Degree Name

BA

Department

Communications

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Publication Date

1998-02-02

First Faculty Advisor

Scott C. Hammond

Honors Coordinator

Susan Easton Black

Keywords

observation and interview methodology, newsroom visit notation system, structured multi-round interviews

Abstract

Most of the information documented in this paper is from my observation and interview journals (see Works Cited page). A notation such as "Visit 6.1" denotes the first visit done in the sixth week of the semester, and one such as "Visit 7.2" means the second visit in the seventh week. There is no numerical correspondence to days of the week; I varied the days and times of my visits to capture a more holistic understanding of the newsroom. The parenthetical references following the "Visit" annotations should clarify this. (For example, Visit 1.1 (Monday, 8 September 1997) differs from Visit 5.1 (Tuesday, 7 Ocotber 1997)).

In regards to interviews, a citation such as "A. 11, ?#14" reads, "First round of interviews, the eleventh one conducted, question number 14." Correspondingly, "B.4, ?#8-9" says, "Second round of interviews, the fourth one conducted, questions number eight and nine."

In total, there were fourteen weeks of continuous observations with at least two visits per week, sixteen first round interviews, and nine second round interviews. Of the nine second-round interviews, seven were follow-up ones to trace changes and two were new for experimental purposes.

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