A study determined the relationship between communicator style and argumentativeness and clarified the relationship between psychological gender and communicator style. Three hundred and fourteen college students enrolled in introductory health and communication courses responded to the Communicator Style Measure, the Argumentativeness Scale, and…

This paper uses symbolic convergence theory and evoked recall or resonance theory in an attempt to explain the phenomenon of "A Prairie Home Companion"--a weekly live radio program broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio featuring music and the "news" from fictional Lake Wobegon as related by Garrison Keillor, the show's…

Graduate programs in speech communication offer students a variety of assistantships including a forensic assistantship. Among factors affecting assistantships that have not been investigated in past studies, three stand out. The first factor that should be considered is the size of the entire graduate program in the department. The nature of a…

In light of rhetorical approaches to interpersonal communication, this paper compares the ethics behind the "rhetorical sensitivity" concept of Roderick Hart and Don Burks and the ethics of Christian communication. Outlined are Hart and Burks' exposition of the characteristics of the rhetorically sensitive person which are then compared…

Feminist thinkers offer new interpretations of the role of technology in social life. As society has progressed, men have become culture-centered rather than nature-centered, while women have remained nature-centered. Thus, women's devaluation resides in man's desire to control both nature and women. The values of objectivity, progress,…

Traditionally, the study of public address has meant the study of great speakers, focusing on individual speech texts, or the speaking careers of individual orators. So dominant was this traditional study of public address that, in its halcyon decades of the l930s, 1940s, and 1950s, it all but eliminated other approaches to rhetorical criticism.…

Words, like any other information resource, must be managed in order to contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Managing communication refers to planning, organizing, leading, and controlling words. Planning determines goals and how they can be best accomplished, and aids in providing direction for the message, thus increasing the…

To determine whether speech communication is a true academic subject, it is necessary to note the three traits that characterize a true academic subject: (1) a curriculum designed to promote knowledge and understanding rather than manual or practical skills; (2) a logically integrated series of courses that begin at the elementary school level and…

Mary Cunningham, a Harvard Business School graduate in 1979, received more than 30 job offers from major financial corporations. She accepted a positition as the executive assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Bendix Corporation. By October 1980, she had been promoted twice and held the position of vice president of strategic planning.…

A self-administered communication proficiency and training survey was completed by 122 female professionals and 80 of their direct supervisors in a study that investigated the perceptions supervisors have of their female employees' communication proficiency. The questionnaire for the female professionals asked for assessment of their present level…

The notion that rhetoric (and to a lesser extent, argument) is epistemic is an increasingly popular one today, although it can be traced to ancient Greece. The notion holds that rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, creates and shapes knowledge. Two ancient authors--Aristophanes and Plato--provide evidence that others had notions of rhetoric as…

Two hundred forty-five students in a basic speech making course were tested both before and after the course by the Rhetorical Sensitivity Scale (RHETSEN) and by their reactions to three hypothetical speech situations, to determine: (1) whether their rhetorical sensitivity scores would change after completion of such a course, and (2) whether…

In order to rate the importance of elements involved in a public relations curriculum, a study analyzed the responses of public relations educators from all academic associations teaching the subject as well as practitioners from all specializations. Questionnaires were sent to 544 people who rated 110 elements as not essential to essential on a…

To formulate, justify, and establish priorities for high school debate goals, one must consider only those things that debate can uniquely offer to participating students. The most important goal that debate offers is the development of critical thinking. Educators must continue to develop critical thinkers who can anticipate, discover, and…

Forty-two community colleges and one four-year college responded to a survey requesting information about theatre programs. The colleges ranged in size from a low of 395 students to a high of 30,000. The results of the survey indicated that theatre courses were required of communication majors at only one college, and were electives at the…