Organized action need not depend on group consensus. Karl Weick's theory argues that only minimal shared understanding is needed and that common ends and shared meanings may be outcomes of organized action, not prerequisites. This paper reveals four communication mechanisms that generate and sustain equifinal meaning (multiple routes to a single…

Presents six generalizations on using humor in public speaking. (PD)

Quality of life and self-determination are important values in the field of intellectual disabilities however they may be difficult to facilitate with persons who have limited communication skills. In fact, many studies provide evidence that these persons have less opportunity to make choices and express their preferences. To help practitioners…

Describes a communication research course which includes instruction in the awareness of media distortions of behavioral science research. (PD)

Three studies investigated the effects of concrete versus abstract wording and negative versus positive premises on the difficulty subjects had in solving several kinds of reasoning tasks. Subjects for all three studies were college undergraduates who received booklets containing either hypothetical, disjunctive, or linear syllogisms. Each booklet…

Describes a feedback method for teaching interviewing skills that requires dual evaluation of a student's performance by both the student interviewer and the interviewee. Illustrates benefits of this method with an analysis of 139 paired assessments of students' information-gathering skills in a "career interview" assignment. (PD)

Reports on a field study that examined communication behaviors in job interviews. Recommends a training method for developing the communication skills that job applicants will need. (RL)

A review of communication models and research reveals four areas of communications skill: listening, empathy, non-verbal communication, and expressive abilities. Models of listening behavior suggest that, rather than being a passive activity, listening involves sorting stimuli and encoding messages, analyzing listener needs, and assessing speaker…

Building on a prior investigation of users' formulations and needs in fiction, this study was conducted to determine dominant patterns in public library user-librarian search interactions. Based on analysis of 134 actual user-librarian conversations about fiction recorded under everyday library conditions in Danish public libraries in 1976, it was…

Examines research from several fields and evaluates techniques for managing discomfort when making presentations. (Written for business communication teachers and presentation-skills trainers in business.) (PD)

Uses the following four approaches to review interpersonal communication research conducted by speech communication scholars: (1) dialog, (2) cohesion, (3) message process, and (4) rhetoric. Helps to clarify why different approaches are used in teaching interpersonal communication courses. (PD)

Three primary strands of pragmatic theory and research are applied to interpersonal communication research and education of hearing-impaired individuals: communication/speech act theory, conversational organization theory, and text/discourse-building theory. It is concluded that neither current research nor educational practice suggests widespread…

"The specialized, annotated bibliography is prepared for students and teachers interested in the inter-religious communication among the adherents of different faiths and traditions living in an increasingly pluralistic culture." The bibliography consists of 33 citations of materials published between 1957 and 1993 (all are books or…

The study of nonverbal communication continues to grow across the spectrum of research in many fields of study. Good textbooks and research studies are available to the scholar and the student, and courses about nonverbal behavior and communication are found in modern curricula. This book focuses on the complex, often hidden, processes that…

Reviewed are previous studies that have examined adults' and children's ability to understand verbal directions. Differences in style and the implications of these differences for educating children are discussed. (CW)