Conducts a content analysis of web pages to examine 26 United States Masters degree programs in public relations for their degree requirements, core courses, public relations courses, and optional courses. Finds a lack of adherence to the recommendations of the Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education. (NH)

Using a content analysis approach, this investigation systematically studies messages about HIV/AIDS contained in young adult novels and considers the effects of these messages as an information source for the reader. Young adults and young adult fiction are defined, and coding sheets and bibliographies are appended. (Author/LRW)

Analyzes the ways three postcolonial feminists open up the workings of representation such that participants are no longer disposed in the classical tradition but are rather "beside themselves." Analyzes changes in concepts of ethos and audience under the historical conditions of postcoloniality. Attends to the ways teachers and students…

Examines audience-centered writing strategies in two early sewing machine manuals. Considers the difference between non-sexist and gender-neutral writing. Concludes that avoiding sexism in technical writing may sometimes be impossible. (PA)

Finds that "modernity,""technology," and "youth" predominate in Chinese advertising in the 1990s, and the dominance of "quality" in 1990 was superseded by "tradition" in 1995. Finds that symbolic values from Eastern and Western cultures occurred more frequently in 1995, implying that contemporary…

Evaluates four middle school geography textbooks to examine readability levels, knowledge forms, intellectual operations, instructional objectives, and activities associated with before-, during-, and after-phases of instruction. Finds the texts to be generally inconsiderate of poor readers and to be dense with factual information. Discusses…

Examines letters to the editor of two Chicago newspapers between 1912 and 1917, to explore the strategies that readers used to make sense of what they read. Discusses cuing and linking, the new journalistic methodology of objectivity, and the mobilization of bias. Argues that reader response was often not idiosyncratic, but rather guided by…

Examines the history of science from the perspective of metaphor. Suggests that there are few differences between the literal and the metaphorical in scientific discourse. States that the central role of metaphors in science seems to ensure that science is open-ended, suggesting that conceptions of reality will be open to change and…

Investigates the nature and range of materials available through school book clubs in the United States. Finds that the clubs offered a wide range of books that extend beyond contemporary realistic fiction. (SR)

Examines the congruence between the view of marriage identified in content analysis and that rated by college students. Finds that students rated most marriages as "traditional," and rated traditional marriages as the most realistic. Notes that the amount of television exposure was unrelated to television marriage ratings. Discusses implications…

Looks at Lucretia Coffin Mott's speech on women by approaching it from the standpoint of a conversation. Examines Mott's rhetorical persona. Shows how her stylistic choices reflect a conversational approach. Discusses how Mott draws on earlier participants in the conversation on women. (TB)

Examines the prose versions of Shakespeare plays written for children by Charles and Mary Lamb, Bernard Miles, and Leon Garfield. Suggests that the content ranges far from Shakespeare's originals and promotes values that should be questioned critically. (TB)

Reports on a visual content analysis of 1,104 Gulf War-related pictures. Finds that a narrowly limited range of images (with a special emphasis on cataloging military weaponry and technology) dominated the pictorial coverage. Suggests that the scarcity of pictures depicting ongoing events in the Gulf contradicts the impression of first-hand media…

Considers how the Internet offers new opportunities for both audience research and content analyses, but notes that old problems researchers have encountered over the years remain. Notes that mass communication research will be better off or worse off depending on the skill of researchers in using the Internet. (SC)

Interviews 10 experienced science teachers about their understandings of the analogical models they use to explain science to their students. Investigates the notion that teaching pedagogy is influenced by the textbooks commonly used in class. Textbook analysis shows that chemistry textbooks used the most models and physics textbooks the least…