Best Practices in Crisis Communication: Evolution of Practice through Research

The stories of four practitioners are presented regarding their involvement with the Aspen conference and their reflections on the essays in this forum. Their stories suggest that the ability for academics and practitioners to co-create engaged scholarship depends on articulating common values and interests, creating a shared language that allows them to develop and execute a project and to disseminate their findings in useful ways, and constructing a space for reflection on organizational processes. This suggests that academic and practitioners need to negotiate their differences in values, language, and approach in ways that co-create a mutually satisfying project.     

Translational Research Endeavors and the Practices of Communication Privacy Management

This commentary sets the stage as the first of several forthcoming articles illustrating the way scholars in communication have pursued translating their research into practice. The translational nature of communication privacy management theory and examples of its application are the main focus of this contribution.     

Translational Research Endeavors and the Practices of Communication Privacy Management

This commentary sets the stage as the first of several forthcoming articles illustrating the way scholars in communication have pursued translating their research into practice. The translational nature of communication privacy management theory and examples of its application are the main focus of this contribution.     

Questionable Research Practices in Experimental Communication Research: A Systematic Analysis From 1980 to 2013

Questionable research practices (QRPs) pose a major threat to any scientific discipline. This article analyzes QRPs with a content analysis of more than three decades of published experimental research in four flagship communication journals: Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Media Psychology. Findings reveal indications of small and insufficiently justified sample sizes, a lack of reported effect sizes, an indiscriminate removal of cases and items, an increasing inflation of p-values directly below p < .05, and a rising share of verified (as opposed to falsified) hypotheses. Implications for authors, reviewers, and editors are discussed.     

Reporting Practices of Institutional Repositories: Analysis of Responses from Two Surveys

This article describes the results of two surveys, which gathered data about the reporting practices for institutional repositories (IR). The surveys were completed by library directors and IR managers, and questions were asked about strategic importance, content scope, and the methods and mechanisms libraries utilize to evaluate and report on IR use and impact. Data from the surveys helped inform the research of the project team and led to the development of the web service called the Repository Analytics & Metrics Portal.     

中国共产党百年宣传实践中的视觉传播:历史脉络、审看范式与问题框架

在中国共产党百年新闻宣传实践中,视觉宣传是其中独具特色的构成部分,处于十分重要的地位。目前有关中国共产党视觉宣传的研究存在两点不足:一是系统性的全历史研究成果不足;二是视觉理论与宣传实践融合有限。研究发现,中国共产党在不同历史阶段,通过创造性地征用不同视觉媒介进行宣传活动,形成了一套不同于西方发达国家的实践经验,也溢出了西方视觉理论的解释范畴。在研究过程中,应基于反本质主义的思维立场,破除媒介文化迷信和媒介体制迷信的思维窠臼,及其对理解中国共产党视觉宣传活动形成的刻板结论。文章提出连续与断裂中国与世界两大问题域,并以此为勾勒中国视觉宣传的纵横维度和展开当代研究的问题总纲。中国共产党百年视觉宣传研究应在史实材料的基础上,形成一派具有中国共产党主体地位与中国史学特色的历史书写,借由历史智慧建构出一套立足于中国语境与中国共产党主体性的理论范式,并以此为中国共产党的当代视觉宣传实践提供策略智识和批判工具。     

Undisclosed Flexibility in Computing and Reporting Structural Equation Models in Communication Science

The use of structural equation modeling (SEM) in communication research has become increasingly popular in recent years, with SEM being commonly used as the primary method of data analysis in studies published within the field’s journals. However, despite its widespread use, there are persistent misapplications of SEM in published empirical studies in the communication sciences. Of these types of misuse, the most troubling are those related to the exploitation of flexibilities in data collection and analysis. Given the number of decisions that must be made when analyzing and reporting structural equation models, decisions which often remain undisclosed, the potential for researchers to exploit flexibilities in SEM research is high. To assess the extent of this problem, as well as the more longstanding types of misuse (i.e., omission of information and disclosed “bad practice”) identified by prior studies, we undertake a methodical review of studies employing structural equation modeling within major journals in the field of communication between the years 2007 and 2011. Articles were coded on the characteristics of the sample, characteristics of the model tested, as well as for various potential problems that we defined a priori. The most serious issues are identified, and recommendations for future standards in SEM research are suggested.     

Special Section Introduction: Best Practices in Risk and Crisis Communication

There is a substantial gap between those people in the United States who identify as being favorable toward organ donation (~90%) and those registered as donors (~30%). A growing body of evidence suggests Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices are effective sites for facilitating higher organ donor registration rates on a national scale. The goal of the current study was to determine the utility and sustainability of a message immediacy approach, which draws from theoretical concepts such as priming and cues to action. Message immediacy requires individuals be: (a) exposed to a message that prompts an action, (b) in an environment where a prescribed action or behavior can be enacted, and (c) favorable toward the promoted behavior or action. Thirty-four Michigan counties, divided into three implementation groups, received campaigns in October (Group 1), November (Group 2), and December (Group 3) of 2009. Registration rates for three to six months after campaign implementation indicate that the on-site message prompts almost doubled registration rates in DMV offices. Additionally, preliminary cost-effectiveness evidence suggests message immediacy offers a relatively inexpensive campaign strategy.     

Crisis Communication Best Practices: Some Quibbles and Additions

The researchers adopted relational dialectics theory (Baxter &; Montgomery, 1996 Baxter, L. A. and Montgomery, B. M. 1996. Relating: Dialogues and dialectics, New York: Guilford Press.  [Google Scholar]) to examine the discourse of 37 bereaved parents. Research questions guiding the study were what dialectical contradictions do bereaved parents experience when communicating with their marital partner after their child's death and how do bereaved parents and their marital partners communicatively negotiate the dialectical contradictions they experience? Our analysis revealed that bereaved parents experienced a dialectical contradiction between trying to grieve their child's death together as a couple and apart as individuals. Likewise, parents experienced a contradiction between being both open and closed when talking with one another about their child's death. Results describe how parents negotiated these contradictions, and implications for professionals are discussed.     

神经科学与广告传播效果研究

神经科学,特别是脑成像技术的引入,为广告传播效果研究带来了技术上的突破。通过研究消费者的脑部活动,可以对消费者如何回应广告刺激做出更为直接的观察和更为客观的解释。本文对广告传播效果研究技术手段的发展做了分析,介绍了最新的神经科学技术手段,并将近5年来神经科学在广告传播效果研究领域的应用成果选择性地加以回顾,并对存在的研究局限性及伦理问题进行了阐述和建议。     

法兰克福书展中国主宾国活动报道效果分析

本文分析了20家西方主流媒体关于2009法兰克福书展中国主宾国活动的报道,认为这些媒体对中国文化的报道基本保持了客观和平衡;但在将文化议题政治化或者涉及政治议题时,这些媒体的二次编码以及国内网络意见的不对称传播,形成对中国不利的传播效果。有鉴于此,我方传播者应从共同经验出发,提升对外文化传播能力。     

Improving Visual Behavior Research in Communication Science: An Overview,Review, and Reporting Recommendations for Using Eye-Tracking Methods

ABSTRACT

Eye tracking offers researchers an opportunity to collect an objective assessment of visual behavior. Visual behavior—referring broadly to metrics and measures of gaze positioning and movement—has been used to assess variables including exposure time, cognitive processing, prominence, and (visual) attention. Over the past decade, communication science researchers have increased their use of eye-tracking methods in published articles. During that same period, technological innovations have made eye-tracking units more affordable and accessible to interested researchers increasing the likelihood that eye-tracking research will continue to increase in the field. In this article, we provide information on eye tracking in hopes of improving the quality and reporting of eye-tracking research in communication. The article first provides an overview of basic eye-tracking information followed by a systematic review on the reporting of eye-tracking methods in communication-relevant research. We then provide eye-tracking research reporting recommendations and some ideas about how eye tracking might be integrated into scholarly work moving forward with the aim of improving the transparency and replicability of eye-tracking research in communication science.     

新世纪深度报道的动因及其传播策略探析

本文结合中国深度报道的发展轨迹,从社会转型与当代审美文化的流变.受众分层与受众审美情趣的提高,网络媒体的兴起和媒介竞争的加剧、媒介主体意识的强化与市场化发展的需要等到四方面分析了新世纪深度报道复兴的背景与动因,并指出深度报道在新的社会环境与媒介环境下的传播策略在于从选题上、表达方式上,传播形态上,传播理念上进行必要的改革.