Journalese and Constructese : an idiographic study of community editors' matrix of decisions

Date

4-1994

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Development Communication

College

College of Development Communication (CDC)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Antonio G. Moran

Abstract

This study attempted to explore community editors' personal thought systems in order to understand better the genesis of their actions. It tried to test the heuristic value of the Personal Construct Theory and its accompanying method, the repertory grid technique, as an alternative approach for inquiring into how the work of community editors are guided by their formal training and practical experience. An idiographic research design was used to delve into an editor's idiosyncratic considerations that lie behind specific decisions and actions. The research design was developed in terms of elements of the grid and the technique in eliciting constructs. An unobstructive means of eliciting constructs was done by letting each editor reflect on 10 randomly selected articles that came out in an issue of their respective newspaper. The editors were also asked to rate these articles in terms of their news values.The interviews were content analyzed in terms of the professional and private constructs that each editor retrospectively considered in the process of putting out an issue of a newspaper. Data analysis through clustering and focusing of the constructs did not prove adequate to find any clear pattern of relationships between how the professional and private constructs were applied in editorial decisions. However, digressions from the ideal laddering procedure gave some ideas about situational and social-structural factors that may have had some bearing on an editor's decision-making. These factors should also be given more attention by other researchers. In follow-up studies, more attention should be given by researchers to the laddering interview. An interview guide should be devised to reduce the gaps primarily due to the intricate analysis demanded by the theory itself.

Language

English

LC Subject

Editors -- Philippines Personal construct theory Journalism

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 993.5 1994 D46 A25

Document Type

Thesis

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