Thomas A. McCain

The measurement of interpersonal attraction

The study reports a factor analytic investigation of the interpersonal attraction construct. Two‐hundred and fifteen subjects completed 30 Likert‐type, seven‐step scales concerning an acquaintance. Factor analysis indicated three dimensions of the interpersonal attraction construct which were labeled “task” “social” and “physical.” The results of this study and four replications suggest that the resulting 15‐item instrument can be expected to measure reliably three dimensions of interpersonal attraction.

Media Use and the Life Span: Notes on Theory and Method

This article is about change: specifically, the changes over the life course which are associated with changes in the uses and gratifications which individuals derive from the media of mass communication. The uses and gratifications approach has been the subject of much scholarly discussion and debate (Elliott, 1974; Carey and Kreiling, 1974; Swanson, 1979; Katz, 1979), and it is the dominant paradigm guiding the study of the audiences of mass communication. One of the unique virtues of the approach is its ability to reach out &dquo;effectively to a wide range of new theoretical developments in other disciplines&dquo; (Blumler and Katz, 1974: 15). In the following pages we will, first, provide a brief overview of the uses and gratifications paradigm. Second, we will offer a tentative view of the process by which the gratifications derived from the media and other activities change as a result of the alterations in need structure of the individual. Third, we will present a crude stage-theory which is an attempt to chart the points and regions in the life course at which changes in the need structure are prompted by alterations in biophysical and

Television Games Preschool Children Play: Patterns, Themes and Uses.

Preschool children were observed as they played in a day care center. Television was found to be an important source of content for play. The television facilitated games played by the children had a variety of scenarios.

Community Influentials' Media Dependence in Dealing with a Controversial Local Issue.

,Unders tanding t h e re la t ionships between and among the media and other sources of information and influence is important for a fuller explanation of the role and impact of the mass media in a social system.’ Media institutions, like other social processes, operate within social, economic, political and technological constraints. As McQuail has so cogently noted, “the mass media as a social institution have no monopoly over the exchange and flow of information and ideas in a society.”2 To understand the media-society relationships, the strength, focus and directions of these relationships must be delineated. Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur have posited a model of media effects which attempts to explicate the interrelationships between and among the media and other social forces.3 The model presents the mass media as one part of a tripartite relationship including the nature of the social system at large, media roles in that social system and the

Gateway or Gatekeeper: The Implications of Copyright and Digitalization on Education

Copyright represents a delicate balance between societys need to access important and enriching material and the rights of the creators. As technology transforms the means for creating and exchanging information, the challenges to copyright carry serious implications for education. This paper considers the issues surrounding copyright, education, and the digitalization of society and traces the history of copyright through the evolution of communication media‐its role in creating and, distributing knowledge. The dialectical relationship between communication as transmission and communication as dialogue serves as the theoretical basis for this analysis. Two suggestions for maintaining the balance include licensing arrangements and modification of fair use.

A Communication Perspective of a School Bond Failure.

Voters have been rejecting school bond tax levies with increasing regularity. A communication perspective was utilized to examine one school district that three times voted down funds for much-needed school facilities. Acceptance of the bond proposal was found to be significantly related to voter attitudes towards school officials, the nature of the campaign contact, and voters involvement in the school system.