Similarities and Differences of Different Paradigms in Communication Studies

The similarities and differences between the different paradigms of communication studies:

Theoretical foundation: the empiricist paradigm follows the ideological foundation of the mainstream philosophy of the 2Oth century, logical positivism; the critical paradigm is based on the critical philosophy of Marxism; and the technicist paradigm follows technocracy, which considers technology as the main clue and the most decisive factor in the progress of human civilization. the most dominant thread and the most decisive force in the progress of human civilization.

Research core: The empiricist paradigm focuses its research interest on communication and human behavior, i.e., the study of the effects of communication, and strives to explore how human behavior can be controlled and modified through communication; the critical paradigm focuses its research on the relationship between communication and society, such as the relationship between the production of information and its dissemination and the macro-social structure, and between the dissemination of information and the superstructural and economic foundations of society, The technocratic paradigm focuses on the impact of the development of communication technology on human social change.

Research Methods: The empiricist paradigm pursues a positivist methodology, mainly resorting to empirical quantitative methods such as statistics and experiments, and employs observable, measurable, and quantifiable empirical materials to empirically examine social phenomena or social behaviors, and advocates the use of natural science research methods for communication research. The critical paradigm, on the other hand, emphasizes philosophical discourse and makes extensive use of theories and methods of Marxism, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, structuralism, and feminism. In recent years, however, they have also been integrating the use of critical thinking and empirical investigation in their research. The technocratic paradigm, on the other hand, favors the intuitive analysis method and the historical-comparative analysis in the documentary research method.

Research perspectives: the empiricist paradigm starts more from specific problems and analyzes how various factors constitute the results in a more microscopic way; the critical paradigm focuses on examining macro issues related to social structure and ideology and some communication mesophenomena and analyzes the problems from a macroscopic and mesoscopic point of view; and the technicist paradigm does not pay attention to communication phenomena occurring in the microscopic level, but focuses on the macroscopic social reality.

Research Position: The empiricist paradigm adopts a more conservative position, believing that the task of communication research is not to change the existing capitalist system, but to improve the communication mechanism by looking for countermeasures to solve the social problems within the existing system, so as to implement social management. The research position of the critical paradigm, on the other hand, is radical and almost opposite to that of the empiricist paradigm, which advocates the capitalist system as an object of change. The technocratic paradigm is also characterized by a radical research position, which considers communication technology as a decisive factor in social development. Some of these researchers believe that the revolution in communication technology will lead human beings to a highly free, democratic and egalitarian society, while others belonging to the same research paradigm believe that the revolution in communication technology has created a wider information gap, a social gap, and an economic gap in society, and it may even even lead to the loss of social control.