Linear model of communication

 LINEAR MODEL OF COMMINICATION                   

In linear model, communication is considered one way process where sender is the only one who sends message and receiver doesn't give feedback or response. The message signal is encoded and transmitted through channel in presence of noise. The sender is more prominent in linear model of communication. 

Linear model was founded by Shannon and Weaver which was later adapted by David Berlo into his own model known as SMCR (Source, Message, Channel, Receiver) Model of Communication.

Application:

Linear model is applied in mass communication like television, radio, etc. This model is not applicable in general human communication as general human communication has to have feedback and responses.

Components of Linear Communication

Linear model has defined set of components required for a communication to be established where

·         Sender is the person who sends a message after encoding.

·         Encoding is the process of converting the message into codes compatible with the channel and understandable for the receiver. 

·         Decoding is the process of changing the encoded message into understandable language by the receiver.

·         Message is the information sent by the sender to the receiver.

·         Channel is the medium through which the message is sent.

·         Receiver is the person who gets the message  after decoding.

·         Noise is the disruptions that are caused in the communication process in channel or in understandability of the message.

Types of Linear Communications

Different types of communication models based on linear model of

communication are:

Aristotle’s model

Shannon and weaver model

Berlo’s SMCR model

Laswell model

Criticisms of Linear Model

·         The model assumes that communication has a particular beginning and an end, so it is not continuous.

·         There is no concept of feedback which makes it inapplicable to direct human communication and only applicable to mass communication like newspaper, television, etc. There is no way to know if the communication was effective or not.

·         Human communication is mostly circular rather than linear as audience is also an active participant.

·         Communication may not happen in turns and more than one message can be sent at the same time.

·         The sender must have the ability to encode and the receiver must have the ability to decode.

·         The model has become less relevant to electronic communication and internet where it’s not clear who is the sender and who is the receiver.

 

 

     Aristotle's Model of Communication

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and writer born in Stagira, Northern Greece. He was also the teacher of Alexander the Great. He studied physics, logic, mathematics, etc. While exploring the human nature scientifically, Aristotle developed a linear model of communication for oral communication known as Aristotle's Model of Communication. This is considered as the first model of communication and was proposed before 300 B.C. It is also the is most widely accepted among all communication models

Aristotle Model is mainly focused on speaker and speech. It can be broadly divided into 5 primary elements: Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience and Effect.

The Aristotle's communication model is speaker centered model as the speaker has the most important role in it and is the only one active. It is the speaker's role to deliver a speech to the audience. The role of the audience is passive, influenced by the speech. This makes the communication process one way, from speaker to receiver.

Application:

This model was highly used to develop public speaking skills and create propaganda at that time so, it is less focused on intrapersonal or interpersonal communication. Even if the model is speaker oriented and focuses on audience interaction in communication, there is no concept of feedbacks.

Example:

For instance, a politician (speaker) gives a speech to get votes from the civilians (audience) at the time of election (occasion). The civilians only vote if they are influenced by the things the politician says in his speech so the content must be very impressive to influence the mass and the speaker must design the message very carefully. The speech must be clear as well as the speaker must have a very good non-verbal communication with the audience like eye contact.
This example is a classic case of Aristotle Model of Communication depicting all the elements in the model.

Critical elements of a good communicator:

·         Ethos : Ethos is the characteristic which makes you credible in front of the audience.

·         Pathos: If what you say matters to them and they can connect with it, then they will be more interested and they will think you are more credible.

·         Logos : Logos is logic. People believe in you only if they understand what you are trying to say. 

Criticisms of Aristotle's Model of Communication

There are few criticisms around this model. Some of them are

·         There is no concept of feedback, it is one way from speaker to audience.

·         There is no concept of communication failure like noise and barriers.

·         This model can only be used in public speaking.

 

 

Shannon and Weaver Model Of Communication

Shannon Weaver model of communication was created in 1948 when Claude Elwood Shannon wrote an article "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" in Bell System Technical Journal with Warren Weaver. Shannon was an American mathematician whereas Weaver was a scientist. The Mathematical theory later came to be known as Shannon Weaver model of communication or “mother of all models." It is more technological than other linear models.

his model is specially designed to develop the effective communication between sender and receiver. Also they find factors which affecting the communication process called “Noise”. At first the model was developed to improve the Technical communication. Later it’s widely applied in the field of Communication.

Components of model:

Sender (Information source) – Sender is the person who makes the message, chooses the channel and sends the message.

Encoder (Transmitter) –Encoder is the sender who uses machine, which converts message into signals or binary data. It might also directly refer to the machine.

Channel –Channel is the medium used to send message.

Decoder (Receiver) – Decoder is the machine used to convert signals or binary data into message or the receiver who translates the message from signals.

Receiver (Destination) –Receiver is the person who gets the message or the place where the message must reach. The receiver provides feedback according to the message. 

Noise –Noise is the physical disturbances like environment, people, etc. which does not let the message get to the receiver as what is sent. 

Example :

A businessman sends a message via phone text to his worker about a meeting happening about their brand promotion. The worker does not receive the full message because of noise.

Communication problems in model :

There are three levels of problems of communication according to Shannon Weaver. They are:

1.   Technical problem –How a channel causes a problem

2.   Semantic problem –Is the meaning of message sent and received very different

3.   Effectiveness problem –How effectively does the message cause reaction

Advantages of Shannon Weaver Model

·         Concept of noise helps in making the communication effective by removing the noise or problem causing noise.

·         This model takes communication as a two way process. It makes the model applicable in general communication.

·         Communication is taken as quantifiable in Shannon Weaver model.

Criticisms of Shannon Weaver Model

·         It can be applied more for interpersonal communication  than group communication and mass communication.

·         Receiver plays the passive part in the communication process as sender plays the primary role that sends messages.

·         Feedback is taken as less important in comparison to the messages sent by the sender. 

·         The model is taken by some critics as a "misleading misrepresentation of the nature of human communication" as human communication is not mathematical in nature.

Berlo's SMCR Model of Communication

In 1960, David Berlo postulated Berlo's Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) Model of Communication from Shannon Weaver's Model of Communication . He described factors affecting the individual components in the communication making the communication more efficient. This model also focuses on encoding and decoding which happens before sender sends the message and before receiver receives the message respectively.

Components of Berlo's Model of Communication

S -Sender

Sender is the source of the message or the person who originates the message. The person or source sends the message to the receiver. The following are the factor related to sender and is also the same in the case of receiver:

·         Communication Skills:
Communication skills of a person is a factor that affects the communication process. If the sender has good communication skills, the message will be communicated better than if the sender's communication skills are not good. Similarly, if the receiver cannot grasp the message, then the communication will not be effective. Communication skills include the skills to speak, present, read, write, listening, etc.

·         Attitude:
The attitude of the sender and the receiver creates the effect of the message. The person's attitude towards self, the receiver and the environment changes the meaning and effect of the message.

·         Knowledge:
Familiarity with the subject of the message makes the communicated message have its effect more. Knowledge on the subject matter makes the communicator send the message effectively.

·         Social Systems:
Values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion and many other social factors affect the sender's way of communicating the message. It creates difference in the generation of message. Place and situation also fall under social systems.

·         Culture:
Cultural differences make messages different. A person from one culture might find something offensive which is very much accepted in another culture.

M-Message

A message is the substance that is being sent by the sender to the receiver. It might be in the form of voice, audio, text, video or other media. The key factors affecting the message are

·         Content:
Content is the thing that is in the message. The whole message from beginning to end is the content.

·         Elements:
Elements are the non verbal things that tag along with the content like gestures, signs, language, etc.

·         Treatment:
Treatment is the way in which the message is conveyed to the receiver. Treatment also effects the feedback of the receiver.

·         Structure:
The structure of the message or the way it has been structured or arranged, affects the effectiveness of the message.

·         Code:
Code is the form in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of language, text, video, etc.

C-Channel

Channel is the medium used to send the message. In mass communication and other forms of communication, technical machines might be used as a channel like telephone, internet, etc. But in general communication, the five senses of a human being is the channel for the communication flow and it affects the effectiveness of the channel.

·         Hearing- We receive the message through hearing.

·         Seeing- We perceive through seeing. We also get non-verbal messages by seeing.

·         Touching- Many of the non-verbal communication happens from touching like holding hands.

·         Smelling- We collect information from smelling.

·         Tasting- Taste also provides the information to be sent as a message.

R- Receiver

Receiver is the person who gets the message sent in the process. This model believes that the thinking pattern and all other factors mentioned above must be in sync to that of the sender for the communication to be effective. The message might not have the same effect as intended if the receiver and sender are not similar. The receiver must also have a very good listening skill. Other factors are similar to that of the sender.

·         Communication skills

·         Attitudes

·         Knowledge

·         Social Systems

·         Culture

 

Criticisms of Berlo's SMCR Model:

·         There is no concept of feedback, so the effect is not considered.

·         There is no concept of noise or any kind of  barriers in communication process.

·         It is a linear model of communication, there is no two way communication.

·         Both of the people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned above but not in real life.

               Lasswell’s model

Lasswell's communication model was developed by communication theorist Harold D. Lasswell (1902-1978) in 1948. Lasswell’s model of communication (also known as action model or linear model or one way model of communication)

 He states that a convenient way to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions

§  Who

§  Says What

§  In Which Channel

§  To Whom

§  With what effect?

Lasswell's communication model has 5 components which is used as an analysis tool for evaluating the communication process and components. The components are the questions to be asked to get the answers and keep communication going.

In this model, the communication component who refers the research area called “Control Analysis”,

Says what is refers to “Content Analysis”,

In which channel is refers to “Media Analysis”,

To Whom is refers to “Audience Analysis”

With What Effect is refers to “Effect Analysis”

Explanation of different Components of Lasswell's Model

·         Control analysis helps the sender to have all the power.

·         Content analysis is associated to stereotyping and representation of different groups politically. It is also related to the purpose or the ulterior motives of the message.

·         Media analysis represents which medium should be used to exercise maximum power against the receivers.

·         Audience analysis shows who are the target population to be manipulated or brain-washed.

·         Effect analysis is done before the process starts. It is used to predict the effect of message over the target population to be exploited.

Example:

CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear power station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.

Who – TEPC Operator

What – Radioactive material flowing into sea

Channel – CNN NEWS (Television medium)

Whom – Public

Effect – Alert the people of Japan from the radiation.

USES AND APPLICATIONS:

Though Lasswell's model was developed to analyze mass communication, this model is used for interpersonal communication or group communication to be disseminated message to various groups in various situations.

Lasswell's model was developed to study the media propaganda of countries and businesses at that time. Only rich people used to have communication mediums such as televisions and radios back them.

. The use of the concept of effect makes Lasswell's model non-linear unlike its name. It's because effect can also be taken as feedback. Though, generally, the component of effect was made to be more about outcome of the message, the model is applied in different medias and fields despite being developed specifically for mass communication.  

Advantage of lasswell model:

§  It is Easy and Simple

§  It suits for almost all types of communication

§  The concept of effect

Disadvantage of lasswell model:

§  Feedback not mentioned

§  Noise not mentioned

§  Linear Model