The term "Thin Slice," first coined and defined by Ambady and Rosenthal (1992), is a brief sample of behavior, not exceeding five minutes in length, extracted from the full-length behavior stream. These thin slices are an efficient means to form judgments and predict outcomes of interpersonal relations from the full-length behavior…

While not presuming to present a model of organizational socialization that is complete and totally accurate, this paper examines organizational socialization in a new way through the lenses of symbolic interactionism and culture theory. The first section of the paper describes the basic tenets of symbolic interactionism and how these have been…

Radical deconstruction holds the postmodern view that texts are open to endless interpretation and therefore do not reveal a preferred or stable set of valid meanings. This paper provides an analysis of some epistemological problems of reference that arise from this aspect of deconstruction, and explores ways in which access to the world's…

A preliminary study surveyed peace communication research in speech communication journals, covering the period from World War I through the late 20th century. The Matlon "Index" includes journals approved by the publications board of the Speech Communication Association (SCA) and was used in this project as the database for the period…

This paper investigates routine "opening turns" in telephone conversations, examining their variety and adaptability, and extending E. A. Schegloff's model to account for them. Following a review of previous research on telephone openings, the paper describes the notion of "reduction" as offered by M. R. Whalen and D. H.…

In order to demonstrate Walton J. Ong's continuing relevance to the field of rhetorical theory, a review of his intellectual contributions and development is conducted in three stages, covering not only Ong's books and major articles but also his Jesuit educational history and his reviews of other theorists. In the first period (1939-1950), Ong's…

Noting that communication scholars have begun to sense the inadequacy of traditional theoretic perspectives to frame the sorts of questions and answers required for a fully articulated theory of interpersonal attraction and relationship development, this paper explores the possibility of applying constructivism to that area. (It defines the…

Investigates the hypothesis that messages reciprocating both topic and intimacy would be more positively evaluated than those reciprocating neither. Results support the hypothesis for initial low intimacy messages, and partially support it for initial high intimacy messages. Examines results in terms of competing interactional goals in a…

This keynote address to the 1984 Central States Speech Association Convention uses the convention theme--the interesting question--to define communication research, review recent scholarly developments, and exhort scholars to integrate their fields of study. (PD)

Recently, communication researchers have suggested that dialectics may offer a different way of looking at mediation, organizational conflict, and the fundamental oppositions of interpersonal bonding. Leslie Baxter and Barbara Montgomery, through their relational dialectics perspective, have claimed a dialogical conceptualization of…

Academic debate has often been criticized as being "artificial" and "elitist" due to its highly structured format and the specialized skills it often requires. While countless argumentation scholars have advanced reasons why academic debate is pertinent to a comprehensive education, a different source of justification for…

A primary difference between spontaneous speech and read speech concerns the use of false starts, where a speaker interrupts the flow of speech to restart his or her utterance. A study examined the acoustic aspects of such restarts in a widely-used speech database, examining approximately 1000 utterances, about 10% of which contained a restart.…

Semiotics is the scientific study of signs and sign functions. While semiotics has most often focused on human phenomena, it has been suggested that the field should be broadened to include elements of the system of signs from the entire continuum of living reality. Such an approach is to make explanatory in a relatively "universal" way…

This paper is an effort to explore the connections between feminist methodologies and more traditional research programs, specifically the ethnography of communication. The paper discusses four major areas. The paper provides an overview of the ethnography of communication. Second, the paper discusses feminist methodologies. Third, the paper…

Using radon (a naturally-occurring radioactive gas linked to lung cancer) as the health risk factor, a study examined which risk-taking tendencies interact with different health-risk message strategies. A phone survey pretested 837 randomly selected homeowners from three Florida counties with the highest levels of radon in the state (706 agreed to…