Theory Development: Scientific Standards

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I think the most important standard are Scientific Standard 1: Explanation of the Data. The fundamental purpose of studying and researching on something is to make sense of it. If a theory fails to even explain the data collated, it will not be valuable in any sense.

The second standard which I feel is important is Scientific Standard 2: Prediction of Future Events. I feel that a good theory should not only be able to make sense of the past and present but also to provide an adequately accurate prediction into the future. The ability to predict the future accurately will greatly improve the validity of the theory and it will also be a lot more valuable as people can then use it to foresee the effects of certain communication actions that they might want to employ.

I think one of the least important standard is Interpretive Standard 3: Aesthetic Appeal. Should a theory make logical sense, I feel that it will be useful even if it lacks aesthetic appeal. While it is true that a badly written theory makes it “murky rather than clear” for the reader, the reader can spend some time organizing the theorist’s ideas and thoughts and still be able to make full use of the theory (provide that the theory is sound).

The other standards which I feel are not as important are Scientific Standard 6: Quantitative Research and Interpretive Standard 6: Qualitative Research. I believe that we should not conduct research using only 1 of the methods. There are benefits from both methods of research and as communication is not a hard science, I feel that combining both methods of research will provide us with the best understanding of the field. For example, quantitative research allows us to make predictions of the future whereas qualitative research allows us to tap on the subjective nature of communication.

3. Which scholarly community presented in this chapter do you feel most closely aligned with? Which best represents how you believe knowledge is acquired (remember the “How do I know what I know” survey you took on the first day of class)?

I feel most closely aligned with the objective theory community. I feel that being able to predict the future is a very important criteria for a theory. It makes it a much more valuable asset than just simply understanding of the communication process subjectively. While I do acknowledge that there are subjective components of communication that the objective theory community seems to neglect, I believe that this is accounted for in statistics. The objective theory community creates theories that give an general overview of how most of the people will react in a given situation. However, a small minority of people might react differently and this is represented in the statistical analysis. Hence, I feel that the objective theory community is more comprehensive in terms of coverage.

Be prepared to share your responses to the readings in class.

*TU/FR class assignment is due 9/8; M/TH class assignment is due 9/10.