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…

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…

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…

A study examined whether teacher efficacy affects the relationship between the teachers' perceptions of the school principal and the perceived communication conflict strategies teachers use when they disagree with the principal. To test this relationship, 830 questionnaires were distributed to public school teachers in six school districts across…

Drawing on personal observations and on a study of patient reactions, this paper considers the problem of doctor/patient communication failure in the inner city clinic. It first discusses the role of dialect variation in communication failure, causes of communication failure in the medical interview, factors contributing to doctor/patient…

A model of the generation of initial trusting attitudes toward groups by individuals who were not members of those groups was developed from the literature on interpersonal trust. The model proposed that perceptions of situational threat would be preconditions to the saliency of trust as a concept. Given that trust was a salient concept, the model…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 25 titles deal with a variety of topics, including: (1) persuasive messages and the hearing impaired; (2) the judicial speeches of Cicero; (3) the rhetoric of employment interviews; (4) doctor/patient communication; (5) black…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: an informal communication process with implications for information retrieval; a rhetorical approach to the nonsexist language controversy; a validation study of…