To examine risk for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in terms of risk-related behaviors, and to investigate the factors that may be involved in putting one at risk, a study conducted telephone interviews with 493 randomly selected adults (18 years or older) in Austin, Texas in the fall of 1987. Respondents answered approximately 40…

A study extended and elaborated the coorientation model as a basis for reinterpreting Steven H. Chaffee and Jack M. McLeod's (1970) construct of family communication patterns. Melvin L. Kohn's (1977) theory of the influence of life experiences (e.g., conditions of employment) on parenting values argues that socio-orientation might better be…

A study examined how people respond to violations of F. Heider's (1958) balance principle when learning patterns of sentiments among people in a group. Subjects, 90 students from introductory psychology and communication courses at the University of Kansas, participated in the experiment, and were randomly assigned to one of three schema…

In the last few years there has been much discussion concerning different frameworks-paradigms-perspectives-world views and the ways in which each paradigm affects how knowledge is collected and analyzed. Unfortunately each new paradigm has been positioned in relation to the traditional rationalistic, scientific paradigm. The roots of these…

Habermas's theory of dialogue was used to evaluate the process of decision making that occurred in a labor-management committee's meeting to discuss flextime. The study attempted to determine why, at that meeting, the committee's consensus process of decision making failed. W.R. Bion's theory of unconscious group motives was also used to…

Two experiments examined nonverbal behavior patterns and relational communication perceptions associated with communication reticence. In the first experiment, pairs of friends and pairs of strangers engaged in nine-minute discussions. Subjects were rated by their interaction partners and by trained observers. Results showed that as their level of…

Both rhetorical theorists and attitude change theorists agree that characteristics of the source of persuasive communication can improve the persuasiveness of that message. Writers from both perspectives have approached this notion from two divergent perspectives. Isocrates was concerned with the speaker's prior reputation, which is quite similar…

An important influence on a presidential candidate's debating style, the "incumbency factor," has been largely ignored by researchers. An analysis of the argumentative style of incumbents, based on the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates, has isolated three distinguishing characteristics: (1) presidential incumbents tend to avoid extended…

This essay argues for a theory that accounts for the nature and function of women's discourse through combining structure and subject. It maintains that whenever women are theorized about by scholars, those scholars are co-contributors in constituting ontologies for women's existence, and that it is therefore necessary to constitute perspectives…

In order to understand how power affects other relationships, to offer an exploratory methodology for operationalizing an intervention typology, and to eventually develop a theoretical model that predicts affective influence on third party intervention modes in given conflict situations, a pilot study hypothesized that the frequency of preferred…

A descriptive, qualitative research design was used in a study that examined the formal socialization process in high technology organizations. The primary objective was to determine if organiations involved in high technology tended to exhibit similar symbology in the discourse produced by management for the formal socialization process. Data…

Ethical communication scholars frequently find national popular rhetoric unethical. Some proposed ethical guidelines for the public presentation of ideas call for such elements as habits of search, justice, preference for public versus private motives, respect for dissent, airing of all relevant arguments, and persuasion without coercion or…

Use of communication theory in an analysis of the court proceedings of the Jean Harris murder trial suggests that Harris contributed to her conviction with her inconsistent use of language and her refusal to remain in low-profile. Harris' defense attorney attempted to portray her as an upstanding, well-bred member of the community, and as a…

A study explored rhetorical strategies and dynamics within a single speech delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, l852 in Rochester, New York, which was considered by speaker and audience to be an Independence Day speech. An examination of the text suggests that Douglass embarked on a strategy of attention-shifting--turning the attention of…

In order to discover and evaluate the nature of large-scale, standardized assessment programs in colleges and universities in 1986, a survey followed up the Committee on Assessment and Testing (CAT)-sponsored study of 1982. A questionnaire was mailed to speech departments of more than 2,000 institutions, asking first whether the institution has…