Theodore Roosevelt's preparedness oratory: The minority voice of an ex‐president

Roosevelt urged war preparation and active retaliation when neutral policies prevailed and when the mood of the nation was one of noninvolvement abroad.     

The rhetoric of farmer‐labor agitators

To forge a dynamic protest movement requires the rhetorical efforts of aggressive agitators who capitalize on feelings of frustration and discontentment. Beginning in 1915 Midwestern farmers and laborers were effectively united for political action by organizers who assiduously practiced the oratory of attack.     

The loudness of side‐tone∗

"Communication” is examined as a cultural term whose meaning is problematic in selected instances of American speech about interpersonal life. An ethnographic study, focusing on analysis of several cultural “texts,” reveals that in the discourse examined here, “communication” refers, to close, supportive, flexible speech, which functions as the “work” necessary to self‐definition and interpersonal bonding. “Communication,” thus defined, is shown to find its place in a “communication” ritual, the structure of which is delineated. The use of the definition formulated, and of the ideational context which surrounds it, is illustrated in an analysis of a recurring public drama, the “communication” theme shows on the Phil Donahue television program. Implications of the study are drawn for ethnography as a form of communication inquiry.     

The disguise of self‐disclosure: The relationship ruse of a Soviet Spy

The verbal disclosures of a Soviet spy masquerading as a university student are compared to those of three other group members involved in a semester‐long project. Audio‐tapes of six group meetings provide a unique opportunity to assess the relationship deception of this proficient deceiver. His communication is characterized by strategic disclosures designed to create a false impression and, thereby, to divert attention from his secret role. His conversation reveals more frequent control disclosures, attitude disclosures, personal disclosures, and dramatic disclosures than other group members. The spy also verbalized significantly more knowledge disclosures than all but one other peer. The frequency and content of his disclosures identify, in part, the communicative strategy of his disguise, whereby he drew considerable attention to himself and, thus, appeared transparent. The results underscore the importance of looking beyond the appearance of disclosures when attempting to identify relationship deception.     

The value of goodness‐of‐fit indices in meta‐analysis: A comment on Hall and Rosenthal

In a useful article regarding testing for moderator variables in meta‐analysis, Hall and Rosenthal (1991) suggest, among other things, that when the sample of studies is large enough, it is acceptable to use ordinary inferential statistics such as the analysis of variance to test for moderator variables. However, because meta‐analytic data points (effect sizes) differ in important ways from those for which ordinary inferential statistics were designed, we recommend that analysts use conventional meta‐analytic statistics, which are at least potentially more informative about the literature in question. Hall and Rosenthal also suggest that tests of effect size variability should play a minimal role in meta‐analytic model tests. We concur that these tests of homogeneity cannot alone test for moderator variables and that at least tests between mean effect sizes should be performed. However, consistent with Hedges and Olkin's (1985) meta‐analytic framework, we show how homogeneity tests provide additional and valuable information regarding how completely a moderator (or set of moderators) explains the variation of effect sizes. Therefore, these goodness‐of‐fit statistics may prove quite valuable, especially in meta‐analyses of highly variable study outcomes. We further recommend that in meta‐analyses for which study outcomes are already consistent, analysts should continue to perform model tests if they have theoretical expectations about moderators. We discuss these and other meta‐analytic model testing concerns.     

Dictamen: The medieval rhetoric of letter‐writing

Dictamen was one of the two major directions of medieval rhetoric theory. Beginning as a series of rules for church letters based on classical antecedents, the art was spread widely through the use of formularies.     

The persuasive effects of delaying identification of high‐and low‐credibility communicators: A meta‐analytic review

A review of extant research evidence indicates that when source identification is delayed until after the message has been presented, the differential effectiveness of high‐ and low‐credibility communicators is reduced. In particular, those combinations of credibility level and advocated position that are ordinarily (i.e., with pre‐message identification) relatively advantageous (a low‐credibility source with a proattitudinal position, or a high‐credibility source with a non‐proattitudinal position) have persuasive effectiveness reduced by delayed identification, whereas those combinations that are ordinarily relatively disadvantageous (a high‐credibility source with a proattitudinal position, or a low‐credibility source with a non‐proattitudinal position) enjoy enhanced effectiveness with delayed identification. The magnitude of the effects associated with identification‐timing variations is quite large (mean absolute value of d = .753), at least by comparison to other factors for which quantitative estimates of persuasive effect are available. The observed effects place constraints on explanations of credibility's effects; in particular, credibility's effects cannot be explained through the mere association of a given communicator with a particular position.     

The effects of gender‐role expectations upon perceptions of communicative competence

Several researchers have proposed that power, rather than gender, accounts for women using more powerless language than men. The present study examined the specific interaction context of bargaining and compared power with gender as potential predictors of the use of threats, one particular form of powerful language. Grounded in an interactional/social exchange view of power as dependence in social transactions, this study represented a marked departure from past studies of gender‐based language. The results largely supported power rather than gender as the best predictor of the use of powerful language in an interactional context involving bargaining.     

The bases of successful market entry: The liability of size and of newness in E‐commerce

Abstract

Even though e‐commerce almost disappeared from public discussion, it still assumes a vital role in the strategic management of most enterprises. New entry in e‐commerce, whether as a new business segment of an established company or as a new enterprise, is likely to deal with the liabilities of size and newness. The aim of this paper it to discuss if those factors have an impact on the implementation and success of B2C e‐commerce. We chose the online book market as our reference market and drew a random sample of retailers and publishers with an online shop. The quality of the web presence, indirect success (number of links to a particular site) and direct success (turnover of the web shop) were compared in subsamples constructed by the use of median splits according to age and size. Younger companies and larger companies were found to have a web presence of higher quality and were more successful than older or smaller companies. We conclude that the liabilities of newness do not seem to have an adverse performance impact in e‐commerce. However, when a market entry is considered, new players must ensure that they can commit enough resources to build a high quality web presence.     

The impact of structural salience within on‐air promotion

To determine what maximizes the effectiveness of on‐air promotions, as measured by ratings/share changes, this study tested a seven‐part model focusing on the structural salience of network prime‐time promos carried within other prime‐time programs. The results of analysis of more than 5,000 promos carried within 656 videotaped prime‐time hours provided consistent support for the salience model. Results showed significant changes in industry promotional practices over time and significant differences by network, genre, and the familiarity of the program to audiences. Although lead‐in ratings remained the dominant force impacting ratings for series programs (but not sporting events, movies, or specials), promotional salience variables contributed significantly to improved ratings, especially for mid‐rated continuing programs.     

The effects of low‐credible sources on message acceptance

This paper argues that traditional experimental methodology contributes to violating “representative validity,” defined herein as the degree to which “actual” generalizable behavior is produced in an experimental context. The importance of representative validity is discussed, and the use of the general linear model is advocated as a means of maximizing representativeness in experimental design. Six issues are discussed in connection with representative design, and the general linear model is presented as a solution to various problems which adversely affect representative validity. These issues are statistical power analysis, the use of continuous variables, unbalanced designs, non‐linearity, interactions, and random and mixed‐effects models. It is suggested that the common use of linear model techniques provides the potential for increased flexibility and encourages creative design of experimental research.     

An assessment of the convergent validity of the checklist of behavior alteration techniques: The association between teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings and informants’ frequency‐of‐use ratings

An important area of applied communication research is teachers’ use of classroom discipline and management strategies which have become known as Behavior Alteration Techniques (BATs). The instrument commonly used to measure teachers’ use of BATs is the checklist of Behavior Alteration Techniques. The purpose of the present research was to assess the convergent validity of the checklist of Behavior Alteration Techniques. Thus, this research attempted to assess the extent to which teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings converge with other measures of teacher BAT use. It was hypothesized that the correlation between students’ and student teachers’ ratings of the frequency of teacher BAT use would be significantly higher than the correlation of either index with teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings. This hypothesis was not supported: The BATs checklist did not fail this test of convergent validity. However, the results do not support the claim that the BATs checklist passed this test of convergent validity. Explanations for these results are offered and their implications are discussed. In brief, the present results suggest important considerations in the study of this important area of applied communication.     

The accurate reporting of software‐generated p‐values: A cautionary research note

Quantitatively oriented researchers differ in how they report the results of tests of statistical significance. Some authors report statistically significant results as less than an alpha level (e.g., p < .05), while others report exact p‐values (p = .04) from statistical software readouts. This paper argues that three reporting errors are possible when p‐values are reported based on computer readouts. First, the p‐value of obtained data can never be equal to, or less than, zero. Thus, reporting that a finding is p = .000 is an error. Second, rounding down errors can lead to factual inaccuracies. For example, it is inaccurate to report a p = .052 as p < .05. Finally, p‐values for wrong‐direction effects with one‐tailed tests must always be p> .50. Awareness of these issues should facilitate accurate statistical reporting.     

Casualties of war: The decline of foreign‐language broadcasting during WWII

The purpose of this article is to initiate an examination of foreign‐language radio and establish its place in broadcasting historiography of World War II. First, an outline will be drawn of the dangers foreign‐language radio posed to the United States, as articulated by the mainstream press, U.S. Government, and the dominant radio industry. Second, the actions of the Federal Communication Commission and Office of Censorship, and the subsequent response of the radio industry, will be analyzed in depth. Finally, the impact of wartime policies on foreign‐language programming will be considered, as well as suggestions for further research.     

The Froude‐Burke controversy

This study investigated the impact of age, task complexity, and practice on adult message‐production‐skill acquisition and performance. Participants (30 older adults and 30 college students) learned a sequence for describing geometric arrays and then employed this organizing sequence in a series of 90 performance trials. Half of the participants learned a six‐step (high task‐complexity) sequence, while the remaining participants learned a three‐step (low task‐complexity) sequence for describing the arrays. The results suggest that overall message‐production speed is characterized by a “complexity effect” (i.e., an interaction between age and task complexity such that younger adults exhibited superior performance relative to their older counterparts, and this difference was more pronounced under complex‐task conditions). Complexity effects were also found for initial message‐production‐skill performance and rate of skill acquisition: older adults exhibited slower initial performance and slower rates of skill acquisition than younger adults, and this difference was even more pronounced when learning a complex skill. Finally, the results indicate a significant main effect for age on variation in overall task performance in that older adults’ learning curves, regardless of task complexity, were characterized by greater variability in performance quality from trial to trial. These effects are consistent with changes in processing speed and working‐memory capacity that have been suggested to accompany advancing age. The current findings may be seen to have direct implications for older‐adult‐skills training.     

A Covenant‐affirming jeremiad: The post‐presidential ideological appeals of Ronald Wilson Reagan

In his post‐presidential discourse, Ronald Reagan did not assume a typical jeremiadic posture, warning that America was straying from conservative dogma. Instead, he warned of other dangers, some of which required alteration in conservatism. He combined those warnings with an optimistic celebration of American exceptionalism. In that way, they served a function similar to a traditional jeremiad, but from an optimistic perspective and without any sense that the nation was straying from its covenant. We coin the term, Covenant‐affirming Jeremiad, to describe the rhetorical characteristic of these addresses.     

The gods are drinking milk! Word‐of‐mouth diffusion of a major news event in India

The objective of this study is to explore whether the US media overemphasized recalled Chinese products in 2007 and, if so, how news coverage in the US media differed from that of the Chinese media. By using a framing analysis of the coverage in two US media and two Chinese media, this study pursues answers to these questions. After comparing the news coverage of the recalled Chinese products and a real world indictor, this study found that neither US nor Chinese media mirrored the real world phenomenon as it was. By comparing news coverage of the issue in The New York Times and The Associated Press with China Daily, and The Xinhua News Agency, the study found that news coverage of the recalled issues differed significantly in terms of the sources used, the nationality of the source, the dominant frames employed, and the attribution of responsibility for the problems. In particular, Chinese media more frequently employed government officials as their main sources, which inherently increased the use of thematic frames. By contrast, US media often used episodic frames. Likewise, American media approached the issues using ‘Customers' Worries’ and ‘Broken System’ frames, whereas Chinese media often attempted to defend the quality of Chinese products and criticized Western media for exaggerating the issues. Owing to the news framing process, US audiences might have acquired more negative images of Chinese products and China in general. By contrast, their Chinese counterparts might have experienced increased antipathy and distrust concerning the American media.