As originally formulated by William J. McGuire, Inoculation Theory provided a means of immunizing cultural truisms against the effects of persuasive attacks. Subsequent studies have demonstrated its efficacy in conferring resistance to issues of considerable complexity and controversy. The efficacy of the Inoculation Theory process has been widely…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of "The Propaganda Game" in teaching selected persuasion techniques which may be used in the advertising of health products or services. The sample included 224 students in an introductory personal health course at Eastern Michigan University. The subjects were…

This study compares the concept of nonviolence with traditional rhetoric because both endeavor to establish civil discourse as a standard for social and political interaction. The five chapters in the study uncover suggestions by contemporary rhetorical theorists for establishing civil discourse, trace the development of classical rhetoric and the…

This study attempted to relate findings from social psychological research in the area of attitude change with communicator characteristics, and to apply conclusions drawn from this research to influence processes and persuasion within an educational context. Six basic hypotheses were tested employing three experimental groups and a control group.…

This study examines the following question: Under what circumstances, for what purposes, and in what forms does the head of the state and federal liaison services of the intermediate administrative unit studied employ rhetorical strategies to gain compliance from his associates? This document presents information on the justification for the…

This study surveys speech-making practices and attitudes of practitioners in firms not primarily engaged in providing public relations services. Questionnaires designed to assess the uses of speech making as a public relations technique were sent to the 50 largest United States advertising agencies and to the 34 largest United States business and…

Noting that many instructors involved in teaching writing to students of differing cultural backgrounds seek to pinpoint the origin of the differences in communication between the form of written language conveyed to students and that which they use in their everyday language, this paper recommends ethnography to provide evidence as to what is…

This study examined the paralinguistic behavior of three presidential candidates in on-camera and on-mike speeches made during their campaigns. Using tape recordings, a detailed micronotation was made of candidates' paralinguistic patterns, both while speaking on-camera and on-mike and while speaking under circumstances that were not for a mass…

This study was devised to determine whether teaching a unit on propaganda analysis to sixth graders would improve their ability to detect propaganda devices in literature and the mass media. An experimental group of students participated in a four week unit on propaganda techniques while a control group completed reading comprehension exercises. A…

The purpose of this study was to determine how well today's students are being trained to deal with the persuasive messages which they receive through the mass media. The study involved two questionnaire surveys: the first a survey of 235 chairpersons of departments of speech and English in institutions of higher education in the state of…