Lasswell’s model: the elements of communication

This theoretical proposal explains how communicative processes occur.

Laswell's model is a construct that has made it possible to study mass has made it possible to study mass communicationas well as its components and effects on different audiences. Initially, the model was intended to be offered as a tool to classify studies in mass communication, as well as to analyze the variables that determine the transmission of a message. However, this model has generated a series of very useful concepts for analyzing communicative acts in general, beyond mass communication.

In this article we will see what Laswell's model ishow it arose and what are some of its main elements.

Lasswell's model: what does communication consist of?

In the 1940s, American sociologist Harold Lasswell developed a model that made it possible to understand the communicative process in a way that was innovative for the first half of the 20th century.

In very broad terms, he analyzed the channels through which communication takes place, and he shows that the transmission of any message flows through different devices, since we are immersed in a pluralistic society with multiple audiences. are immersed in a pluralistic society with multiple audiences..

In addition, he notes that, although mass communication occurred in a unidirectional manner in most channels, audiences can also play a role in the transmission of messages; audiences can also play an active role in the process.This implies that it is possible to close communication cycles that appear to be unilateral.

When Lasswell studied the messages exchanged in the different communication channels, he asked "who said what, in what channel, to whom, and with what effect", "who gets what and how?

Beginnings and background

Although he did not patent it or claim it as his own, the model got its name after it was popularized in 1948 following the publication of an article entitled "The structure and function of communication in society". For the same reason it is often thought that this text founded the model. In fact, Laswell is considered to be one of the fathers of political psychology and, among other things, helped to consolidate the study of mass communication and its dissemination.

However, it was the publications that preceded him that really laid its foundations. Likewise, there are different opinions about who developed this model. For example, some authors attribute it to John Marshall, some authors attribute it to John Marshallother authors attribute it to both Lasswell and Marshall.

In any case, and both at the theoretical and methodological level, this model had an important impact on different disciplines: communication studies, political science, communication, law, philosophy, psychology, economics, anthropology. Specifically, it was possible to consolidate the objective of mass communication research, which is to determine who and with what intentions has said what, to whom, and with what effects.

The elements and process of communication

One of the contextual elements around which this model becomes popular is the intention of to diminish the communication gaps between civil society and government.. This could be possible through an alternative channel that would not only serve to inform in a unilateral way, but would be useful to establish communication in a reciprocal way.

But what were the channels of communication available? Print, cinema, television, radio. In short, channels that establish unilateral communication, which were not closed cycles. The idea then arose that a new one could be promoted: academic research, which could serve as a means or a communicative platform for society.

During the Second World War, Laswell participated in a communication project in which he was in charge of studying Hitler's speeches in relation to his audience. This study was carried out by paying attention to to both verbal and nonverbal communicative elements, along the lines of the questions of what, when, where and how?The study was carried out by paying attention to both verbal and nonverbal communicative elements, following the line of questions of what, who, how, and with what effect.

For the first time the audience had an active role in the analysis of the communicative process: through his studies, discourse began to be seen not as a monologue, but as an act in which those who listen also produce an effect on the discourse itself. also produce an effect on the discourse itself.

According to Lasswell, mass communication not only has the objective of faithfully and objectively conveying a fact, but goes beyond that. Among its purposes are:

• To inform about the most recent global and local events.
• To interpret these events by means of a specific ideology.
• To have an impact on the interpretation of the world of the viewers.

Communication components and levels of analysis

In the area of mass communication it is common for phenomena to be analyzed on the basis of a series of questions that refer to different levels of analysis with communicative components for one; and which arose precisely from Laswell's model. Moreover, from these, Laswell proposed that every communicative process has different elements: sender, content, channel, receiver, effect..

Content analysis (what?)

Content analysis corresponds to the communicative component of the content or message. It deals with the communicative stimuli that arise from the the person who emits the message..

2. Control analysis (who?)

The level of control analysis corresponds to the communicative component "who". In other words, it is the sender: the person who generates a message or communicative stimulus, and who expects a response from the receiver.

3. Analysis of the medium (how?)

The communicative component "how" can be analyzed from the medium or channel, through from the medium, or channel, through which the message is transmitted.. It is the way in which the content travels from the sender to the receiver.

4. Audience analysis (to whom?)

The audience analysis dimension allows to answer the question of who is the receiver; i.e. the person who is expected to receive the sender's message.. This question and dimension of analysis are fundamental in studies on mass communication, since both the message and the channel depend to a great extent on what the receiver is like.

5. Effects analysis (what for?)

The analysis of the effects or results of communication is investigated by means of the question "what for? It is a matter of analyzing whether the objectives of transmitting a certain message have been achieved or not; and if not, then the effect that such transmission has created is studied. For Lasswell all communication has an effect, whether or not it was originally planned, and this is what determines the structure of the message.This is what determines the structure of mass communication.

Bibliographical references:

• Rodríguez, A. (2018) Lasswell's model: what it consists of, elements, advantages and disadvantages. Retrieved July 24, 2018. Available at https://www.lifeder.com/modelo-lasswell/.
• Sapienza, Z., Iyer, N. & Veenstra, A. (2015). Reading Lasswell’s Model of Communication Backward: Three Scholarly Misconceptions. Mass Communication and Society, 18:5, 559-622.
• Narula, U. (2006). Communication Models. Atlantic: India.