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Shannon–
Weaver model

The Shannon–Weaver model is one of the first and most influential

models of communication. It was initially published in the 1948 paper A
Mathematical Theory of Communication and explains communication in
terms of five basic components: a source, a transmitter, a channel, a
receiver, and a destination. The source produces the original message.
The transmitter translates the message into a signal, which is sent using
a channel. The receiver translates the signal back into the original
message and makes it available to the destination. For a landline phone
call, the person calling is the source. They use the telephone as a
transmitter, which produces an electric signal that is sent through the
wire as a channel. The person receiving the call is the destination and
their telephone is the receiver.
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 The five essential parts of the Shannon–Weaver model: A source uses a
transmitter to translate a message into a signal, which is sent through a
channel and translated back by a receiver until it reaches its destination.[1]

Shannon and Weaver distinguish three types of problems of

communication: technical, semantic, and effectiveness problems. They
focus on the technical level, which concerns the problem of how to use
a signal to accurately reproduce a message from one location to
another location. The difficulty in this regard is that noise may distort
the signal. They discuss redundancy as a solution to this problem: if the
original message is redundant then the distortions can be detected,
which makes it possible to reconstruct the source's original intention.

The Shannon–Weaver model of communication has been very influential

in various fields, including communication theory and information
theory. Many later theorists have built their own models on its insights.
However, it is often criticized based on the claim that it oversimplifies
communication. One common objection is that communication should
not be understood as a one-way process but as a dynamic interaction
of messages going back and forth between both participants. Another
criticism rejects the idea that the message exists prior to the
communication and argues instead that the encoding is itself a creative
process that creates the content.

Overview and basic components

:
 The Shannon–Weaver model is one of the earliest and most influential
models of communication.[2][3][4] It was initially published by Claude
Shannon in his 1948 paper A Mathematical Theory of
Communication.[5] The model was further developed together with
Warren Weaver in their co-authored 1949 book The Mathematical
Theory of Communication.[6][7] It aims to provide a formal
representation of the basic elements and relations involved in the
process of communication.[8]

In successful face-to-face communication, a message is translated into a

sound wave, which is transmitted through the air and translated back to the
original message when it is heard by the other party.

The model consists of five basic components: a source, a transmitter, a

channel, a receiver, and a destination.[5][2][9] The source of information
is usually a person and decides which message to send. The message
can take various forms, such as a sequence of letters, sounds, or
images. The transmitter is responsible for translating the message into
a signal. To send the signal, a channel is required.[2][5][10][7] Channels
are ways of transmitting signals, like light, sound waves, radio waves,
and electrical wires.[10] The receiver performs the opposite function of
the transmitter: it translates the signal back into a message and makes
it available to the destination. The destination is the person for whom
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 the message was intended.[5][2][10]

Shannon and Weaver focus on telephonic conversation as the

paradigmatic case of how messages are produced and transmitted
through a channel. But their model is intended as a general model that
can be applied to any form of communication.[9][10][11] For a regular
face-to-face conversation, the person talking is the source, the mouth
is the transmitter, the air is the channel transmitting the sound waves,
the listener is the destination, and the ear is the receiver. In the case of
a landline phone call, the source is the person calling, the transmitter is
their telephone, the channel is the wire, the receiver is another
telephone and the destination is the person using the second
telephone.[10][2][5] To apply this model accurately to real-life cases,
some of the components may have to be repeated. For the telephone
call, for example, the mouth is also a transmitter before the telephone
itself as a second transmitter.[10]

Problems of communication

Shannon and Weaver identify and address problems in the study of

communication at three basic levels: technical, semantic, and
effectiveness problems (referred to as levels A, B, and C).[12][10]
Shannon and Weaver hold that models of communication should
provide good responses to all three problems, ideally by showing how to
make communication more accurate and efficient.[10] The prime focus
of their model is the technical level, which concerns the issue of how to
accurately reproduce a message from one location to another
location.[5][10] For this problem, it is not relevant what meaning the
message carries. By contrast, it is only relevant that the message can
be distinguished from different possible messages that could have been
sent instead of it.[5]

Semantic problems go beyond the symbols themselves and ask how

they convey meaning. Shannon and Weaver assumed that the meaning
is already contained in the message but many subsequent
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 communication theorists have further problematized this point by
including the influence of cultural factors and the context in their
models. The effectiveness problem is based on the idea that the person
sending the message has some goal in mind concerning how the person
receiving the message is going to react. In this regard, effectivity means
that the reaction matches the speaker's goal.[12][10] The problem of
effectivity concerns the question of how to achieve this. Many critics
have rejected this aspect of Shannon and Weaver's theory since it
seems to equate communication with manipulation or propaganda.[10]

Noise and redundancy …

To solve the technical problem at level A, it is necessary for the receiver

to reconstruct the original message from the signal. However, various
forms of noise can interfere and distort it.[10][12][7][11] Noise is not
intended by the source and makes it harder for the receiver to
reconstruct the source's intention found in the original message.
Crackling sounds during a telephone call or snow on a television screen
are examples of noise. One way to solve this problem is to make the
information in the message partially redundant. This way, distortions
can often be identified and the original meaning can be reconstructed.
A very basic form of redundancy is to repeat the same message several
times. But redundancy can take various other forms as well. For
example, the English language is redundant in the sense that many
possible combinations of letters are meaningless. So the term
"comming" does not have a distinct meaning. For this reason, it can be
identified as a misspelling of the term "coming", thus revealing the
source's original intention. Redundancy makes it easier to detect
distortions but its drawback is that messages carry less
information.[10][12]

Influence and criticism

The Shannon–Weaver model of communication has been very influential

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 and has inspired a lot of subsequent work in the field of communication
studies.[10][13][11] Erik Hollnagel and David D. Woods even characterize it
as the "mother of all models."[14] It has been widely adopted in various
other fields, including information theory, organizational analysis, and
psychology. Many later theorists expanded this model by including
additional elements in order to take into account other aspects of
communication. For example, Wilbur Schramm includes a feedback loop
to understand communication as an interactive process and George
Gerbner emphasizes the relation between communication and the
reality to which the communication refers. Some of these models, like
Gerbner's, are equally universal in that they apply to any form of
communication. Others apply to more specific areas. For example,
Lasswell's model and Westley and MacLean's model are specifically
formulated for mass media.[13] Shannon's concepts were also
popularized in John Robinson Pierce's Symbols, Signals, and Noise,
which introduces the topic to non-specialists.[15]

Some theorists reject the linear nature of the Shannon–Weaver model and
include a two-way exchange of messages instead.

Many criticisms of the Shannon–Weaver model focus on its simplicity by

pointing out that it leaves out vital aspects of communication. In this
regard, it has been characterized as "inappropriate for analyzing social
processes"[16] and as a "misleading misrepresentation of the nature of
human communication".[17] A common objection is based on the fact
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 that it is a linear transmission model: it conceptualizes communication
as a one-way process going from a source to a destination. Against this
approach, it is argued that communication is usually more interactive
with messages and feedback going back and forth between the
participants. This approach is implemented by non-linear transmission
models, also termed interaction models.[18][3][19] They include Wilbur
Schramm's model, Frank Dance's helical-spiral model, a circular model
developed by Lee Thayer, and the "sawtooth" model due to Paul
Watzlawick, Janet Beavin, and Don Jackson.[9][20] These approaches
emphasize the dynamic nature of communication by showing how the
process evolves as a multi-directional exchange of messages.[21][3][20]

Another criticism focuses on the fact that Shannon and Weaver

understand the message as a form of preexisting information. I. A.
Richards criticizes this approach for treating the message as a
preestablished entity that is merely packaged by the transmitter and
later unpackaged by the receiver.[13] This outlook is characteristic of all
transmission models. They contrast with constitutive models,[18] which
see meanings as "reflexively constructed, maintained, or negotiated in
the act of communicating".[22] Richards argues that the message does
not exist before it is articulated. This means that the encoding is itself a
creative process that creates the content. Before it, there is a need to
articulate oneself but no precise pre-existing content.[13] The
communicative process may not just affect the meaning of the message
but also the social identities of the communicators, which are
established and modified in the ongoing communicative process.[22]

References
1. Shannon, C. E. (July 1948). "A Mathematical Theory of Communication".
Bell System Technical Journal. 27 (3): 381. doi:10.1002/j.1538-
7305.1948.tb01338.x (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fj.1538-7305.1948.tb01
338.x) .

2. Chandler, Daniel; Munday, Rod (10 February 2011). "Shannon and

Weaver's model". A Dictionary of Media and Communication (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-
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 s.google.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-
956875-8.

3. McQuail, Denis (2008). "Models of communication". In Donsbach,

Wolfgang (ed.). The International Encyclopedia of Communication, 12
Volume Set (https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+International+Encyclopedi
a+of+Communication%2C+12+Volume+Set-p-9781405131995) . Wiley-
Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-405-13199-5.

4. Li, Hong Ling (September 2007). "From Shannon-Weaver to Boisot: A

Review on the Research of Knowledge Transfer Model". 2007
International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and
Mobile Computing: 5439–5442. doi:10.1109/WICOM.2007.1332 (https://d
oi.org/10.1109%2FWICOM.2007.1332) .

5. Shannon, C. E. (July 1948). "A Mathematical Theory of Communication".

Bell System Technical Journal. 27 (3): 379–423. doi:10.1002/j.1538-
7305.1948.tb01338.x (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fj.1538-7305.1948.tb01
338.x) .

6. Shannon, Claude E.; Weaver, Warren (1 September 1998). The

Mathematical Theory of Communication (https://books.google.com/books
?id=fRrvAAAAMAAJ) . University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-
72546-3.

7. Narula, Uma (2006). Handbook of Communication Models, Perspectives,

Strategies (https://books.google.com/books?id=AuRyXwyAJ78C&pg=PA2
6) . Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 26. ISBN 978-81-269-0513-3.

8. Chandler, Daniel; Munday, Rod (10 February 2011). "communication

models". A Dictionary of Media and Communication (https://books.google
.com/books?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956875-
8.

9. Ruben, Brent D. (2001). "Models Of Communication". Encyclopedia of

Communication and Information (https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/e
ncyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/models-
communication) .

10. Fiske, John (2011). "1. Communication theory". Introduction to

Communication Studies (https://www.routledge.com/Introduction-to-Co
mmunication-Studies/Fiske/p/book/9780415596497) . Routledge.

11. Januszewski, Alan (2001). Educational Technology: The Development of a

Concept (https://books.google.com/books?
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 id=mlZsIIoOaSYC&pg=PA29) . Libraries Unlimited. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-
56308-749-3.

12. Weaver, Warren (1 September 1998). "Recent Contributions to the

Mathematical Theory of Communication". The Mathematical Theory of
Communication (https://books.google.com/books?id=fRrvAAAAMAAJ) .
University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-72546-3.

13. Fiske, John (2011). "2. Other models". Introduction to Communication

Studies (https://www.routledge.com/Introduction-to-Communication-Stu
dies/Fiske/p/book/9780415596497) . Routledge.

14. Erik Hollnagel and David D. Woods (2005). Joint Cognitive Systems:
Foundations of Cognitive Systems Engineering (https://books.google.com
/books?id=IwRHwOK2IzYC&pg=PA11&dq=Shannon%E2%80%93Weaver
+model) . Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-8493-2821-3.

15. John Robinson Pierce (1980). An Introduction to Information Theory:

Symbols, Signals & Noise (https://archive.org/details/introductiontoin00jo
hn) . Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-24061-9.

16. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1995). Herdman, Roger

C. (ed.). Global communications: opportunities for trade and aid (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=MuhaVuB-21MC) . U.S. Government Printing
Office. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4289-2021-7.

17. Daniel Chandler, The Transmission Model of communications (https://arch

ive.today/20120716111950/http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/shor
t/trans.html) , archived from the original (http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/D
ocuments/short/trans.html) on 2012-07-16

18. Chandler, Daniel; Munday, Rod (10 February 2011). "transmission models".
A Dictionary of Media and Communication (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956875-8.

19. Marsh, Patrick O. (1983). Messages that Work: A Guide to Communication

Design (https://books.google.com/books?id=2Wtpgvb6o94C&pg=PA358
) . Educational Technology. p. 358. ISBN 978-0-87778-184-4.

20. David, Schwartz (30 September 2005). Encyclopedia of Knowledge

Management (https://books.google.com/books?id=sbP16CXUev8C&pg=P
A501) . Idea Group Inc (IGI). p. 501. ISBN 978-1-59140-574-0.

21. Chandler, Daniel; Munday, Rod (10 February 2011). "interaction models". A
Dictionary of Media and Communication (https://books.google.com/books
?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956875-8.
:
 ?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956875-8.

22. Chandler, Daniel; Munday, Rod (10 February 2011). "consitutive models".
A Dictionary of Media and Communication (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=nLuJz-ZB828C) . OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956875-8.

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