OSGOOD- SCHRAMM MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Introduction-

The Osgood-Schramm model of communication is a communication theory. It explains how we communicate with one another, mainly though speech, writing and discourse. It emphasizes four key principles:

That communication is circular, not linear. The listener can both receive and send messages (in most instances).

That communication is usually equal and reciprocal

That there is a lot of interpretation involved when receiving a message

That all communication requires three steps: encoding, decoding and interpreting a message.

How does the Circular Model Work?

The image above shows how the Osgood-Schramm model works. It involves circular communication between two people. Each person is both a sender and a receiver. They are therefore able to communicate to one another, rather than only in one direction.

This circular feature of the model is very different from other liner models of the time like the Shannon-Weaver model or Lasswell’s model of communication.

When critiquing linear or ‘transmission’ models such as the Shannon-Weaver model, Schramm argued:

In fact it is misleading to think of the communication process as starting somewhere and ending somewhere. It is really endless. We are really switchboard centers handling and re-routing the great endless current of information.” (Schramm, 1955)

Principle 2: Communication involves Interpretation

Schramm was insistent that communication is not simply the passing of a packet of information from a sender to a receiver. Instead, he saw that messages must be interpreted in order for them to be understood.

In the process of interpretation, however, a lot of meaning can be lost. We call the lost or misinterpretation of information “semantic noise” caused by “semantic barriers”. Semantic barriers are specifically the values, beliefs and background knowledge that impact how someone sends and how someone receives messages.

As two-way communication keeps on going in its circular pattern, the semantic noise is ideally reduced because the two communicators can come to shared meaning and give one another further clarification on what they actually mean.

Note: Some people call semantic noise a weakness of this model. However, this model simply shows that semantic noise is possible – so it’s not a weakness. If anything, it’s good that the authors have shown us what it is and how it works.

Principle 3: Communication requires Encoding, Decoding and Interpreting

You can see in the image above that each actor in the communication sequence has three roles: encoding, decoding and interpreting.

Here’s how each step works:

Encoding: When we want to send a message, we need to think about how to craft it to get our message across clearly. We need to think of the right words to say and in what order we should send our messages to communicate our ideas to the message receiver.

Decoding: When we receive a message, we need to decode it. A message may be packaged as text, image, advertisement, speech, etc. When receiving a message, we need to use our reading skills, listening skills, etc. to decode the message so it makes sense to us. Sometimes someone may ‘mishear’ or ‘misread’ a message (perhaps if it were mumbled or written by someone who is not a native speaker), which will interfere with their interpretation.

Interpreting: >Now that we understand the medium of communication, we can go about interpreting the message. What does it mean to you? One person may interpret the message in a totally different way to someone else. Or, they may not understand it the same way as the encoder, meaning they have ‘misinterpreted’ the text.

Once someone has decoded and interpreted a message, they can then go about encoding their own message to send back to the original sender. They would in turn go about decoding and interpreting. The cycle continues!

Benefits / Strengths in the Osgood-Schramm Model

Shows how feedback can work: This model works well for explaining cyclical feedback. Other models see communication as being a one-way street, which fail to account for feedback and dialogue. In this model, the speaker can get feedback about their language, jokes, choice of words, etc. so they can try to communicate more and more clearly as the cycle continues.

Recognizes that communication is complex:By accounting for encoding, decoding and interpretation, this model shows how sometimes we can mishear and misinterpret information.

Sees us as active communicators: While other models see people receiving information as passive recipients, this one shows how we’re active in interpreting information we receive.

Disadvantages / Weaknesses in the Osgood-Schramm Model

Doesn’t recognize that communication can be unequal: There are many circumstance where communication may involve one authority figure talking and one (or many) listeners trying to interpret the message. In such instances, communication is much less equal than in Schramm’s model. Therefore, this model doesn’t tend to work in situations where power balances exist. In fact, this model does a poor job overall of understanding how power functions in communication.

Doesn’t work for mass communication: This is another time communication is unequal. One person communicating to many looks very different to the circular one-to-one model proposed in the Osgood-Schramm approach (for a more appropriate approach for mass media, try the Westley-Mclean model or Lasswell’s model of Communication).

                          - Suchismita Das