Theories of human communication

The Nature of Inquiry and Theory -- Communication Theory and Scholarship -- What Is Communication Theory? -- Why Study Communication Theory? -- The Academic Study of Communication -- Defining Communication -- The Process of Inquiry in Communication -- A Basic Model of Inquiry -- Types of Scholarship -- Communication Theory as a Field -- The Rhetorical Tradition -- The Semiotic Tradition -- The Phenomenological Tradition -- The Cybernetic Tradition -- The Sociopsychological Tradition -- The Sociocultural Tradition -- The Critical Tradition -- Levels of Communication -- Developing Core Communication Theories -- The Intellectual Structure of the Communication Field -- Theory in the Process of Inquiry -- The Nature of Theory -- Basic Elements of Theory -- The Traditional Ideal of Theory -- An Alternative Paradigm -- Theory Development and Change -- Metatheory -- Issues of Epistemology -- Issues of Ontology -- Issues of Axiology -- How to Evaluate a Communication Theory -- Theoretical Scope -- Appropriateness -- Heuristic Value -- Validity -- Parsimony -- Openness -- Topics in Communication Theory -- System Theory -- Fundamental System Principles -- What Is a System? -- System Qualities -- Information Theory -- Language and Information -- Information Transmission -- Cybernetics -- Feedback Processes -- Complex Networks -- Second-Order Cybernetics -- Dynamic Social Impact Theory -- Theories of Signs and Language -- Three Branches -- Classical Semantic Theory -- Peirce's Basic Notion of Sign -- Charles Morris.