Based on four maxims of Grice's cooperative principle framework, a small-scale study is conducted to examine the communication strategies employed by experienced ground service staff. Data have been collected from questionnaires and in-depth interviews with Chinese domestic airlines' ground staff. This study identifies that the communicative…

Social scientists who communicate scientific information via the media face challenges because they do not realize that journalists have values different from theirs. Discusses motivations that impel scientists to go public, the conflicting roles into which they, therefore, are cast, and the reasons why journalists regard scientists with…

While it is customary to consider "information" synonymous with true information, given its societal significance in the modern world, a wider perspective on the veracity and ephemerality of information is imperative. A typology of message veracity contains four types: informational, misinformational, disinformational, and…

Observing that the explosion of the space shuttle "Challenger" had a profound impact upon the American public, this paper argues that its most direct impact was upon the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Specifically, the paper argues that the explosion was a crisis that resulted in loss of legitimacy for the space…

A study analyzed the use of third-party credibility as a deliberate and systematic public relations strategy to regain credibility for an organization faced with public hostility. Four types of third-party usage are: citizen participation, outside investigation, adversarial advocacy, and employee dissemination. Third-party credibility as a public…

This paper considers the future of communication research and instruction in an age when the communication environment is under stress from such factors as communication overload, language "pollution," and a widespread and growing disregard for truth. Items related to the general thesis are considered from three perspectives: the role of…

Two factors are important in understanding heckling. First, heckling is a negative comment on the speaker. This negative feedback tends to lower speaker effectiveness. Second, the relationship between the heckler and the audience member is important. If the audience member sees himself as more closely aligned to the speaker, heckling will increase…

When a Soviet note dispatched to Britain, France, and the United States in 1958 was termed an ultimatum by the "Lion" (the New York "Times"), most of the press followed suit, although other explanations of the note were available; this pattern illustrates the phenomenon designated as the "jackal syndrome." (GW)

This study was designed to investigate four problem areas of communication research: source credibility, language intensity, the gender of source as it affects the source's persuasiveness and credibility, and the scarcity of multifactor studies using gender of source as one of the independent variables. Independent variables for the study, which…

The paper develops a theory of costly communication in which the sender's and receiver's motivations and abilities endogenously determine the communication mode and the transfer of knowledge. Communication is modeled as a problem of moral hazard in teams, in which the sender and receiver select persuasion and message elaboration efforts. The model…

Presented is an informal, nontechnical, practical guide to how foundations and their clients may conduct their transactions with the least confusion and the greatest civility and effectiveness. The author supports the freedom of the foundation, but also the freedom of the grantee from interference by the foundation. The abuse of freedom is bound…

Among the causes of the recent breakdown of the business/press relationship is the increasing public and press questioning of business, coupled with the failure of business leaders to explain the benefits of the free enterprise system. This failure, caused largely by the direction of business leaders' energies inward toward their companies rather…

Discusses difficulties of consulting overseas, describes some essential overseas consulting skills, and suggests strategies for beginning employment in the international field. Highlights include cross-cultural differences, language and communication problems, establishing credibility, consulting styles (i.e., directive, collaborative, and…

This paper synthesizes much of the literature concerning physician/patient communication as it relates to patient compliance. Using the theoretical perspective that deals with belief, attitude, intention, and behavior (a perspective generated by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen), a new theoretical orientation for predicting patient compliance is…

Patient noncompliance with medical advice is of major concern to physicians. Although many do not consider compliance their responsibility, research studies indicate that physicians can control many of the variables influencing compliance. Physicians' verbal and nonverbal communication habits that convey directiveness, coldness, complexity, and…