Examining Textbooks: An Analysis Examining Changes Over Time.

A study extended the work of M. Allen and R. Preiss (1990) that analyzed the issues in public speaking textbooks and the level of accuracy with which scientific information is represented. A total score analysis of 112 textbooks showed no significant improvement in the accuracy of textbooks over time or with new editions. Findings of the preliminary analysis suggest that public speaking and persuasion textbooks are not benefiting from the research advances in the field. More collaboration between research findings and pedagogical practices is needed. (Contains 177 references and 3 tables of data.) (Author/RS)