The purpose of this research is to examine two dominant
perspectives of human communication: the constructivist theory and the
pragmatic or systems theory. The plan of the research will be to set
forth the principal assumptions epistemology and ontology of
constructivism, and then to discuss research literature that
illustrates how these theories have been applied to the study of
communication. Based on this discussion, the ways in which
constructivism as a theory of human communication differs from and may
be compared to and contrasted with systems theory will be examined,
with a view toward evaluating their usefulness as controlling
disciplines of communication studies.
The ontology of constructivism as a theory of human
communication refers, in general, to the basis of reality upon which
communication theory rests. The epistemology of constructivism, on the
other hand, refers to the logical method by which one may arrive at
what appears to be true about how communication occurs. Accordingly, as
Delia, O'Keefe, and O'Keefe indicate (1982), the ontology of
constructivism rests upon certain assumptions about the world as a
whole and about man's being in the world. As to the former, they cite
the term (Weltanschauungen(, or a world view, which embraces the idea
that scientific methods and theories can be applied to an understanding
or perception of how the world works. Elsewhere, Delia (1977)
elaborates (Weltanschauungen( as a point of view that indeed (presupposes(
a point of view or a way of functioning in the world. In other words,
to study the experience of human communication is to presuppose that it
involves a perception that the processes of communication can be
understood and examined from the points of view of the humans involved.
In this regard, Delia cites Aune's view that "experience . . . always
.he ...