The mode of communication that involves a single source transmitting…
2014
The mode of communication that involves a single source transmitting information to a large number of receivers simultaneously, is called
Answer: B. Mass Communication — Concept: Levels of communication are distinguished by the structure of the participants, not by the subject matter. Three structural variables settle the…
- A.
Group Communication
- B.
Mass Communication
- C.
Intrapersonal Communication
- D.
Interpersonal Communication
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: Levels of communication are distinguished by the structure of the participants, not by the subject matter. Three structural variables settle the classification:
how many people originate a message and how many receive it;
whether a technological or institutional channel stands between them;
how quickly, and how directly, feedback can travel back to the originator.
Moving from one participant, to two, to a bounded group, and then to a dispersed public changes each of these three variables in a fixed way.
Application: The description in this question fixes all three variables at once. There is a single point of origin; the receivers are very numerous; and they are addressed by one act of transmission rather than by separate exchanges with each of them. An audience of that size is not a membership the sender knows or can answer individually, so the message travels outward one-to-many, ordinarily carried by media of general circulation such as the press, radio, television or a networked platform, and feedback can return only later and indirectly. That is the pattern named by the level called mass communication.
Cross-check: Reading the four levels side by side shows that no other level meets all three conditions together:
Level | Participants | Feedback | Everyday example |
|---|---|---|---|
Intrapersonal | One individual, who is both source and receiver | Self-generated and continuous | Reflection, inner speech |
Interpersonal | Two people, or very few, in direct exchange | Immediate and mutual | Conversation, interview |
Group | A bounded membership interacting as one unit | Immediate, from within the membership | Committee meeting, classroom discussion |
Mass | Typically an institutional source; a large, scattered, anonymous audience | Delayed and indirect | Newspaper, television broadcast |
Intrapersonal communication stays inside one person; interpersonal communication requires a second person present in the exchange; group communication is bounded by a membership that interacts as one unit. Only mass communication scales past a membership the sender can know and answer individually, so the mode described here is mass communication.