Business Communication Research Research Articles

Book Reviews : Conducting Research in Business Communication. Patty G. Campbell, Thomas Housel, and Kitty O. Locker, editors. Urbana, IL. Association for Business Communication, 1988. Paperback, 297 pages. Multimethod Research: A Synthesis of Styles. John Brewer and Albert Hunter. Newbury Park, CA. Sage, 1989. Hardback, 209 pages. Designing Qualitative Research. Catherine Marshall, and Gretchen B. Rossman. Newbury Park, CA. Sage,

Book Reviews : Conducting Research in Business Communication. Patty G. Campbell, Thomas Housel, and Kitty O. Locker, editors. Urbana, IL. Association for Business Communication, 1988. Paperback, 297 pages. Multimethod Research: A Synthesis of Styles. John Brewer and Albert Hunter. Newbury Park, CA. Sage, 1989. Hardback, 209 pages. Designing Qualitative Research. Catherine Marshall, and Gretchen B. Rossman. Newbury Park, CA. Sage,

Using Magnitude Estimation Scaling in Business Communication Research

Research using attitude / behavior correlation to predict behavior of subjects in situa tions significant to business communication generally produces low to moderate cor relations that explain relatively small amounts of the variance among variables. Researchers sometimes depend on large sample sizes to produce variation measurable as statistically significant. Magnitude estimation scaling, a method tracing its origin to the field of psychophysics, has had some interesting results in social science re search. This article critically analyzes the technique for its potential use in business communication research. The result finds that the 12-15 percent increase in explained variance by magnitude estimation over categorical scaling methods may be useful in theory building, but may not be sufficient to justify the added expense necessary to en sure data integrity for applied business communication research.

The development of Japanese business communication research at Monash

The development of Japanese business communication research at Monash

Ethics Research in Business Communication: The State of the Art

This paper surveys treatments of business communication ethics in Association for Business Communication (ABC) Publications for the last 30 years. Pedagogical papers reveal an almost unanimous opinion that business communication is inherently a moral subject and that ethics has a place in the classroom. Consensus on how to teach or to evaluate moral behavior has not, however, been achieved. Nonpedagogical papers have usually been conceptual or descriptive, and have rarely been part of program matic research. Consequently a unified body of knowledge that could guide future re search or provide a basis for moral instruction does not exist. Future research in both pedagogical and nonpedagogical areas is recommended.

Research in Business Communication: a Plea for Originality and Relevance in Pedagogic Examples

Research in Business Communication: a Plea for Originality and Relevance in Pedagogic Examples

Getting in Deep: Using Qualitative Research in Business and Technical Communication

Researchers have been calling for more empirical studies with which to build theory and improve practice in business and technical communication. Al though quantitative empirical research abounds, qualitative studies are rare. This article explains how qualitative research can benefit the profession and uses ethnography as an extended example of how such research is conducted and written. Examples ofgood qualitative studies are discussed in the text and listed in the references, as are other sources of information on qualitative re search.

Topics for Business Communication Research

Topics for Business Communication Research

Toward a Better Understanding of Reader Analysis

Business communication research on reader analysis has stagnated. Thisarticle examines why current business communication theory and practicemakes new inroads into reader analysis difficult. To account for this lack ofnew critical thinking, the article assesses the field's confusion about criticalterminology, its poor heuristics for assessing readers, its oversimplified cases,and its misleading message classification system. In addition, the articleexplores a new factor in reader analysis—readers' perceptual sets—as a way o fmore accurately modeling the dynamics of the writer-reader relationship.

Pragmatics, "Situated" Language, and Business Communication

The first part of this article identifies several variables from speech act theory and conversation analysis that might be applied to the study of business com munication. Recent work on politeness (by R. Lakoff, and Brown and Levinson) is found to be particularly relevant and useful. The second part of the article presents an exploratory study that examines several business let ters in order to see how principles derived from linguistic studies of politeness might advance the methodology used in business-communication research. The study indicates that theoretical work on politeness provides useful tools for analysing written discourse in business environments.

Announcing the Formation of the Business Communication Research Exchange

Announcing the Formation of the Business Communication Research Exchange

Research in Business Communication: The State of the Art

This paper deals with the current state of research in business communica tion. To assess the present, it looks at the past and explores the road we have followed to our present position. It includ...

Business Communication Consulting and Research in Multinational Companies

Communication research knows no geographic boundaries. Yet, when an American wishes to do communication research or consulting in a foreign country there arise a series of issues that can impede solid investigation. To understand some of the issues along with suggestions on meeting those issues is the purpose of the following article.

Student Research in Business Communication

Student Research in Business Communication

Guidelines and Suggestions for Research in Business Communication

Last year the JOURNAL published the 1970 report of the ABCA Research Com mittee. It was so well received by members that we have decided to share the 1971 report of the committee also. Hopefully a number of the suggested areas of investigation will stimulate the research work of our members in the next few years.

Guidelines and Suggestions for Research in Business Communication

This -7rticle contains guidelines for research that were presented to the ABCA Board of Directors by the Research Committee of the Association for 1969-71. The editors of the Journal feel that a number of the specific topics recommended here may prove to be useful areas of investigation for our members in the next several years.

Modified Semantic Differentials To Evaluate Formal Organizational Structures

A modified semantic differential is a valuable instrument for getting qualitative evaluations in numerical form. It can measure attitudes about certain aspects of formal organization structure like span of supervision and shared authority. ABCA members may find numerous uses for the semantic differential in business communication research.