CAPE-Communication Studies

Covering all the basics of Communication Studies.

Cape Communication Studies

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Mahatma Gandhi

Saturday, 9 October 2010

Evaluating Types of Discourse/Rhetorical Modes

1. Cape Communication Studies (McDermott) pg 46-52; 74-83 2. Writing in English (Section 3) Chps 8-11 In your reading you are to look for:

Hello Students please be reminded of the reading for the next class which is on Analyzing Discourse Types. Please see below:

a. The Definition of 'Discourse' b. The Definition of 'Main Idea' c. The motives for choosing a particular type of discourse d. The differences between the different types of discourse: description, narration, exposition, persuasion, and argumentation. Technical/Scientific Writing vs Artistic Writing There are two (2) major Prose discourse types - Technical/Scientific Writing and Artistic Writing. Below is how the two differ: Technical Writing Artistic Writing 1. Objective Subjective 2. Scientific data, figures & statistics Opinions, Biases 3. Precise language Figurative Language 4. Denotative/Concrete words Connotative Words 5. Neutral Tone Affective Tone There are at least five (5) modes of rhetoric that may utilize either one or a combination of technical and artistic writing depending on the topic, purpose for writing, and audience. Rhetoric is simply defined as the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.It also refers to the specialized literary uses of language and the ability to use language effectively in communication. Types of Discourse/Rhetoric Description The main purpose of this type of discourse is to explain or describe some concept, person or

setting, thought to be unfamiliar, to the audience. Descriptive writing uses various organizational/spatial strategies. For example in describing a house on a hill, a writer may start describing what it looks like starting from the base of the hill upwards (ground view). Another writer may start by describing how it looks from the skies going downwards to the base of the hill (aerial view). Narration The main purpose and distinguishing factor of this writing is to explain some concept according to a given time sequence. For example, The first thing Tory did when she arrived in the beautiful island of Jamaica was to take a dip in the beautiful azure ocean of the North Coast. Afterwards, she went to the infamous jerk restaurant, 'Scotchies', for some delicious jerk chicken, festival and roast corn. She then ordered two glasses of refreshing red stripe beer, which she savored as she rocked to the irie music floting in the island breeze. As the sun was about to set, she contacted a reliable tour company and went for a relaxing drive along the sea coast culminating in a tour of the alluring fern gully which covered with miles of the most gorgeous indegenious ferns. Exposition The main purpose of exposition is to define, inform, teach or explain some concept. As such, the expectation of expository writing is for it to be objective, precise and neutral (free from bias and prejudice). In otherwords, it mostly uses technical/scientific writing. Writers also employ a combination of varied organizational strategies in expostion, depending on their topic, audience and purpose for writing. These may include, cause and effect, comparison/contrast, definition, description/illustration, etc. Persuasion The main purpose of this type of writing is to convince or influence readers to accept a particular point of view. Persuasive writing does this by mainly appealing to readers' emotions. In this type of writing you may find the use of emotive words, repetition, figurative language, opinions, biases etc. In otherwords, this type of writing relies heavily on artistic writing. Argumentation The main purpose of this type of writing is to convince or influence readers to accept a particular point of view. Argumentative writing does this by appealing to readers' logic. Readers expect a strong piece of argumentative writing to be as objective and neutral as possible, and to convince them by presenting them with statistcal/scientific data, quotes, facts and other information that can be tested/substantiated. In otherwords, this type of writing relies heavily on technical/scientific writing.
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Mahatma Gandhi

Saturday, 20 November 2010

Evaluating Reliability and Validity

In evaluating sources there are two elements reliability and validity. For a data source to be accurate and credible high levels of reliability and validity is the aim. Both elements are equal in importance in judging the accuracy and credibility of a source. Reliability Can the source provide the data? For a source to be reliable we must evaluate the ability of the source to provide the information. We are looking at the question Is it likely that this source can provide this

data? The major concern is therefore authority. To evaluate authority we can look at several aspects of the data source: 1. Author - Is the author an expert in the field? What qualifications does he/she have? For example an article on a website about HIV+ written by medical doctor might have more authority than one written by some one without qualification. 2. Professional standards. Does the author have certain professional standards? The example of a doctor immediately comes to mind. Similarly academic writers who are published in academic journals or books have to conform to standards and have their work checked by other academics. Journalists mostly operate within a professional approach especially large international newspapers such as the New York Times or the Guardian (UK)Authority can mean expertise. 3. Publisher Is the publisher reputable? Academic publishers need to maintain their reputation for accurate factual information so they also have editors to ensure a high standard. Other publishers such as newspapers, magazines etc need to avoid legal action for libel (telling lies about someone) so also should be careful to print the truth. 4. Organisation or Institution If the data is from an organisation, for example the United Nations, we need to evaluate their reputation and their role or responsibilities. For example statistics on the economy from the East Caribbean Central Bank would come from a highly reliable source as the bank use the statistics to conduct the very important business of issuing bank notes and controlling the money supply in the region. 5. Research method Could the research method chosen generate the data necessary? For example in researching teen pregnancy would carrying out an interview of an expert generate the data needed or would questionnaires of teens be a better choice. Validity Is the data true? A source could have high levels of reliability, for example, academic research published in an academic journal by the leading expert in the field however the data may have a low level of validity in that it might be very out of date. Equally it may be possible that a source might not be considered highly reliable for example an intenet site which does not have the name of the author, organisation who maintains the site etc however the data is still true or valid. In evaluating validity we need to look at accuracy and bias. To evaluate accuracy we need to look at several aspects of the data: 1. Currency When was the data published or gathered? Could the information be out of date? For example statistics on rates of HIV+ infection will need to be up to date to be accurate. 2. Relevance Does the information relate to the circumstances you are applying it to? For example, will research carried out in the United States apply to the Caribbean? 3. Data collection Was the data collected by reliable methods? Was it accurately recorded? 4. Sample size Was the sample size large enough for generalisation to be accurate? For example if a newspaper article has only interviewed one person in a large crowd can we assume that all the points of view are represented? Similarly with social

research the sample size is vital to judging whether the data is representative of the population as a whole. 5. Replicable Do other sources have similar information? Would another similar piece of research have the same result? This is particularly relevant to sources such as the internet which lack references. To evaluate bias we can look at: Representation Does the sample include all the variables within the population such as age, gender, social class, religion, education level which might affect response? Even with a large sample if the sample is not representative then bias in the data will occur. Cultural bias Has the data been collected by someone of the same or a different culture. For example, an Western researcher may misinterpret a non-Western culture and be biased due to racism or other factors. Similarly when researching within ones own culture, being subject to the same values and beliefs as the subjects may cause one not to question certain responses. For example when evaluating religious or other beliefs. Political bias Is the data being presented from either a right wing or a left wing perspective. The conservative agenda (e.g. free market economics, personal liberty above all other rights and fundamental religious views) will differ from the liberal agenda (e.g. some control of the market for social gain, social control for the good of society, religious tolerance for different views). Social bias Aspects such as gender, race, age and social class may affect the presentation of data. For example a womens perspective on sexual equality may differ from a mans views. Faulty research methods Even the best academic researchers can make mistakes and inexperienced researchers such as a student may have issues with poorly designed and executed questionnaires and interviews. Mistakes within the research method inadvertently cause bias. This is why academic research is reviewed by several other academics to evaluate the methodology and avoid bias in the conclusions or faulty conclusions. Aim of the source in presenting the data The reason for the data being presented will have an effect on bias. For example a Government might present certain statistics on economic performance if they are favourable and might avoid others. Whilst the data is valid, there might still be bias in that other relevant information is not present. If the sources aim is persuasive again there may be bias. For example commercial sites wishing to sell products.

MODULE 2: LANGUAGE AND COMMUNITY They normally give an extract that includes some ah de Creole and ting from ah book or story, but sometimes when they're really evil, they might bring a poem (the horror of 2008-it wasn't that bad. Cool yuh herbs). So don't be surprised if you find a play or poem, or something other than a prose extract. In this module they ask things specific to the extract, but here are they general topics they usually ask:

Attitudes toward language (Standard English/Creole) Communication/meaning and technology (how can the communication process/meaning be enhanced by the use of _______*<-----insert technological device there*) Uses of language Social factors influencing language.

Registers Dialectical variation Communicative behaviours relationship between language and context Appropriateness of language