Suchergebnisse

"Using focus groups and survey data, Schildkraut develops a model of public conceptions of what it means to be American and demonstrates the complex ways in which people draw on these conceptions when forming and explaining their views. In so doing she illustrates how focus group methodology can help yield vital new insights into opinion formation."--Jacket

5 An Understanding of the Fundamentals of Public Motivation Is Necessary to the Work of the Public Relations Counsel6 The Group and Herd Are the Basic Mechanisms of Public Change; 7 The Application of These Principles; Part III: Technique and Method; 1 The Public Can Be Reached Only Through Established Mediums of Communication; 2 The Interlapping Group Formations of Society, the Continuous Shifting of Groups, Changing Conditions and the Flexibility of Human Nature Are All Aids to the Counsel on Public Relations; 3 An Outline of Methods Practicable in Modifying the Point of View of a Group

Central to the study is the relevance of media actors as actors in civil society for the European integration process. This relevance is empirically assessed, making use of a selection of print media from two founding members of the European Union, Germany and the Netherlands, analysing the path-dependency of journalistic coverage and reporting along two questions: Is the focus on and evaluation of the "European Project" and its different aspects in Germany and the Netherlands alike, or does it differ? How do traditional political and societal perspectives affect opinion formation in the media? The country comparison draws on the neo-institutional school of thought. The large corpus of newspaper content (articles and commentary) has been assessed quantitatively as well as qualitatively searching for major issues, motives, and discourses in temporal perspective. The last major treaties of the European integration process, the so called Constitutional Treaty and Reform Treaty, serve as temporal starting and endpoint for analysis.

During the last two decades, a decline in public investment has undermined some of the national values and institutions of Costa Rica. The resulting sense of dislocation and loss is usually projected onto Nicaraguan "immigrants." Threatening Others: Nicaraguans and the Formation of National Identities in Costa Rica explores the representation of the Nicaraguan "other" in the Costa Rican imagery. It also seeks to address more generally why the sense of national belonging constitutes a crucial identification in contemporary societies. Interdisciplinary and based on extensive fieldwork, it loo