A study investigated the kinds of content total market coverage (TMC) publications carry, the role of the newsroom in publishing them, and how closely identified they are with the parent newspaper. These TMC publications, begun only a few years ago, are designed to cover the total market with selected, preprinted advertisements inserted into…

Telephone surveys were conducted in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, to assess both the relative credibility of news presentations by the local news media and respondents' reasons for using these media. The results supported previous research on local news credibility, suggesting that television was the more believable medium, even in a local…

Results of the 1985 American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) survey--to determine public attitudes toward media credibility--are reported in this paper. Discussion is categorized according to the 12 issues explored: (1) the believability of media when news reports conflict; (2) geographic scope of topics; (3) reliability of reporting and…

This research report examines the current use in secondary schools of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) nine-chapter booklet, "Understanding Taxes," and the complementary six program videos, "Tax Whys," and offers suggestions for updating the video programs. The review begins with telephone interviews of the IRS Taxpayer…

The Computer Bus Program (Compubus Program) of the Modesto City Schools (California) was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the computer literacy program for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at eight elementary compensatory education schools. The program provided instruction on computer vocabulary, knowledge, and applications in a…

Reports the results of a survey of 122 science journalists and 110 scientists regarding their attitudes toward science news coverage; notes that the attitudes of the two groups were remarkably similar. (GT)

This paper (1) presents observations about the major paradigms and assumptions that have historically shaped media research; (2) encapsulates the activities, thinking, and paradigms of the present; and (3) reports on a study in which 100 theoreticians and researchers were asked to respond to 50 hypothetical statements about media in the learning…

This study was designed to compare the attitudinal and lifestyle patterns of video game players with the amount of time they play, the number of games they play, and the types of video games they play, to determine whether their personal use of time and attitude toward leisure is different when playing video games. Subjects were 200 individuals…

Adults in 309 households in the Orlando, Florida, area were surveyed by telephone in a study that investigated the public's perceptions about journalists and the media. The subjects were asked 20 questions that elicited their knowledge about ownership of daily newspapers, including the name of the owner of the local daily, as well as their…

Despite gains in recent years, women still win political office much less frequently than men do. One reason might be that women may not receive the same response from the media as do their male counterparts. The research study explored this possibility by investigating: (1) differences in the methods used by the mass media to portray male and…

This report summarizes results of a 1984 study of the lifestyles, values, buying behavior, and media habits of the Hispanic American market. First, a number of shifts in U.S. political, social, and economic life (since 1981, when the first study of this type was conducted) which are changing the orientation of Hispanics are discussed. These shifts…

This report describes a study conducted by the Audio-Visual Media Research Group of the Open University to investigate student attitudes, over time, to the value of radio as a course component. Results of a January 1979 survey using a questionnaire are reported with tables and analyzed according to (1) whether a student had access to a VHF radio…

A controlled experiment studying effects of adding voice-over sound to a silent electronic text service tested program acceptability and memory retention. Results indicate no significant differences in ratings for acceptability although the test for memory retention resulted in significantly higher scores for the sound group on recall and…

In Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, The United States Supreme Court ruled that school administrators "need not tolerate" student speech deemed inconsistent with a school's educational mission. To study the effects of the ruling, a 36-question survey was mailed to a random sample of just under 1,600 American public high school English/Journalism…

An earlier phase of a research project proposed a theoretical model linking the key concepts of community commitment, media use, knowledge about community, community evaluation, and community pride as well as a series of social locator variables. The present phase of the study concerned itself with the central part of the model, ignoring the…