Case analysis of inadequacies in the culture of "advocacy journalism by foundation-based researchers and academics." Documents flaws in the approach of a "senior policy analysis" employed by a conservative foundation to assess he effectiveness of the United Nations (in this case, the role of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN in advancing agricultural development.
16 pages., Via online journal., Expertise is dynamic, domain specific, and characterized according to an individual’s level of knowledge, experience, and problem-solving ability. Having expertise in the phenomenon under investigation can be used as an indicator of an individual’s aptitude to effectively serve as a coder in a content analysis or as panelist in a Delphi study. The purpose of this study was to assess 10 years of scholarship published in the premier journals of agricultural education and describe the ways researchers in agricultural communications, education, extension, and leadership disciplines who use content analysis and Delphi study methods are describing the qualifications of the people serving as expert coders and panelists. The study findings revealed the majority of researchers publishing in the premier agricultural education journals are not describing the qualifications used in selecting coders or the credentials the coders possess that would make them qualified to code the data in a content analysis. Furthermore, researchers were inconsistent citing literature that supported their selection of content analysis coders and citing literature to support a decision to describe or not to describe coders’ qualifications. However, a description of Delphi study panelists’ qualifications and citations to support why panelists were selected in a Delphi study were present in all of the Delphi studies analyzed over the 10-year period. Based on these findings, it was concluded that ACEEL researchers should include a description of coder credentials to enhance the consistency, transparency, replicability, rigor, and integrity of ACEEL research. Editors and research professionals who perform journal article reviews for the premier agricultural education journals are encouraged to note the exclusion of a description of content analysis coders’ credentials as part of the peer review process.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11827
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Printed pages in ACDC file include only the cover, abstract, citation details, and discussion section., Thesis in partial fulfillment of a Master's thesis, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas., The purpose of this study was to determine Texas Public Relations Association(TPRA) members' perception of the word agriculture and how that perception influences perceptions of the skills and qualifications of graduates from agricultural communications and journalism (AGCJ) programs. A researcher-developed electronic questionnaire was used for data collection. Of accessible population of 148 TPRA members, 83 responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 56.08%.This descriptive study found that TPRA members did not have a negative perception of agriculture or the AGCJ major, but there was a lack of awareness of the AGCJ major and respondents had low self-perceived agricultural knowledge. Writing, interpersonal skills, public relations, editing, and media relations were considered to be the five most important skills in the public relations profession; however, AGCJ graduates were perceived to be only somewhat competent in these skills. Respondents ranked AGCJ as seventh of eight majors according to how well prepared graduates were perceived to be for entry-level public relations positions. Results indicated a positive correlation between awareness of the AGCJ major and perception of the major; therefore, the lack of awareness influenced the less positive perception of the major.
