Communication

by Denis McQuail

This book offers a sociologist's view of some of the basic question about communication as a social process. Theories and models of communication are reviewed, and a variety of relevant empirical researches are summarized. The view taken is that communication processes and outcomes reflect the distribution of power in society and between societies, and that an understanding of how communication works can contribute to defining and resolving some current human problems.

229 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[David Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the books I consulted and read for my Communication & Communication Problems presentation at school for my Theories of Learning class. If you're wondering, I got 50% in that presentation, despite the fact that I did rather good. But my professor is too self-important and thinks too much of himself and overestimates his knowledge and doesn't like to be made look like a fool in front of his class - thus, that's a 50% for me. Despite the fact that Communication is a field I know pretty much everything about. Oh, well.

On the book now before I get even more frustrated.

Denis McQuail is a writer and a philosopher/researcher/scientist I much appreciate and consider his contribution to Communication Theory important. However, this particular book was not written for rookies. If you grab this book intending to learn about Communication, you won't learn much. Far too complex a writing style and far too traditional a pattern of information presentation. I personally found it hard to follow what McQuail was saying, and the book is densely written to a point where it becomes ridiculous. Notwithstanding, it's a good addition to the many textbooks and books explaining the principals of the field of Communication.