Distinguishes Q methodology from conventional hypothetico-deductive methodologies and from conventional communication approaches. Illustrates epistemological principles through a single-case study of cultural narcissism examined in terms of responses to pictures appearing in "Time" magazine. (RS)

Develops a conception of science as a complex series of cultural practices mediated in an through discourse. Uses a case study of the cold fusion controversy to demonstrate that internal scientific practices cannot explain adequately the eventual closure of the debate and that those explanations are found in the rhetorical practices of…

Examines the student and professional discourse within the same field through a set of case studies written for a third-year course in financial analysis. Reports on the distinct social actions undertaken by student writers as compared with professional practices. Shows commonalities of student and workplace writing. (HB)

Discusses (in a special issue on the topic of criteria for the admissibility of evidence) the contributions and limitations of conversation analysis and postmodernism toward the enterprise of ethnographic research. Proposes criteria for qualitative data to be admissible as evidence for claims about social life and for a qualitative study to count…

Discusses (in a special issue on criteria for the admissibility of evidence in communication research) the use of personal experience in feminist scholarship. Discusses two tenets of feminist scholarship: women's perceptions, meanings, and experiences are taken seriously; and such information cannot be understood within theories developed without…

Investigates how context exerts effects the meaning system that enables assessing meaning units, consisting of referent and meaning value. Reveals four kinds of effects of context on meaning. Analyzes the findings of the two studies undertaken, and discusses their implications. (HB)

Investigates the coherence of nonstandard discourse linguistic sources. Provides examples, such as experimental writing and schizophrenic speech, that establish the necessity of the coherence mechanisms. Emphasizes that, by ignoring nonstandard samples, researchers overlook powerful ways to test theories of discourse. (HB)

Studies the discourse competence of mentally retarded residents of a group home by examining their arguments. Shows how their arguments exhibited useful patterns and gave evidence of being an acceptable and sought after discourse genre. Outlines the features of the residents' argument patterns. (HB)

Presents a new methodology for studying children's and adults' metalinguistic knowledge of the cohesive, discourse-level properties of spoken language. Studies the abilities of subjects to detect and then to explain discourse repairs in narratives. Considers why the discourse-level functions of the markers are not open to reflection. (HB)

Discusses unique characteristics of Hebrew language and writing system in relation to a long historical tradition of bilingual texts. Explores present-day strategies of typesetting and translation and analyzes the "invisible" effects of Hebrew lexical and syntactic patterns on English speakers. Posits a blocking mechanism allowing the monolingual…

Finds in the "Lettres" (1895-98) of Marichette (a Franco-Acadian woman) graphic evidence of the effects of language contact with the socially and economically dominant English on her Franco-Acadian dialect. Explores her penchant for code-switching and relates this aspect of the writer's style to her political commentary. (SR)

Uses a case study and an interactionist perspective to explore the way in which community service draws together power elites in a community's communications network, provides a context for peer evaluation, and is an effective means of maintaining internal surveillance. (SR)

Uses social exchange theory to explore communication in the adjustment process of transferees during the first three months at new locations. Develops descriptions of the process by which transferees learn their roles. Explores the impact of feedback and communication relationships on adjustment and the impact of social support as a buffer against…

Applies the Instructional Communication Model to an analysis of student ratings of instruction. Finds that the best combined set of items for estimating global instructor effectiveness contained global course quality as the primary contributor. Discusses findings in terms of the model of instructional communication. (RS)

Investigates the relationship between individual differences in "arousability" and the tendency for college students to report enduring negative reactions from exposure to frightening media. Finds that arousability was related to both enduring and immediate fright reactions. Notes that physiological indicators were associated with arousability for…