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Theory (communications)
The set of assumptions and rules that guide systematic research and define the boundaries of the discipline. It is a set of statements about how the world of communication and its messages is thought to work. A theoretical stance affects what is studied as well as how it is studied. Communi cation, however, does not have one cohesive stance on its subject. Its theories range from cultural studies approaches using mass media theories about power and ideology to psychological approaches that look for actions by humans during communication that reduce anxiety and uncertainty or introduce control and deception. Other theoretical stances assume the activity or passivity of the recipient of messages, focus on decision making, study the structure and meaning of interpersonal relationships, or look ...