Review of McCombs' on Agenda-Setting, Entman on Framing

Two relatively recent books by prominent names in political communication attempt to consolidate theory around core ideas in our field: agenda-setting and framing. These are two books definitely worth owning as new and prospective scholars in political communication, and the Entman book at least is likely to be a seminal work in its influence, if it hasn't achieved that status already.

Two reviews published this year in Mass Communication & Society deal with these books, and are worth reading, especially the Pan review.

Also, I should mention that some students have found useful Katherine Kramer Walsh's book on political discussion, and a review by Gamson can be found in the latest issue of Public Opinion Quarterly.

Setting the Agenda: The News Media and Public Opinion (Paperback)
by Maxwell McCombs

Projections of Power : Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion) (Paperback)
by Robert M. Entman


Reviews in:

Entman
Mass Communication & Society
Volume: 8, Number: 4 2005

McCombs
Mass Communication & Society
Volume: 8, Number: 2 2005

Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Survey Research

This is a 23-hour program created in 2000 to provide any OSU student enrolled in any graduate program an opportunity to earn a credential in the field of survey research. Upon completing the GIS the graduate school will attach a note on your official transcript indicating that you have completed the program and you will receive an official certificate from the program. There are 13 participating departments across five colleges and I hope to recruit a couple more in the coming year.

The program consists only three required courses: Survey Sampling, Questionnaire Construction, and a Practicum. There are also two electives that you can choose from a wide variety of courses across the university. One list deals with methodological courses dealing with some aspect of survey research. The other contains courses that use the results of survey research in substantial ways. As prerequisites you are expected to have completed a statistics sequence that includes multiple regression.

Two of the three required courses will be offered in Winter Quarter 2006: Survey Sampling [Stan Lemeshow, Public Health and Statistics] and Questionnaire Construction [Tom Nelson, Political Science]. Professor Herb Weisberg will once again teach the Practicum in Spring 2006. As many of you know, Professor Weisberg has just published a new book that he developed as the curriculum for his class:

Weisberg, H.F. (2005). The Total Survey Error Approach: A Guide to the New Science of Survey Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

An application for the GIS can be found online at
http://www.csr.ohio-state.edu/GradStudy-Specialization_files/InfoForms.htm

The list of electives will be updated soon. Note that Public Opinion [Comm 813] offered in Winter Quarter will be an allowable elective.

Dean Paul Beck has recently asked me to be the coordinator of this program. If you have questions or need additional information, please let me know.

political theory colloquium

Political Science sponsors a colloquium devoted to political theory that might be of interest to some COPS members (topics include social theory, justice, responsibility and other philosophical/theoretical issues). They also invite talks from other depts.

http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/intranet/poltheory/index.htm

What's your factor?

Interesting article from the Chronicle of Higher Education about the use and abuse of impact factors in academic journals:

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=
lnc2a8tjvx0k9yaug62pzknvyr2714s

Weekend Web Browsing

Here's another site for you to waste time on -- if you're interested in knowing things like who the public wants, Rudy or Hillary, for president in 2008...

http://www.pollingreport.com/

OSU Powerpoint Template for Presentations

The university has some Powerpoint templates that you might consider using to brand and jazz up your presentations at professional conferences. The link is http://www.osu.edu/identity/downloads.php
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