Jeremy Foote

```{r setup, include=FALSE} knitr::opts_chunk$set(echo = FALSE) knitr::opts_knit$set(root.dir = './') source("resources/preamble.R") ```

Researching communication processes from a systems theory perspective

Jeremy Foote
Purdue University

## Communication is interdependent > - By definition, communication is relational; multiple actors are basically always involved ## Communication is "stateful" > - People are heterogenous, which influences their communication > - People are influenced by their experiences and conversations ## Current approaches have blindspots > - Nearly all communication research uses individual-level methods > - Theories about higher-level phenomena can't be tested with individual-level methods > - Interdependence makes higher-level behavior unpredictable, but this is typically ignored ## Spread on a network ## Systems theory can help > - Focuses on: > - Environment in which communication occurs > - Feedback loops and recursion - interdependent processes > - Emergence - identifying higher-level patterns > - Methods include: > - Longitudinal modeling > - Social network analysis > - Agent-based modeling