A Call to Educate,Participate, Invoke and Indict: Understanding the Communication of Online Hate Groups

This study analyzes the messages in hate group websites using a grounded theory approach. Through this process of interpretive inquiry we propose four prominent themes—educate, participate, invoke, and indict—that characterize the messages examined in 21 hate groups. These message themes speak to the: (a) education of members and external publics; (b) participation within the group and in the public realm; (c) invocation of divine calling and privilege; and (d) indictment of external groups including the government, media, and entertainment industries, and other extremist sects. In advancing a substantive grounded theory of online hate group communication, we also explore the potential of these themes to ostensibly reinforce the hate group's identity, reduce external threats, and recruit new members.     

Parliamentary procedure in a community group: Communication and vigilant decision making

Parliamentary procedure is pervasive in most decision‐making groups of a dozen or more persons, but it is has been understudied as an important influence on the group communication process. It is not well understood by members of groups who claim to have adopted it, and procedures are seldom invoked in ways that suggest a very sophisticated model. However, parliamentary procedure need not be considered as simply a rigid set of laws. This multi‐phase research project provides insight into how parliamentary procedure is selectively used in community groups and functions as a set of rules that influences the vigilance of the communication process.     

Father and Daughter Motives and Satisfaction This article is based on the author's dissertation completed under the direction of Dr Rebecca Rubin. This paper was also presented at the annual National Communication Association Convention,Miami Beach,Florida in November 2003.

There are few studies in the communication discipline dealing with father–daughter relationships and methods for increasing satisfaction within these relationships. This study investigates the motives fathers and daughters have when communicating with each other and how these motives affect relationship satisfaction. Results indicated that daughters communicated mainly with their fathers for the following motives: affection, relaxation, pleasure, and inclusion. Fathers reported communicating with their daughters for pleasure, affection, and relaxation. Findings indicate a means of increasing satisfaction among father–daughter relationships by encouraging communication that incorporates statements of affection and pleasure.     

The Process of Information Sharing in Small Groups: Application of a Local Model

Members of small groups do not always mention available information, and this leads to inferior decision making. A local model of participation was applied to information sharing discussions to evaluate the extent to which task-relevant judgments are related to comments that contain unique (i.e., data that only one member knows) and shared (i.e., known to all members) information. In addition, the model was applied to only “incorrect” groups, ones that did not choose the optimal solution. Findings revealed that the local model applied to incorrect groups in the sense that shared information figured prominently in the development and maintenance of judgments. Unique comments, however, played a limited role in the process. Other findings showed that shared contributions were not associated within groups, indicating somewhat skewed rates of participation. Discussion focuses on the distribution of variance related to judgments.     

At the Convergence of Input and Process Models of Group Discussion: A Comparison of Participation Rates across Time,Persons, and Groups

We investigate the stability and change of participation patterns in small groups by examining two longitudinal data sets at the individual and group levels of analysis. Rejecting the dichotomy between input and process models, we advance a view at the convergence of these two perspectives. We argue that stability in participation reflects input factors and that change emerges from process mechanisms. Study 1 analyzed discussion data from zero-history laboratory groups that worked on three similar tasks in succession, each with stable membership across the tasks. Results showed significant variation within participants and between groups, indicating that group members varied their participation as needed and that group-level factors influenced participation. Study 2 analyzed longitudinal data collected from the Australian Citizens' Parliament, where tasks and group membership varied over time. Study 2 replicated Study 1's findings, but analyses showed more complex patterns of both stability and change across groups and tasks. Taken together, results from the two studies support our position that both input and process mechanisms cause variation in participation. Our Conclusion examines how structural features and participation impact democratic group deliberation.     

Information Sources and the Health Information-Seeking Process: An Application and Extension of Channel Complementarity Theory

Contemporary information seekers can acquire health information from an unprecedented variety of sources. The reported study applied and extended channel complementarity theory to explain the use of multiple information sources in the health-information-seeking process. Channel complementarity was extended to consider four characteristics (i.e., access to medical expertise, tailorability, anonymity, and convenience) of health-information sources. The information-seeking behavior of 3,392 respondents from the 2007–2008 Health Information National Trends Survey was analyzed to test study hypotheses. Results indicate that, sources were used complementarily based on tailorability and anonymity during health-information sources. Additionally, the likelihood of using complementary sources based on all four characteristics changed during the search process.     

Swearing by Peers in the Work Setting: Expectancy Violation Valence,Perceptions of Message,and Perceptions of Speaker

Swearing is a frequent language form in a number of contexts, including the work setting. This investigation extends research on expectancy violations theory as an explanation for how people perceive swearing by examining violation valence. Study 1 concludes that violation valence is positively related to perceptions of message appropriateness and effectiveness and to perceptions of the speaker. Study 2 replicates these findings using a national sample. These results provide support for the role of expectancy violations in swearing and show that swearing is not always perceived as negative in work settings.     

Managing Diversity: Interpretation and Enactment in a Health Care Setting

As the United States workforce becomes increasingly diverse, many organizations have attempted to raise awareness and sensitivity to cultural group issues. Diversity management programs combine Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action with internal organizational initiatives such as diversity sensitivity training. These diversity management policies and initiatives may be interpreted and enacted in various ways. This exploratory study was designed to investigate how managers interpreted the meaning of diversity management and enacted EEO/AA laws and diversity initiatives in a hospital in the process of evaluating its diversity programming. Using a grounded theory approach, in-depth interviews with clinical and non-clinical managers were conducted. Several themes emerged, including professional differences in the legal and social understanding of diversity, the nature of managerial uncertainty, and the significance of formal and informal resources when managing diversity.     

被经验的中介和被中介的经验——从传播理论教材的译介看传播学在中国

本文以国外传播理论教材的译介作为视角,考察了欧美传播理论话语在中国的诠释和变异,研究了西方客观经验主义的大众传播理论如何被潜移默化地等同于传播学的过程,同时以《传播理论导引:分析与应用》为例,对我国目前传播学的教学与研究中存在的一些问题进行了探讨,提出应该进一步开阔视野、注重研究范式、重新思考传播理论的教学与应用。     

BIRGing,CORFing, and Twitter Activity Following a Political Referendum: Examining Social Media Activity Concerning the 2014 Scottish Independence Vote

A sizable body of research has examined BIRG, or Basking in Reflected Glory, as the psychological process of associating with the successes of others. A sample of 253,188 tweets related to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum were collected leading up to and following the vote. Results support BIRG processes on the part of anti-independence tweeters, and Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORF) responses by those favoring independence. Evidence does not support the notion that CORF was attenuated by high involvement.     

Identity on Social Networks as a Cue: Identity,Retweets, and Credibility

The current study investigates how social media affordances influence individuals’ source credibility perceptions in the presence of risk information, specifically examining how bandwagon heuristics interact with different identity heuristics at the individual level. The MAIN model and warranting theory serve as the theoretical framework to examine the effects of bandwagon cues and identity cues embedded in retweets and users’ profile pages for health and risk online information processing. A posttest-only experiment with a self-report questionnaire was administered to participants. Results indicate that different online heuristic cues impact the judgments of competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness. Authority cues strongly influenced source credibility perceptions. A reverse-bandwagon effect was observed in influencing source credibility judgments.     

Emergency Communication Challenges in Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In response to Hurricane Katrina's extensive destruction and related public health threats, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deployed more than 1,000 staff to its emergency operations center and to affected areas. Among them were members of CDC's Emergency Communication System. This paper describes the strategies and tactics used by health communication specialists during the pre-event, response, and post-event stages to address a range of emergency communication exigencies. It highlights three difficult challenges for CDC communication specialists during Hurricane Katrina: rapid dissemination of health messages; adaptation of health messages for diverse audiences, locations, and circumstances; and phasing of key risk messages during the emergency response.     

Emergency Communication Challenges in Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In response to Hurricane Katrina's extensive destruction and related public health threats, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deployed more than 1,000 staff to its emergency operations center and to affected areas. Among them were members of CDC's Emergency Communication System. This paper describes the strategies and tactics used by health communication specialists during the pre-event, response, and post-event stages to address a range of emergency communication exigencies. It highlights three difficult challenges for CDC communication specialists during Hurricane Katrina: rapid dissemination of health messages; adaptation of health messages for diverse audiences, locations, and circumstances; and phasing of key risk messages during the emergency response.     

Communication Privacy Management: A Thematic Analysis of Revealing and Concealing Eating Disorders in an Online Community

This study analyzed the discourse of a pro-anorexia website, prettythin.com. Narratives and posts were thematically analyzed using communication privacy management as a framework to understand the tension between revealing and concealing an eating disorder. Two themes were constructed during data analysis: (a) personal ownership and control, with the subtheme strategies for maintaining control and (b) communication choices surrounding disclosure and two subthemes, (i) seeking to fulfill needs face-to-face and (ii) positive fulfillment of needs online. Theoretical and practical contributions are addressed in terms of how communication theory can help understand people living with eating disorders. Specifically, how these individuals manage their personal information online and face-to-face and how prettythin.com provides support to men and women with eating disorders.     

Communication research on a broader age: An introduction to the special forum on funded research in communication

This essay introduces the special forum on funded research in communication. It briefly discusses the relationship of funded research with theoretical and methodological development in the communication discipline and the impact of receiving grant support on the professional life of an academic and on collegiality, resources, and university recognition for a department of communication. It also addresses the potential impact of funded research for strengthening the role and visibility of the communication discipline in the social sciences, and for increasing the impact of communication scholarship on policy.     

Communication research on a broader age: An introduction to the special forum on funded research in communication

This essay introduces the special forum on funded research in communication. It briefly discusses the relationship of funded research with theoretical and methodological development in the communication discipline and the impact of receiving grant support on the professional life of an academic and on collegiality, resources, and university recognition for a department of communication. It also addresses the potential impact of funded research for strengthening the role and visibility of the communication discipline in the social sciences, and for increasing the impact of communication scholarship on policy.     

Support and barriers in long-term recovery after Hurricane Sandy: improvisation as a communicative process of resilience

ABSTRACT

This study examines the long-term recovery and resilience processes of households on the New Jersey coast after Hurricane Sandy. Based on theoretical frameworks of community ecology, communication ecology, and the Communication Theory of Resilience, we analyzed focus group interviews and timeline data to examine the sources and forms of support and barrier and provide a detailed account of the ways in which individuals engaged with support and barrier sources. Results show that resilience was enacted through the process of mobilizing and improvising networks of informal and institutional ties, sometimes joining them, to access resources. Communicative processes were central to improvisation, and ineffective communication and coordination constituted a majority of barriers in accessing social support for recovery. Results also detail how processes varied temporally. This study contributes to the literature on resilience as a communicative process, with improvisation at its core, that is enacted through interacting informal, institutional, and physical systems in communities.