Ideology

Ideology means a variety of different things to many people. The term itself refers to the set of values a group holds. It is a way of deciding what is normal, what is acceptable, or what is the right way to do things in a particular community. The ideals that a group holds is usually developed and enforced by the power holders in a community. For example, in a clique of high school girls, usually the most popular girl in the group decides what clothes the clique should wear, how they should wear their hair, what sort of attitude the group should have, and what other people are acceptable to talk to. If a member of the clique strays from one of these values, the power-holder, which in this case is the most popular girl, can remove the member for not upholding the ideology of the group.

Often, ideologies are not based on facts. They simply are ways that a group prefers to act and think. That being said, it is common to see the different ideologies between two groups clash, resulting in conflict.

Ideology can be confusing for some because often there is the urge to question why a group favors a certain value. Why is this important to us? Why do I have to be/think like this if I don't really agree with that or like that? Why does this particular person get to decide why we all act/think this way? Many other questions may arise, making the topic of ideology a somewhat fuzzy one.

The Two Models of Communication

The Transmission Model

The transmission model relates communication to the idea of transportation in that it is straightforward and is sent from a sender, through a medium, to a receiver.

Source ---> Message ---> Receiver

The challenge with this communication model, is to have the message that is transposed by the sender to be understood by the receiver in the same exact way. In this model, it is assumed that the effect of the message is relatively direct between the source and the receiver.

The Cultural Model

In the cultural model, communication is described as a shared space of meaning. Specifically, our ability to communicate with one another is not linear, but based on the fact that we have a shared culture or common reality and that is was enables us to both send and receive messages.