Who watched "Sesame Street" and with what frequency at different socioeconomic levels? This utilization study provides answers to the question by compiling data from national ratings, special surveys commissioned by the Children's Television Workshop, and unsolicited, independently conducted surveys which were brought to the Workshop's…

This study investigated the effects of Expected Audience Response (EAR) and Perceived Audience Response (PAR) on speaker attitudes, tested the predictability of cognitive balance theory in a communication feedback setting, and provided a comprehensive review of the experimental literature on feedback. Speakers were given an expectation of the…

The objective of this study was to compare an information processing based measure of television program form to a measure of form based on the perception of the organization of program production elements. Three hypotheses were set up to test the presumption that the two program measures are related to the same underlying dimension: show scores…

This study was designed to test the validity of Darnell's clozentropy procedure as a measure of monolignual international communication comprehension. The study investigated two major subject (audience) variables, "educational level" and "prior familiarity level" with the specialized (idiosyncratic) content with which the subjects were presented,…

If the scope of current cable television (CATV) content could be broadened to include interactive television services, it is conceivable that these new services would provide reasonable substitutes for the interactive communications that people miss when their surroundings change from a small community to a large urban community, and would thus…

A test instrument was developed for analyzing the ability of various kinds of viewers to predict what will happen next in various kinds of films. The test instrument was based on the standard verbal cloze procedure, but it was adapted for nonverbal material. The test was validated by showing that it could detect differences in (1) entropy patterns…

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) presented a "television simulation" to make the citizens of Main more aware of 1) environmental challenges, 2) the process of reconciling problems, and 3) the importance of the individual in the process. In the simulation a fictitious town, Freeboro, was faced with a decision regarding a new…

This report, the first in a series of four, describes part of a national study commissioned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to investigate audience awareness of public television, level of viewing, and reaction to programming and on-air fund raising. Specifically, this segment investigated the level of awareness of public television,…

Three different applied media anthropology projects are described. These projects stem from the broadcasters' legal need to know about the community (community ascertainment), the broadcasters' need to know about the station audience (audience profile), and the broadcasters' desire to change a community (action projects). (Author)

Shifting emphasis from the finished paper to the process of composition can result in better, more honest student writing.

Suggests use of questions as instructional tools. Provides guidelines for devising effective questions and handling responses to questions. To evaluate the program, the author advises the trainer to consider content, methods, presentation, time, and atmosphere. Also reviews self-evaluation techniques and forms. (CSS)

Suggests the value of a prewriting sheet which asks remedial students to specify an occasion, audience, and purpose for each of their one-paragraph papers. (DD)

Reports the findings of an analysis of the impact of a major criminal event on the size of the total broadcast audience, on media-switching behavior, and on station-switching behavior. (GW)

Reports results from an experiment conducted to discover relationships between theatre audience members' information processing abilities and their responses to performed plays and to the characters in the play. (MH)

Claims that most television research ignores the connections between its symbolic and economic influences. Argues for an integrated approach that views television as both a commodity and an artifact. Describes five analytical categories that researchers could use to provide information illuminating these relations to the public. (JD)