Shannon and Weaver-mathematical model of communication

Shannon and Weaver - 1949  

The academic field of mass communication were heavily influenced by  the engineering/mathematical  model of communication.

Communication was conceived as a linear model of transmission of a message from a source to a receiver via a signal producing transmitter. Shannon and Weaver’s mathematical theory of communication is widely accepted as one of the main seeds of communication studies.

During II world war the main channels of communication were telephone cable and the radio wave.By this approach we understand how to send a maximum amount of information along a given channel to carry information.

Features of Shannon and Weavers model

(i)              It presents communication as linear process

(ii)           It is a simple model.

(iii)        The message is decide by the source transmitted into a signal(encode) which is sent through a channel to the receiver

for example: In conversation the mouth is transmitter, the signal is the sound wave which pass through the channel of the air and ear is receiver

Three level of problems/Noises

Technical problem- The simple to understand

Semantic problem-easy to identify but hard to solve

Effective problem- as communication as manipulation or            propaganda

The three levels are interrelated and interdependent.

The source is seen as the decision maker and he decides which message to sent.

This selected message is then changed by the transmitter in to a signal which is sent through a channel to the receiver.

In this model introduced the term noise. This noises may be a blinding fog blurred rain, soaked pages of a newspaper.