Shannon and Weaver's communication process model is a dominant model used to understand communication between a sender and receiver. The model is used to explain communication in management and organizational behavior textbooks. Despite its proliferation, few studies have examined this model's role in introductory management and organization…

Teaching introductory sociology is one of the primary means by which sociologists mobilize knowledge. Ongoing critical reflection on the content of sociology textbooks is therefore an important disciplinary enterprise. The current critical moment in which many nations, institutions, and publics face a reckoning with their historic and current…

In this research study, we performed a "content analysis" of selected introductory programming textbooks for three languages to examine which software development concepts are emphasized in these books. Our goal was to determine which concepts are considered to be most representative of software development based on the topics emphasized…

In this research, we compare two languages, Java and Python, by performing a content analysis of words in textbooks that describe important programming concepts. Our goal is to determine which language has better textbook support for teaching introductory programming courses. We used the TextSTAT program to count how often our list of concept…

The majority of students who enroll in undergraduate biology courses will eventually be employed in non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) business occupations. This work explores how representations of industry in undergraduate biology textbooks could impact STEM learning for these students and their ability to apply this…

Given the many inaccuracies in the original "New York Times" 38-witnesses version of the Kitty Genovese story, this study examined the accuracy of this story in current introductory psychology textbooks, 50 years later. Recent studies have shown that there is no evidence for the following three key features of the original story: (1)…

Asch's classic social pressure experiments are discussed in almost all introductory and social psychology textbooks. However, the results of these experiments have been shown to be misrepresented in textbooks. An analysis of textbooks from 1953 to 1984 revealed that although most of the responses on critical trials were independent correct ones,…

This paper examines the textual coverage of the topic of work in Canadian English--language introductory sociology textbooks. Our findings are based on a content analysis of 21 Canadian texts published between 2008 and 2012. We found that only 12 of 21 textbooks included a chapter on work, suggesting that work occupies a peripheral position in…

It has been 13 years since the last objective analysis of full-length introductory psychology textbooks was published and 15 years since the textbook copyright period used in that study, 1995-1997. Given the importance of informed textbook evaluation and selection to the introductory course but the difficulty of this task because of the large…

Introductory psychology textbooks have been criticized for being too long and too expensive. A national survey of introductory teachers found that 89% of introductory courses are only one term in length and that teachers could only cover 68% of a text's topics. This situation has been made more problematic by the soaring prices of…

We update Ferree and Hall’s (1996) examination of the stratification systems of gender, race, and class in introductory textbooks. Using a sample of textbooks from 2003 through 2010, we explore 24 introductory sociology textbooks to determine the relationship between categories of gender, race, and class and levels of analysis. Previous research…

This dissertation reports the results of a content analysis of Introductory Sociology textbooks in order to assess their coverage of, and approach to, the teaching of "culture" in the hopes of ultimately creating a unified approach for the introduction of students to the sociology of culture. Looking at introductory sociology textbooks,…

The present content analysis examines the coverage of theoretical and methodological problems with the Stanford prison experiment (SPE) in a sample of introductory psychology textbooks. Categories included the interpretation and replication of the study, variance in guard behavior, participant selection bias, the presence of demand characteristics…

Asian Pacific Americans are a racial group that is often viewed in stereotypes, most notably, as a "model minority"--a view that this group is naturally hardworking and successful unlike "other" racial and ethnic groups. Quite often, they are also neglected as U.S. citizens, whose presence and influence in American politics are…

The link between religion and political tolerance in the United States, which has focused predominantly on Christianity, is replete with unfavorable images. Often, religious adherents (largely Evangelicals or the Christian right) are characterized as uneducated, poor, and white, suggesting that members of these groups may act in an intolerant…