Students analyze topics such as libel, privacy, broadcast regulations and copyright. This course provides students with an understanding of research in general and survey research in particular. Theory is applied through emphasis on survey design, sampling, interviewing, tabulating and analysis of data. Under professional supervision in the field, students practice theories and skills learned in the classroom. This course includes the nature and role of public opinion, the dynamics of public opinion processes and the numerous factors which shape or influence opinions.
Students examine the mass media, evaluating their roles as molders and reflectors of public opinion.
Major topics which influence public opinion are discussed, including gratifications, agenda setting, knowledge gaps, censorship and propaganda. This course makes students aware of the relationship between language and human behavior and of the use and abuse of verbal and non-verbal language. It emphasizes meaning, the classifica tion and abstraction processes and the application of semantic principles to the language of literature, politics, advertising and prejudice. A writng intensive course that makes students aware of the relationship between language and human behavior and of the use and abuse of verbal and non-verbal language. It emphasizes meaning, the classifica tion and abstraction processes and the application of semantic principles to the language of literature, politics, advertising and prejudice.