ABSTRACT
Through the years, rhetoricians and communication scientists have not always agreed about what communication is or how it should be studied. This chapter looks at a variety of definitions, models, and perspectives that offer insights into the nature of communication. The chapter begins by discussing how factors such as breadth, intentionality, sender/receiver roles, and the centrality of symbols affect the kinds of behaviors that count as communication. It then goes on to describe four different approaches to the study of communication: the psychological perspective, the constructivist perspective, the pragmatic perspective, and the critical/cultural studies perspective. Each of these perspectives offers a different model of communication, a different conception of what counts as successful communication, a different set of strengths and weaknesses, and a different approach to doing communication research. This chapter invites the reader to see the implications of viewing communication as an instance of message transmission, an act of world-building, a set of patterned interactions, or a site of power relations. The chapter ends with a description of what to look for when looking at communication.
