Proposes viewing journalists as members of an interpretive community (not a profession) united by its shared discourse and collective interpretations of key public events. Applies the frame of the interpretive community to journalistic discourse about two events central for American journalists--Watergate and McCarthyism. (SR)

Finds that exposure to graphic photographs of worms taken from a horror film increased children's enjoyment of the horror movie segment and reduced fear reactions to the scene. Shows that exposure to a live earthworm was effective in reducing fear reactions to the movie only among boys but did alter children's affective reactions to and judgments…

Examines the philosophical and historical context in which Otto Neurath (1882-1945) worked. Examines critically (in the light of descriptive statistics) the principles of his Isotype Picture Language. Tests Neurath's personal credibility and scientific integrity by looking at his contributions to Soviet propaganda in the early 1930s. (SR)

Investigates bias in interaction processes by looking at how it coexists with beliefs about intentionality. Finds that, within the context of behavioral mirroring, both observational stance and beliefs about intent influence the judgments people made about a person's character and behavior, as well as the relational messages the person sent to…

Finds that the increased cognitive load accompanying multiple-goal messages arises from demands on time and processing capacity associated with assembling incompatible message features and that multiple-goal messages are characterized by heavier demand on processing capacity associated with maintaining more complex message-relevant specifications…

Applied the Directives Rating System (DRS), which classifies directives, to transcripts of four expert group therapists. DRS yielded satisfactory estimates of interrater agreement and validity. Findings showed that DRS ratings were related to therapists' theoretical orientation and that therapists tended to use imperatives and requestives when…

Guidelines for using humor in training are as follows: (1) use a modicum of apt, relevant humor in an informative presentation; (2) self-disparaging humor enhances the presenter's image; (3) humor is only one factor that enhances interest; (4) apt, relevant humor does not affect persuasiveness; and (5) satire has unpredictable results. (SK)

Focuses on the issue of generalizability of laboratory studies. Explores the utility of both laboratory and field studies. Maintains that many laboratory studies can have meaningful applied value to managers in spite of their extreme artificiality. Offers a rationale for each approach and criteria for assessing them. (SR)

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal which defends the applied value of laboratory studies to managers. Agrees that external validity is often irrelevant, and maintains that the problem of making inferences from any subject sample in management communication is one that demands internal, not external, validity. (SR)

Explores the rhetorical use of time in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Offers an explanation of the ideological heritage that temporarily unifies the discourse. Describes the letter's recent, historical, and spiritual time frames, accounts for the ideological purpose each serves, and explains on what ground they…

Defines and reviews the literature on organizational commitment and identification. Reports an empirical study which found that commitment and identification correlated consistently and similarly with relevant attitudinal, tenure, and demographic variables. Concludes that communication scholars are advised to refer to identification as a process…

Argues that meaning in a rhetorical work results from an interaction between discursive form and representational content linguists call "iconicity." Illustrates this approach through close analysis of passages selected from Edmund Burke's "Speech to the Electors of Bristol." Considers applications in broader contexts. (KEH)

Examines the fluctuating dialectic between object and method in three parts: (1) detailed reading of Herbert Wichelns' founding essay; (2) discussion of three influential responses to this dialectic by Ernest Wrage, Samuel Becker, and Edwin Black; and (3) analysis of Michael Leff's and Michael McGee's attempt to reconnect object and method. (KEH)

Considers, in a special issue on the topic, criteria for the admissibility of evidence and how methodology affects what is considered to be evidence. Argues that methodological debates are futile in the sense that observations are guided by implicit theories, and thus there is no evidence without explicit and clearly articulated theory. (SR)

Presents (in a special issue on criteria for the admissibility of evidence and how methodology affects what is considered to be evidence) five general criteria to evaluate evidence in the study of communication--that it should be consistent with a researcher's chosen epistemology; observable; gathered through systematic procedures; shared and made…