Reports the results of two studies revealing that, except for television viewing, there was little mass media use by patients in a mental hospital and that patients' television viewing was of a passive nature. (GT)

Hypothesizes that instrumental media motivation, selectivity, attention, and involvement are positive predictors of satisfaction, parasocial interaction, and cultivation effects from watching daytime television serials; avoidance, distraction, and skepticism were seen as negative predictors. Finds support for these expectations through three path…

Examines design decisions regarding the use of video segments in interactive multimedia applications. Highlights include video functions in relation to content or logistics; utilization patterns; and results of audiovisual research on presentation or production variables, including narration and sound, special effects, pacing, and animation. (LRW)

Provides examples from six studies to illustrate how the formative research element of the Sesame Workshop production model has been used to create effective educational media in the United States, South Africa, Egypt, and China. Shows how lessons learned from formative studies provide insights into the development of new research methodologies…

Analyzes research conducted in Finland that explored reactions of school children to news dealing with the Gulf War. Highlights include the kind of knowledge accumulated about a media event, what impact it has on the school curriculum, and the relationship of news events to levels of anxiety and areas of interest. (Author/LRW)

Considers that sports media exposure may be linked to female adolescents' body perceptions. Tests this relationship from the perspective of objectification theory. Finds that self-objectification appears to be as problematic for adolescent girls as for college women, regardless of race or body mass. Focuses on self-objectification in adolescents…

Surveys 82 Alabama legislators and finds officials' views of the press as adversary or agent of consensus relates to perceived value of media for job-relevant information. Suggests a dysfunction of the "watch-dog" role because those believing the consensus model found the press more useful than those seeing the press as an adversary. (MG)

Studies the importance of both debate discussion and general political discussion in predicting political cognition. Finds that political conversations with others leads to much learning, controlling for effects of education, gender, political interest and media use. (MG)

Replicates a study by O'Donnell and O'Donnell (1978) to determine changes in the portrayal of sex roles in television commercials from 1978 to 1988. Examines gender and occupation of the person representing each product. Explores which sex is shown in more professional roles. Findings indicate conventional sex role stereotypes persist. (JS)

Presents a case study of the interpenetration of the paradigm discourses of science, religion, politics, and law and public motive structures as demonstrated by the controversy over scientific creationism. Argues that the discursive populist commitments of journalism indirectly legitimate the populist discourse of creationism. (RAE)

Examines three groups of studies that demonstrate what communication research has to say about the relationship between peace and news, between war and the media. Presents a model of five discourses used in the coverage of war and peace in the news media. (MS)

Reports on a study to determine the level of knowledge college students possessed about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Concluded that overall enhancement of knowledge occurred among young adults and that mass media was partially responsible. Lists biological terms necessary for understanding the disease. (RT)

Shows how different kinds of involvement measures can add to the ability both to explain differences between people's knowledge of election information and to investigate whether the way that knowledge is measured affects conclusions about involvement with television and newspapers. (MS)

Argues that most public-opinion research results from an implicit metaphor of citizens as "political consumers" and media messages as "hypodermic injections." Offers an alternative "conversational" metaphor. Describes a focus group project examining the relationship between television and public opinion. Presents…

Describes a study of high school students that investigated the use of MediaText, multimedia composition software, for student-developed multimedia documents. Research and theory of multimedia in education is reviewed, including student composition; a constructionist model is considered; and assignments in several curriculum areas are examined.…