Contributes to journalism research by investigating what type and size of probability sample will allow valid inference. Tests the efficiency of probability samples of issues of two monthly consumer magazines over five years, finding a stratified sample more efficient than a simple random sample. (SR)

To explore the theoretical relation of newspaper competition to overall news quality, a study used a model of newspaper competition based on economic assumptions to investigate whether the product quality of a newspaper is positively related to the financial expenditure on it, and whether newspaper circulation is positively related to quality.…

Reviews the research on sampling for daily newspapers and explores various sampling techniques for weekly newspapers. Contrasts different sample types to assess their utility in representing weekly newspaper content. Uses five content measures and tests three sampling techniques: simple random sampling and two "constructed year" samples,…

Examines 82 journal articles that dealt with an event or trend in the past to explain the past, classifying each as using a conventional or unconventional approach to the subject covered. Concludes that while articles were generally conventional in approach, there was more experimentation than previously thought. (FL)

Views intercoder reliability as a sampling problem for content analyses. Develops a formula for generating sample sizes needed to have valid reliability estimates. Suggests steps for reporting reliability. (TB)

A study was conducted to discover why investigation of one of the most important trends in the newspaper industry during the past century, the decline of newspaper competition within a city, has produced conflicting results. The study reviewed existing literature to learn why this is so, and also to determine if direct daily newspaper competition…

Examines the most efficient method of sampling content from five years of daily newspaper editions. Notes that selecting 9 constructed weeks from 5 years is more efficient than the 10 constructed weeks suggested by previous research. Finds this rule holds provided the variables being measured do not have large variances. (RS)

A study examined whether intercity competition affects the content of daily newspapers and whether the content profile is consistent with the umbrella competition theory elaborated by James N. Rosse. Rosse's theory hypothesized four layers of newspaper competition--large metropolitan dailies, satellite daily papers, suburban dailies, and weekly…

Efforts to discover what variables affect news media content have taken many approaches during the past 35 years. These approaches have emphasized psychological factors, sociological factors, cultural and social forces, and economic factors. Evidence exists that all these forces play a role in determining what becomes news. To examine how these…

Noting that technology in the field of graphics and printing has permitted greater use of color, photographs, and graphics by newspapers, a study examined the effects of economic factors such as newspaper competition and ownership on the actual use of new technology for color and graphics. The newspaper sample, stratified on the basis of ownership…