Search

The article focuses on the research paper "How to Write a Paper." The paper is an appeal for more informal writing on medical subjects. The title should hint at what the paper is about. The first lines should tell what was tried and how it turned out. The author should be aware of previous work on the subject.

This paper starts with a short survey of the literature dealing with the problem of evaluating the performance of a given news medium or news channel as to the transmission of foreign news. Then it goes on to discuss various possibilities of testing hypotheses about the flow and structure of foreign news. A distinction between intra and extra media data is introduced, and finally, the outline of an empirical investigation is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on the written word as a means of mass communication. has a particular importance regarding advisory literature. In this study an attempt was made to investigate if and to what degree the information, passed on to the farmers through a number of well-known periodicals of the Dutch agricultural press and the agricultural advisory service, is tuned in to the public for which they are intended. Readability formulas are only aids for measuring certain aspects of the readability of the written word, but as such they can perform a useful function in promoting clearer communication between writer and reader. In the search for more objective standards in determining the difficulty of written notices use can be made of the readability research which is developed and practiced in the U.S.A.

This article presents information on the report of the Committee on Public Relations of the American Sociological Society as of February 1, 1942. The work of the Committee on Public Relations has continued during the past year, along the two lines it followed in 1940. This has consisted of interpreting each number of the periodical "American Sociological Review" as it appeared to appropriate representatives of the newspaper and magazine press, and of facilitating the press coverage of the Society's annual meetings. The Committee has continued to follow a broadly representative policy in handling of materials from the periodical "American Sociological Review" and the papers for meetings. To serve adequately the Society and its speakers, the Committee needs to be in a position to advise reporters that a given paper is too technical for popular interpretation; or to furnish reporters with several suitable paragraphs from the paper; or to supply reporters with a rather complete press review of the paper. The Committee does not want reporters to feel obliged to cover meetings themselves.

The article presents discussions by economists on some papers that are published in the May 1, 1970 issue of the journal "American Economic Review." The author states that one of the greatest obstacles to the efficient pricing of communication services seems to be a wide gap between costs of service of established common carriers and costs of facilities embodying the most modern technologies, which are microwave radio, satellite and the newest coaxial cable. Economist Harvey J. Levin's paper, published in the present issue of the journal, reminds its readers that this generalization applies clearly only to the comparison of private costs, until opportunity cost of the spectrum, that the first two of these new media use, is taken into account. Without them one cannot be sure how great is their margin of superiority in terms of social costs. But even with this correction, the rate of technological progress in long-distance communication has been so rapid that it has apparently outrun the rate of depreciation permitted by regulatory commissions on existing facilities.

The article presents information on several papers related to management science that were presented in the first national meeting of the Institute of Management Sciences (MIT) that was held on October 21 and 22, 1954. The paper "Semantic Noise in an Information Processing Group," describes a series of experiments carried out at MIT to extend the basic concepts of Information Theory, and to gain further understanding of group communication processes. In these, a group performed a simple task which required the description in writing of objects which were difficult to describe precisely. The confusion and errors resulting were analyzed in terms of information theory, extended to the semantic level, and this extension shown proved to be applicable. Differences in performance between groups with different communication networks were investigated, and some of the relevant factors evaluated. Another paper "Elements for a Theory of Teams," focuses on decision making in a team.

A number of abstracts are presented for articles pertaining to research and research techniques. They include "What We Know About the Effects of Mass Communications: The Brink of Hope," "The Use of Public Relations Research by Large Corporations," and "Papers and Proceedings of the Seventieth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association."

The symposium on directions in mass communications research includes excerpts from seven papers that were prepared for an Arden House conference that was held in May 1913. The conference was part of a larger project, made possible by a grant from the Markle Foundation to the Graduate School of journalism, Columbia University. Its primary purpose was to identify questions deserving priority attention by mass communication researchers in the coming years. The papers on uses and gratifications and on the mass media and socialization are concerned primarily with the individual; the papers on national development and on government-media relations focus primarily on social organization; and those on mass communication's professional personnel and management relate to media sociology. A final paper, examining research questions that emerge as a result of new communication technologies, cuts across the three areas. The full texts of the papers from which these excerpts were selected by the editors, together with other papers that attempt to provide an overview of the entire field of mass communication research and to suggest priority areas for future research, are scheduled for publication in paperback and cloth editions by Praeger Publishers in the Fall of 1974.

The work of George Herbert Mead and Jean Piaget is stimulating interest among the social sciences in role-taking behavior as an intervening variable affecting human communication. This paper clarifies the concept of role-taking and distinguishes role-taking from related constructs with which it has been confused. It is shown, however, that clarification of role-taking requires serious consideration of the related concept of role-playing. The product of these considerations is a discussion of some implications for communication theory and research suggested by the conceptualizations and distinctions developed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A re-examination of data used in a study of informal communication among sleep researchers raises some interesting questions on the definition of communication and its relationship to research productivity. This paper presents results of this re- examination and suggests directions for future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PP-T0001-0-1 This paper describes the inauguration of a Computer Software section in PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY. It explains the three kinds of communications that will be published: Program Registrations, Software Abstracts, and Software Articles, either theoretical or describing working programs. Detailed instructions regarding content and format are given. In anticipation of a computerized software retrieval system for psychophysiology, it also contains coding instructions for authors so they may identify their papers by subject, organ system, machine, and language prior to submission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to study selectivity in mass-communication media as a function of one's stand on a controversial social issue: namely, the issue of Arab unity. The sample used in this study consisted of 260 undergraduate Arab students at the American University of Beirut. The subjects were given a questionnaire on Arab unity (1) on the basis of which their stand towards this issue was determined; also, subjects were asked to indicate their preferences for various newspapers and radio stations available in the Arab Middle East area. In general, the results demonstrate that subjects with an extreme stand on the issue of Arab unity (particularly those with an extreme negative stand) show high selectivity in the kinds of mass communication media to which they expose themselves, the selectivity being in the form of preferences for media (i.e., newspapers and radio stations) expressing points of view similar to their own. However, subjects with a moderate stand on the issue of Arab unity also showed behavior similar to that of the extreme anti-Arab unity subjects. This result raises questions as to the adequacy of the attitude- measuring technique that was employed in this and in similar previous studies in the assessment of "moderate" or "neutral" attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of hostility and conflict in a small group is a normal part of the small group process and is, in fact, a positive and even necessary factor in the development and maintenance of group cohesion. This cohesive function can be understood in terms of the role that hostility plays in the development of the social structure of the small group. In addition this paper has shown that the mere measurement of degree of hostility expressed in small groups tends to lead to conflicting findings. The positive or negative nature of hostility in small groups is related to the stage of the value structure of the group. The expression of hostility in a small group under the circumstances discussed in this paper is part of an integrative process in that it is an important channel of communication. Therefore, while hostility may be a destructive force in human interaction, it may also perform integrative functions, and these integrative functions must be more carefully evaluated and studied in the study of small groups. In the development of any field of study there is periodic need for the assembling, integration, and theoretical conceptualization of research findings. When this is done more fruitful experimentation can be carried out in the future. This paper has attempted to fill this need in the area of the expression of hostility in small groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the treatment of the inputs of accounting. There are various ways of analyzing the accounting function and the steps taken to perform this function. One such way is based on information theory and systems theory. Information systems and environmental action systems are treated analytically as separate systems. Analysis of the literature revealed diverse uses of terms, contradictory statements about the limits of accounting inputs. This paper concludes that transactions, transformations and some types of events are generators of the environmental inputs of extant accounting.

The article presents a literature review that discusses the importance of American Indian linguistics. It also presents a summary of the state of description and comparative work for each linguistics family. It presents a classification of American Indian linguistics as well as the role of various language families and the interrelationships among postulated families. Though space limitations have dictated a narrowly linguistic concern in this literature and the ethnographic semantics are omitted, possible wider relationships of the families and classifications were still discussed.

This article reports data gathered from historical research and replies that 249 higher civil servants of Egypt gave in 1954 to a long questionnaire about their backgrounds, attitudes and opinions. It points out some ways in which the structure of Egyptian society and bureaucracy affect communication between the Egyptian public and government officials. Below the level of things all bureaucracies have in common, there are differences even in the intangible impressions they leave. These may be only stereotypes, but they may nevertheless embody a core of truth. The typical British civil servant, with bowler and tightly-rolled umbrella, is reserved, aloof and very correct. The typical French fonctionnaire sits among his papers, inaccessible, and never permits the public business to prevent him, every day at the same time, from reaching into the bottom drawer of his desk for his lunch wrapped in brown paper. Such stereotypes are akin to the public image of any bureaucracy and are just as unflattering. But to the Western visitor, the surface aspects of the Egyptian government office are considerably different from anything he has seen. The first thing he notices is the presence of men, rather than women, in the reception rooms.

The article focuses on the book "Perceived Risk, Information Processing and Consumer Behavior. The major feature of the book, according to the author is that it is an excellent example of how solid intellectual and applied results can be obtained only through a systematic and enduring research program. Researcher Raymond Bauer brought with him the notion that mass media communication is a two-way process, that is, the role of audiences is not only passive but also, and crucially, active. This notion was gradually made more specific. One of the ways in which a consumer is active is his search, evaluation, use, and transmission of information. Consciously or not, information may be needed to find out and assess the performance characteristics of a product, brand, or service and its psychosocial characteristics. These needs for information as well as the cognitive and motivational mechanisms by which this information is processed pervade daily problem solving and decision making and, eventually, contribute to the realization of overt acts of buying.

This paper presents a series of experiments in which subjects were exposed to series of competing messages and were asked to make choices based on the messages they had received. Choice-making proved to be extremely sensitive to certain properties of the pre-choice message streams. When some messages were delivered more often than others, choices were almost exactly proportional to each message's share of the message stream, up to a point of diminishing returns. In addition, messages proved most effective when delivered near the choice-point and when they were delivered in "flights" or "bursts." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past several years, many psychiatric establishments have come to express an ideology often referred to as the "therapeutic milieu." While the distinctions between such a credo and an ethic of "custody" are well understood, the differences between the two types of arrangements in terms of organizational structure are less clear. In general, however, the former tends to take the shape of a bureaucracy, while the latter more closely approximates a diffuse and flattened authority system. Such a trend appears to be related to changing relationships between hospitals and the larger community as well as to increased autonomy on the part of the clients such institutions serve. Within the debureaucratized milieu, however, important processes of change seem to take place which importantly affect the content and functions of communication channels, the processes of decision making with respect both to clinical and administrative matters, the attitudes that staff have toward themselves and toward patients, the strategies which staff employ to articulate appropriate conduct for the clients, and the meaning of the institution for both patients and staff. This paper attempts to describe the historical forces shaping recent innovations in hospital administration, to set forth the organizational features of the "therapeutic milieu," and to trace the interpersonal consequences of the debureaucratized establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's comparison of the patterns of publicity, privacy, and secrecy between the U.S. and Great Britain. In Great Britain, the equilibrium of publicity, privacy, and secrecy is more stable, and its deviations from the normal state are smaller than they are in the U.S. The British governmental papers which are not published at the time as part of government policy, are opened to scholarly inspection only after a very long lapse of time and even then with restrictions. On the other hand, in the U.S., government documents are made available to historians without long delay.

The primary purpose of this paper is to facilitate a more systematic approach to development of a single theory of administration from the present formal and informal theories, it limits its focus to determining when the use of formal communication channels, informal channels or some combination thereof contributes to the effectiveness of the administrator and when verbal, written or some combination of these methods facilitate an administrator's effectiveness when using the formal and informal networks. Clarification of the alternatives available to the administrator is attained by the specification of channels and methods of using them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests the fruitfulness, for studies of verbal participation in discussions, of shifting from studying participation per se to studying the interpersonal control of participation. Focusing first on the nature of the data to be analyzed, the paper then analyzes the data and reconciles it with ocher findings in the literature to develop the concept of a hierarchical structure of communication. In this concept, leadership roles and levels of participation are seen as coincidental, arising out of interpersonal interchanges ultimately directed toward achieving coordination and consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns itself with the problem of managerial implementation of scientific research. It employs a survey technique designed to test the manager's and researcher's reactions to propositions developed by Churchman and Schainblatt [5], Bennis [3], and Dyckman [8]. The sample surveyed reflects opinions derived from groups unlike those studied to date. As with previous studies, the results suggest the respondents viewed the implementation issue as a multi-dimensional problem and refused to accept a single position as being the most effective means of obtaining meaningful researcher-manager cooperation. The primary conclusion accentuates both groups' rejection of the separate functions position and advocacy of mutual understanding and provides a genera] reinforcement of prior investigations. It is suggested that managers and researchers might do well not only to understand their own self-motivation but also to understand the unique problems of implementation faced by both groups. This appreciation would no doubt assist in developing the trust and valid communication necessary for the effective transfer of theory to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In three studies responses of high and low fatalists to five different types of communications messages were compared. The five types of information considered were single reward, multiple reward, reward explanations, conformity, and nonsense information. Nutritional, political, and reading behaviors were considered. Two field experiments were conducted with male heads of households and a laboratory experiment was conducted with students. The high fatalists were motivated by reward explanation information. The low fatalists were motivated by single and multiple reward information more than the high fatalists. Responses of the high and low fatalists converged, at the highest motivation level, in response to reward explanation information. Fatalism accounted for more response variance than income, education, or race characteristics. The social significance of these findings is discussed in terms of: the need to motivate the high fatalists; who the high fatalists are; the growth of high fatalism; and the transferability of this paper's communication content findings to organizations dealing with problems of high fatalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stratification in science has received extensive attention from researchers in the sociology of science. The general research strategy involves identifying certain socio-personal characteristics of scientists such as professional age, highest degree, prestige of training and affiliated institutions, and relating these characteristics to the reward systems in science. Two identifiable reward systems in science involve (1) the bestowal of honorary awards, and (2) the access to, and recognition in, the formal communication system in science. These two systems both contribute to the overall stratification of the reward system but differ on at least two counts. This paper attempts to examine the stratification of the formal communication system in American sociology as it is related to the stratification of scientists. It is found that the visible journals in sociology are consistently stratified according to criteria such as rejection rates, articles rejected but eventually published in other sociological journals, order of submission preferences of ASA meeting authors, and cross-citation patterns in articles of the journals.

Just as the practice of administration is changing — as it is generally acknowledged to be — so is the study of administration. This process of viable, increasing change is the result not only of rapid social alteration and technical advancements, but also the number of able critics, the very activeness of professional organizations, the financial cornucopia of foundations interested in administrative processes, and the growing legions of social-behavioral scientists applying their knowledge and methods to the problems of administration. In these times of change it is becoming a prevalent suspicion that contemporary theories of administration are inadequate and perhaps even misleading and erroneous. In fact, a popular sport among students of administration is the cataloging, labeling, re-labeling and criticizing of the various administrative theories. These critics see the theories as being too abstract or too concrete, too limited to the descriptive or too drastically over reaching their evidence, too culture-bound, time-bound, or institution-bound, and too 'unscientific', that is, neither reliable nor valid. This paper reflects the present uneasiness with administrative research and theory, yet hopefully does not add to the current outcries or complaints. Rather we hope to offer a strategy for research on the administrative process which should be less open to the above charges. This strategy in essence suggests we do not over formalize too early in theory development, rather that we systematize the process of the step-by-step thinking we rely upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years ago the very expression automatic translation would have seemed meaningless to the linguist and, no doubt, to any reader. Ten years ago, automatic translation (AT) was discussed only by a small circle of specialists, while the scientific general public viewed it with curiosity, amazement and even perplexity. Today it has become a familiar concept; it is known and discussed everywhere; scientific works and popular articles are written about it; the main linguistic journals of the world publish papers on AT and the universities of at least ten countries include it in their philology courses. The purpose of this paper is to give a methodical and well-founded exposition of another conception of AT, without presenting an all-round view or going into all the fundamental problems and concrete results achieved in recent years. Without being too technical, with the minimum of references and concentrating solely on the ideological aspect, the study shall try to demonstrate, on the basis of well-known facts and common sense, that in principle the solution of AT problems may be reduced to the construction of exhaustive operational models for language in general and a series of natural languages in particular, regarded as means of communication, and this seems to coincide with the central problem of synchronic linguistics.

The article focuses on some problems in the development of the rapid communication industry. The present paper describes changes that have taken place in the U.S. in the past 18 years in communications and discusses some of the economic problems that these changes have brought in their wake. For the economist, these problems are challenging, for they span the areas of private enterprise, government regulation and government subsidy. The framework also encompasses problems of a declining industry, landline telegraph, whose past has been marked by inflexible price policies and poorer service standards than competitive conditions required. The future of this branch of communications will depend not only on the initiative exercised by management in correcting these deficiencies but also on the judgment of the regulatory agency, the Federal Communications Commission, in formulating measures appropriate to the present and future condition of landline telegraph. The term rapid communications is taken here to mean those services, other than the ordinary mail service and local telephone service, which provide for the transmission of written or voice communications on a common carrier basis within the U. S.

The much-vaunted information explosion seems to be the manifestation of a rather generalized publication inflation. Multipublication and pretentious writing have become obstacles to "communication between human minds." To counteract their harmful effects it will be necessary to reduce the quantity and improve the quality of the printed records by filtering the material before it is stored for retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents some pieces of news related to documentation. One piece of news informs that out-of-print material can be reprinted as a business proposition only if sufficient demand exists. Another piece of news informs that documentation industry firm Rcadex Microprint Corp. has established its plant in Chester, Vermont and maintains an office at 1 Madison Avenue, New York City. Work is continuing on the production of the British Sessional Papers and other titles which will shortly be announced.

This paper reports an investigation of communication behavior in a "natural" social system the white adult community in a Mississippi town of 5,000 population, called Bakerville in this report. The study was directed at the general question of who talks to whom about specific community problems and projects. The present paper, however, deals with only one aspect of this problem: how persons who report a variety of communication contacts differ from those who report few or no contacts. To examine the relationship between extensiveness of communication contacts and other variables the sample has been dichotomized into high communicators and low communicators. Operationally defined, high communicators are those who report talking to three or more different persons about community problems; low communicators, those who report talking to fewer than three persons. "Positional" Factors. The relationship between extensiveness of communication contacts and position in the social structure was in part investigated in the present study by comparing the social status of high and low communicators. Index of Status Characteristics (ISC) was used as a convenient method for estimating the social position of members of the sample.

This paper presents a sketch of concepts regarding freedom of speech in the United States, as an example of civil rights. In particular, to show how free speech is abridged in war time. Such treatment may lead to consideration of how social scientists can maintain freedom of communication about their special studies today. To make discussion profitable, we must agree to use common terms with more precise meaning than men in the street usually give them. For that purpose, the author ventures to submit a diagram showing the relation of ideas employed in this paper. Although such definition may not prove acceptable, its clarity enables critics to determine just how the logical framework should be amended. In 1914, the society of American Sociological Review devoted its meeting to considering the topic freedom of communication. Since that time the United States engaged in a world war and now has entered a second phase. New instruments of communication have been developed new rules controlling their use have been established.

The article summarizes the findings of the Symposium on the Possibilities of Operations Research in Developing Countries, held in Paris, France, June 26-28, 1963. The symposium first explored the definition of "operational research." They then investigated the problems inherent in the ideas' expansion into developing countries.

This review of but a small amount of the empirical and theoretical research should suffice to indicate the areas of focus and concern in relating family and home environment with juvenile delinquency. It is evident that significance is attached to family cohesion, affection and adjustment both between the parents and between parent and child. Many authors (Udry, 1966; Blood and Wolfe, 1960) maintain that communication is a basle ingredient for a successful marriage. The open communication between spouses facilitates an understanding of expectations, interests, and frustrations. A marriage void of communication may lead to inhibited and ritualistic discussions, inner frustrations, and an absence of expectations and desires. If one accepts this position concerning communication between spouses, then there is reason to believe that based on the above-cited works, facilitation of the channels of communication within the family may influence the delinquency of the children. It appears plausible that a child who perceives the channels of communication within his family to be dosed may feel alienated from the family as a primary group. Without communication, the child may feel that the parents are not interested in his ideas and behavior, that the parents underestimate his desires and expectations, and that the parents reject him. Without communication the parents may not, indeed, be aware of the child's desires, values, and actions and may not succeed in transmitting their own values to the child. Although the parents would not condone delinquent behavior, as a result of their lack of communication with the child the parents may, by remaining silent, be sanctioning behavior of which the child feels the parents are aware. That is, if the child engages in delinquent behavior and feels that the parents are aware of that behavior, then he expects some negative sanctioning by his parents; due to the lack of communication, the parents may not be aware of the behavior, they do not sanction the child, and thereby reinforce his delinquent behavior. A lack of communication of this nature indicates a misunderstanding between parents and child concerning acceptable behavior and values. With the assumptions set forth above, it is of value to investigate the relationship between communication within the family and the delinquency of the child. It is the intention of this paper to ascertain: (1) the degree of communication that exists between the parents and the child concerning the child's participation in various forms of delinquent behavior; (2) the degree of communication that exists between the parents and the child concerning the punishment to be meted out for such behaviors; and (3) the effect of this communication on the child's participation in delinquent forms of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents Peter M. Hall's response to Rosabeth Moss Kanter's comments toward his article "A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis of Politics," published in the 1972 issue of "Sociological Inquiry." The author concludes that Kanter misunderstands his perspective by subsuming it under American liberalism. If there is anything that he is not, it is an American liberal, and if there is anything he is criticizing in American sociology, political sociology, and symbolic interaction, it is consensual, pluralistic, and liberal bias. Hall also does not deny the need to see the totality of the society, its interdependencies, feedbacks, and impacts, in short, society as a system. To settle misconceptions, Hall emphasized that his paper had a special focus and set limits as to its goals and coverage. It was not intended to be a complete analysis of politics nor a complete analysis of American politics.

Focuses on experimental studies in oral interpretation. Understanding of the process of oral interpretation; Transformational generative analysis of deep structure.

The author reflects on a paper regarding the contributions by science educators for the advancement of their profession through publications. One of the most effective ways to promote one's profession is through a reliable system of communication especially for associations. The objective may be accomplished by publishing a professional journal, which could serve as a medium for the exchange of ideas and information among members. An individual has a responsibility to communicate with his colleagues apart from his commitment to his institution and to his own advancement. A problem frequently encountered by publications of scientific educators is on editing. The paper mentions several editorial problems that were based from the information provided by the Editorial Advisory Board.

In an earlier paper in this journal,* the author suggested that the processes of attitude change underlying mass communication impact are of two kinds: with low involvement to persuasive stimuli one might look for gradual shifts in perceptual structure, aided by repetition, activated by behavioral choice situations, and followed at some time by attitude change, while with high involvement one could look instead [or the classic and familiar conflict of ideas at the level of conscious opinion and attitude that precedes changes in behavior. The present paper describes the development and application of a workable tool to measure this involvement, a necessary step in the study of communication impact along these lines is to proceed further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the world attention survey. By means of a World Attention Survey it is possible to correct any tendency of over-estimating the amount of attention given to the United States. The survey of world attention is able to supply data about many of the missing links in the process of political and social development but it is not feasible to rely upon any single channel of communication if one is concerned with the total focus of attention. The general purpose of the technique of the attention survey is to describe the field of attention, to show the relative prominence of selected symbols, like the names of leaders, nations, policies and institutions. In the interest of objectivity, papers are described according to a code that is applied by workers who have learned how to use it. Coders are given regular tests to verify the comparability of their results, when the problem is to count the frequency of occurrence of explicit unit symbols.