This paper synthesizes much of the literature concerning physician/patient communication as it relates to patient compliance. Using the theoretical perspective that deals with belief, attitude, intention, and behavior (a perspective generated by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen), a new theoretical orientation for predicting patient compliance is…

The rejuvenation of sagging public confidence in education through better communication was the focus of the conference. Four specific objectives were outlined: (1) to improve the ability of educators to assess public attitudes toward and interest in public education; (2) to assess the impact of different media forms on public attitudes; (3) to…

This report is one of five submitted as products of a "Study Designed to Assist Planning of Research on Significant Instructional Features in Bilingual Education Programs." The reports are intended to assist the National Institute of Education in its plans for a major new research study in bilingual education. The present report…

Advertising and the advertising person have long been the subjects of criticism that has been prompted and reinforced by consumerism and mass media. A survey, conducted to determine present attitudes toward the advertising person, involved 70 advertising majors and an equal number of other college undergraduates; all completed questionnaires…

This study focused on whether actual or stereotypic associations with a speaker's body type would affect his or her credibility. Effects on the source-credibility ratings submitted by a total of 165 students were investigated for three different sources' body types. A significant main effect was found for body type but not for the blocked…

This study was designed to explore two questions: do a listener's reactions differ by media; and do variables such as credibility, saliency, and recall function independently in realistic rhetorical situations? The study was designed to investigate listening variables as they function in field communication situations through the use of…

Recent behavioral research has challenged the relationship between speech organization and the communication variables of source credibility and attitude change. Two hundred eighty-seven students comprising six discussion sections of a basic speech course were exposed to videotaped versions of three separate speech conditions: a 30% disorganized…

The question of whether foundations should engage in activities having a bearing on public policy development is discussed. Tax exempt private foundations have had a long, controversial history of participation in public policy formation. They contribute to policy development by means of various techniques that include support of established…

This paper describes six existing evaluator-auditor working formats and the conditions which foster credibility of evaluation findings. Evaluators were classified as: (1) member of project developmental team, accountable to project director; (2) independent internal evaluator, accountable to system in general but not to project directors, and (3)…

This paper offers the hypothesis that in times of low collective excitement rumors in a complex society whose content is beyond normal social discourse (a spectral rumor, for instance) will increasingly exhibit one or the other, or both, of two legitimizing agents--authority and mass media--as a means of gaining greater plausibility and…

Theories of mass communication have sought to explain how the media function internally and affect society. Rather than additional "response" studies, which investigate the impact of media on behavior or a society's impact on its media, more research should center on the functions of mass media within the overall framework of communication theory.…

Prior attitude intensity involvement and salience, along with prior source competence, sociability, composure, extroversion, and character can be used as predictors of recall, of perception of the source's attitude, and of perception of the attitude revealed in the message. The relationship of prior attitudes and credibility to comprehension and…

Using survey research methodology in rating "believability" of computers, this study concludes that English Canadians tend to find computers more credible than do French Canadians. The two variables that affected the subjects' attitudes were an affectively positive awareness of the computer's pragmatic abilities and an affectively…

Two samples, the first consisting of 13 and 16-year-olds and adults, the second consisting of children from kindergarten, second and sixth grades, are interviewed to measure the cognitive processes used to evaluate the credibility of television content. Additional goals include measuring the relationship between the use of these cognitive…

Investigates and compares events following two nuclear accidents in the United States and the Soviet Union. Considers that the accompanying flow of information shows that the optimistic bulletins of official sources provided too few facts and weakened credibility with both journalists and the public. (NKA)