This study examined organizational and professional identification among a group of professional employees-the journalists at one daily metropolitan newspaper. It used two kinds of data to compare identification with these two targets and, further, to examine the relationships between identifications, autonomy, and job satisfaction. Survey results revealed significantly higher identification with the profession of journalism than with the journalists' employing newspaper. Journalists' accounts in individual interviews and the researcher's observation of on-the-job talk provided the context for interpreting the quantitative results. Accounts and observations contributed explanations for the blurred boundaries between the targets found in the survey results. In addition, the qualitative data demonstrated the role of anticipatory and vocational socialization and work group demographics in the identifications of this group.

The cocial construction of mobile telephony: an application of the social influence model to perceptions and uses of mobile phones within personal communication networks, Communication Monographs, 70:4, 317-334,

No abstract

Twenty counties in Kansas were randomly selected from those designated as rural on the basis of their populations. A sample of 356 physicians and physicians' assistants in these counties was chosen. A postal survey was sent to the identified providers up to three times. One hundred and eighty-six of the questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 52%). In all, 76% of the respondents were physicians, 76% were men and 42% were family practitioners. Practitioners were classified as adopters or non-adopters of telemedicine, based on their report of whether they had ever referred one or more patients for a health-care consultation via telemedicine. Of the 167 participants who marked this item, 30 (18%) were adopters and 137 (82%) were non-adopters. Among the adopters, 16 (53%) said that they expected to use telemedicine with about the same frequency or more often in the future. In contrast, 61 (45%) non-adopters reported that they did not expect to refer patients by telemedicine in the future and 51 (37%) were unsure. Neither age (r = 0.16, P = 0.44) nor gender (chi2 = 2.35, P = 0.13) was related to the adoption variable or the number of referrals made to telemedicine clinics. The results suggest that adopters and non-adopters of telemedicine perceive its value very differently, and that an opportunity exists to promote the concept to non-adopters more effectively.

This investigation of student perceptions of mediated presence in an online college class yielded two key findings. First, perceptions of the instructor's mediated presence were significantly higher than perceptions of the other students' presence. Second, students identified a set of communication behaviors that influenced their perceptions of whether other participants in the class were "real" or present: frequency of interaction, responsiveness, use of non-verbal communication channels, and participants' tone or communication style. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.