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Preface | |
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For Students | |
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For Faculty | |
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Acknowledgements | |
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Prologue: Welcome to Communication Research: Finding your Path | |
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Comments on a Conversation | |
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Questions About Communication | |
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Questions About Communication Research | |
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Generalizations About Communication Research | |
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Closing Thought | |
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Getting Started: Possibilities and Decisions | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Some Research Possibilities: What Can We Do With an Ad | |
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A Series of Unavoidable Decisions | |
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Problem Posing, Problem Solving, Peer Persuasion | |
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Ethics Panel: A Health Communication Dilemma | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Research Example: Three Views of Pharmaceutical Advertising | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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First Decisions: What, Why, How? | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Starting With The "What" Question: Ideas and Observations | |
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Starting With The "Why" Question: Goals and Values | |
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Starting With The "How" Question: Methods And Epistemologies | |
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Starting With A World View: Basic Beliefs | |
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Starting With The Work Of Others | |
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Firming Up Questions | |
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Questioning the Questions | |
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Starting With No Questions | |
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Ethics Panel: Do Some Research Methods Require More Ethical Decisions Than Others? | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Ethics: Your Responsiblities as a Researcher | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction: Some Ethical Decisions | |
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Issues in Commmunication Research | |
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Some Classic Ethical Positions | |
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Contemporary Codes of Ethics | |
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Regulations | |
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Peer Review and Institutional Review Boards | |
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What Should I Call You? The Ethics of Involvement | |
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Ethics Panel: Tainted Data and Deception | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Viewing | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Reading Research: To Boldly Go Where Others Have Gone Before | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Library Research: Why Bother? | |
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Finding Relevance: Finding Quality | |
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Databases Versus Search Engines | |
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Scholarly, Popular and Trade Publications | |
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How Will I Know a Scholarly Article When I See One? | |
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Primary Versus Secondary Sources | |
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The Champagne Model Of Bibliographic Research | |
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How Can The Library Of Congress Help My Literature Search? | |
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Other Resources | |
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How To Be Skeptical About Information, Especially Web Information | |
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Mr Boole and The Three Bears | |
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Saving Your Search Results | |
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Writing Your Search Results: The Literature Review | |
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APA(American Psychological Association) Style | |
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Ethics Panel: Politics And Publication | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Measurement: Research Using Numbers | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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What Do Your Head Size, Attitudes And Readability Have In Common? | |
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An Introduction To Scales | |
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Research Noir | |
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To Noir Is Not Enough: Reliability And Validity | |
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Reliability | |
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Validity | |
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Two Common Measurement Scales | |
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Ethics Panel: The Ethics Of Measurement Scales | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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References | |
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Statistics: Analyzing Your Numbers | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction | |
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Describing Data: Descriptive Statistics | |
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Z-Score: The Apples And Oranges Statistic | |
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Generalizing From Data: Inferential Statistics | |
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Confidence Level and Sample Size | |
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Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate Statistics | |
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Testing For Differences and Relationships | |
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Ethics Panel: A Communicative Tension | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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Sampling: Who, What and How Many? | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction | |
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Non-Probability Sampling | |
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Probability Sampling | |
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How Big A Sample Do I Need? | |
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Method and Method Issues In Sampling | |
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Ethics Panel: Checking The Ethics Of Survey Research | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Surveys: Putting Numbers on Opinions | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys | |
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Types Of Surveys | |
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Writing Questions | |
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Question Formats | |
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Survey Wording | |
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Specific Survey Methods | |
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Improving Survey Response Rates | |
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Capturing and Processing Survey Data | |
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Using Other People?s Surveys | |
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Ethics Panel: Clients and Methods As Ethical Decisions | |
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Research In Practice: Using Telephone Surveys To Assess The Image Of A Hospital | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Experiments: Researching Cause and Effect | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages Of Experiments | |
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Causality | |
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Field Experiments and Ex Post Facto Designs | |
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Basic Experimental Design | |
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Designing For Control | |
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Designing For Random Assignment | |
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Time Series Analysis | |
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Factorial Designs | |
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Between Subjects and Within Subjects Design | |
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Validity and Experimental Design | |
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Ethics Panel: Two Famous and Controversial Experiments | |
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Research In Practice: After-School Time Activities | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Observation: Watching and Listening for In-Depth Understanding | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Watching and Listening | |
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Getting Started | |
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Basic Researcher-Participant Relationships | |
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Interviews | |
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Focus Groups | |
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Unobtrusive Watching | |
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Other Methods | |
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Making Sense Of Qualitative Data | |
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Ethics Panel: In Which a Professor Becomes a Student | |
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Research In Practice: Promoting Clean Energy | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Content Analysis: Understanding Text and Image | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Analysis | |
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An Exercise In Content Analysis | |
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Interaction Analysis | |
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Conversation Analysis | |
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Rhetorical and Dramatistic Analyses | |
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Semiotics | |
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Narrative, Discourse and Critical Analyses | |
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Ethics Panel: Could Analyzing Media Content Result In Harm? | |
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Research In Practice: Reaching Out To Hispanics Living With Paralysis | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Writing Research: Sharing Your Results | |
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Chapter Overview | |
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Starter Questions | |
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Introduction | |
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The Writing Process | |
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Writing For Scholarly Publics: The Importance of Style | |
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Presenting For Scholarly Publics: Papers and Panels | |
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Writing For Other Publics: Interest Groups and News Media | |
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Professor Tom Writes a Checklist | |
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The Ethics Of Style And Accuracy | |
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Ethics Panel: Balancing Between Scholarly and Popular Writing | |
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Research in Practice: An Analysis of Online Press Rooms in Leading | |
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Companies Around the World | |
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Chapter Summary | |
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Recommended Reading | |
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Recommended Web Resources | |
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References | |
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Glossary | |