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BEGINNING FROM AN OPERATIONAL COMMUNICATION MODEL OF MASS COMMUNICATION RESEARCH & PERSUASION STRATEGY, A POLITICAL PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN CONDUCTED AFTER AN UNEXPECTED DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT IS ANALYZED. THE UNEXPECTED CHARACTER OF THE DISSOLUTION CARRIES SEVERAL PROBLEMS OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGY: (1) THE BASIC DATA OF THE MARKETING SITUATION ARE DEFICIENT, (2) THE DELIMITATION (WITH PRIORITIES) OF TARGET AUDIENCES IS PROBLEMATIC, & (3) THE CHOICE OF MANIPULATIVE VARIABLES BECOMES A MATTER OF PURE EXPERIENCE. IN THIS CONTEXT, THE CAMPAIGNS IN THE LAST PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN BELGIUM ARE ANALYZED. A NORMAL LINK EMERGED TO THE ACTUAL SOCIAL & CULTURAL PROBLEMS IN BELGIAN SOCIETY AS DID ORIENTATION TO A LARGE & HETEROGENEOUS AUDIENCE. HOWEVER, A LACK OF THEME CENTRALITY IN THE PROPAGANDA WAS ALSO EVIDENT. THE PROPOSED OPERATIONAL MODEL SEEMS TO BE A USEFUL COMPLEMENT TO THE CLASSICAL LISTS OF PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS IN PROPAGANDA LITERATURE. 1 FIGURE. MODIFIED HA.

A symposium discussing the quality of political reporting in Belgium & the Netherlands. Peter Van Aelst (U of Leiden) introduces the discussants & explains the rationale behind selecting these individuals as participants in this debate. Herman van Gunsteren (emeritus, U of Leiden) summarizes the theses & views originally expounded in the monograph, coauthored with C. Habbema, Perspectief op het politiek-publicitair complex in 2009 ([A Perspective on the Political-Journalistic Complex of 2009] Amsterdam: Van Gennep, 2009). In his reply, Frits Bloemendaal (Geassocieerde Pers Diensten [Associated Press Services]) notes the limited applicability of Van Gunsteren's study confined to the political scene in the Hague & contests his optimistic observations on the critical distance the press maintains vis-a-vis politics in the Low Countries. Bloemendaal wonders if in the present-day communication war & era of spin doctors, the press is still able to play the role of an impartial reporter of Dutch & Belgian politics; he notes the dangers of the growing grip by government agencies, political parties, & politicians over the news media motivated by controlling what & how is reported to the public. The second reaction to Van Gunsteren's position comes from Marc Hooghe (Catholic U of Leuven) who although acknowledges the benefit of transparency when journalists scrutinize politicians' actions, points out to several episodes of a cozy relationship between Dutch journalists & politicians/political parties & worries over the undue influence that ideologically colored or biased political reporting may exert on voters' decisions & perception of the political process. Hooghe observes that to survive & become financially viable businesses, many newspapers resort to sensationalism & hype to attract readership at the expense of objective & insightful reporting of "boring" political news. In closing, Van Aelst summarizes & comments on the discussants' views. Z. Dubiel

Communication between political elites & the general public is suffering from information overload. The best way to remedy the problem is to improve political language. Ideology is the most 'rational' political language available: it carries information about elite decision making at a relatively modest cost. Three questions are considered: (1) Do the decisionmakers have an ideology? (2) If 'yes,' is it instrumental in the decision-making process? (3) If 'yes,' why does this ideological factor rarely reach the public? The last two questions are considered from a formal viewpoint. It is shown that ideology can be important in the private decision-making forum & disappear when the elites address the public. The private forum is dominated by the need for policy output & by the necessity for coalition formation. The adaptation of ideology to this situation depends on its articulation degree & on the coalition-formation type. Generally, the salience aspect of ideology is less likely to suffer than its position aspect. The public forum is dominated by the needs for recruiting support & legitimizing proposals. Ideology is generally too costly a device to be used for these purposes. HA.

The present article discusses the value of anonymous political discussions for everyone who is interested in public opinion, researchers, politicians and journalists. Anonymity is stated to be an essential component, since a lot of disadvantages of conventional opinion polls expose rather the opinion of the masses, rather than that of the public, and are thus less relevant. Compared with a hare freezing in the spotlight, many respondents to political surveys repeat loudly expressed opinions. The authors claim that polls should be connected to moments of informing of the public, and discussing with them, following the alternative of "deliberative polling" described by Fishkin. References. O. van Zijl

Communication between physicians and patients with a chronic illness – video observational research
To be able to influence the patient's behavior in a constructive way, it is important for physicians to have good communication skills and view the disorder from the patient's perspective. The knowledge that the patient acquires through his or her own experience with the chronic illness, the physician needs to be able to understand the patient well, and to discuss and draw up a treatment plan effectively. This communication is even more important for people with a chronic illness, because they have a long-term and sometimes intensive relationship with the physician, while the perceived disease burden is high. This video observational research shows where the physicians have a good idea of ​​the patient's life and where they don't.

@Malinowski, do you have ping?
@Malinowski, do you have ping?
Due to the fact that lives of respondents increasingly take place online, 'being there' and participating in everyday life has changed. Based on ongoing research, this article examines new and additional possibilities provided by technological developments in the field of digital communication in collecting data. In addition to focusing on offline practices, the use of digital communication, such as BlackBerry 'ping' and social media like Twitter, provides opportunities to incorporate the online practices of respondents during fieldwork.

Samenvatting
In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op de verschillende online kwalitatieve onderzoeksinstrumenten in marktonderzoek en de waarde van computer mediated communication (CMC) ten opzichte van face to face (FTF) communicatie. Ook wordt uiteengezet op welke manier de methode van het online forum het beste kan worden ingezet.

Palliative care in the picture?!
This article describes a video-based observation research method to investigate the approach of healthcare professionals in a Dutch hospital when identifying palliative patients. We analyzed video recordings of eight multidisciplinary consultation meetings of four medical disciplines: cardiology, oncology, urology and geriatric care. The method of video-based observation suited the aim of this research. The most valuable aspects were the subtleties (e.g. non-verbal information) in interdisciplinary communication about palliative patients.

In a globalized world the "foreign" aspect is getting more and more important. Despite the much talked about pros and cons, this also means that a number of unforeseen challenges should be met. Karel De Gucht, Belgium's Minister of Foreign Affairs, proposes ten theses regarding preparation and coordination of policies, civic service, communication and public diplomacy, qualification and education of its personal, a network of posts abroad, supportive material and services (informatics and security mainly). References. O. van Zijl