The articles in this report explore the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical research applications. Titles of the papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "Phonological Awareness: The Role of the Reading Experience" (Virginia A. Mann); (2) "An Investigation of Speech…

Argumentation is fundamentally exhortative: arguments can be understood as invitations to emulate the lives of those who make the arguments. The human exemplar of an argument's substance, e.g. Jesus Christ as exemplar of Christianity, is the paradigm for this theory in which the arguer's identity is seen both as equal in importance to and…

Despite convincing evidence that suicide is, in fact, an act of communication, communication researchers have not made significant contributions to this body of literature. Various disciplines have noted the relationship of self-destructive behavior to communication. Suicidal behavior has been labeled an act of communication that can be a final…

Some researchers have stressed the negative effects of the peculiar interactive situation of twins on the development of communicative competence; other researchers have shown early positive effects. Referential communication--one of the most evolved, intellectualized, and decentered functions of language that consists of transmitting information…

In order to discover how the photographic medium has been conceptualized, a study examined all books published in the United States from 1902 to 1960 which are part of the intellectual response to photography and a sample of the periodicals which concern themselves with photography. A critical review of the literature combined with Q methodology…

The communication discipline has advanced the belief that arguing (high argumentativeness) is a constructive communication activity. Recent research efforts have attempted the integration of principles from argumentation, interpersonal communication, and conflict management, and several benefits of high motivation to argue and skill in informal…

The purpose of this study was to describe the strategies mothers employ to elicit clarifying information from their children in a situation in which the children were reporting a past event. Forty 2-year-old children individually participated in a mock birthday party with the experimenter. Immediately afterwards, the mothers (20 of whom had…

In an effort to establish the domain of organizational communication (OC), this paper defines variables, presents models of their relationships, explains the three dominant approaches to OC, and proposes ways to test their competing claims. Having defined characteristic, causal, and result variables, the paper stresses the importance of…

A study investigated the way in which self-disclosure and uncertainty levels operated over time in 44 developing relationships. The 88 subjects in the study were assigned to dyadic relationships, with the dyads working together on various tasks throughout the semester of an introductory speech class. Uncertainty level and five dimensions of…

One of a series of publications dealing with the New Information Order, this paper contains reports of two studies concerning news flow in the Arabian Gulf region. The first study describes the content and volume of news exchanged between the Arab States of the Gulf region and Europe. Various sections of this report provide (1) information on the…

This paper points out that the available research on communication rules tends to be descriptive (or humanistic) in nature and characterized by a conspicuous absence of prediction along with experimental methods and parametric interpretations of social behavior. The paper first argues that current scientific methodology is consistent with a…

A telephone survey of 500 adults in the San Diego, California, area was conducted to examine the role of mass media in shaping views of the respondents toward undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The sample, designed to reflect all adults in the area, was distorted somewhat by a refusal rate of approximately 30%. The results showed that the most…

This paper contains an examination of equity theory, which is based on the assumption that when a state of equity exists in an exchange situation, there is a perceived balance between the effort and reward ratios of the individuals involved in the exchange. The paper offers a rationale for examining equity theory in a communication context,…

A study examined the attention getting value of nonsensical and sexual humor used in liquor advertisements to determine if one was more effective than the other in attracting male magazine readers. Thirty-two Starch-scored liquor ads taken from 1976 and 1977 issues of "Time,""Newsweek," and "Sports Illustrated" were analyzed by three male readers.…

Reports that follow-up mailings are generally worth the time and money in communications surveys of elite groups, that they are essential in studies in which the return rate for the first mailing is quite low, and that they can sometimes make the difference between a worthwhile and a worthless study. (GW)