In a conference focusing on issues in research methods, family theory, and family therapy as they relate to family communication and on future research needs, this document consists of papers presented by the 12 participants. Specific titles and speakers were as follows: "Kinship Relationships," by Mary Anne Fitzpatrick; "Research Potentials in…

Noting the many difficulties in conceptualizing and analyzing development communication, this paper enriches the concept by linking it with a particular form of political, economic, and social organization common to many developing nations--the patron-client network. After a brief review of relevant communication and political science literature…

When designing a contemporary curriculum in communication, it is important to adapt the specific set of skills and knowledge to the needs of the marketplace. The change in the transformation from speech to communication to communication/information technology is reflected in the various names of university departments. Schools that have changed…

Focusing on culture and organizational processes, this book examines the influences of culture on the organizational processes of conflict, negotiation, and decision making. The essays discuss the following: (1) culture and communication in organizational contexts; (2) cultural communication and organizing; (3) stereotypes and schemata; (4) a…

An edited version of a 10-item instrument titled "Decision" was administered to 240 freshman students enrolled in speech courses to discover whether there were differential effects on the stability of a decision when the evidence used was fact or opinion and whether there were differential effects on the stability of the decision…

Intended for use by speech and communication scholars, this paper uses the extensive body of research on communication apprehension as the basis for a discussion of three conventional approaches toward the treatment of excessive communication apprehension: systematic desensitization, social skills development, and cognitive modification/rational…

The standard organizational communication audit measures employees' perceptions of and satisfaction with communication in an organization. It does not, however, examine the structural characteristics of an organization, such as centralization or stratification--characteristics that can disclose whether a total communication system is appropriate…

Intended to help classroom teachers, students, or researchers fathom or simply explore the impact of sex roles in human communication, these 47 annotated citations cover a variety of sources written in a range of disciplines. Sources, which are arranged alphabetically by author, include books and journals in communication, psychology, linguistics,…

Organizational studies traditionally take the position that the more people involved in group decision making the more ideas will be generated. Recent studies demonstrate that people have a tendency to "loaf" in group situations and thus decrease the level of effort exerted by individual group members. This paper first reviews the…

In a televised performance which far surpassed that of any other witness in the Iran-Contra hearings of 1987, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North came to the attention of Americans as a "national hero." To illustrate how North was able to portray himself as the hero/victim and to explore the ways in which he was able to transform the context…

A study investigated the process of giving interpersonal feedback in two continuing human relations groups to determine (1) the proportion of feedback perceived as useful for personal and interpersonal development, (2) the relationship between giving feedback that is perceived as useful and receiving that feedback, and (3) the relationship between…

Of the many specific situations in which the exercise of suasory influence may be necessary to assure that a decision making group meets its analytical responsibilities, five appear to be particularly important. These are circumstances in which (1) a group is violating accepted procedural norms, (2) an authority figure or high status group member…

A study was conducted to identify the nonverbal behaviors predicting hireability, as well as the nonverbal behaviors candidates employ that predict hireability. Subjects were 25 campus recruiters, each of whom was given a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and three copies of a Likert-type questionnaire on a single communicator…

Data gathered during the 1980 presidential campaign were analyzed in an effort to establish influence flow between adolescents and their parents concerning changes in opinions of candidates and issues. The data base consisted of a two-wave panel of 501 adolescent-parent dyads from throughout the state of Wisconsin. Twenty-eight mass media and…

Six casual conversations between university undergraduates were tape recorded and transcribed in an effort to describe the politeness practices of men and women during ordinary conversation. The first stage of analysis involved dividing the transcripts into utterances or units of speech actions. The second stage of analysis involved coding each…