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ПОСОБИЕ ПО АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ ГУМАНИТАРНЫХ ВУЗОВ

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12. Develop the following statements

1. Public opinion is the sum of individual opinions on a subject of importance to those individuals.

2. The purpose of persuasive communication is to sway the opinion of individuals or to motivate them to a specific action.

1. Opinions are expressions of attitudes.

3. Individuals get their attitudes from a variety of social, economic, cultural, educational, religious, and political sources and experiences.

4. The basic communication model has four elements-sender, message, channel (medium), and receiver.

UNIT

TWO

А

Theories of Communication

A message may move from the sender through the media to the receiver without necessarily conveying ideas and getting them accepted. Yet ideas do get accepted, and there are several theories about how this is done.

Two-Step Flow Theory

The two-step flow theory assumes that there is a definite group of "opinion lead­ers" who get information from the media, analyze and interpret it, and then pass it along to the public. The theory fails due to the fact that no permanent group of people serves as opinion leaders on all subjects.

Multistep Flow Theory

The multistep flow theory holds that there are opinion leaders on many different subjects and that they have varying degrees of influence.

Opinion Group Theory

The opinion group theory is fairly well accepted. It recognizes opinion leaders but does not assume that they are the sole influence on the formation of public opinion. The basic emphasis is on the function of discussion in crystallizing opinion. People of similar interests discuss mutual problems and arrive at common conclusions. People try to conform to group opinion and to avoid disagreement with the majority. Anyone may belong to several groups — at work, at church, at leisure. Grouping may be by age, occupation, place of residence, and so on. Whenever there is a common interest, there is formal or informal grouping.