Reports that follow-up mailings are generally worth the time and money in communications surveys of elite groups, that they are essential in studies in which the return rate for the first mailing is quite low, and that they can sometimes make the difference between a worthwhile and a worthless study. (GW)

Briefly reviews ways in which feminism may be influencing the field of communication studies. Presents some of the main points currently being made by radical feminist theorists.

Discusses how, thus far, research and development throughout the new Bell system has faired well through the divestiture, but how the market imperatives on the new Bell Labs and their offspring may eventually affect the spending patterns on innovation. (JD)

Examines the extent to which subjects discriminate among their equal, unequal, and best friendships on the basis of values exchanged--stimulation, ego support, and utility--and perceived attraction of the other--physical, task, and intimate. Discusses implications of the results for communication research. (NKA)

Examines public address in the post-bellum South (focusing on the years 1865 to 1900) as a form of epideictic speaking, in order to illuminate both the genre and the Southern mind. (SR)

Investigates whether children attempt to persuade an interactant or initiate compromise when their interests conflict. Concludes that older children are more likely to spontaneously initiate compromise than are younger ones. (RS)

Investigates the influence of communicative competence on the quality of roommate relationships. Indicates that communicative adaptability is a causal factor in roommate satisfaction. (SR)

Traces the rhetorical relationship between the ritual path taken by each rhetor and the types of messages they leave behind at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C., especially in the rhetoric "as addressed" to an audience. Reveals the interplay of ritual choice and message. (MS)

Proposes that motor mimicry functions as a nonverbal, analogic, relationship message about similarity between observer and other, and that this message is encoded according to Gestalt principles of form. Concludes that the primary function of motor mimicry must be communicative and that any relationship to vicarious processes is secondary. (RAE)

Presents the results of a study in which three measures of intimacy are related to the obligation to grant requests for resources, the obligation to offer resources in a time of need, characteristics of requests for resources, and characteristics of responses to rejection. (RAE)

Argues that Lincoln modeled certain major speeches on a chiasmus, and that this stylistic device governs the integration of form and function in Lincoln's presidential rhetoric. Argues that the chiasmus reveals that Lincoln saw himself as called by God to fulfill a special messianic mission. (MS)

Proposes the metatheoretical stance of skeptical pluralism as a means of ordering and integrating knowledge of human communication. Uses a typology of modern philosophies suggested by Richard McKeon to identify four different conceptions of communication and science (phenomenal, operational, nationalistic, and phenomenological). (MM)

Discusses current themes in communication research. Claims that this research offers an increasingly sophisticated view of journalism as a reflection not of an objective reality, but of political-economic power and sociocultural conflict. Includes an example of an imaginary symposium and a strategy for reframing the journalistic quest for truth.…

Offers evidence that brain hemispheres process information differently, and that semantics influence hemispheric processing. Suggests directions for research on message style, source perception, and threat perception. (MS)

Provides a personal, historical reflection on speech communication, centering on convention activities. (PD)