Notes on the Constitutive Metamodel, CMM, and Agenda-Setting Theory

The Constitutive Metamodel

Robert T. Craig suggests that the field of communication as a whole can be understood as several different traditions who have a specific view on communication. Craig proposes seven different traditions which are:

• Rhetorical: practical art of discourse.
• Semiotic: mediation by signs.
• Phenomenological: the experience of dialogue with others.
• Cybernetic: flow of information.
• Socio-psychological: interaction of individuals.
• Socio-cultural: production and reproduction of the social order.
• Critical: the process in which all assumptions can be challenged.

Coordinated Management of Meaning

• Introduced by Pearce and Cronen in 1980
• Provides understanding of how individuals create, coordinate and manage meanings in their process of communication
• Advocates that meanings can be managed in a productive way so as to improve the state of interactions by coordinating and managing the meaning-making process

The fundamental building blocks of CMM theory focus specifically on the flow of communication between people. The three different concepts experienced either consciously or unconsciously, are management, coordination, and meaning.

Management

Once rules are established in a dialogue, interactors will have a sufficiently common symbolic framework for communication.

Constitutive rules are essentially rules of meaning, used by communicators to interpret or understand an event or message. Regulative rules are essentially rules of action: they determine how to respond or behave.

CMM offers three terms as a way of applying the communication perspective to the events and objects of our social worlds: coordination, coherence, and mystery.

Meaning

People organize meaning in a hierarchical manner. There are six levels of meaning:

• The content or message according to CMM theory relates to the raw data and information spoken aloud during communication.
• Speech acts communicate the intention of the speaker and indicate how a particular communication should be taken:
• An illocutionary utterance is speech that intends to make contact with a receiver.
• A perlocutionary utterance includes speech that intends to alter the behavior of the receiver.
• An episode is a situation created by persons in a conversation.
• Relationship is the dynamic of what connects two (or more) individuals during an exchange of information.
• Life scripts refer to every individual's history of relationships and interactions that will influence rules and interaction patterns.
• The concept of culture in CMM theory relates to a set of rules for acting and speaking which govern what we understand to be normal in a given episode.

Coordination

It exists when two people attempt to make sense out of the sequencing of messages in their conversation.

People's desire for coordination in interaction arises from the subjectivity of meaning, which means the same message may have different meanings to different people.

Sense making, which is the foundation of coordination, helps people to establish common understanding.

Agenda-Setting Theory

Walter Lippmann in 1922 argued that the mass media are the principal connection between events in the world and the images in the minds of the public.

Two basic assumptions underlie most researches on agenda-setting:

the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it;

media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.

Bernard Cohen observed that the press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about.

In the 1960s, Cohen’s ideas later led to formalization of agenda-setting theory by McCombs and Shaw.

The Internet

Scholars found the effects of reverse agenda a person's opinion could be disseminated through various online channels and could synthesize public opinion that influences news coverage.

According to Kim and Lee, agenda-building through the Internet take the following three steps:

Internet-mediated agenda-rippling: an anonymous netizen's opinion spreads to the important agenda in the Internet.

Agenda diffusion in the Internet: online news or web-sites report the important agenda in the Internet.

Internet-mediated reversed agenda-setting: traditional media report online agenda to the public.

Issue Obtrusiveness

Another factor that causes variations in the correlation between the media and public agenda is whether an issue is “obtrusive” or “unobtrusive”

Obtrusive or issues with low threshold are generally the ones that affect nearly everyone and with which we can have some kind of personal experience

Unobtrusive or high threshold issues are those issues that are generally remote from just about everyone

Need for Orientation

Need for orientation describes individual differences in the desire for orienting cues and background information.

Relevance and uncertainty define an individual's need for orientation.

Relevance suggests that an individual will not seek news media info

When issues are of high personal relevance and uncertainty low, the need to monitor any changes in those issues will be present.

Many news organizations attempt to frame issues in a way that attempts to make them relevant to its audiences.

source: 

wikipedia.org

communicationtheory.org 

Notes on Communication Models

Shannon and Weaver's Model of Communication

• Came in 1948 by Claude Elwood Shannon and published with an introduction by Warren Weaver for Bell Laboratories.
• Often referred to as the transmission model or standard view of communication

An information source, which produces a message.

A transmitter, which encodes the message into signals

A channel, to which signals are adapted for transmission

A receiver, which 'decodes' (reconstructs) the message from the signal.

A destination, where the message arrives.

Problems with the model:

• The technical problem: how accurately can the message be transmitted?
• The semantic problem: how precisely is the meaning conveyed?
• The effectiveness problem: how effectively does the received meaning affect behavior?

Flaws of the model:

• It assumes communicators are isolated individuals.
• No allowance for differing purposes.
• No allowance for differing interpretations.
• No allowance for unequal power relations.

Berlo’s Model of Communication

• Proposed by David Berlo in the sixties
• Expanded the linear model of communication

Linear Model Communication

Components of Berlo's Model

S -Sender

• If the sender has good communication skills, the message will be communicated better than if the sender's communication skills are not good. Communication skills include the skills to speak, present, read, write, listening, etc.
• The person's attitude towards self, the receiver and the environment changes the meaning and effect of the message.
• Knowledge on the subject matter makes the communicator send the message effectively.
• Values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion and many other social factors affect the sender's way of communicating the message. Place and situation also fall under social systems.
• Cultural differences make messages different. A person from one culture might find something offensive which is very much accepted in another culture.

M-Message

• Content is the thing that is in the message. The whole message from beginning to end is the content.
• Elements are the non verbal things that tag along with the content like gestures, signs, language, etc.
• Treatment is the way in which the message is conveyed to the receiver. Treatment also effects the feedback of the receiver.
• The structure of the message or the way it has been structured or arranged, affects the effectiveness of the message.
• Code is the form in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of language, text, video, etc.

C-Channel

• The medium used to send the message. In mass communication and other forms of communication, technical machines might be used as a channel like telephone, internet, etc. 
• In general communication, the five senses of a human being is the channel for the communication flow and it affects the effectiveness of the channel.

R- Receiver

• Communication skills
• Attitudes
• Knowledge
• Social Systems
• Culture

Criticisms of Berlo's SMCR Model:

• There is no concept of feedback, so the effect is not considered.
• There is no concept of noise or any kind of barriers in communication process.
•  It is a linear model of communication.
•  Both of the people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned above.

Schramm's Communication Model

• Proposed by Wilbur Schramm in 1954
• Indicated that a message’s (both desired and undesired) effect on the target must be examined
• Seen as processes of information transmission governed by three levels of semiotic rules:
• Syntactic (signs and symbols)
• Pragmatic (use of language) 
• Semantic (meaning)

Components of Schramm's Model

• The person who originates a message is the source. The encoder and decoder are the same person/source. The second source is also encoder as well as decoder. The source acts as an encoder while sending the message and as decoder while receiving the message. The second source decodes the message, then originates another message, encodes it and sends it to the first source. The source is known to be encoder and decoder during the act of encoding and decoding.
• Message is the information sent during the interaction.
• The decoder forms a second message after receiving the first which is known as feedback.
•  Field of experience is the experience and knowledge that the source possess which affects the message formation and interpretation. For example, the source's culture, social behavior, etc.

Strengths of Schramm's Model of Communication:

• Circular and dynamic communication gives opportunity to both parties to give their opinion.
• Semantic noise included as a concept helps in understanding problems that can occur during interpretation of message.
• Feedback makes it easier to know if the message is interpreted by the receiver as intended or not.
• Concept of context makes the environmental factor be included in interpretation of message and brings change in the message value.

Flaws of Schramm's Model of Communication

• This model can not deal with multiple levels of communication and complex communication processes.
• There can only be two sources communicating, many sources complicates the process and the model can not be implemented.
• Message sent and received might be interpreted differently than intended.

Notes on the Conclusion

Purpose of the Conclusion

• To connect the paper's findings to a larger context, such as the wider conversation about an issue as it is presented in a course or in other published writing.
• To suggest the implications of your findings or the importance of the topic.
• To ask questions or suggest ideas for further research.
• To revisit your main idea or research question with new insight.

Should you summarize?

Consider what readers can keep track of in their heads. If your paper is long or complex, some summary of your key points will remind readers of the ground you've covered. If your paper is short, your readers may not need a summary. In any paper, you'll want to push beyond mere summary to suggest the implications or applications of your work.

How to Write the Conclusion

• Effective conclusions take the paper beyond summary and demonstrate a further appreciation of the paper's argument and its significance: why it works, why it is meaningful, and why it is valuable. To get started, you might ask yourself these questions:
• How do the ideas in your paper connect to what you have discussed in class, or to what scholars have written in their treatment of your topic? 
• What new ideas have you added to the conversation? What ideas do you critique?
• Discussion on policy/theoretical implications.
• Discussion of the study's limitations which will lead to the recommendations for future research.

Conclusion of a Conclusion

• It is important to end the conclusion chapter (in the case of dissertations and thesis) with a very short paragraph as a conclusion 
• This section serves as the capsule for the overall conclusion of the study and should therefore be very concise and precise. 
• An excellent strategy is to highlight what has been presented as the norm or standard point of view and how your work has proved otherwise or provided evidence in support of this view. 
• This is often related to the research questions, thesis statement or title. 
• It can also be a statement this emphatically states beyond doubt, how invaluable the research is to the research area in question. 
• This paragraph should always have a positive connotation in the case of a positive question and a negative stance in the context of a critique. 

Indicators of a Bad Conclusion

• Beginning with the phrase "in conclusion" or "in closing."
• Introducing a new idea or subtopic.
• Restating results. 
• Making sentimental, emotional appeals.

Source: http://www.devstud.org.uk/downloads/4be165997d2ae_Writing_the_Conclusion_Chapter,_the_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Missing,_Joe_Assan%5B1%5D.pdf 

Notes on Design Proposal Format

Title (same as the scientific journal article format)

Abstract

Succinctly summarize the motivation, goals, and approach of the overall project.

Introduction

What is the project about and what is the motivation?  Review any prior work in the subject area (include patent search, if appropriate).  What is the state of the art? Who are expected end users? 

Objectives

Describe the project goals and intended functions and features.  Comment on critical design parameters and what challenges might stand in the way of accomplishing your design objectives.

Design Strategy

Describe your approach to this project, including mode development, model validation, simulation, control design and tuning, and performance verification.

This section should describe how you were able to create your design; therefore, a diagram of your product should be included.

Plan of Action

The plan of action consists of various tasks needed to create the product.    

Verification

Testing Procedures:  This section should discuss the procedure for testing the product’s efficacy.

Cost and Schedule

Cost Analysis:  Include a cost of the project based on labor and material.  Include a list of parts, lab equipment, shop service, which are not routinely available at no cost. 

Schedule:  Include a timetable showing when each step in the expected sequence of design and fabrication work will be completed (generally, by week).

Works Cited

Throughout the proposal, you should cite the sources of your information (including web site URL’s) and list the references in this section.

Appendix

Detailed information that is useful for reference purpose but may detract from the flow of the proposal (e.g., data sheets, program codes, etc.) should be included in the Appendix.  The Appendix should be divided into sections with separate titles, and numbered.  The page number should continue from the proposal body. 

Source: http://cats-fs.rpi.edu/~wenj/ECSE446S06/proposalguideline.htm

Notes on Research Paper Format

For those doing quantitative research, use the following format:

Title 

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Literature Cited

Appendices

Section Headings

Main Section Headings:all caps, centered, at the beginning of the section, and double spaced from the lines above and below. Do no underline the section heading ot put a colon at the end.

Subheadings: first letter capitalized, left justified, bold italics

Title

The title should be centered at the top of the page (do not use a title page).
The author's name and institutional affiliation are double-spaced form and centered below the title.

Example:

Kuan: Bamboo Art Installation Using Guerilla Approach 

Romuel Aloizues Zuniga Apuya

Humanities Division, University of the Philippine Cebu

Abstract

Summarizes in one paragraph the major aspects of the entire paper.

Order of information of your abstract:

1. State the purpose in the first or second sentence.
2. Describe the basic methodology without excessive detail.
3. Report the major findings such as key quantitative results or trends
4. Sate the implication or application of your findings.

Use past tense. Maximum length should be 200-300 words, in a single paragraph, should not contain abbreviations, illustrations, figures, tables, etc.

Introduction

Your introduction should answer the following questions:

• What was I studying?
• Why was it an important question?
• What did we know about it before I did the study?
• How will this study advance our knowledge?

Order of information of your introduction:

1. Begin your introduction by identifying the subject area of interest. 
2. Provide a brief review of pertinent literature--contains a general review of the primary research literature (with citations) but should not include very specific explanations that you will probably discuss greater in the discussion. 
3. State the purpose or hypothesis thate you investigated--avoid using words "hypothesis" or "null hypothesis." Use pat statements like, "the purpose of this study was to . . ." or "We investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the . . ."
4. State the rationale of your approach to the problem studied--why did you choose this kind of research design or method? Do not discuss the actual techniques. 

Methods

Explains how you carried out your study.

Use the past tense.The methods section is not a step-by-step, directive, protocol as you might see in your lab manual.

For those who adopted an experimental design, please follow the order of information for your methods:

1. Describe the organism(s) used in the study--how and where they were collected, size, how they were handled before the experiment 
2. For laboratory studies you need not report the date and location of the study unless it is relevant. If you have performed experiments at a particular location or lab because it is the only place to do it, then you should note that in your methods and identify the lab or facility. 
3. Describe the protocol for your study in sufficient detail so that other scientist can repeat your work. When using standard lab or field methods and instrumentation, it is not necessary to explain the procedures or equipment used since other scientist are already familiar with them. You may want to identify certain equipment by vendor name and brand or category if it is not found in most labs. When using a method described in another published source, save time and words by providing the relevant citation source. 
4. Describe how the data were summarized and analyzed. 

Results

Objectively present your key results

Begins with text, reporting the key results and referring to your figures and tables as you proceed.

Use the past tense. Avoid repetitive paragraph structures.Do not interpret your data here.

Tables and Figures Formatting:

• Tables and figures are assigned numbers and in the sequence that your refer to them in the text. 
• The first table your refer is Table 1, the next is Table 2, and so forth. 
• Each table or figure must include a brief description of the results presented and other necessary information in a legend. 
• Table legends go above the table. 
• Figure legends go below the figure.

When referring to a figure from the text, "Figure" is abbreviated as "Fig." For example, Fig. 1. Table is never abbreviated.

The body of the results section is text-based presentation of the key findings--they might include obvious trends, important references, similarities, correlations, maximums, minimumns, etc.

Do not reiterate each value from a Figure or Table.

Do not report raw data when they can be summarized as means, percents, etc.

Discussion

Interprets your results in light of what was already known about the subject of the investigation, and to explain our new understanding of the problem.

Questions the discussion section needs to answer:

• Do your results provide answers to your hypotheses?
• Do your findings agree or contradict with previous studies? 
• What is your new understanding of the problem you investigated?
• What would be the next step in your study? 
• Do not waste entire sentences restating your results. If you need to remind the reader of the result, make sure that it leads or is the introductory phrase to your interpretation. 

Relate your work to the findings of other studies.

Literature Cited

Gives an alphabetical listing (by the first author's last name) of references that you actually cited in your paper.

Do not label this section as "bibliography." A bibliography contains references that you may have read but have not specifically cited in the text.

Appendices

Contains the information that is non-essential to understanding the paper.

Each appendix should identified by a Roman numeral in sequence. For example "Apenndix I," "Appendix II," and so forth. Each appendix should contain a different material.

Material that might be put in an appendix:

• questionnaire
• maps
• photographs
• explanation of formulas
• specialized computer programs
• full generic names of chemicals or compounds
• diagrams of specialized apparati
• Figures and tables, should be numbered in a separate sequence from those found in the body of the paper. 

Source: http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html