Examines (1) whether previous research has actually measured the information content of ads; (2) how such content should be measured; and (3) trends in factual content of general magazine ads for 1958, 1968, and 1978. Concludes that while most ads contain nonfactual claims, most also have factual claims. (FL)

Surveys techniques most commonly used in "Journalism Quarterly,""Public Opinion Quarterly,""Journal of Broadcasting," and "Journal of Communication." (KS)

One method of identifying important areas and books within a field is through citation counts--noting the number of times a work is referred to in the literature. These counts can be supplemented with citation networks, in which links between articles are formed by such methods as direct citation and cocitation. Citation counts and networks were…

Although readership scores were slightly higher for the clipping method, both techniques for mail survey of readership produced returns close to those of interview surveys. (KS)

Approximately 500 people participated in a study that examined the relationship between generalized uses-and-gratifications statements and specific magazine reading behaviors. The subjects responded to a telephone survey that elicited information concerning demographics, media usage, and reactions to 14 uses-and-gratifications statements that had…

A study tested the applicability of gratifications research to magazines. Telephone surveys with 543 adults in a large western urban area ascertained their media usages and their agreement with 14 gratifications statements drawn from morphostatic research into the surveillance-diversion-personal identity triad in relation to newspaper and radio.…

Searched articles (n=387) in German magazines with highest circulation rates for attitudes about alcoholism. In 55 percent of articles, alcohol dependence was described as illness, but only 4 percent included definitions of condition. Found articles about alcohol dependence were so simplified reader could mistake condition as being self-inflicted…

Throughout most of the 1970s, the two major competing syndicated services measuring consumer magazine audiences utilized different methodologies in gathering magazine audience measurements and released somewhat differing figures. A study was conducted to explore the historical developments of W.R. Simmons and Associates Research, Inc. (Simmons),…

Examines Kurt Lewin's theory of gatekeeping and the methods used by David Manning White in transposing Lewin's concept to communications situations. Reports on a study indicating that news magazine gatekeeping with respect to the population/family planning issue faithfully mirrors the perceptions of society. (GT)

Since the concepts of surveillance (international information and keeping up with the job that the government is doing), diversion (being entertained and killing time), and interaction (people learning more about themselves) have been developed for newspaper and television but not necessarily for magazines, a study applied 14…

To instruct journalism/mass communication students in the use of quantitative research skills, a case study guided students through scientifically designed readership studies of three trade magazine audiences. The readership studies surveyed students for three consecutive years at a large midwestern university to compare characteristics of readers…

Concerned with the validity of the audience data reported by two major syndicated magazine readership services--Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) and Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB)--a study examined the differences in MRI and SMRB calculations of reader turnover rates, which form the basis for estimating audience accumulation. Results indicated…

In measuring the characteristics of mass-communication audiences, three dimensions are frequently used: demographics, social class, and psychological characteristics. The author proposes a fourth, "life style," which offers reliable data, is more colorful than demographics and more useful than psychological characteristics. This dimension is…

The Qualitative Studies section of the proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "'Virtual Anonymity': Online Accountability in Political Bulletin Boards and the Makings of the Virtuous Virtual Journalist" (Jane B. Singer); "The Case of the Mysterious Ritual: 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Perry Mason'" (Karen E. Riggs);…

The Miscellaneous section of the proceedings contains the following 15 papers: "Selling to the Sellers: An Analysis of Advertising in 'Campaigns & Elections,' 1980-1994" (Michael S. Sweeney); "From 'Seventeen' to 'Sassy': Teen Magazines and the Construction of the 'Model' Girl" (Lisa Duke); "Survey Data Indicate Some…