Communications Research

Heath has noted that the complexity of human communication is the factor that most distinguishes us from other species on the planet. As Heath puts it:

Communication is one of the perspectives that gives us the most insight into human nature. Human beings are "symbol users," as well as "symbol makers" and "symbol misusers."...People communicate to manage interpersonal relationships, express feelings, share views of reality, and disseminate informative and persuasive messages through media. Through words, great and magnificent cities are created, problems of health and famine are solved, and great dramas and comedies are written. Words and other symbols allow people to plumb the depths of their souls as well as those of their friends and enemies. People share ideas in order to work together. They can plan and operate complex business, nonprofit, and governmental organizations that span the globe. (p. 2)

It is this complexity factor that makes research into human communication processes a significant and important endeavor. The purpose of this paper is to delineate, discuss, and compare three types of communication research; Rhetorical and Experimental Research which are both quantitative approaches and naturalistic research which is a qualitative approach. The paper ends with a series of conclusions about the three approaches formulated on the basis of the material covered

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human language and/or communication is the result of a complex interplay of factors and that maximal understanding can come only from focusing on the subjective meanings related to the phenomena of interest and not on merely the objective aspects of the situation (such as is done in quantitative research). Ethnomethodology, Bantz (1998) states, is a specification of the proper and best way to study phenomena arising from interacting and multiple factors which is no assume no priori model but merely record and observed the phenomena where and as it occurs. In other words, to fully understand the phenomena of interest, the researcher must observed it in its naturally occurring setting where all of the interacting and multiple factors giving rise to the phenomena are in play. Naturalistic studies base their knowledge claims on interpretive processes, which is why knowledge claims derived from naturalistic studies are sometimes referred to as "constructed knowledge." Lincoln and Guba (1985) point out that the naturalistic approach holds that scientific inquiry in human discourse and all other areas is limited by its dominant mode of investigation which of course is the empirical mode. More comprehensive and in-depth knowledge cla
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2751
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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