Communication Research Research Articles

The what and how of warning messages: An experimental examination of instructing information and linguistic features use

AbstractWe conducted a between‐subjects experiment (N = 1626) to examine the effects of instructing information, an important theoretical keystone in crisis communication research, in predicting two key outcomes in the literature—protective behavioral intentions and message retransmission intentions. Given the communicative context, high‐impact weather warnings, we additionally considered the moderating role of linguistic features use in predicting these outcomes. Based upon theory and research in this area, we examined the mediating roles of self‐efficacy and perceived instructing information in predicting protective behavioral intentions and message retransmission intentions, respectively. Results mainly support our hypotheses. The instructing information conditions predicted the proposed intervening variable, which in turn predicted both outcomes. Linguistic features use moderated the direct effect of instructing information in predicting protective behavioral intentions, but not message retransmission intentions. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for crisis communication theory and practice.

Multimodal exploration of the thank God expressive construction and its implications for translation

Abstract Multimodal research in communication and translation studies is increasingly recognized, yet it remains incompletely explored. Leveraging computational linguistics with both Praat for acoustic analysis and the OpenPose and Rapid Annotator tools for visual analysis, this study delves into the intricate dynamics of the expressive construction thank God, providing a comprehensive examination of both visual and acoustic dimensions. Our objective is to uncover nuanced patterns of multimodal communication embedded within this expression and their implications for Translation and Interpreting. Through an analysis of linguistic features and co-speech gestures present in thank God, we aim to deepen our comprehension of how meaning crisscrosses modalities. Our findings underscore the necessity of a multimodal approach in language studies, emphasizing the requisite to preserve emotional and contextual nuances. The analysis unveils the phonological relevance of the duration of the construction’s second vowel, a key factor for translation. Additionally, data reveals a correlation between the emotion of relief and gestures executed with both hands closer to the chest. Overall, these findings contribute to advancing both multimodal communication research and translation studies, shedding light on the role of multimodal analysis in understanding language and translation dynamics, particularly in the context of constructions like thank God.

‘There is so much we can learn from the mistakes of Covid-19’: service provider recommendations for more accessible crisis communication in multicultural Australia

ABSTRACT This paper presents the findings of a qualitative, reflexive investigation into the challenges facing Australia’s migrant and refugee communities when engaging with mediated communication during global crisis events. Informed through a Culture-Centred Approach, I present an interpretive thematic analysis of interview and focus group discussion with 16 service providers and community leaders who supported migrant and refugee communities during the Covid-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia. Participants discussed significant problems concerning the accessibility of Covid-related communication, noting numerous health equity implications, which many described as heightened for migrant and/or refugee communities with disabilities. These findings lend further credence to calls for more intersectional and participatory research and practice approaches, with participants advocating strategies that centre the embodied expertise of people with direct experience of both racialised exclusion and health inequity. I discuss these recommendations with careful consideration of documented challenges in global efforts to inform crisis communication scholarship, policy, and practice.

What Journalists Worry and Write About: Comparing Journalists’ Frames of Climate Futures with Respective News Frames

ABSTRACT Projections of climate futures are vital for understanding the consequences of present actions. While research in climate change communication intensely focused on media representations (e.g., the framing of climate futures), it overlooked the processes that affect the production of news frames by journalists, such as individual future visions, newsroom policies, and professional routines. To address this research gap, the present study conducted reconstruction interviews with journalists covering climate futures in four countries (i.e., India, Germany, South Africa, and the United States). It identified five journalists’ frames, ranging from “Technology for future” to “Towards apocalypse”. The paper then compared the findings with a content analysis of articles written by the journalists interviewed in this study. It finds that the journalists’ frames are more varied than those identified in news content. Journalists’ frames shaping coverage seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

What Are the Most Popular Articles in Urogynecology and Who Is Disseminating Them

Importance This research describes which articles published in Urogynecology are garnering the most attention online. Understanding which articles are having the largest impact in the online community has become increasingly important due to the exponential increase in the use of social media on the internet. Objective The Altmetric Attention Score (AAS) is a quantitative and qualitative measure of the articles’ online attention in social media and news outlets, blogs, and reference managers. The aim of this study was to provide an analysis of those accessing and sharing the 100 most popular articles published in Urogynecology. Study Design This was a retrospective descriptive analysis. Using Dimensions, a “linked research knowledge system,” data about each article’s demographics on Twitter and other media sources was extracted from each of the articles within Urogynecology with the highest AAS. No articles were excluded. The articles were categorized by topic and metrics of online sharing were compared among categories. Results Fifteen categories were created. Sexual health and education articles had the highest average Altmetric scores per article and reached the highest impressions per article and had the highest average follower count per Twitter user. On average, social justice in medicine had the highest number of tweets per article. Tweets were most often composed by members of the public (58%) compared with health care practitioners (14%), researchers (13%), and science communicators (12%). Conclusions Sexual health and education articles had the highest average AAS and impressions on Twitter. We observed a difference in which articles are being shared most among the general public and health care professionals. The general public comprised a majority of those sharing articles online regardless of category. Additionally, there may be a disparity in research, its funding, and online scientific communications within the field of urogynecology.

Design and implementation of the international news commentary Data Intelligent Processing System

In the digital media age, international news commentary has changed, creating challenges such as information overload and noise. Traditional platforms often need more data-driven analysis capabilities. This study presented a specialized intelligent system for processing international news commentary data. The system provided robust analysis tools, automated recommendations, and summarization capabilities. Its comprehensive modules included data crawling, processing, visualization, and retrieval. Experimental results demonstrated the system’s effectiveness in processing data and generating valuable insights. Users were able to gain objective insights into topics, emotions, and dissemination patterns. The system provided valuable resources for communication research, enhancing theoretical understanding and practical applications in the field.

How to make sense of generative AI as a science communication researcher? A conceptual framework in the context of critical engagement with scientific information

A guiding theory for a continuous and cohesive discussion regarding generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in science communication is still unavailable. Here, we propose a framework for characterizing, evaluating, and comparing AI-based information technologies in the context of critical engagement with scientific information in online environments. Hierarchically constructed, the framework observes technological properties, user experience, content presentation, and the context in which the technology is being used. Understandable and applicable for non-experts in AI systems, the framework affords a holistic yet practical assessment of various AI-based information technologies, providing both a reflection aid and a conceptual baseline for scholarly references.

Mitochondrial replacement in the English-language print media: continuity and change in metaphors and social representations

In May 2023, The Guardian announced that babies had been born through mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT). MRT and its ethical and legal implications have been discussed in the media for over a decade. These discussions have been examined by social scientists and communication scholars. In this article, we seek to determine whether and, if so, how social representations have changed since this announcement. Using thematic analysis and social representations theory, we studied a corpus of 70 English language newspaper articles. Results show three thematic dichotomies: (1) moderation vs. sensationalism; (2) ontologising vs. de-ontologising MRT; and (3) using metaphors for persuasion vs. explanation. The societal concern representation largely dominated reporting around 2015 and the hope and opportunity representation was prominent in current reporting. We argue that the hope representation may facilitate greater patient and public acceptance of MRT but that it may also limit awareness, understanding and discussion of its possible risks and limitations.

Showing climate action: exploring Fridays for Future Germany’s visual activism on Flickr

This article examines how Fridays for Future Germany (FFFG) uses photographs of climate protests to convey the politics of climate change to wider audiences. The author argues that FFFG is an ideal-type form of visual activism in which visual imagery is central to its climate activism. The article builds on climate change communication scholarship and visual social movement studies to contribute an inquiry about FFFG’s visual activism. The focus is on FFFG’s visual self-representations on the social media platform Flickr, which promises to give insights into its strategies of self-legitimation. The empirical analysis discusses the recurring visual patterns in FFFG’s visual activism based on illustrative examples and provides an interpretive reading about the implications of certain ways of seeing and showing climate action. The conclusion puts the findings in a wider political context, highlighting the importance of visualization in the (self-)legitimation of FFFG in debates about global climate governance.

HELLO: a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial to enhance interpersonal relationships and team cohesion among ICU healthcare professionals

BackgroundMental health symptoms among healthcare professionals (HCP) in intensive care units (ICUs) are a significant concern affecting both HCP well-being and patient care outcomes. Cross-sectional studies among members of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) report up to 50% burnout rates. Determinants of burnout include communication, team cohesion, psychological support, and well-being promotion. We designed the 'Hello Bundle' intervention to mitigate burnout among ICU-HCPs by fostering positive social interactions and a supportive work environment. This justification synthesizes evidence from social psychology, positive psychology, and healthcare communication research to support the intervention. The 'Hello Bundle' aims to enhance interpersonal relationships, improve team cohesion, and reduce burnout rates. The six components include: Hello campaign posters, email reminders, integrating greetings in morning huddles, hello jars, lead-by-example initiatives, and a daily updated hello board in each ICU. This protocol describes a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.MethodsThis protocol describes a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted among ESICM-affiliated ICUs, consisting of at least 73 clusters with in average of 50 respondents per cluster, totaling approximately 7300 participants. Intervention clusters will implement the 6-component Hello Bundle between October 14 and November 10, 2024, while control clusters will be wait-listed to receive the intervention in January 2025 after the RCT concludes. Clusters will be matched based on ICU size (fewer or more than 20 beds), region, and average 2023 mortality. The primary outcome is the proportion of HCPs with burnout between intervention and control clusters at the end of the intervention. Secondary outcomes include comparing the following between clusters: (1) number of HCPs with high emotional exhaustion; (2) number with high depersonalization; (3) number with loss of accomplishment; (4) perception of ethical climate (5) satisfaction at work (VAS); (6) professional conflicts; (7) intention to leave the ICU (VAS); (8) patient-centered care rating; (9) family-centered care rating. The last secondary outcome is the comparison of burnout rates before and after the intervention in the intervention cluster. Outcomes will be based on HCP reports collected within four weeks before and after the intervention.DiscussionThis is the first large trial of healthcare communication, social, and positive psychology intervention among ICU-HCPs. It holds the potential to provide valuable insights into effective strategies for addressing burnout in ICU settings, ultimately benefiting both HCPs and patients.Trial registration: This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.Gov on June 18, 2024. Registration: NCT06453616.

Dissemination of medical research findings among medical researchers in a tertiary institution in Uganda

Background: Dissemination of research findings is a key obligation for researchers. It increases access to evidence and the ability to use and apply the evidence. Repackaging of research findings to inform policy and practice is not yet embraced in many low-and-middle income countries that have under-resourced health care systems. Objective: To determine the methods of communication of research findings by researchers at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences as well as the facilitators and barriers faced while disseminating the findings. Methods: This was a concurrent nested mixed-methods study among researchers. Key informant interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used. The collected Qualitative data was examined through thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analysed with STATA version 15.0, analysing categorical variables using frequencies and percentages. Results: Of 176 researchers involved in the quantitative survey, more than half (60%, n=106) were males and 40.9%(n=84/176) were lecturers. The most used dissemination method was journal publications (71.6%, n=126) followed by presentations in conferences/workshops (62.5%, n=110). Twelve researchers participated as key informant interviewees. Themes that emerged included: benefits, facilitators and challenges faced in research communication. Conclusions: Research findings are commonly disseminated through journals and conference presentations. However, researchers face challenges like financial constraints, time limitations, and misrepresentation of findings. Keywords: Dissemination of medical research; Journal Publication; Community engagement.

The effect of power states on negative word‐of‐mouth sharing: The role of interpersonal closeness

AbstractThe current research investigates whether, when, and why power states, a prevalent experience in everyday life, influence negative WOM (NWOM). The authors find that low‐power consumers tend to engage more in NWOM, and this effect is driven by less image‐impairment concerns and heightened motives to protect others induced by low‐power states. We further showed that interpersonal closeness (IC)—people' feeling of proximity between they and others—moderates the positive effect of low‐power states on NWOM sharing. That is, the differences of sharing NWOM between low‐power and high‐power consumers are attenuated when facing high IC. To account for this, both image‐impairment concerns and motives to protect others mediate the effect of power states when recipients are interpersonally close others; however, only image‐impairment concerns mediate the effect of power states when recipients are interpersonally distant others. These findings make theoretical contributions to research in interpersonal communication, WOM, and power, and holds practical implications for marketers interested in understanding how NWOM spreads.

Attending to adversarial science communication: a commentary on Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari’s vision of science communication education

ABSTRACT Unlike K-12 science teachers who can turn to national documents such as the Next Generation Science Standards for guidance on what knowledge and skills are central to their disciplines, university educators who set out to teach science communication are faced with the challenge of having to develop/implement a curriculum without the benefit of a well-established disciplinary core. In the present commentary, we discuss how the framework proposed by Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari’s (2022) begins to address this issue by taking a first step toward the articulation of a blueprint of science communication education. The commentary is organized as follows. First, Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari’s (2022) article is considered in light of prior work by other science communication scholars. Attention then shifts to what our own research has revealed as an important absence in Lewenstein and Baram-Tsabari’s (2022) framework, namely the lack of attention given to training in adversarial science communication (e.g. addressing pseudoscience online, public debates). We then end by suggesting ways to attend to this issue, while emphasizing the need for continued field-wide (re)formulation of a common educational vision in/for the teaching and learning of science communication.

Coding latent concepts: a human and LLM-coordinated content analysis procedure

ABSTRACT Measuring complex and latent concepts at a large-scale poses significant challenges for communication researchers. While computational and crowdsourced methods offer solutions, they often require high professional thresholds or incur significant costs. The recent advent of large language models has revolutionized content analysis. This paper employs a human and LLM-coordinated analysis procedure to measure complex and latent concepts in 1,000 public comments, exemplified by the multi-dimension concept of “deliberativeness.” We showcase the collaboration between humans and LLMs in completing complex coding tasks by designing and refining a codebook for human use and corresponding prompts for LLMs. Surprisingly, we find that fine-tuned GPT-3.5-turbo-1106 with smaller datasets can surpass GPT-4o-2024-05-13’s performance and match manual content analyses. This paper provides communication researchers with an efficient and cost-effective reference for measuring latent concepts.

Green Communication in IoT for Enabling Next-Generation Wireless Systems

Recent developments and the widespread use of IoT-enabled technologies has led to the Research and Development (R&D) efforts in green communication. Traditional dynamic-source routing is one of the well-known protocols that was suggested to solve the information dissemination problem in an IoT environment. However, this protocol suffers from a high level of energy consumption in sensor-enabled device-to-device and device-to-base station communications. As a result, new information dissemination protocols should be developed to overcome the challenge of dynamic-source routing, and other similar protocols regarding green communication. In this context, a new energy-efficient routing protocol (EFRP) is proposed using the hybrid adopted heuristic techniques. In the densely deployed sensor-enabled IoT environment, an optimal information dissemination path for device-to-device and device-to-base station communication was identified using a hybrid genetic algorithm (GA) and the antlion optimization (ALO) algorithms. An objective function is formulated focusing on energy consumption-centric cost minimization. The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol outperforms the Greedy approach and the DSR protocol in terms of a range of green communication metrics. It was noticed that the number of alive sensor nodes in the experimental network increased by more than 26% compared to the other approaches and lessened energy consumption by about 33%. This leads to a prolonged IoT network lifetime, increased by about 25%. It is evident that the proposed scheme greatly improves the information dissemination efficiency of the IoT network, significantly increasing the network’s throughput.

“I enjoy conversing with my professor”: relational maintenance behaviors in the undergraduate student–instructor context

ABSTRACT Scholars of communication, teaching, and learning have been calling for more research on the instructor–student relationship to be studied from an interpersonal perspective. To answer these calls, we conducted a two-step scale development study, first to derive participant-generated responses concerning undergraduate student relational maintenance behaviors and second to construct and validate a scale concerning those behaviors. Of additional interest was to explore reasons as to why students aim to maintain these relationships. A 19-item measure titled the Student Relational Maintenance Scale was created, consisting of making connections, respectful behavior, classroom participation, expressing gratitude, and classroom effort. Additionally, results revealed that both professional reasons and personal reasons motivated students to build these relationships. The results of this study provided further insight into how and why undergraduate college students build positive interpersonal connections with their instructors.

Negative Campaigning and Vote Choice: Rationale, Trends, and Future Research

Negative campaigning is a worldwide phenomenon. As a strategy for mobilizing support, it affects the electorate and democracy. However, its effectiveness varies across space and time. While some studies assert that negativity depresses voter turnout, thereby delegitimizing the electoral process, others provide conflicting results that such campaigns mobilize voters since they supply information critical for their participation. There are three nuanced outcomes resulting from negative campaigning: the target electoral support diminishes; the attacker in a negative campaign experiences a backlash; or, when multiple candidates or parties compete, a negative effect on the target of the attack, coupled with a backlash effect on the attacker, may benefit the other candidates, who refrained from going negative. This article reviews the state of the scholarship on negative campaigning and its impact on democracy. It sheds light on a rapidly evolving field of political science and communication research.

Online News: Media Framing On Indonesia’s Capital City Relocation Policy

Objectives: The research aims to describe the position of the media in Indonesia in constructing an event using framing analysis. Methods: One of the framing analysis forms existing in communications research is that by Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki, which involves four major structures, namely, syntactic structures, script structures, thematic structures, and rhetorical structures. Framing analysis is a form of qualitative research. It particularly has relevance to the phenomenon of capital city relocation news reporting. Data were collected from online news reports by four media outlets, namely, Metro TV, CNN Indonesia, CNBC Indonesia, and Kompas TV. The news reports analyzed were set within the time frame between April of 2019 and January of 2022. All the online news reports pertaining to the capital city relocation were compared between the four media outlets to draw a conclusion as to how the media outlets positioned themselves in constructing the event under investigation. Results: The findings indicated that each television media outlet presented news on the capital city relocation policy in their respective fashions: Metro TV showed approval, CNBC Indonesia and CNN Indonesia did an inclination towards disapproval, and Kompas TV did a neutral view regarding the capital city relocation policy. Conclusions: The four media that were the object of research show that each media has a different agenda regarding events that occurred in Indonesia, especially the relocation of the capital city. These differences come from differences in motives, vision and mission, ideology, political affiliation and goals.

Discrimination between the facial gestures of vocalising and non-vocalising lemurs and small apes using deep learning

Facial expression studies in animal communication are essential. However, manual inspection methods are only practical for small datasets. Deep learning techniques can help discriminate facial configurations associated with vocalisations over large datasets. We extracted and labelled frames of different primate species, trained deep-learning models to identify key points on their faces, and computed distances between them to identify facial gestures. We used machine learning algorithms to classify vocalised and non-vocalised gestures across different species. The algorithms showed higher-than-chance correct classification rates, with some exceeding 90 %. Our work employs deep learning to map primate facial gestures and offers an innovative application of pose estimation systems. Our approach facilitates the investigation of facial repertoire across primate species and behavioural contexts, enabling comparative research in primate communication.

Long-term communication of aftershock forecasts: the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence in Aotearoa, New Zealand

On 14 February 2016, a magnitude (M)5.7 earthquake struck in Christchurch, Aotearoa, New Zealand. The shaking caused damage to historic facades, power outages, cliff collapses, rock falls, liquefaction but no reported injuries or fatalities. This Valentine’s Day earthquake was an aftershock in the Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES), which began on 4 September 2010 with the M7.1 Darfield Earthquake and included the destructive and fatal M6.2 Christchurch aftershock on 22 February 2011. This study eight months after the Valentine’s Day earthquake and six years after the initiation of the CES is the first to explore long-term aftershock forecast information and communication needs. The exploratory study also aimed to gather feedback on aftershock scenarios, an alternate form of communication of the forecast.The qualitative study involved workshops with emergency managers, public health officials, and members of the public in Christchurch. Key findings for long-term communication throughout an earthquake sequence include: 1. divergent earthquake experiences affect aftershock communication response and information needs; 2. understanding aftershock sequence behavior is foundational to sense-making when large aftershocks occur; 3. strategic earthquake sequence updates from the trusted science agency and local agencies could serve as important reminders for earthquake preparedness; 4. communication of aftershock forecast uncertainty could aid with both the credibility of the information and living with uncertainty, and 5. inclusion of impact information and preparedness advice into aftershock forecast scenarios could provide links to actionable information. The paper derives implications for research and practice of long-term communications during an aftershock sequence.