Communication apprehension and shyness: Conceptual and operational distinctions

A conceptual distinction is drawn between communication apprehension and shyness, two constructs which some writers previously have treated as interchangeable. In two studies, measures of these constructs were examined for both relationship and independence. The results of the studies indicated validity of the conceptual distinction between these constructs.     

An assessment of the role of communication apprehension in communicating with the terminally ill

Students who reported being high or low communication apprehensives in interpersonal encounters were asked to read a letter from a terminally or not terminally ill patient and write a letter in reply. These students also completed a variety of self‐report measures. In essence, high CAs were found to be less willing to communicate, less willing to volunteer, less willing to work with terminal patients, and felt less confident about their communication than low CAs. High CAs also disclosed less to terminal patients than did people in any other circumstance. Further, terminal patients who were depicted as quiet received less self‐disclosure and less communication that was sensitive to their perspective than did those in any other circumstance.     

Self-Help Books About Communication and the Communication Course: An Exercise in Assessing Popular Notions of Communication Using Theory

Objective: The objective of this activity is to help students evaluate practical advice about communication with theories of communication

Applicable courses: This activity can be adopted by a variety of different communication courses including: persuasion, interpersonal (family, gender, and/or intercultural), organizational or small-group communication, and other communication courses     

Relationship stages: An inductive analysis identifying cognitive,affective, and behavioral dimensions of Knapp's relational stages model

Knapp's (1978) ten stage model of relationships has been widely cited and endorsed, nonetheless a solid empirical foundation for this model is lacking. This study was conducted to provide the preliminary information necessary to identify, empirically, the stages of “coming together”; and “coming apart”;. Focus groups were conducted to identify behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions indicative of the ten stages proposed by the Knapp model. Findings indicate that people generally report different thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in each stage. The findings are discussed in terms of the further development of Knapp's model and creation of a corresponding measurement scale. Directions for future research involving the development of such a scale are also discussed.     

The end of the life span: Determinants of communication apprehension

While communication researchers have expressed an interest in communication development, an area still relatively untouched by the field is the study of communication with the terminally ill. This study was designed to examine this capstone of human development and to provide a framework for future research in an area which affects so many. It was hypothesized that having knowledge of the effects of the illnesses in terms of psychological status and familiarity with the dying individual would affect the level of communication apprehension experienced by a person. A research question also investigated the relationships between fear of death and levels of situational communication apprehension. Results indicated that having knowledge of the psychological status did not significantly affect an individual's level of CA. However, familiarity with the terminally ill individual was found to increase the level of CA experienced by a healthy person. Given these findings, the general premise that uncertainty is negative is brought into question.     

我国博客研究现状的实证分析

本文运用内容分析法，从论文发表时间、研究主题，及其发展模式、研究方法和理论运用等维度，对国内学界博客研究的现状和发展进程作出简要分析，指出博客研究仍然处于与博客本身及其使用者相关的问题研究的低层次，并探讨博客研究所蕴涵着的对传统社会科学理论所进行的反思，从而拓展理论视野的可能性。     

Communication practices as unobtrusive control: An observational study

This paper reports a study that examines naturalistic communication as concertive control. The paper argues that, while the theoretical perspective considers communication in the powerful role of controlling organizational decision making, research efforts have not, for the most part, examined communication practices. Results of an interpretation of communication interaction observed during organizational meetings identify several communicative practices that are interpreted as unobtrusive control practices. First, premises are articulated and reiterated during meetings. Second, leaders simultaneously reinforce and appeal to organizational premises. Third, as premises are articulated and reiterated, leaders' metacommunication suggests that the premises are being drawn from the members. Fourth, members participate in this process through interactive decision‐making rituals. A more complex interpretation is offered to enrich the understanding of concertive control. Specifically, instances of concertive control also operate as bureaucratic control and simple control. Limitations of concertive control are discussed. Results indicate that premises may be negotiated or not accepted. Finally, in one example, the success of concertive control creates a reversal in control roles.     

民族高校图书馆信息资源建设评析

文献信息资源建设是少数民族高等院校开展好图书馆学科重点建设和培养少数民族图书馆人才的关键。本文拟从对十几所民族高校图书馆信息资源建设的现状调查,分析了民族高校图书馆在文献资源建设中存在的问题,并探讨了解决问题的途径。     

A cognitive approach to human communication: An action assembly theory

An essential characteristic of human communicative behavior is that it is at once novel and creative yet patterned and repetitive. This observation suggests processes of selection of memory elements and subsequent construction of novel behaviors. In an effort to explicate these processes a general theoretical framework is developed. Further, a specific theory, consistent with the general framework, is also advanced. The theory is comprised of five axioms and seventeen propositions which serve to specify the nature of the relevant structures and processes.     

Mothers,Sons and Testicular Cancer: An Exploratory Investigation of Health Communication

This study highlights the importance of parent-child communication of sensitive health-related issues, specifically the importance of cancer prevention discussions. For females, communication about breast cancer has been desensitized; yet, testicular cancer is not being discussed among males, even though it is highly curable when caught early. Testicular cancer primarily impacts males ages 15–40, so introducing the conversation early is important. In this exploratory study, mothers (N = 22) participated in three focus group discussions and described communication with their sons about general health issues and testicular cancer. While the mothers discussed a number of health issues with their sons, they did not mention testicular cancer and believed their sons knew very little about testicular cancer. Mothers' communication about testicular cancer with their sons was characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity. Findings from this study shed light on how little mothers know about testicular cancer as well as the need for comprehensive testicular cancer campaigns that target intervening publics.     

Correlation between Journal Impact Factor and Citation Performance: An experimental study

Since its introduction, the Journal Impact Factor has probably been the most extensively adopted bibliometric indicator. Notwithstanding its well-known strengths and limits, it is still widely misused as a tool for evaluation, well beyond the purposes it was intended for. In order to shed further light on its nature, the present work studies how the correlation between the Journal Impact Factor and the (time-weighed) article Mean Received Citations (intended as a measure of journal performance) has evolved through time. It focuses on a sample of hard sciences and social sciences journals from the 1999 to 2010 time period. Correlation coefficients (Pearson's Coefficients as well as Spearman's Coefficients and Kendall's τ_α) are calculated and then tested against several null hypotheses. The results show that in most cases Journal Impact Factors and their yearly variations do not display a strong correlation with citedness. Differences also exist among scientific areas.     

E-government discourses: An inductive analysis

This article offers a new perspective on e-government by documenting the categories of e-government discourses, and evaluating them within a public value framework. Understanding e-government discourses is significant, since these discourses represent contested visions of e-government, and one can derive a feel for public sentiment about e-government from the discourses used in the media. The findings are accumulated through an inductive analysis of 85 newspaper articles, published during the year of 2010, in three top-selling, ideologically different, nationally circulating Turkish newspapers. In these 85 articles, 98 discourses presented by 90 policy actors are found. Five positive and four negative discourse categories and their relationships emerged from the analysis of the data. The results show that, government reform efforts shaped by the New Public Management movement and Turkey's harmonization efforts with the global political system in general, and with the European Union in particular, are influential in the presentation of e-government projects to the Turkish public through newspapers.     

博客社区内的非正式交流:基于网络链接的实证分析

博客是互联网上一种新型的计算机中介交流系统.随着越来愈多的科技用户使用博客进行在线交流,博客社区逐渐已经成为一种重要的科学交流网络.借助社会网络分析技术和中国最大的IT博客社区内的链接数据,我们对博客交流网络的结构特征进行了探索分析.分析结果表明博客交流网络是一个小世界,幂律现象十分明显;博客网络内存在核心博客和普通博客之分,两者共同组成了各种星状拓扑结构的子群.本文的发现对于创新科学交流体系和设计新一代科学交流系统具有重要意义.     

试论传播学研究的多元方法

本文分析了镜式、灯式、神话式等三种传播研究方式,认为我国传播学研究存在三种态势,建议我国的传播学研究走“学术趣味”+“现实关怀”的道路。     

Examining Beliefs about Interpersonal Communication and Relationships Across Generations: An Assignment of Social Constructionism

Objective: To understand interpersonal communication as a collaborative event; to understand cultural and historical influences on talk about communication and relationships; to understand how individuals of different generations talk about communication and romantic relationships; and to emphasize the heuristic value of rapport building during interviews.

Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Family Communication, Interviewing