This analysis of information contents of documents (i.e., network of nodes which represent facts reported therein and their conceptual interconnections) yields a method for quantitative measurement of such content. Basic premises, calculation, salient features of the method, and information theories are discussed. Four references, graphic…

Finds that the most common type of figurative language in fourth- and sixth-grade basal readers is personification. Overall, the most commonly used figures of speech are: personification; animal, sense, and inanimate metaphors; and hyperbole. (FL)

Develops a framework for examining sport and leisure themes in television programs and commercials. The proposed model has two dimensions: (1) problem analysis (impacts, evolutionary cycle, and skill level); and (2) model development (methodological consideration). Until a more comprehensive approach incorporating these issues is operationalized,…

Analyzed 17 current success books for women. Considered (1) how success is defined and exemplified in these books; (2) how the author-audience relationship develops; and (3) how women are portrayed in relation to others and society. Concluded that writers of success books are not in agreement about what constitutes success. (PD)

Reports a number of modifications to the computer readability program STAR (Simple Tests Approach to Readability) designed to make it more useful. (FL)

Reviewed alcohol-related activities by prime-time television characters over a five-year period. Analysis showed alcohol was the preferred beverage used by characters, especially in recent years. All kinds of characters were seen drinking except youth. However, consequences of alcohol abuse and response of others were not always shown. (Author/JAC)

Examines 14 texts for college students in newswriting courses to determine their treatment of news values. Concludes that uncertainty reigns. (HOD)

Examines the comprehensibility of textbooks in the dual perspective of literary quality and reader perceptions of text structure. Suggests a nine-step procedure for analyzing comprehensibility of texts in ways that go beyond standard readability approaches. (FL)

Identified and synthesized sociological conceptions of personality using propositions derived from definitional and theoretical themes in the literature. Tested propositions in content analyses of textbook references to personality. Analyses suggested that the trait-bound conception of personality has diffused from classical personology to…

Examines the role of a specific rhetorical form, the protest song, in social movements. Analyzes the content of songs from the labor and anti-war movements of the 1960s. Concludes that these songs--generally negative, simplistic, and expressive--are in-group messages designed to reinforce feelings of solidarity. (PD)

A content analysis of four Washington state newspapers published in 1948 reveals that they did not provide fair coverage of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee's investigation of communist infiltration at the University of Washington. (FL)

Expands upon factor-analytic and rational methods and introduces a third method for determining content areas to be assessed in marital relationships. Definitions of a "good marriage" were content analyzed, and a number of areas were added. Demographic subgroup differences were found not to be influential factors. (Author)

Concludes that by distancing themselves from highly competitive but tainted phenomena, newsworkers and their organizations are able to meet their fundamental role obligation to create news while minimizing threats to their professional autonomy. Presents three examples of such attempts. (PD)

Analyzes a sample of nineteenth-century newspapers and argues that timeliness varied in value according to the origin of news such that technological improvements alone did not explain the decrease in time lag in news reporting. (FL)

Refers to an article by H. Sopher entitled "Discourse Analysis as an Aid to Literary Interpretation." Argues that such interpretations are more clearly supported by a surface structure analysis. Proposes a different approach based on the use of grammatical and syntactic features. (Author/MES)