Social Approaches to Communication

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz

Long before there were formal organizations or mass media, there was face-to-face interaction--the practice which comprises very core of the study of communication. Until recently, however, research in the field of interpersonal communication has been dominated by a behavioral science approach closely aligned with experimental social psychology. This timely and provocative volume critiques the limitations of past models, exploring a range of "social approaches" which help bring communication up to date. Social approaches, writes Leeds-Hurwitz, question whether the traditional theoretical assumptions and research methods followed in the field are still valid and appropriate. While the roots of these approaches are diverse and interdisciplinary, they overlap in their concern for the social construction of self, other, and event, and in their acknowledgment of the researcher's role in...