A study explored the effects of both the sales representative's and the target consumer's biological gender upon the persuasive strategy choice of the salesperson. Data from 204 salespeople responding to a 27-item questionnaire were collected over a 6-week period. The results indicate clear differences between men and women sales representatives…

Recent years have been marked by a decline in the quantity and quality of small group research for four reasons: (1) the experimenter is an integral component of the system he or she is studying and thereby influences the findings, (2) layers of group process defy complete analysis, (3) small group research is reflexive, and (4) much of the…

Perceptions of relational development were examined in this study. One hundred and five subjects designated and evaluated three relationships each--those with an acquaintance, a friend, and an intimate friend--producing a total of 247 existing relationships for study. The subjects' evaluations were assessed according to two main variables:…

One hundred fifteen members of the organization Parents Without Partners were surveyed for their communication attitudes in a study examining the relationship between rhetorical sensitivity and a dramatic, stress-producing situation--the loss of a spouse through death, legal separation, or divorce. The survey measured the ways the subjects matched…

While attraction research has repeatedly shown a strong similarity/attraction relationship between perceivers and others, it has not shown that perceivers are repulsed by dissimilar others--only that they seem to withhold judgment and wait for more information about the other before indicating either attraction or dislike. A study investigated the…

A study investigated whether various measures of communication competence would be more positively associated with constructive message strategies than with either destructive or avoidance strategies, and whether individuals would prefer a partner to be constructive rather than being constructive themselves. Subjects were 114 college students who…

Noting that confrontation is a fundamental element of debate, a study examined the confrontational nature of a 1980 presidential debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan by analyzing its verbal and visual context as presented through television. By means of videotapes, still photographs, and a typed transcript, each instance of a verbal…

A study investigated the relationships between conflict message strategy utilization and the criterion variables of communication satisfaction and interpersonal solidarity in situations of interpersonal conflict. Subjects were 114 college students and their "willing" conversational partners. Each subject completed a questionnaire…

C. Perrow's research has suggested that analyzing organizations according to technology (or process) and raw material (or outcome) can provide valuable information about organizational communication behaviors and patterns. His scheme for classifying organizations suggests a continuum that places organizations with "variable" technologies…

Noting that speech communication educators devote little classroom time to the subject of ethics, this paper proposes a framework for the discussion of interpersonal ethics in the classroom setting. The paper first summarizes C. T. Brown and P. W. Keller's work in interpersonal ethics, which places the study of ethics within the democratic…

A study examined the relationship between communicator attitudes and communication behavior by having 122 college students complete the RHETSEN scale of communication attitudes and the Communicator Style Measure. The RHETSEN scale characterizes communication attitudes according to three communicator types: (1) the "rhetorically…

A study of the 1980 debate between Republican presidential candidates Ronald Reagan and George Bush demonstrates what influence, if any, a debate has on the voting public. The unit of analysis used in the study was each single message presented by each candidate without interruption by the other candidate or the moderator. Two investigators made…

The transcript of a teleconference on the relations among rhetorical theory, communication theory, and research as it was presented to a speech communications class at Texas Tech University in 1971 is presented in this paper. Issues discussed in the transcript include whether intent is a useful defining characteristic of the term "communicaton";…

A conceptual model of the rhetorical community that addresses the sociodramatic processes through which social order evolves, is maintained, can change, and is threatened is presented in this paper. Following an introduction, the paper identifies the various uses of rhetorical vision and rhetorical community that are found in fantasy theme…

A study was conducted at two major midwestern newspapers to ascertain the effects of video display terminal (VDT) use on the work and perceptions of copy editors. The methodology consisted of observation of one full day of copy desk work at a VDT by a single local news desk copy editor and one full day of work at VDTs by a regular weekday shift of…