CHILDREN S CHOICES: A COMPARISON OF BOOK PREFERENCES BETWEEN HISPANIC AND NON-HISPANIC FIRST-GRADERS

This report describes a study of book preferences among 190 first graders. Students were exposed to nine different, high-quality, picture books of various genres (including multicultural texts) and asked to select one to own. A mixed subgroup of students had the texts read to them during read aloud sessions, but the majority made selections based on surface-level text structures. Results indicate that Hispanic and non-Hispanic students were more alike than different in their preferences. An overwhelming majority selected informational, rather than narrative books. This finding counters notions that young readers prefer stories and desire books that mirror them in culturally pertinent ways.     

A Dual-Capacity Model of Communication Media Choice in Organizations

Most previous research concerning communication media choke in organizations has stressed the capacity of media to convey data. More recently, scholars have examined the capacity of media to convey and manifest meaning. Rarely have both functions been considered concurrently. In this artcle, a model is proposed that not only permits the simultaneous examination of these two functions but reflects that media use is influenced by characteristics of the task, individual and organizational capability constraints, and normative factors. By exploring the implications of this expanded dual-capacity perspective, a more encompassing theory of the determinants of communkation media use in organizations is proposed.     

Interpersonal Versus Mass Media Communication A False Dichotomy

We challenge the intellectual separation of interpersonal and mass media communication, arguing that this division of communication research rests primarily on grounds of historical convenience and university politics. There is little theoretical justification for the dichotomous division of our field, yet we provide evidence that communication scholars seldom cross-cite research articles between the two subdisciplines, rarely attend scientific conferences in ways that span this distinction, and often are segregated in separate university departments. The intellectual costs of this division are discussed, and possible means of furthering intellectual exchange between the two subdisciplines are discussed.