communication process,concept,elements of communication

WELCOME

Presentation on

“Communication process, concept, elements of communication and their characteristics”

PRESENTER

Mahesh.B.Tengli ,M.Sc (Agri) Extension Education

Semester : I

NMCA,NAU

Date: 13/08/2014

CONTENT

Introduction Communication conceptCommunication processElements of communication and their

Characteristics Reference

INTRODUCTION

•Communication is as old as the universe, all the living entity

communicate.•Communication with respect to extension, without

communication there is no extension.•Extension agent with rich technical knowledge and poor

communication skills is of no use.•Communication skill is a must for exchanging, extending

sharing the novel agricultural technology to the farmers

to make them understand and adopt the technology.

• It is through communication process the aim, objectives of various community development programs and extension programs are disseminated to people and the information useful to solve the problems of farmers, villagers and village.

• There is a mandate for the extension worker to know communication process thoroughly.

Meaning of communication•According to Webster's new world dictionary-

Communication means transmitting ,giving or giving and

receiving message ,information, signals by talk, gesture,

writing etc.. •Communication is a Latin word – “communis” meaning

common

COMMUNICATION CONCEPT

•Communication is sharing our feelings, ideas and opinions with others. •This can be intellectual, personal, spoken or written in nature.• We live in groups and man is invariably a social animal. •As the social needs insist that we share our thoughts with others.

this can be called communication, It is a two-way process. •In spoken communication, we have speakers and listeners who send

and receive verbal messages from each other.• In written communication, we have writers and readers, whereas in

visualization and observation, the symbols and signs are included

•Communication motivates, informs, suggests, warns, orders,

changes behavior, and establishes better relationships, to make

interaction meaningful and make oneself understood. •Communication is effective when a communicator is effective

enough to communicate competently, simply, clearly, sincerely

and dynamically. Ones communication can be termed as

successful, if the receiver acknowledges it, i.e., when a listener

or reader understands, reacts, responds to this communication

and shapes his/her learning behavior.

•The other etymological source mentions that ‘communication’ is

derived from the Latin term ‘communicare’, which means to

impart or participate. • In short, we can define communication as sharing ideas

and feelings mutually. As it involves interaction, it encourages

exchange of ideas until all the experiences become a common

profession. • FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

I. Information function

II. Command / instructive function

III. Influence or Persuasive function

IV. Integrative function

DEFINITIONS' OF COMMUNICATION

• LEAGANS(1961), Communication is the process by which two or more people exchange ideas, facts, feelings or impressions in ways that each gains a common understanding of the meaning, intent and use of messages.

• HOVLAND defines Communication is the process by which an individual - - the communicator - - transmits stimuli to modify the behavior of other individuals .

• ROJER & SHOEMAKER (1971): Communication is the process by which message are transferred from source to receiver.

• VAN DEN BAN & HAWKINS(1988):communication is process of sending and receiving message through channels which establish a common meaning between source and receiver.

• STEVENS(1942):communication is a discriminatory response of an organism to stimulus.

• WEAVER(1966):communication is all of the procedure, by which an individuals mind affect others.

• THAYER(1968):communication is the mutual interchange of ideas by any effective means.

• THAYER(1968):communication is arrangement of environmental stimulus to produce desirable behavior on the part of the organism.

• HARTMAN(1966):communication is control of behavior through descriptive and reinforcing stimuli.

• COLEMAN &MARSH says that “all educational and action program in extension are communication.”

• WOODWARD W. SAYER : said , “communication is the first principle of philosophy.”

NATURE OF COMMUNICATION

• Communication is a process.• Communication employs many means.• Communication involves interdependence.• Communication process involves number of distinguishable parts.• Communication takes place within participants.• Communication takes place at many levels.• Fidelity varies from one communication situation to another.

COMMUNICATION IS PROCESS

• Process is any phenomenon which shows a continuous change in time. • Communication is a process, as communication go on , the

communication is continuously changing.• Communication is not intermittent but continuous function of human

being.• BERLO (1960), says/sees communication as

1. Dynamic

2. Ongoing

3. Everlasting

4. Continuous act

5. The process has no beganing no end or fixed sequence of events.

6. It is not static.• We cannot freeze communication at any one point, but must consider it

as s by product of interacting individuals.

COMMUNICATION EMPLOYS MANY MEANS

• Communication may occur in many means , many ways , many levels and with many people.

• Examples:

1. Written communication –with authority structure

2. Telephonic communication – with task structure

3. Face-to-face communication- with personal touch

COMMUNICATION INVOLVES INTERDEPENDENCE

• Interdependence means reciprocal and mutual dependence.• Communication is two-way process, it has stimulus and

response among the organisms.• Communication is both reciprocal and alternating.• Communication involves constant reversal of roles.• Thus communication involves interdependent relationship

between the participants.• The level of communication may change from situation to

situation.

COMMUNICATION HAS NUMBER OF DISTINGUISHING PARTS

• Communication has at least three phases

I. Phase – EXPRESSION

II. Phase –INTERPRETATION

III. Phase – RESPONSE

COMMUNICATION TAKES WITHIN PARTICIPANTS

• As like learning, communication also takes place within participants and between them.

• Within communication is determined by individuals

take- into- account abilities and take-into-account susceptibilities.

COMMUNICATION TAKE PLACE AT MANY LEVELS

• According to THAYER (1968),there are at least four levels of analysis of communication.

• The four levels of communication

I. Level: intrapersonal communication

II. Level :Interpersonal communication

III. Level :Intraorganisational communication

IV. Level :Interorganizational communication

FIDELITY VARIES FROM ONE COMMUNICATION SITUATION TO ANOTHER

• Fidelity – refers to faithful performance of all the elements of communication

• Communication effectiveness varies from one communication situation to another.

• Communication effectiveness refers to the communication encounter that has produced desired result.

• Communication encounter refers to achieving commonality between the communicator and communicate.

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

•communication begins the sender thinking about what to

include in the message.•the message is encoded in a medium and conveyed using

a channel .•the receiver (or audience) decodes the message.•the receiver sends a feedback , which is evidence of the

message being communicated successfully or

unsuccessfully.•the original sender then receives the feedback and the loop closes.

To change the information into a set of letters, numbers or symbols that can be easily readable by

a system.

To change the information from a set of letters ,numbers ,symbols ,etc. ,in such a manner

one can understand easily.

ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

• The communicator• Message or content• Channels of communication• Treatment of messages• The audience• Audience response• Feed back

THE COMMUNICATOR

• The person who starts the process of communication in operation.

• He is the source or originator of messages. • He is the sender of messages. He is the first to give expression

to messages intended to reach an audience in a manner that results in correct interpretation and desirable response.

• The communicator may be a Agricultural Extension Officer, Village Development Officer, a Principal or an Instructor in a Training Centre, a Mandal Agricultural Officer, a villager, an administrator or any other person.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD COMMUNICATOR

• He knows:• his objectives - has them specifically defined; • his audience - its needs, interests, abilities, predispositions.• his message- its content, validity, usefulness, importance.• channels that will reach the audience and their usefulness.• how to organize and treat his message.• his professional abilities and limitations.

• He is interested in:• his audience and its welfare.• his message and how it can help people.• the results of communication and their evaluation.• the communication process.• the communication channels - their proper use and limitation.• how to improve his communication skill.

• He prepares: • a plan for communication - a teaching plan;• Communication materials and equipment; • a plan for evaluation of results

• He has skill in: • selecting messages.• treating messages.• expressing messages - verbal and written• the selection and use of channels• understanding his audience• collecting evidence of results

MESSAGE OR CONTENT

• A message is the information a communicator wishes his audience to receive, understand, accept and act upon

• A good message must be: • In line with the objective to be attained.• Clear – understandable by the audience .• In line with the mental, social, economic and physical capabilities

of the audience. • Significant – economically, socially or aesthetically to the needs,

interests and values of the audience • Specific – no irrelevant material;

• Timely – especially when seasonal factors are important and issues current

• Supported by factual material covering both sides of the argument;

• Appropriate to the channel selected • Appealing and attractive to the audience – having utility,

immediate use. • Applicable – audience can apply recommendation; • Simply stated covering only one point at a time. • Accurate – Scientifically sound, factual and current;

• Adequate – Combining principle and practice in effective proportion.

• Manageable – can be handled by the communicator with high professional skill and within the limits imposed by time.

• In short ; In line, Clear, Significant,Specific,Simple,Timely, Appropriate,Appealing,Applicable ,Accurate, Adequate ,Manageable.

CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

• The sender and the receiver of messages must be connected or ‘tuned’ with each other. For this purpose, channels of communication are necessary.

• Channels are the physical bridges between the sender and the receiver of messages and the avenues between a communicator and an audience on which messages travel to and fro.

• Channels are the transmission lines used for carrying messages to their destination. Thus, the channels serve as essential tools of the communicator.

• A channel may be anything used by a sender of message to connect him with intended receivers.

• The crucial point is that he must get in contact with his audience.

• But channels are no good without careful direction or use in the right way, at the right time, to do the right job for the right purpose with the right audience, all in relation to the message.

• Many obstructions can enter channels. These are often referred to as ‘noise’ - that is some obstruction that prevents the message from being heard by or carried over clearly to the audience. ‘Noise’ emerges from a wide range of sources and causes.

SOURCES AND CAUSES OF NOISE

• 1. Failure of a channel to reach the intended audience• 2. Failure on the part of a communicator to handle channels

skillfully.• 3. Failure to select channels appropriate to the objective of a

communicator.• 4. Failure to use channels in accordance with the abilities of

the audience.• 5. Failure to avoid physical distraction.• 6. Failure of an audience to listen or look carefully.• 7. Failure to use enough channels in parallel.• 8. Use of too many channels in a series.

• 1. Failure of a channel to reach the intended audience: Usually, no one channel will reach an entire audience. Some examples: Meetings - all people cannot or may not attend. Radio - all people do not have access to a receiving set or may not be tuned in if they did. Written materials -many people cannot read.

• 2. Failure on the part of a communicator to handle channels skillfully: If in a meeting, tour, radio programme or any other channel is not used according to good procedure and technique, its potential for carrying message is dissipated. For example in a meeting when everyone cannot hear what is said and see what is shown, they cannot receive the message.

• 3. Failure to select channels appropriate to the objective of a communicator:

• All channels are not equally useful in attaining a specific objective. For example, if an objective was to show a certain group of people how to do something - dig a compost pit, build a sanitary latrine, treat seed, cook vegetables. etc. - the radio; circular letter, or newspaper would not do the job. Obviously, the channel needed is a method demonstration meeting. On the other hand, if an objective was to give general information about subjects like the above or to inform people of events etc., radio, letters and newspapers would be the proper channels to use.

• 4. Failure to use channels in accordance with the abilities of the audience:

• Written materials, for example, cannot serve as useful channels for communicating information to people who are unable to read or to understand the level of complexity or abstraction of the message.

• 5. Failure to avoid physical distraction: When using the channel of meetings, for example, distractions including people moving in and out, loud noises in or out of the group, heat, lighting crowded condition and many other forms of distraction often obstruct successful message - sending. Static on the radio, poor writing, unattractive exhibits are other examples of ‘noise’ that lessen the effectiveness of channels.

• 6. Failure of an audience to listen or look carefully: The only messages that get through to an audience are those which are heard, seen or experienced. An unfortunate tendency of people is not to give undivided attention to the communicator. This is a powerful obstruction that prevents messages from reaching their desired destination.

• 7. Failure to use enough channels in parallel: The more channels a communicator uses in parallel or at about the same time, the more chances he has for the message getting through and being properly received. No single channel will ordinarily reach all people who need to receive a message. Research indicates that up to five or six channels used in combination are often necessary to get a message through to large numbers of people with enough impact to influence significant changes in behavior.

• 8. Use of too many channels in a series: • An important principle of communication is that the more channels

used in a series the less chance a communicator has for getting his message through to the intended audience. Let it be assumed for example, that a Assistant Director of Agriculture originates a message he wishes to communicate to a sizeable number of local cultivators.

• Assistant Director of Agriculture communicates the message to the Mandal Agriculture Officer, who in turn communicates it to the Village level Agriculture Extension Officer, who in turn communicates it to a village leader, who in turn is asked to communicate it to a number of local cultivators

Assistant Director of Agriculture

Mandal Agriculture Officer

Village level Agriculture Extension Officer

village leader

local cultivators

SERIES OF CHANNELS

• The use of such a series of channels raises two grave questions • (a) Did the message ever really reach the intended destination? • (b) Did it reach with the same content and intent as the original?

• Two important principles emerge from this example:

(1) The more steps by which the communicator is removed from his intended receiver, the greater are his chances of losing the proper message.

(2) When lines of communication get too long for assured communication they can be improved in two primary ways

• (a) by using additional channels in parallel and • (b) by eliminating some of the channels in the series.

4. TREATMENT OF MESSAGES

• Treatment has to do with the way a message is handled to get the information across to an audience.

• It relates to the technique, or details of procedure, or manner of performance, essential to expertness in presenting messages.

• treating messages does not relate to formulation of the message or to the selection of channels, but to the presentation within the situation provided by a message and a channel.

• The purpose of treatment is to make the message clear, understandable and realistic to the audience.

• Treatment of messages can be varied in an almost infinite number of ways.

• the three categories of basis useful for varying treatment.

• A. Matters of general organization• B. Matters of speaking and acting• C. Matters of symbol variation and devices for

representing ideas

A. MATTERS OF GENERAL ORGANISATION:

• 1) Repetition or frequency of mention of ideas and concepts • 2) Contrast of ideas. • 3) Chronological- compared to logical, compared to psychological. • 4) Presenting one side compared to two sides of an issue. • 5) Emotional compared to logical appeals. • 6) Starting with strong arguments compared to saving him until the

end of presentation. • 7) Inductive compared to deductive. • 8) Proceeding from the general to the specific and vice versa. • 9) Explicitly drawing conclusions compared to leaving conclusions

implicit for the audience to draw.

B. MATTERS OF SPEAKING AND ACTING:

• • 1) Limit the scope of presentation to a few basic ideas and to the time

allotted. Too many ideas at one time are confusing. • 2) Be yourself. You can’t be anyone else. Strive to be clear, not clever. • 3) Know the facts. Fuzziness means sure death to a message. • 4) Don’t read your speech. People have more respect for a

communicator

who is sure of his subject. • 5) Know the audience. Each audience has its own personality.

Be responsive to it.

• 6) Avoid being condescending. Do not talk or act down

to people or over their heads. Remember, good

treatment of messages result in hitting the ‘bull’s

eye’, not the surrounding terrain. Never over-

estimate the knowledge of an audience or

underestimate its intelligence. • 7) Decide on the dramatic effect desired. In addition to the

content of messages, a communicator should be

concerned with ‘showmanship’. Effective treatment

requires sincerity, smoothness, enthusiasm, warmth,

flexibility and appropriateness of voice, gestures, movements and tempo.

• 8)Use alternative communicators when

appropriate, as in Group discussions, panels,

interviews, etc. • 9) Remember that audience appeal is a

psychological bridge to getting a message

delivered. • 10) Quit on time. Communicators who stop when

they are “finished” are rewarded by audience

goodwill.

C. MATTERS OF SYMBOL VARIATION AND DEVICES FOR REPRESENTING IDEAS:

• Word symbols- speech• Real objects. • Models • Specimens. • Photographs. • Graphs. • Charts • Motion pictures. • Slides. • Drama. • Puppets • Songs. • Flash cards etc.

• The foregoing list of suggested possibilities for message treatment can be extended and the techniques used in an almost infinite number of combinations.

• Communicators should be aware that treating messages to achieve maximum audience impact is a highly professional task.

• The task cannot be reduced to a formula or recipe. • Treatment is a creative task that has to be ‘tailor made’ for each

instance of communication.

5. THE AUDIENCE

• An audience is the intended receiver of messages.• The consumer of messages. • The intended respondent in message -sending and the assumed to be

in a position to gain economically, socially or in other ways by responding to the message in particular ways.

• In good communication, the audience aimed at is already identified by the communicator.

• The ‘pay of’ in communication is dependent on what the audience does in response to messages.

• An audience may consist of one person or many.• An audience may comprise men, women, or both; youth groups,

villagers or their leaders. • An audience may be formed according to occupation groups as

farmers or artisans; professional groups, as engineers, educators, administrators etc.

• The more homogeneous an audience, the greater the chances of successful communication. Likewise, the more a communicator knows about his audience and can pinpoint its characteristics the more likely he is to make an impact.

• unless a communicator sees his target clearly, he can shoot a thousand rounds, and yet accomplish nothing.

• It may be noted that the audience is not a passive recipient of message.

• The individuals are rather selective in receiving, processing and interpreting messages.

• Selective Exposure• Selective perception• Selective retention

• Selective Exposure.: KLAPPER (1960) • suggested that people expose themselves to messages

selectively. • There is a tendency for individuals to expose themselves

relatively more to those items of communication that are in agreement with their ideas, beliefs, values etc.

• SELECTIVE PERCEPTION: Regardless of exposure to communication, an individual’s perception of a certain event, issue, person or place could be influenced by one’s latent beliefs, attitudes, wants, needs or other factors. Thus, two individuals exposed to the same message could go away with different perceptions about it.

• SELECTIVE RETENTION:• All information is not retained by the individuals. • People generally tend to retain that information in which they

have some interest and which they consider to be important.• Research showed that even recall of information is

influenced by factors such as an individual’s needs, wants, moods, perceptions and so on.

• AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION:

• According to Rogers (1995), audience segmentation is a communication strategy that consists of identifying certain sub audiences within a total audience, and then conveying a special message to each of these sub audiences.

• The strategy breaks down a heterophilous audience into a series of relatively more homophilous sub audiences, in which different communication channels or messages are used with each sub audience.

• 6. AUDIENCE RESPONSE

• This is the terminating element in communication applied to rural development programmes.

• Response by an audience to messages received is in the form of some kind of action to some degree, mentally or physically.

• 7. FEED BACK:

• Extension communication is never complete without feedback information.

• FEEDBACK means carrying some significant response of the audience back to the communicator.

• Communication work is not an end in itself. • The extension agent should know what has happened to the

audience after the message has reached them.

REFERENCE

• Text book on Agricultural communication

-by A.S.SANDHU• Extension communication and management

- by G.L.RAY• Education and communication for development

- by O.P.DHAMA & O.P.BHATNAGAR

Thank you

AGRICULTURE IS MOTHER OF ALL CULTURE