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What is a Theory?

What is a Theory?. Contemporary Organizational Communication. What is a Theory?. “An organized set of concepts , explanations, and principles of some aspect of human experience” (Littlejohn & Foss, 2005, p. 17). A plausible explanation for a phenomena. What is a Theory?.

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What is a Theory?

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  1. What is a Theory? Contemporary Organizational Communication

  2. What is a Theory? • “An organized set of concepts , explanations, and principles of some aspect of human experience” (Littlejohn & Foss, 2005, p. 17). • A plausible explanation for a phenomena

  3. What is a Theory? • “A theory is a way of seeing and thinking about the world” (Deetz, 1992). • A theory is a lens

  4. What is a Theory? • Theories are constructed by people • Theories emerge out of the research and the deep thinking of people, often scholars • Generally, theories are built upon (or are the reactions to) the earlier theories of others

  5. What is a Theory? • Different theories involve different aspects of an object or a phenomena. For example: • Broad view • View of one detail • Historical view • Process view

  6. Statue of Liberty View from ground up View from far away

  7. Statue of Liberty View from inside the statue

  8. Statue of Liberty An historical view of the statue

  9. Statue of Liberty Symbolic view Symbolic view

  10. Organizational Communication Theory

  11. Communication • Theories about communication in organizations are often grouped within in three broad categories • AKA: Three theoretical perspectives

  12. Theoretical Perspectives • Traditional: Organizations are objects that can be studied and observed • Interpretive: Organizations are shared experiences of those who construct them • Critical: Organizations are instruments of power and control

  13. Communication Theories • The textbook organizes various theories about communication within organizations under the umbrellas of these three perspectives • Traditional • Interpretive • Critical

  14. Example - Meetings • Let’s examine the topic of meetings in organizations • You might look at this topic from one of the three theoretical perspectives

  15. Meetings - Traditional View • Organizations are objects that can be studied and observed • What was included in the agenda? • What action items resulted from the meeting? • Where can the minutes be found?

  16. Meetings - Interpretive View • Organizations are shared experiences of those who construct them • Why was the meeting necessary? • How did participants perceive the usefulness of the meeting? • What was the tone of the meeting?

  17. Meetings – Critical View • Organizations are instruments of power and control • Who dominated the meeting? • How were differing views handled? • Which participants were silent?

  18. Meetings • Communication involving office meetings was examined • Each perspective drove different questions • Varying theories would emerge out of attempts to answer those questions

  19. What is a Theory? • Theories help us to understand and make sense of the world around us • Different perspectives are the foundations for different theories • Perspectives are not wrong or right…just different from each other!

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