Stories in romance and adventure magazines tend to support traditional American stereotypes about roles and dispositions of men and women. (RB)

Finds that the 34 female characters observed on the 22 children and family-oriented programs included in this television survey are portrayed primarily in comic roles or as wives and mothers in a family context. (RB)

Concludes that junior novels have changed in form and content, are more difficult to read, and deal with mature topics. (RB)

Analyzing the setting of six recent "blockbuster" films, this study outlines numerous instances of the Western's influence on several contemporary science fiction films, "Star Wars,""Battlestar Galactica,""Star Trek: The Motion Picture,""The Black Hole,""The Empire Strikes Back," and…

A study compared local and non-local coverage across three market sizes in two states (Michigan and Oregon) and examined the extent to which the use of news gathering technologies differed across market size. The study was a replication and extension of a 13-year old study by William C. Adams and explored the possible impact of technological…

A content analysis of selected print media examined press coverage of the shuttle Challenger explosion. Press sources identifying and explaining technological causes were tabulated for two major newspapers, three popular newsmagazines, and one trade magazine, during the 30 days following the event. Results revealed (1) a failure to provide timely…

"Star Trek II" is a treatment of the penultimate stages of the monomyth in which the hero descends into the underworld and is reborn. This psychological sense of rebirth is evoked in modern audiences by the film. In particular, the doppelganger (psychic double) motif, so often associated in film, literature, and myth with the…

An assessment of recent trends in developmental research examined all articles published in the periodical "Child Development" from 1967-1983. Of the articles that were included in the "Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography" in the same period, 200 articles from each year of the period were randomly selected for…

A study examined the changes that have occurred in the content of cigarette advertising in magazines from 1945 to 1985 in the context of changes in the product itself, in advertising science, and in government regulation. Specifically, the study examined how advertisements had changed in terms of format, brand segmentation, major sales point or…

Noting that the decline in adult newspaper readership does not match the growth in the number of educated adults, a study queried (1) Which characteristics of news items most strongly predict readership levels? and (2) Is there any difference in the best set of predictors for the different age groups (older than and younger than 35)? A readership…

Shakespeare's genius as a creative playwright can be judged both subjectively and objectively. Cognitive psychology uses specific behavioral measures to assess performance. A product is marked by latency, quantity, and quality. When college students engage in tests of originality, these measures support many theories of creativity. A similar…

Noting that launching a new magazine in a competitive market is both complicated and costly, a study analyzed four "Teddy Bear" magazines and their market to determine the viability of launching a new Teddy Bear magazine. The market includes "Bear Tracks,""The Teddy Tribune,""Teddy Bear and Friends," and,…

This paper describes a critical study of the available forecasts and forecasting studies for the home video player market over a 15-year period which was undertaken to discover why so many forecasts were wrong about consumer adoption of home videocassette players and videodisk players, the reasons for these errors, and ways in which this knowledge…

A study examined and classified the typing vocabulary present in six contemporary texts used in secondary school typing classes. During this examination, the researcher classified words pertaining to the following instructional areas: learning the keyboard letters and numbers, learning machine parts, developing typing speed, and improving typing…

A study was conducted to determine the political issues of the 1980 presidential campaigns as expressed by televised political spot advertisements during the primaries. Issue information was coded for 140 30- and 60-second political commercials. An advertisement's issue score was defined as the number of terms used that matched terms from a…