Some implications of existentialism for rhetoric

This essay continues a controversy initiated in the CSSJ in 1962‐1963 (XIII, 4, and XIV, 1). It argues that Existentialism will provide meaningful questions which must be pursued if rhetoric is to be firmly based. In particular, it contends that our common maxims heard in speech classes and seen in texts, “Be logical!”; and “First, seek the truth!”; are at best insufficient and in practice may be invidious.     

The ecology of broadcasters in the United States

Forbidden to censor, and saddled with an undefined (and perhaps undefinable) criterion of the “public interest, convenience and necessity”; for deciding among otherwise‐qualified applicants for a broadcast facility, it is little wonder that the FCC has relied upon a patchwork of precedents and rule‐of‐thumb standards. Possibly because of the uncertainty of these standards, and partly because the staff has not increased in size as greatly as has the workload, the Commission has avoided whenever possible the enlargement of license application hearings to include anyone other than the applicants themselves. Sometimes, however, the courts haven't allowed the FCC to so restrict the number of participants in a hearing, and sometimes the courts have had to remind the Commission that the laboriously accumulated body of administrative practice and precedent is not always the same as the language or purpose of the Communications Act of 1934.

“Economic injury”; is a station owner's concept. It is at the interface of theory and marketplace reality. It is the almost impossible‐to‐prove claim that the establishment of a new station in one's market will so split the available revenues that both stations will fail—or, at least, that both stations will have to operate with substandard (e.g., cheaper) programming, and thus will not serve the public interest. At first, the FCC listened to some of these claims, but soon evolved a policy of avoiding them, by whatever means and reasoning that it could. Over the years, and despite substantial prodding from the courts, the FCC's policy of avoiding this claim has become rigid . . . thus providing us with an excellent and fascinating case study of administrative policy formulation.     

The development of the national association of broadcasters*

This article was written as a result of research carried on by the writer while doing graduate work at Stanford University. In gathering material for the study, Mr. Barber canvassed program managers in New York in the Spring of 1958 and spent an extensive ten‐week internship at KPIX, San Francisco, in the Fall of that year.     

Empathy: Some implications of social cognition research for interpretation study

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how we might borrow from the work on social cognition to enrich our understanding of the empathic process as it relates to the performance of literature. Specifically, it surveys several conceptions of empathy in social cognition research and relates these to the various processes that interpreters have identified as empathic.     

Reliability and validity of speech rating scales: Some error effects

Validity and reliability are important criteria in speech rating scale development and use. This investigation explores the effects of certain rater errors, compares a newly devloped scale to a widely used instrument, and suggests the existence of specific factors as crucial elements in evaluation.     

Some data on the predictive validity of the speech evaluation instrument

This study was designed to investigate the predictive validity of a measure of speech evaluation, the Speech Evaluation Instrument (SEI) (Zahn & Hopper, 1985). More specifically, while the predictive validity of two dimensions of the measure, attractiveness and dynamism has been demonstrated, no studies to date have addressed the validity of the superiority dimension. In the present study, a variation on the known‐groups method was used in which respondents evaluated speakers likely to elicit differing reactions on this dimension, standard speaking adults and nonstandard speaking children. As hypothesized, the standard speaking adults were rated much higher on superiority than the nonstandard speaking children. The speech groups accounted for 36% of the variance in superiority evaluations. Speech groups also accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in attractiveness ratings. Implications of these results for the validity of the SEI are discussed.     

The distribution of references across texts: Some implications for citation analysis

In citation network analysis, complex behavior is reduced to a simple edge, namely, node A cites node B. The implicit assumption is that A is giving credit to, or acknowledging, B. It is also the case that the contributions of all citations are treated equally, even though some citations appear multiply in a text and others appear only once. In this study, we apply text-mining algorithms to a relatively large dataset (866 information science articles containing 32,496 bibliographic references) to demonstrate the differential contributions made by references. We (1) look at the placement of citations across the different sections of a journal article, and (2) identify highly cited works using two different counting methods (CountOne and CountX). We find that (1) the most highly cited works appear in the Introduction and Literature Review sections of citing papers, and (2) the citation rankings produced by CountOne and CountX differ. That is to say, counting the number of times a bibliographic reference is cited in a paper rather than treating all references the same no matter how many times they are invoked in the citing article reveals the differential contributions made by the cited works to the citing paper.     

Some relations between personality,speech characteristics and teaching effectiveness of college teachers

The Fishbein‐Ajzen behavioral‐intentions model separates attitudinal and normative influences on behavioral intent. However, some investigations employing this model have obtained strong correlations between the attitudinal and normative components of that model, whereas others have reported no such result. The issue of the relatedness of attitudinal and normative determinants of intent is important to theorists of social behavior and the many researchers who employ the Fishbein‐Ajzen model, as well as to scholars of persuasion. Relying on constructivist theory and research, this investigation hypothesized that an individual difference variable, construct differentiation, mediates the degree of association persons are likely to exhibit between attitudinal and normative beliefs. Investigating the domain of politics and voting behavior, this study found support for that general hypothesis: persons with relatively undifferentiated political construct systems exhibited substantial collinearity between attitudinal and normative components of the Fishbein‐Ajzen behavioral‐intentions model; persons with relatively developed political construct systems did not.     

Authority of the FCC over broadcast content: Memorandum of special counsel to national association of broadcasters

Global television programming fairs (MIP-TV, MIPCOM, NATPE) have received little attention from media scholars. Nevertheless, as this article demonstrates, these fairs serve a variety of crucial business and cultural functions in international television trade. Although they have come under fire recently from executives and industry observers alike, this article argues that such fairs are semi-permanent features of the international syndication industry. As such, they warrant more serious consideration by media scholars from numerous disciplinary backgrounds who hope to understand both the economic and cultural operations of television globalization.     

Some evidence of growth and change in speech education in Illinois public high schools since 1919

Since the early part of this century, speech education in secondary schools has steadily increased. The evidence of such growth in Illinois is presented here.     

Preliminary evaluation of compressed air membrane dryers for exhibit case desiccation

Abstract

An exhibition case displaying ancient bronzes was found to have a high leak-rate and was subject to a variety of environmental factors. Because of the original case design, passive means of control were not proving effective. A simple, low-output (below 28l.min^?1) drying system based on hollow fibre (polysulfone) technology was tested and installed in the case to maintain the microenvironment below 43% relative humidity (RH). The membrane was tested below industrially-specified pressure parameters (less than 4 bar) and found to produce a range of consistent RH outputs suited to museum use. After some years in service, the system has proved reliable and simple to operate; optimum performance was achieved with more continuous operation.     

A semantic differential for speech correction concepts

The following study details the procedure by means of which a Semantic Differential for use in investigations in the area of speech correction was developed. It is the third in a series of studies by the same author to appear in SM, the preceding two having dealt with general speech and the theatre arts, respectively. The three studies are similar in scope and content, defining the problems, demonstrating the methodology, and offering suggestions concerning possible applications of the measuring instruments. The author acknowledges that the studies are exploratory and the results tentative. He suggests that the Semantic Differential offers a new approach to certain dimensions of meaning in the speech area which have been slow to yield to older methods.     

The speech of diplomacy as a field for research

BLEEDING KANSAS, by Alice Nichols. … 5 5/8” × 8 5/8”, $4.50 …. Oxford University Press

ESSENTIALS OF DISCUSSION AND DEBATE by Halbert E. Gulley, University of Illinois … March 1955, 160 pages, paper‐bound, probable price $1.50 … Henry Holt and Company.

THE FUNK &; WAGNALLS BOOK OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE, by Lawrence W. Bridge, Certified Parliamentarian, Member of the National Association of Parliamentarians … 192 pages, 5 1/2 × 7 5/8, charts, tables, index, $3.00 … Funk &; Wagnalls Company.

HOW TO THINK CREATIVELY, by Eliot D. Hutchinson … 237 pages, $2.75 … Abingdon Press

HOW TO SPEAK—HERE, THERE, AND ON THE AIR, by John Dixon … 249 pages, $2.75 … Abingdon Press.

TELEVISION BROADCASTING, by Howard A. Chinn: Chief Engineer, Audio‐Video Division, General Engineering Department, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. … 695 pages, 6x9, 342 illus., $10.00 … McGraw‐Hill Series in Speech.

SPEECH IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, by Mardel Ogilvie: Assistant Professor of Speech, Queens College … 318 pages, 6 × 9, 22 illus., $4.50 … McGraw‐Hill Series in Speech.     

Impromptu speech gamification for ESL/EFL students

Courses: Any introductory undergraduate public-speaking course, in particular in ESL/EFL contexts

Objectives: This single-class activity is intended to (1) build students’ ability to communicate orally “off the cuff;” (2) foster students’ understanding of the major organizational formats used in organizing speeches; and (3) increase students’ awareness of their nonverbal communication.     

The Tao of speech

This essay argues that the study of “speech” as an act and as a subject matter may present the characteristics of a “Tao.” A “Tao” consists of a way of life leading to an increase in humane being for the individual and for society.     

A consideration of five traditional educational philosophies for speech communication

The authors present five traditional educational philosophies— Idealism, Realism, Neo‐Thomism, Experimentalism, Existentialism—which identify an instructor's educational approaches to speech communication.     

The philosophical significance of speech

The group reading form of theatre is suited particularly well for those dramas in which the playwright develops covert rather than overt action. The Cocktail Party, by T. S. Eliot, is analyzed to show the application of this hypothesis.     

Development of a semantic differential for use with speech related concepts

An examination of the discourse of the thirteenth‐century mystic preacher, Meister Eckhart, reveals the ways in which theoretical precepts were adapted for the purpose of creating a sense of mystic union.