Highly recommended to doctoral students in mass communication It was rated one of the significant journalism and communication books of the twentieth century. See the winter 1999 issue of the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. It is really good book, especially for doctoral students who just entered the field of mass communication. I'm giving it four stars because it unfortunately costs more than $100.
Useful for (Wealthy) Students of Communications Theory Students of the theoretical side of mass communications, and who are looking for a historical angle, will find this textbook quite informative. A strong opening chapter outlines the traditions and techniques of communications research, and then the book goes into a collection of influential studies. Some are quite famous, like the case study of the War of the Worlds panic or various government-sanctioned studies on the effects of TV on children. The authors do a good job of introducing each study and explaining its influences on communication theory, and that goes double for some studies that didn't even start out in the communications paradigm but had an unexpected influence, such as the study on diffusion of innovations among Iowa farmers. But those strong points can't quite hold up the entire book, as the writing style tends toward hyperbolic statements of importance, and the individual studies are so painstakingly explained that the book starts to appear extraneous, as one could just read the individual studies themselves and gain almost the same amount of knowledge. And finally, this book is docked one star due to the monstrously excessive retail price. This is a function of forced scarcity in the college textbook market. Paying that much for a paperback book with about 400 pages is beyond obscene. Buy a used copy, so at least you're giving a percentage back to some poor sap who already got soaked by the publisher. [~doomsdayer520~]
Informative This scholarly roadmap shows the path that has been taken by various writers from myriad perspectives. The milestone analogy is taken from ancient Roman times as a distance indication to travelers. This book seeks to do the same thing for mass communication scholars.
Chronologically various researchers and key projects are discussed and placed in historical context. Different elements of the communication model have been emphasized at various times in history. Furthermore, various media have been highlighted during different eras, e.g., sometimes film, other times radio, then later television.
This book provides an insightful overview of the field's development. Anyone interested in the cumulative growth of media studies as an academic area will find the plot to the story in this textbook.
An excellent summary text - good chronological review. I have been using this text for a number of years in undergraduate classes. It provides both an historical perspective to mass communication and a review of communication research methods. It can also be used to introduce students to mass communication theory.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
