Contemporary scholarship in public address: A research editorial

This essay considers some of the research currently being published in the area of public address and isolates several factors (anecdotal fixation, personality fixation, conceptual anomie, translation fallacies, taxonomical fascination, and tabloid scholarship) that keep some of that research from being all that it could be. The essay is an opinion piece. It does not constitute probative argument. Based on his own values and tastes (and some experience in the area of public address research), the author comments on the strengths and weaknesses of that research. By employing the editorial form, the author thereby invites continued discussion of these ideas.

Notes

An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, November, 1985, Denver, Colorado.