Prospects for Significant Theoretical Advances in Communication [microform] : The Role of the Interesting Question / Dennis S. Gouran
- Bib ID:
- 5398038
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Gouran, Dennis S
- Online Version:
- https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED202058
Broken link? let us search Trove , the Wayback Machine , or Google for you.
- Description:
-
- [Washington, D.C.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1981
- 20 p.
- Summary:
-
This paper discusses ways in which the field of speech communication can be advanced. The first half of the paper characterizes the objectivist and subjectivist views of how knowledge is acquired and the forms of inquiry to which these views have led. The remainder of the paper demonstrates the role that the "interesting question" (one for which the answer promises to have significant impact on understanding how particular sets of phenomena are related) has played in contributing to advances in knowledge. Some cases are examined in which the role of the interesting question has led to important and useful discoveries. The cases examined include (1) John Snow's solution to the cholera problem in nineteenth century England, (2) the discovery of penicillin, (3) the development of the thoery of atomic structure in chemistry, (4) Claude Bernard's discovery that the body produces its own sugar, and (5) Charles Darwin's work on evolution. Based on these observations, the conclusion is drawn that speech communication scholars should continue to direct their energies toward discovery rather than justification. (RL)
- Notes:
-
- ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Central States Speech Association (Chicago, IL, April 9-11, 1981).
- May also be available online. Address as at 14/8/18: https://eric.ed.gov/
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.
- Subject:
- Available From:
- ERIC
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1981
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.
Feedback
Similar items
- The psychology of communication [by] Daniel K. Stewart
- Designing the communication experiment
- Strategies for communication research / Paul M. Hirsch, Peter V. Miller, and F. Gerald Kline, editors
- Communications in transition : issues and debates in current research / edited by Mary S. Mander
- Beyond agendas : new directions in communication research / edited by Philip Gaunt ; foreword by Everette E. Dennis ; sponsored by Southwestern Bell Foundation