Can an understanding of communication concepts improve relationships with others? Conversely, how do our connections with others influence how converse with them? Written in a warm and lively style and packed with teaching tools, The Basics of Communication: A Relational Perspective offers a unique look at the inseparable connection between relationships and communication and highlights the roles that those interpersonal connections play in public speaking as well as in casual discussions. This groundbreaking text offers a hybrid approach of theory and application by introducing students to fundamental communication concepts and providing practical instruction on making effective formal presentations. The authors encourage students to employ critical thinking on key topics, to link communication theory to their own experiences, and to improve their communication skills in the process. Key Featuresáá Stresses the vital intersection of communication and relational contexts and how they interact and influence one another Offers a refreshing and original approach that engages students with lively, topical examples to challenge them and to enliven classroom discussion Provides up-to-date communication topics in a way that easily fits within a traditional course outline Integrates effective pedagogical tools throughout, addressing ethics, media links, and questions for students to discuss with friends, among others Devotes two chapters to the use of media and relational technology such as cell phones, iPods, Blackberries, MySpace, and Facebook in daily communicationsááAncillariesáá Includes an InstructorÆs Resource on CD-ROM that features PowerPoint slides, a test bank, suggestions for course projects and activities, Internet resources, and more. (Contact Customer Care at 1-800-818-7243 to request a copy.) The robust online Student Study Site (www.sagepub.com/bocstudy) includes e-flashcards, video and audio clips, SAGE journal articles, links to a Facebook page for the text, and other interactive resources. Intended Audienceáá Designed as a core textbook for undergraduate students of communication studies, this book is also an excellent resource for business studentsùor others who are interested in learning more about the pervasive role of communication concepts in everyday life.

Updated in this 2nd edition, The Basics of Communication Studies, introduces students to human communication in a clear, concise, and engaging way. It presents the "nuts and bolts" of human communication without excessive detail, delivering the necessary material on communication without being overwhelming or cost-prohibitive.

Combining the time tested classical work of Earl Babbie with the insights of one of the most recognized and respected names in speech communication research, THE BASICS OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH is THE book for the Communication research methods course. With the authors' collective experience teaching research methods and as active researchers themselves you will find this text to be the authoritative text for your course. The authors frame research as a way of knowing, and provide balanced treatment to both quantitative and qualitative research traditions in communication research and present it in a student friendly and engaging format. It provides in-depth treatment of the role of reasoning in the research enterprise and how this reasoning process plays itself out in planning and writing a research proposal and report.

Classical, modern, and contemporary philosophical writings that address the fundamental concepts of communication. To philosophize is to communicate philosophically. From its inception, philosophy has communicated forcefully. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle talk a lot, and talk ardently. Because philosophy and communication have belonged together from the beginning—and because philosophy comes into its own and solidifies its stance through communication—it is logical that we subject communication to philosophical investigation. This collection of key works of classical, modern, and contemporary philosophers brings communication back into philosophy's orbit. It is the first anthology to gather in a single volume foundational works that address the core questions, concepts, and problems of communication in philosophical terms. The editors have chosen thirty-two selections from the work of Plato, Leibniz, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Lacan, Derrida, Sloterdijk, and others. They have organized these texts thematically, rather than historically, in seven sections: consciousness; intersubjective understanding; language; writing and context; difference and subjectivity; gift and exchange; and communicability and community. Taken together, these texts not only lay the foundation for establishing communication as a distinct philosophical topic but also provide an outline of what philosophy of communication might look like.

Focusing on skills students can use to effect positive change in their lives, this textbook for a first communication course describes different listening styles and the principles of verbal and nonverbal communication, identifies the characteristics of healthy personal relationships and intercultural communication, and demonstrates the five stages of conversation and the three stages of interpersonal conflict. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).