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Shannon and Weaver’s model (1949) presents communication as a
linear process. Its simplicity has attracted many derivatives, and its linear
process centred nature has attracted many critics. Its obvious characteristics
of simplicity and linearity standout clearly. Shannon and Weaver identify
three levels of problem in the study of communication. These are:

• Level A—Technical problems: How accurately can the symbols of
communication be transmitted?
• Level B—Semantic problems: How precisely do the transmitted sym-
bols convey the desired meaning?
• Level C—Effectiveness problems: How effectively does the received
meaning affect conduct in the desired way?
Level A problems are the simplest to understand and these are the ones that
the model was originally developed to explain. Level B problems are easy
to identify but hard to solve. Level C problems may at first sight seem to
imply that Shannon and Weaver see communication as manipulation or
propaganda. The sender X communicated effectively with receiver Y when
Y responds in the way X desires him to. They claim that three levels are not
water-tight, but are interrelated and interdependent and that their models,
despite its origin in level A, work equally well on all three levels. The source
is seen as the decision-maker and decides which messages to send or rather
selects one out of set of possible messages. This selected message is then
changed by the transmitter into a signal which is sent through the channel to
the receiver. For a telephone the channel is the wire, the signal, the electrical

Information
Source Transmitter Receiver Destination

Sign

Message Message
Received Signal

Noise Source

Figure 5.7
Shannon and Weaver’s Model (1949)
Source: The Mathematical Theory of Communication, Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver, 1949.

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