Studies the accuracy of science reporting by comparing original research reports with their treatment in the popular press. Finds that most media reports, in the process of making science lively and acceptable, introduce some errors of omission, emphasis, or fact. Discusses potential effects on the credibility of scientists and scientific…

Examines the syntactic and stylistic features of an emergent phenomenon called Interactive Written Discourse (IWD), the written language occurring in simultaneous terminal-to-terminal typed dialogues. Finds that IWD is a naturally occurring register and a hybrid language variety, displaying characteristics of both oral and written language. Notes…

Investigates vocal stress as an indicator of deception or truth telling, using descriptive, narrative, and emotionally eliciting questions in simulated job interviews with Chinese immigrants. Finds the validity of the vocal stress index as a measure of stress and discomfort limited to prepared lies and responses requiring an emotional response.…

Develops a rhetorical account of how experts move fluidly among disciplinary criteria and use paradigms more as strategies than constraints. Analyzes how E. O. Wilson projects his sociobiology into several discourse frames, each presuming a different audience, purpose, and persona for himself as expert. Suggests that Wilson eludes disciplinary…

Illustrates both the need and a reasoning method for normative social ethics in communication by applying Reinhold Niebuhr's concept of justice to advertising as a preliminary case study. (KEH)

Examines one organization's complex rhetorical processing aimed at shaping ethical conduct of newcomers. Reveals a strategy of evoking identification to the organization through a series of strategically focused identifications which culminate in an attempt to shape commitment to a set of organizational values. (KEH)

Investigates the status of Ph.D. communication education in research ethics. Analyzes research issues and reading materials used in coursework offered in research ethics. Finds that no program surveyed currently devotes an entire course to communication research ethics and that overall instruction in ethics is not extensive. (KEH)

Studies the effect of involvement in responses to persuasive appeals. Explains that mass communication students, grouped by high and low ability and motivation levels, were given pretests and then listened to health information. Reveals correlations among attentiveness, ability, and recall of irrelevant words. Indicates that motivation…

Studies the effects of preexposure briefings upon male undergraduate communication students viewing films portraying violence against women. Concludes that viewings preceded by antirape messages and by the writing of antirape papers by the students themselves made students more likely to sympathize with female victims of violence. (SG)

Investigates specific differences in self-reports of shy and not-shy individuals regarding their communication behavior: social composure, social confirmation, social experience, appropriate disclosure, articulation, and wit. Finds significant differences on social composure, articulation, and social experience. (SR)

Examines patterns of television viewing and viewing motivations for the "PTL Club" in light of the recent PTL scandal. Extracts the ritualized user and a modified version (curious consumer) of the instrumental user only. Discusses implications for the future of religious television. (SR)

Studies the effect of musical preferences on undergraduate students' estimation of numerous behavioral traits and the desirability of a potential heterosexual date. Finds that such disclosure influences attraction, as well as the perception and evaluation of pertinent traits, the effects being a function of genre-specific stereotypes and…

Investigates teachers' use of humor in relationship to immediacy and affective learning outcomes. Reports that (1) amount and type of humor influenced learning; (2) students were particularly aware of tendentious humor; (3) an overdependence on tendentious humor diminished affect; (4) male and female students perceive humor differently; and (5)…

Examines change in the United States Forest Service, an organization lauded for its ability to control members through its culture. Describes current control practices, and field tests three theoretical claims regarding unobtrusive control. Finds that control practices have changed from more unobtrusive to more obtrusive. Illustrates the pragmatic…

Examines the role of orality in multiple-audience analysis and adaptation. Finds that interaction is the central means of analyzing and adapting discourse to multiple audiences, fulfilling rhetorical and social goals, and building and sustaining a corporate culture. Suggests that orality is more potent than literacy in composing behavior and…