu￾dints uníamiliar with the State of theory and research in various areas of communication study

ti provide a taste, a sampler if you will, of current theory and research in communication. To

eplicate the integration process, the chapter contributors, experts in their respective areas, offer

sanple studies in the form of hypothetical studies, published studies, or unpublished research,

slowing how tKeory and research are integrated in their particular areas.

T he idea for this book grew out of a series of informal discussions between the coeditors by

water cooler, in the photocopy room, in the hallway, by the coífee machine, and outside

fa_ulty mailboxes. In these discussions, we complained about the difficulty of teaching com￾nunication students communication theory and research. As with many programs, theory and

reearch are taught in the University of Miami’s School o f Communication as separate courses.

Tús clean curricular separation, however, bears no resemblance to how the courses are actually

taight. Faculty who teach communication theory often digress into a discussion on research

m thods to make sense of exemplar studies. This is no small matter; sometimes an entire theory

clss is devoted to discussions of research methods. Likewise, íaculty who teach research methods

h;ve— out of necessity— hađ to bring discussion of theory into their courses. It was clear that

rít teachers were not to blame for this sicuation; the curriculum was at fault. In attempting co

aUviate the problem of linking theory and research in communication study, we were astoundeđ

tofind that no single volume attacked the problem of linking theory and research in commu￾niation studies. Some volumes examine the human and speech communication areas, vvhereas

otiers focus on the mass communication areas— but none could be íound that combine both

aras under the rubric communication.

X/'f do not claim that this book will resolve the difficulties regarding the distinction between

tKory and research in general, and communication theory and research in particular. We are

no arguing for a wholesale revamping in communication curriculum to integrate theory and

resarch, for we realiíe how easy it is to advocate curricular change but how difficult it is to exer￾cis change in practice. The purpose is simply to explicitly recognize that theory and research

arơelated and must be addressed together even in courses that involve largely theory or largely

resarch.

ix

W hile the book was in progress, we extended the integration process to address issues reggard￾ing the integration of mass and speech communication, what we call human communicaation.

To do otherwise would have defied our purpose of leaving the reader with an appreciaticx)n of

current theory and research in the various areas of communication study. It is important c that

alỉ communication scholars, no matter what their areas, have some íamiliarity with the brcoader

íield. The State of communication study is such that most researchers are trained in either 1 mass

or human communication and, as a result, have a certain way of approaching communicatidon or

are more íamiliar with one area than the other.

In editing the book we wrestled with the best way of organizing the various theoreetical

approaches to communication. We originally opted for the traditional biíurcation of commuunica'

tion into mass communication and Kuman communication, and, to some extent, we havve fol'

lowed this course. Part I examines general questions related to theory and research methoddology.

Part II examines important theoretical approaches to mass communication. Part III doees the

same with human communication approaches.

As we quickly learned, this bifurcation does not lend itself well to communication studdy. As

we enter the 21st century, with new media technologies that do not ốt neatly into eitherr mass

communication or human categories, the biíurcation promises to raise more problems. TThere￾fore, while we were editing the book, we invited Kathleen Reardon and Emmeline G. dee Pillis

to write a lead chapter for an additional section, Part IV, to cover chapters that we were hhaving

particular diííìcuky classifying into sections, those that crossed the traditional divide bectween

mass and human communication.

Even in the sections in which we classiâed chapters as mass or human communicatioon, we

recognize that others might have classiíied them differently. Our decisions were admittedtìly sub'

jective, but not arbitrary. The decisions were based partly on how the contributors approoached

their chapters. In this regard, we might have placed the chapters in different sections haad they

been written in different ways. For example, it might seem cradicional to place advertisinng and

public relations back to back (the two are often grouped together, like theory and researcbh); but

we decided that the advertising chapter took a more traditional mass communication appproach,

while the pubỉic reỉations chapter addressed issues involving organizational communicatioon, and

thereíore we placed it in Part IV, ỉntegrated Approaches. Likewise, persuasive communicaation is

an area of interest in both mass and human communication, but the chapter contributoDrs took

more of what we regarded as a human communication approach. Similarly, as the contribuutors of

the chapter on the spiral of silence themselves noted, the model involves the interaction cof both

human communication as well as mass communication. But because of the chapter’s enmphasis

on mass communication, it was placed in the mass communication section. The poỉiticaaỉ com￾munication chapter also took a largely mass communication approach.

Our point here— by noting our difủculties in classifying the chapters— is to emphassize the

artificừdity of the bifurcation. As editors, we treated the bifurcation as a convenient mneans of

organizing a book, íbr a book must have organization. And practically speaking, desppite the

noted occasional problems, most chapters fĩt the bifủrcation íairly well. Further, the bifuurcation

reílects a reality of communication study today which we would have been foolish to ignonre. Still,

our decision to biíurcate mass and human communication should not blind us to the simnilarities

shared by all the areas of communication study.

In keeping with the difficulty in distinguishing mass and human communication, wee invited

Tony Atwater and Gustav w . Friedrich, former heads of leading mass (Association for Edducation

in Journalism and Mass Communication) and human (Speech Communication Assoociation)

communication associations, respectively, to offer their thoughts in the íinal section, Paart V, on

where communication theory and research is going.

We are not so naive as to believe that this book will lead to a uniíied fteld of commuunication

PREFACE T O T H E 1996 ED ITIO N

study, or even the utopian goal of a discipline of communication, and perhaps these goals are

not even desirable. If the book succeeds in íurthering understanding among scholars and stu￾dents regarding the mass— human communication divide and different approaches to integrat'

ing theory and research in different areas of communication, that will be a small triumph. We

also realize, after working and arguing this project between ourselves, that to become a discipline

we need more cross-communication, more dialogue with our brothers and sisters who examine

different areas of a larger area. To this end, we hope that some of the material presented piques

scholarly interest, challenges theorists and researchers to look at the broader scope of communi'

cation study (which, based on many of the chapters, has taken the íirst steps toward integrating

the many areas of communication presented), and begin to work together in íòrmulating a truly

grounded communication approach to communication theory and research.

Don w. Stacks

Michael B. Salwen

xi

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Further Thoughts on the Integrative Process

and Communication

There is a saying that “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” W hile rere￾cuiting authors and working with the “updates” to 33 of the 35 chapters contained in the vol￾une that reírain kept going through my head. As you read through this volume, you will find

tiat we as a discipline have dug our holes deeper and, as the communication practitioner often

pits it, concinued to exist in cheory and research silos. As Harmut Mokros and Gus Friedrich

hment in chapter 35, we are no closer to incegrating mass and human communication than we

vere 12 years ago.

There has been change. In che years between the first and second editions we (meaning the

aithors who contributed to that first edition) have lost four contributors to death and a couple

nore simply never responded to the invitation to update and revise their contributions. The íield

o communication has lost some giants, and lost them early in their careers. Michael Salvven,

Seven Chaffee, Robert Stevenson, and Everett Rogers all passed away in the intervening years.

Ve miss them for not only what they have contributed, but for what they didn’t have the chance

tc contribute. Michael Salwen’s untimely death h it me particularly hard— Mike was a ftienđ

aid a colleague, good thinker and researcher, and someone wKo woulđ passionately atgue fot OI

apinst a poinc. It was during one of our arguments years ago that the concept which drove what

bcame known as “Big Blue” was operationalized and brought to life with the contributions of

Sime of the field’s greatest thinkers.

Since the 1996 edition of An lniegrated Approach to Communication Theory and Research chere

hve been a number of other books that have attempted to put communication theory and

reearch together, but their approaches were limited in scope and took the writers’ perspec￾ti-es of the field. In the Second edition, we have once again let the chapter authors define their

atas— someching that sometimes may seem redundant. This redunđancy U, however, good— it

eíablishes that there is a íòundational theoretical base in the (ield— whether that field be on

tb hum an, mass, or a combination (integration) of fields. Regardless, the basics are the same: an

uiderstanding of theory and research methods that drive our descriptions, understanding, and

prdictions of communication.

This edition asked contribucors to do the same thing: Write their chapter as if a student had

ased them what their area was about and how they vvould conduct research in that area—

p6sibly to demonstrate through a sample research project. In addition, as we did in the lst

ection, all main contribucors were asked to co-author if they wanted to with a colleague or

giduate student, thus getting a second perspeccive on the material. For the Second eđition we

ased authors to provide a list of suggested readings on the topic with the idea that these readings

wuld provide more depth to the area if the reader were to delve íurther into it.

I would like to thank a number of people without whom this edition would have been difficult

tcproduce. First, University of Miami School of Communication graduate students Devonie

PREFACE T O T H E S E C O N D ED IT IO N

Nicholas and Koichi Yamamura reviewed all chapters, double checked reíerences, and did a (inal

check for grammar and spelling and íormatting problems. Their diligent work helped make this

edition better. Second, Linda Bathgate at Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates and her staff,

Kerry Breen and Sarah Stone ensured that the tĩnal product would be worthy of its authors. And,

ánally, a thank you to Glen Broom of San Diego State University for providing the suggested

readings for Steven Chaffee’s chapter and Yorgo Pasadeos of the University of Alabama for the

suggested readings for Robert Stevenson’s chapter.

Most of what we wrote in the First edition's preíace remains true today. W ho knows what we

might write in the Third edition.

Don w . Stacks

Coral Gables, FL

xiv

Part I

STUDYING “THEORY”—

DOING “RESEARCH”