6 Models of communication

Ms. Geeta S. Thakur

Module Structure

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Importance

5.3 Various Models of communication

5.3.1 Linear Model

5.3.2 Interactive Model

5.3.3 Transactional Model

5.3.4 Cascading Model

5.3.5 Circular Model

5.4 Let us sum up

5.1Introduction

Communication is an integral part of human existence. Communication decides the very identity of human beings. Modern society is turning into an information society and communication is the exchange of this information. Communication is a process basically concerned with sharing or transferring information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender and receiver.It starts with the transmission of message by communicator and ends with receiver’s feedback.

Models of Communication are conceptual models used to explain the communication process in humans. They can be graphically represented for easy comprehension of their process. In communication model, various elements of communication process are depicted in a sequential and rational manner. It is the logical setting of the elements of the communication process. There are various models of communications put forth by different creators.

5.2. Importance of Models of Communication

Communication modelhelps us to know about various aspects of communication. The importance of communication model can be described as follows:

Presents the essential nature of what it describes by highlighting key features thought important by the model builder.
Visualizes for us how certain features are related to another and provides a more orderly understanding that we might have without the model.
At another level models have heuristic value; that is, they provide new ways to conceive of hypothetical ideas and relationships.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Communication: The sender, message and the receiver are very important in any communication process. Various communication models represent the significant elements of communication process and help in measuring theeffectiveness of communication. Such model helps in our decision making process.
Graphical Representation of Methods:The communication models rely on pictorial / graphical representation of communication process. Here the sender, receiver, message, media/channel and feedback, which are the essential elements of communication process, are represented in the form of pictures. This graphical representation provides us with a complete idea of the communication process.
Scope for further research: Communication model involves pictorial representation of various elements of communication process which can be used as a sample for further research and investigation
Measures of Inflexibility: Communication model can be used as an essential source of comprehending the nature of inflexibility/variabilityin communication.
Representation of Objective: Each message which is communicated has certain objectives/goals and these are represented in the communication model; thereby creating a meaningful communication.

At concluded point, above discussion presents that how much importance communication model bears for modern communication.

5.3Various Models of communication

1.Linear Model

Introduction

The first model of interpersonal communication (Laswell, 1948) depicted communication as a linear, or one-way, process in which one person acts on another person. This was a verbal model that consisted of five questions describing a sequence of acts that make up communication. It is also known as the Action Model.

The linear communication model was further revised by Mathematicians Shannon and Weaver and advocated the one-way model to communicate with other. The linear model consists of the sender encoding a message and channeling it to the receiver in the presence of noise.

Process of communication:

The model portrays a source at one end of the fieldthatencodes and sends information.

This encoded message then travels through a neutral medium until it arrives at the mind of the other participant, who then receives the message. The model suggests that, at any given time during a conversation or communication between people, only one party is expressing the information because the other party is exclusively absorbing the information.

The various elements of the model and their role are as follows:

Source:also known as information source, it is a person who encodes a message. The communication process starts from the source.
Message:Piece of information which is sent by the information source and received by the receiver.
Transmitter:The instrument used to transmit information or message from the source to the destination. In case of Shannon’s model, the transmitter is a telephone that captures audio signals from the source, converts it into an electronic signal, and amplifies it for transmission through the telephone network
Signal: Signal is that which flows through a channel. There may be multiple parallel signals, as is the case in face-to-face interaction where sound and gesture involve different signal systems that depend on different channels and modes of transmission. There may be multiple serial signals, with sound and/or gesture turned into electronic signals, radio waves, or words and pictures in a book.
Carrier or channel:It is represented by the small unlabeled box in the middle of the model. The most commonly used channels include air, light, electricity, radio waves, paper, and postal systems. Note that there may be multiple channels associated with the multiple layers of transmission, as described above.
Noise: These are secondary signals that obscure or confuse the signal carried. In Shannon’s model, noise is restricted to noise that obscures or damages some portion of the signal within the channel.
Receiver:In face to face communication, the person’s set of ears (sound) and eyes (gestures) are the receiver. In Shannon’s notion, the receiving telephone instrument is the receiver. In television there are various layers of receivers which include an antenna and a television set.
Destination: A person who uses and processes the message.

Limitations

The main flaw in Shannon’s linear model is that it is actually not a model of communication rather it depicts a flow of information through a medium.
It is incomplete and a biased model; applicable to systems like telephone and telegraph and not other media.
Here the communication is a one-way process where speakers only speak and never listen. It also implies that listeners listen and never speak or send messages.
The linear model assumes that there is a definite beginning and end to communication. It does not take into consideration to feedback from the receiver. For example;the communication process seen in a letter, email, text message or a lecture.

B Interactive Model v Introduction

A more interactive model of communication was put forth by Schramm (1955) and Wood (2009). Inthis model, there is an exchange of ideas that takes place between the participants which are involved in communication and they have an effect on each other. The participants involved in communication can be humans, machine or art forms.The model given by them is dynamicin nature and has a two-way flow of information.In this communicaiton model, the speaker or the sender of the message also gets the feedback given by the receiver or listener. The speaker and the listener both take turns to speak and listen to each other. Feedback is in the form of verbal or non-verbal means or in both ways.

Process of communication

In an interaction model, two linear models are keptone above the other. The sender encodes a message and sends it to the receiver who in turn decodes it, encodes it and sends it back to the original sender. In this model there is a two way communication process that takes place. This model has added feedback, indicating that communication is a two way process not one way. It also has “field of experience” which includes our cultural background, ethnicity geographic location, extend of travel, and general personal experiences gathered in our lifetime.This model indicates that the speaker and listener would be able to communicate better if they have common fields of experience, or fields which overlap.

Limitations:

There are certain drawbacks to this model. They are as follows:

This model does take feedback into consideration however it is not simultaneous.For example, in case of instant messaging, the sender sends an instant message to the receiver, and then has to wait for the instant message from the receiver to react. Here the sender and the receiver have to wait for their turns, only when one sends the feedback then the second can receive and send a feedback.
This model does not indicate that communicators can both send and receive messages simultaneously.
The model fails to acknowledge the dynamic (changes over time) nature of communication process.

C. Transactional Model

Introduction

The transactional model shows that the elements in communication are interdependent. Each person in the communication actsas both speaker and a listener, and can be simultaneously sending and receiving messages. There are three implications in the transactional model:

i. “Transactional” means that communication is an on-going and dynamic process. The sender is changing; the receiver is changing as well as the environment where the communication is taking place is also changing over time.

ii. In any transactional process, each element exists in relation to all the other elements. These elements are interdependent on each other wherein there can be no sourcewithout a receiver and no message without a source.

iii. The factors like the person’s background, prior experiences, attitudes, cultural beliefs andself-esteem affects the communication process.

v Process

The transactional model presupposes that the people involved in the communication process are connected and they engage in transaction. In this model each person is a sender-receiver, not merely a sender or receiver. It identifiesall elements which are involved in the communication get affected. Therefore communication is dynamic as well as simultaneous. The transactional model contains sets that represent the communication environment. Where the ellipses intersect is the most effective communication area because both the communicators share the same meaning of the message. For example while talking/listening to friends. When one friend is talking to another, then the one listening will constantly give feedback using facial expression, verbal feedback without necessarily stopping the sender from conveying the message.

The above figure shows a transactional model of communication that takes into account “noise” or interference in communication as well as the time factor. The outer lines of the model indicate that communication happens within systems that both communicators share (e.g., a common campus, hometown, and culture) or personal systems (e.g., family, religion, friends, etc). It also takes into account changes that happen in the communicators’ fields of personal and common experiences. The model also labels each communicator as both sender as well as receiver simultaneously

Advantages and Limitations

Due to constant messages and feedback, good communication is established.
Disadvantage is that this becomes more difficult to do if the receiving side increases beyond the capabilities of the source.

D. Cascading model v Introduction

The Cascade Communication Process downloads team deliberations to all organizational levels. At the same time, it uploads the organization’s reactions, suggestions, alternatives, and ideas back to the team—and all without elaborate technology. The benefit of this dynamic two-way communication is that teams truly become interactive bodies that tap into the creativity of the whole organization.

Process

Cascade communications work by sending messages down the chain from senior executives or Executive Board to senior managers. They in turn pass the message to their junior managers and then through every layer of management through to the workforce. Research shows that staff likes to receive information via their managers; this approach utilizes that personal approach.

Let us understand this example:

Senior managers or Executive Board meet to discuss the messages they want to see broadcast throughout the organization
These are then discussed with the internal communications team (or HR) and the messages developed
Senior managers then call together all their direct reports and brief them, this process of reporting down occurs until everyone in the organization has received the message
Meetings should last no more than 20 – 30 minutes. If they are longer including feedback, questions and discussion, then there are too many messages or the messages given are too complicated.

Advantages and Limitations

• Needs to be done quickly or it can lead to problems in message delivery

• Often senior managers want to give too much information

• Message can become corrupted as it is passed on

• Only as good as the managers delivering the message

• Can suffer from managers refusing to give the message or holding on to information – the ‘need to know’ or power syndrome

• It will leak, out so if market sensitive be aware that it won’t stay within the organization

• Can be time consuming

• Can be difficult over a multi-site or international organization

• Only works if senior executives buy in to the system.

E Circular Model v Introduction

This model was introduced by Osgood and Schramm. This model highlights two way communications. Here the response of the receiver is given importance. So, sender always anticipates feedback from receiver. Therefore the receiver of the message reacts in the context of the message forwarded by the sender. As a result, communication is completed.

Process

In a Circular Model, the communication is something circular in nature. The various elements in the process of communication are as follows:

Encoder– Who encodes the message and sends it. The encoder is also the originator of the message. He is the starting point in the communication cycle.
Decoder– Who receives the message and decodes it.
Interpreter-Who tries to understand, analyse, perceive or interpret the message.

Throughout the communication process, there is an interpretation that goes on and based on this the message is received. The model breaks the conventional sender and receiver model and highlights communication in a practical way. Here communication can take place at intrapersonal level (within yourself) or at the interpersonal level (between people), in both the cases, each person acts as the sender and the receiver. The person thereby simultaneously encodes, interprets and decodes the messages.

The concept of semantic noise is introduced in this model which implies to different meaning applied by the sender and the receiver to the same message. Semantic noises generally occur due to words and phrases used by the sender and receiver which cause a deviation or alteration of the actual meaning of the communication.

Advantages

It is a dynamic model and shows how a situation can change over time.
It shows that redundancy is an essential part to combat the noise structure involved.
It is a very practical and simple model, breaks the notion of conventional model and states that there is no separate sender and receiver, sender and receiver is the same person. The communication cycle ends up where it started from.
Communication is circular in nature and hence the communication process completes
Feedback is the central feature. The sender and the receiver decode, interpret and encode the message.

Disadvantage

This model does not talk about semantic noise and it assume the moment of encoding and decoding.

5.4 Let usSummarize:

Communication takes place all around us. Mankind has communicated in various ways since the beginning of their existence, by means of drawings, writings, signals, symbols and language. Shannon’s model of communication serves as a basis for explaining communication, but it has limitations, an example is that it does not explain the meaning of the message. The various other models of communication helpus in understanding the different ways through which effective communication can be established. However each model of communication has certain advantages and limitations.

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References

http://bconsi.blogspot.in/2012/12/importance-of-communication-model.html
hubpages.com/hub/Types-of-Communication-Model
www.youtube.com
www.slideshare.net
www. wikipedia.org
http://quizlet.com/28504828/communication-defined-flash-cards/
http://goodcommunicationwag.blogspot.com/
http://ibrahimjacob.blogspot.com/2011/05/communication-theory-in-mass.html