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Do not fill this in! == Definitions == The word ''{{linktext|communication}}'' has its root in the [[Latin]] verb {{lang|La|{{linktext|communicare}}}}, which means {{gloss|to share}} or {{gloss|to make common}}.<ref>{{multiref |1={{harvnb|Rosengren|2000|pp=1β2|loc=1.1 On communication}} |2={{harvnb|Cobley|2008|pp=[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecc071 660β666]}} |3={{harvnb|Meinel|Sack|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 89]}} }}</ref> Communication is usually understood as the transmission of information:<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|HarperCollins staff|2022}} | {{harvnb|Merriam-Webster staff|2022}} | {{harvnb|Cambridge Dictionary staff|2022}} }}</ref> a [[message]] is conveyed from a sender to a receiver using some medium, such as sound, written signs, bodily movements, or electricity.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Rosengren|2000|pp=1β2|loc=1.1 On communication}} | {{harvnb|Munodawafa|2008|pp=369β370}} | {{harvnb|Blackburn|1996a|loc=[https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/meaning-and-communication/v-1 Meaning and communication]}} }}</ref> Sender and receiver are often distinct individuals but it is also possible for an individual to communicate with themselves. In some cases, sender and receiver are not individuals but groups like organizations, social classes, or nations.<ref>{{harvnb|Rosengren|2000|pp=1β2|loc=1.1 On communication}}</ref> In a different sense, the term ''communication'' refers to the message that is being communicated or to the [[Communication studies|field of inquiry studying communicational phenomena]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|HarperCollins staff|2022}} | {{harvnb|Cambridge Dictionary staff|2022}} }}</ref> The precise characterization of communication is disputed. Many scholars have raised doubts that any single definition can capture the term accurately. These difficulties come from the fact that the term is applied to diverse phenomena in different contexts, often with slightly different meanings.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=201β202}} | {{harvnb|Craig|1999|pp=[https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/9/2/119-161/4201776 119, 121β122, 133β134]}} }}</ref> The issue of the right definition affects the research process on many levels. This includes issues like which [[Empirical evidence|empirical phenomena]] are observed, how they are categorized, which [[hypotheses]] and laws are formulated as well as how systematic theories based on these steps are articulated.<ref>{{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=201β203}}</ref> Some definitions are broad and encompass unconscious and non-human [[behavior]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=207β210}}</ref> Under a broad definition, many animals communicate within their own species and flowers communicate by signaling the location of nectar to bees through their colors and shapes.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Rosengren|2000|pp=1β2|loc=1.1 On communication}} | {{harvnb|Ketcham|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IXznDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100]}} }}</ref> Other definitions restrict communication to [[conscious]] interactions among human beings.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=207β209}} | {{harvnb|Rosengren|2000|pp=1β2|loc=1.1 On communication}} }}</ref> Some approaches focus on the use of symbols and signs while others stress the role of understanding, interaction, power, or transmission of ideas. Various characterizations see the communicator's [[Intention|intent]] to send a message as a central component. In this view, the transmission of information is not sufficient for communication if it happens unintentionally.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=207β209}} | {{harvnb|Miller|1966|pp=[https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1966.tb00020.x 92β93]}} }}</ref> A version of this view is given by philosopher [[Paul Grice]], who identifies communication with [[Action (philosophy)|actions]] that aim to make the recipient aware of the communicator's intention.<ref>{{harvnb|Blackburn|1996|loc=[https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/communication-and-intention/v-1 Intention and communication]}}</ref> One question in this regard is whether only successful transmissions of information should be regarded as communication.<ref>{{harvnb|Dance|1970|pp=208β209}}</ref> For example, distortion may interfere with and change the actual message from what was originally intended.<ref>{{harvnb|Munodawafa|2008|pp=369β370}}</ref> A closely related problem is whether acts of deliberate [[deception]] constitute communication.<ref>{{harvnb|Dance|1970|p=209}}</ref> According to a broad definition by literary critic [[I. A. Richards]], communication happens when one [[mind]] acts upon its environment to transmit its own [[experience]] to another mind.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|NΓΆth|2013|p=101}} | {{harvnb|Lyon|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fWPiCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT31 31]}} | {{harvnb|NΓΆth|1995|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHA4KQcPeNgC&pg=PA172 172]}} }}</ref> Another interpretation is given by communication theorists [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Warren Weaver]], who characterize communication as a transmission of information brought about by the interaction of several components, such as a source, a message, an encoder, a channel, a decoder, and a receiver.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|US congress, Office of Technology Assessment|1990|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BVVdQdURPXsC&pg=PA31 31]}} | {{harvnb|Skyttner|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7tvICgAAQBAJ&pg=PA207 207]}} }}</ref> The transmission view is rejected by transactional and constitutive views, which hold that communication is not just about the transmission of information but also about the creation of meaning. Transactional and constitutive perspectives hold that communication shapes the participant's experience by conceptualizing the world and making sense of their environment and themselves.<ref>{{multiref |1={{harvnb|Barnlund|2013|p=48}} |2={{harvnb|Nicotera|2009|pp=176, 179}} |3={{harvnb|ISU staff|2016|loc=[http://kell.indstate.edu/public-comm-intro/chapter/3-4-functions-of-verbal-communication/ 3.4: Functions of Verbal Communication]}} |4={{harvnb|Reisinger|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pfQifDukxegC&pg=PA166 166β167]}} |5={{harvnb|National Communication Association|2016}} |6={{harvnb|Chandler|Munday|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C 438]|loc=transmission models}} }}</ref> Researchers studying animal and plant communication focus less on meaning-making. Instead, they often define communicative behavior as having other features, such as playing a beneficial role in survival and reproduction, or having an observable response.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Schenk|Seabloom|2010|pp=1, 3}} | {{harvnb|HΓ₯kansson|Westander|2013|p=7}} | {{harvnb|Karban|2015|p=5}} }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page