Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Susan Lucarelli

Committee Members

Paul Ashdown, Ron Taylor, Ed Caudill, Jerry Morrow, Faye Julian

Abstract

This study applied the situational theory of publics to the issue of women's advancement in journalism and mass communication programs. The methodology was a telephone survey of a stratified, random sample of 402 members of The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). As of 1993, women were underrepresented as faculty and administrators in journalism and mass communication programs, while females constituted the majority of students in these programs. In recognition of this situation, AEJMC passed a resolution in 1989 that encouraged its members and affiliates to have at least 50 percent of their faculties and administrations comprised of females and minorities by the year 2000. The goal of this research was two-fold. The first objective was to make a contribution to the public relations body of knowledge by testing and refining the situational theory of publics. The situational theory uses the three variables of problem recognition, constraint recognition, and level of involvement to determine a public's level of communication activity. The combination of these variables can be used to predict communication behavior. A group that is high in problem recognition, low in constraint recognition, and high in level of involvement is most likely to exhibit higher levels of communication activity for a particular issue. High communication activity has been found to predict high levels of activist behavior. This study sought to extend the situational theory in three key areas: demographics, channel use, and activism. The results suggested that the combination of specific demographic variables in conjunction with the situational theory variables could be used to further segment publics. There were significant differences in levels of activism when described by gender and age. The second objective was to bridge the gap between theory and application in public relations campaign planning. The analysis considers how the results of this theoretical research could be used to develop programming for a communication campaign designed to improve the number and status of women in journalism and mass communication programs by the year 2000.

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