Analyzes the present nature of topicality argumentation. Argues for an alternative view of topicality as jurisdiction, balancing resolutional ground and focusing debaters' attention and arguments on central substantive policy issues implied by the resolution under consideration. Concludes with an application of the jurisdiction analogy to…

Argues that "substantive" rules instituted by the National Debate Tournament (NDT) Committee are ineffective and counterproductive. Critiques the rule restricting evidence reading at the end of a debate and the rule requiring judges to compare definitions when evaluating topicality arguments. Concludes that the NDT Committee should…

The judging philosophy form has been in use at the CEDA National Tournament since 1987, and its use at the NDT has been a mainstay for quite some time. The judging philosophy statement is a document listing a series of topic areas or common issues on which the prospective judge is to elaborate so his or her views will be known to the debate…

If the forensics community has real choice between debate formats, there must be distinctions that justify the existence of each respective style or organization. While such differences can exist at any one of a number of levels, this paper examines differences in adjudicating in both parliamentary and team policy debate, generally known as CEDA…

The delivery of an argument in debate has been clearly shown to be important in facilitating the changing of attitudes favorably toward a message, in enhancing understanding of the material, and in increasing the speaker's ethos. Despite its importance, however, delivery has become dead as a communication concept in debate and is no longer a…

Examining the role of the debate judge reveals many differences between the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) and National Debate Tournament (NDT). One area in which CEDA differs is that of judge qualifications. At present CEDA is moving towards using more lay judges, while NDT has more strict requirements. It would be interesting to use…

Policy debate as an activity should be maintained but must be invigorated. Some reasons to save policy debate are (1) the benefit to large numbers of students who might otherwise fail to debate given the increased difficulty associated with learning how to play the game; (2) the shrinking size of policy tournaments, which makes it easier for…

Debate judge philosophy statements have been part of the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) National Debate Tournament since the tournament's inception. Judges are asked to identify their preferred debate paradigm in the statement. The practice has raised the question of whether debate critics understand the debate paradigms as they are…

Parliamentary debate, while not a new format, has proliferated to all regions of the country. New and growing debate formats, while valuable for students and programs, must maintain sound pedagogical foundations if they are to be considered viable forensic alternatives. A reading of the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) rules as…

The use of questions in oral interpretation may offer a number of opportunities for moving forensics away from the performance paradigm. As competition in all interpretation events begins to sound the same, judges are left with only one criteria for judging--performance. While this may be considered an important criteria, it limits the educational…

A study investigated student competitors' opinions of the practice of judges asking questions of competitors at the conclusion of speeches in the individual events competiton at forensic tournaments. Surveys were completed by 52 final round student competitors at a large midwestern university individual events invitational tournament. Results…

A pilot study analyzed oral interpretation ballots collected at two college forensics tournaments to determine the average number and classifications of comments on the ballots. A total of 1,737 comments from 304 ballots of oral interpretation events (prose, poetry, program, duo, and dramatic) were analyzed. Results indicated a mean of 5.71…

A rules-based approach to the problems of debate (such as that proposed by the American Debate Association) will fail to provide a solution to debate's ills and may only increase the problems. Debate's current problems have to do with debate performance, e.g., speaking rate, poor quality evidence, and irrational arguments. A solution to these…

A descriptive study analyzed the contention that an artificial dichotomy exists between policy and non-policy debate. A 20-item survey instrument was constructed to address several relevant issues: the role of solvency in CEDA (Cross Examination Debate Association) debate; the nature of CEDA resolutions; and judging in CEDA. A total of 93 surveys…

Current practice in competitive public-address events limits the value of the student's educational experience in several ways. The most frequently observed and easily addressed problem with contemporary practice is that event rules/descriptions do not indicate what judges expect to observe in those events. Unclear rules/descriptions are of little…