Charles Redding: Response to Berger
Charles Redding is a professor in Organizational Communication, and seems provoked to write a response to Berger
First, he states his background in Org. Comm- and says that his field has contributed to the FRAGMENTATION that the field of communication is experiencing
Next, he lauds Berger and agrees that communication researchers have become HYPOTHESIS TESTERS, and are NOT THEORY GENERATORS
However, he disagrees, or tries to make a point that he disagrees with Berger: Sometimes, experience in the 'real' environment can be very helpful
- it can give theories boundaries / scopes where they are applicable
- it can provide for an environment to test out new ideas and generate new theories
In summary: FRAGMENTATION can destroy the field of communication, however, CONTEXTUAL 'TESTING' doesn't necessarily ruin THEORY GENERATION
On Organizational Communication:
Many people are skills instructors, which is fine for testing new ideas, but being SKILLS INSTRUCTORS alone shouldn't give them any merit! (Agree w/ Berger)
To understand the prevalence of skills trainers, we need to look at the history of the Organizational Communication field:
- originated in speech, and skills workshops (1950's - 70's)
- HUMAN RELATIONS (original title)
This history shows a history of a.) skills trainers and b.) applied research which may help explain why the field isn't as theoretical as it should be
On Berger's Points (REDDING AGREES THAT):
Communication Theorists do much more borrowing from related fields than they reciprocate / contribute back
Many great communication theories are developed by people of related fields with just a passing interest in communication, and 'beat us to the punch' of creating good communication theories
Communication field is highly unorganized and fragmented
Redding Suggests the following for improvement:
Prototyping / Creating of Theories in the classroom / graduate programs
Other Non-Theory learning (historical, rhetorical, ethnographic, critical theory)
Many good new ideas / theory REALLY CAN emerge from real world applications (other responses to Berger criticize him for downplaying the vital bridge between theory and practice - because communication practice reinforces communication theory and research)