concepts related to communication

communication efficiency,effectiveness, entropy etc

1. CONCEPTS RELATED TO COMMUNICATION Shilpa .p. M.S c Agricultural Extension KAU, Thrissur 1

2. COMMUNICATION FIDELITY According to Berlo (1960), FIDELITY is the faithful performance of the communication process by all its elements . Degree of correspondence between the meaning intended by the sender of a message and the meaning understood by its receiver . The objective of any communication effort is to have communication fidelity as high as possible. 2

3. Con’d Communication fidelity can be explained as the extent of desirable changes in receiver’s behaviour as a result of communication . Thayer (1968) has mentioned factors such as communicator-receiver relationship, purpose or intentions , roles and rules and the organisation on behalf of which they engage themselves as affecting fidelity of a communication. Communication fidelity is a measure of communication effectiveness. 3

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5. NOISE & FIDELITY Noise and fidelity are 2 sides of a same coin . Eliminating noise increases fidelity and production of noise reduces fidelity. 5

6. Strategies for higher fidelity communication 1 .) Know your outcome 2 .) Set the context 3 .) Stay focused 4 .) Verify understanding 5 .) Actively listen 6 .)Ask possibility questions 7 .)Affirm their answers 6

7. COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS An Effective Communication is a communication between two or more persons wherein the intended message is successfully delivered, received and understood Berlo (1960) identified four factors, namely attitude, knowledge, communication skills and position in a social-cultural situation as governing effectiveness of a communicator and a receiver. 7

8. Factors that affect communication effectiveness 1 .) Communication behaviour - The nature of communication behaviour of an extension worker affect his communication effectiveness . Communication skill Attitude Knowledge level Socio-cultural status 2.) Role Perception and Role Performance 8

9. Con’d 3 .) Relationship with the audience- It can be referred to as an extension worker’s Orientation towards the clients His empathy His credibility in the minds of the audience His homophily with the client ( Homophily is similarity in certain attributes, such as beliefs,education,social status etc...) Culture and language compatibility Extend he allows feedback 9

10. Con’d 4.) Programme content- The communication effectiveness of an extension worker depends on : The nature & characteristics of the programme content Its compatibility with the existing needs of the people 10

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12. COMMUNICATION CREDIBILITY It is the perceived expertness and trustworthiness accorded to a source by its audience . Before the audience accepts any message, it will judge whether the communicator can be relied upon and is competent enough to give the information . 12

13. Con’d Credibility is linked to the communicator and the audience characteristics . Eg : Print media perceived by the member of upper socio-economic groupings and television perceived as more credible by lower socio-economic groupings. 13

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15. COMMUNICATION COMPETANCE Competent communicator is one who is motivated to communicate, has knowledge of how to communicate, possesses communication skill(ability to apply knowledge) and is sensitive to the expectations of the context in which the communication occurs . ( Spitzberg and Cupach ) Thus communication competence has 5 major , components for each individual, namely motivation, knowledge, skill, context and outcomes. 15

16. con’d Communication competence in an interpersonal situation refers to the ability of the communicator to engage in appropriate and effective communication. To communicate effectively means to get your point across in the way that you intend . To communicate appropriately means to attend to the rules and expectations in a social situation . 16

17. con’d According to Hymes , communication competance is an individual ability. It is communicating in ways that are effective and appropriate in a given situation. 17

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19. Characteristics of competent communicator Self –awareness – being aware of your communication behaviour. Adaptability -ability to adapt your communication to the environment you are in. Empathy- putting yourself in that person’s shoes. Cognitive complexity- is the idea that another’s communication behaviour can have multiple sources. Ethics - means to communicate in ways that are morally correct. Those who are proficient in each of these 5 areas of communication are considered competent communicators . 19

20. EMPATHY Empathy is nothing but ‘ putting yourself in the other man’s shoe’ ,seeing things from the other man’s point of view. Empathy is the ability on the part of one person to understand the other person’s internal frame of mind and reference and accept the same. This acceptance does not mean agreement. ( Frame of reference – Each person has a stored experience of beliefs and values as an individual & also as a member of the society which influences a person’s behaviour in a particular situation and is called the individual’s frame of reference) 20

21. Con’d It is the ability of an individual to project oneself into the role of another person, to be able to appreciate the feelings, thinking and actions of another person.(Rao,1993). An extension agent who is empathic shall be able to understand and appreciate the farmer’s situations and communicate with them effectively 21

22. Empathetic accuracy As a group increases, empathetic accuracy decreases . When prior communication is minimal, empathetic accuracy decreases. When we are insensitive to the behaviour of others, empathetic accuracy is less. Empathetic accuracy also decreases when we are not motivated in a communication encounter. 22

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24. FEEDBACK Feedback means carrying some significant responses of the audience back to the communicator. Adequate and correct feedback are essential for purposeful communication. Feedback information provides the communicator the opportunity to take corrective steps in communication works. 24

25. Con’d Feedback makes both the communicator and the receiver truly interacting members of a communication system. 25

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27. Characteristics of feedback Feedback is source oriented - When we get the feedback for the source, we are observing the communication situation from the point of view of the source . Feedback affects the source – When feedback indicates that the receivers are not comprehending, the communicator repeats. 27

28. Con’d Feedback exerts control over future messages. Feedback varies in different communication situations – Person-to-person communication permits maximum feedback. Mass media has minimal opportunities for feedback . Feedback affects Communication fidelity - Feedback increases the accuracy with which the information is transmitted . Feedback maintains the stability and equilibrium of a communication system. 28

29. con’d Presence or absence of feedback affects the sender-receiver relationship. Lack of feedback – low confidence and hostility. Free feedback – high confidence and amity. 29

30. ENTROPY Entropy refers to disorder or uncertainty . Entropy : refers to messages which convey highly unpredictable information to the receiver The objective of communication is to reduce the entropy that is to reduce the uncertainty about a random quantity . 30

31. REDUNDANCY REDUNDANCY : R efers to messages which convey highly predictable information to the receiver In addition, to more effectively transmit a message there should be an appropriate balance between so-called entropy and redundancy. Shannon (1948) – whose work was highly influential in developing so-called transmission models of communication 31

32. Con’d The theory discusses these terms in an explicitly defined, mathematical way. However, the terms have come to mean something like the following when applied to human communication The proportions of entropy and redundancy in messages will differ for different speaker-hearers. 32

33. Con’d The relative amounts will be influenced by such things as the  type of information conveyed (e.g. highly complex, simple and straightforward), the  form in which it is transmitted (e.g. spoken, written), the amount and type of knowledge that can be assumed to be shared by the speaker-hearers, their cognitive levels, and so on. 33

34. REFERENCES Textbook on Agricultural Communication: Process and Methods by A.S.Sandhu . Extension Communication and Management by G.L.Ray . https://www.sltinfo.com/entropy-and-redundancy-in-human-communication / 34

35. 35 THANK YOU