Articles and Chapters by W. Russell Neuman
The concern over rising tuition has led people to increasingly evaluate higher education in terms... more The concern over rising tuition has led people to increasingly evaluate higher education in terms of a return on investment. And that, in turn, has been a source of anxiety among faculty members, especially those in the humanities.
Could it be that tackling computer science or organic chemistry has a higher return in postgraduate salary trajectories than a major in French literature? Further, why is it that so many colleges and universities require that their undergraduates demonstrate some level of proficiency in a foreign language? This persisting language requirement for graduation piqued my curiosity. Typically any language qualifies for the requirement: Urdu, Navajo, Spanish and, in increasing popularity, American Sign Language. Yet the question remains whether the requisite student investment in foreign language proficiency matches up meaningfully with the intended intellectual outcomes.
The singularity identified in this paper is the cable-based Internet service provider as potentia... more The singularity identified in this paper is the cable-based Internet service provider as potentially the sole vendor capable of providing truly high speed broadband digital connectivity in the American context. The premise is that broadband IP replaces virtually all of its legacy competitors such as analog telephony and terrestrial broadcasting. This prospectively unchallenged chokepoint for political communication, advertising, entertainment and economic transactions could extract monopoly rents and distort otherwise open political processes. As minimally acceptable broadband throughputs escalate, the physical limitations of twisted-pair based digital subscriber loop technologies increasingly limit the incumbent telephone carrier as a meaningful competitor. Satellite-based IP service providers face equally if not even more daunting technical challenges in providing true broadband connectivity at scale. To avoid a return to the inflexibility of full tariff-based common carrier regulation of an inadvertent but potentially de facto monopolist, there remains one potential meaningful competitive technology for provision of broadband IP – terrestrial wireless, particularly the extension of uncapped cellular data into the marketplace for fixed provision. The particular advantage of such a model is the prospect of multiple carriers rather than monopoly or duopoly provision.
This analysis reviews the technical, economic, regulatory and political basis of the singularity proposition in more detail. These issues include: the hard-to-predict evolving marketplace definition of minimally acceptable broadband throughput, the potential spectral demands of wireless broadband provision at scale, increasingly efficient fourth and fifth generation high speed wireless modulation standards, the politics and economics of the current and prospective spectrum auctions, the possibility of driving fiber deeper into the cellular system, the special case of rural access, the shrinking distinction between fixed and mobile IP, and the ramifications of such market dynamics for network neutrality policy.
There are two particularly difficult impediments to a meaningful evolution of a marketplace for fixed wireless IP. The first is delicate market economics of wireless data caps. Most consumers consider cellular data and wireline-based Wi-Fi access as two different animals – one as billed by the bit and one by the month. The distinction, of course, is historical rather than technical and it may be hard to wean wireless providers from what are currently decidedly profitable schemes of data provision. The second is the realpolitik of incenting such major wireless players as Verizon and AT&T to, in effect, cannibalize their sunk-cost investments in wireline DSL.
The analysis concludes with a brief review of international experiments in competitive IP provision that might offer lessons for the American case and global regulatory models more generally.
September marked the tenth anniversary of the release of A Test of Leadership: Charting the Futur... more September marked the tenth anniversary of the release of A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of US Higher Education, the report of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, also known as the Spellings Commission. Blue ribbon panels rarely say much that is new or stimulate much sustained attention, but the Spellings report seemed to strike a chord and did a bit of both. In 2009, Stanford educational psychologist Richard Shavelson observed that the commission had spurred debate and prompted a variety of new initiatives to assess undergraduates’ learning and to “hold higher education accountable. The report’s central theme, on target then and perhaps even more significant now, proclaims that “to meet the challenges of the 21st century, higher education must change from a system primarily based on reputation to one based on performance.”
The literature of media effects is frequently characterized as a three-stage progression initiall... more The literature of media effects is frequently characterized as a three-stage progression initially embracing a theory of strong effects followed by a repudiation of earlier work and new model of minimal effects followed by yet another repudiation and a rediscovery of strong effects. We argue that although this dramatic and somewhat romantic simplification may be pedagogically useful in introductory courses, it may prove a significant impediment to further theoretical refinement and progress in advanced scholarship. We analyze the citation patterns of 20,736 scholarly articles in five communication journals with special attention to the 200 most frequently cited papers in an effort to provide an alternative six-stage model of, we argue, cumulative media effects theories for the period 1956-2005.
Researchers have used surveys and experiments to better understand communication dynamics, but co... more Researchers have used surveys and experiments to better understand communication dynamics, but confront consistent distortion from self-report data. But now both digital exposure and resulting expressive behaviors (such as tweets) are potentially accessible for direct analysis with important ramifications for the formulation of communication theory. We utilize " big data " to explore attention and framing in the traditional and social media for 29 political issues during 2012. We find agenda setting for these issues is not a one-way pattern from traditional media to a mass audience, but rather a complex and dynamic interaction. Although the attentional dynamics of traditional and social media are correlated, evidence suggests that the rhythms of attention in each respond to a significant degree to different drummers. McCombs and Shaw (1972) famously introduced their notion of media agenda-setting by quoting Cohen's (1963) epigram: " The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about. " " What to think " refers to the traditional paradigm of persuasion and attitude change research including the counterintuitive findings of generally low correlations between media exposure measures and attitude change (Klapper, 1960). But McCombs and Shaw added a new element focusing on " what to think about " —the analysis of the public agenda. In an intriguing exemplar of Kuhnian is the adjective derived from the name Thomas Kuhn (1962) which is included in the bib Kuhnian theoretical evolution (1962), they proposed a theoretical puzzle (modest evidence of media effects) and the basic elements of a methodology for resolving the puzzle (shifting the focus from public opinion and political preference to the " agenda " of important problems and issues). The resulting agenda-setting literature grew quickly and dramatically. McCombs (2004) in a recent review made note of the existence of over 400 agenda-setting studies. The basic causal model posits that correlations between aggregated measures of media issue coverage and public opinion survey measures of issue importance
The Information Society, 2012
(2) evolving forms of social networking represent a new manifestation of the two-step flow of com... more (2) evolving forms of social networking represent a new manifestation of the two-step flow of communication; and (3) although critical of partisan "yellers" in the media, individuals do not report cocooning with the like-minded or avoiding the voices of those with whom they disagree. We also find that skills in using digital media matter when it comes to people's attitudes and uses of the new opportunities afforded by them.
We analyzed anonymized copies of the complete reviewer comments for 120 recent submissions to the... more We analyzed anonymized copies of the complete reviewer comments for 120 recent submissions to the Journal of Communication and attempted to identify the scholarly ''sins'' and ''virtues'' most frequently mentioned by the reviewers and most closely associated with the decision to publish the submission. We assessed levels of interreviewer agreement and patterns of evaluation in different subfields of communication scholarship. An explicit connection to a clearly identified theoretical corpus and novel findings or perspectives proved to be the most important predictors of publication. We discuss the ramifications of these findings for the current state of communication research.
This study analyzes the increasing dominance of electronic media in the American media diet and a... more This study analyzes the increasing dominance of electronic media in the American media diet and a growing discrepancy between supply and demand in the digital cornucopia.
Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior, 2007
Journal of Communication, Dec 1, 1994
A three-way experimental design examined the relative power of visual, audio, and audiovisual tel... more A three-way experimental design examined the relative power of visual, audio, and audiovisual television messages on people's learning of and feelings about political issues. Evidence from these experiments showed that audio alone is just as effective as a combined audio and ...
Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior, 2007
In the late 19405 and early 19505 political scientists began to make use of large national survey... more In the late 19405 and early 19505 political scientists began to make use of large national surveys to develop empirical theories of American political behavior and political judgment. From scholars at Columbia University and the University of Michigan came what has come to be called the psychological model: a now well-known and widely accepted portrait describing public ignorance of the major candidates and where they stood with respect to the predominant issues of the day. Moreover, the psychological model advanced the claim that partisan voting decisions were derived from a robust reliance on partisanship, whereas the voting decisions of independents resulted from responsiveness to "short-term" forces (hence the colloquial name "swing voters").' The psychological model, more commonly called the "normal vote" model, best articulated in The American Voter (Campbell et al. '960), has often been taken as challenge to democracy. And although there have heen many attempts to recast these findings in a more positive light (Achen '975; Key and Cummings 1966; Mueller '999; Page and Shapiro '992; Stimson 2004), the challenge to the competence of the voters remains unchecked.
The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists testing
theories of technol... more The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists testing
theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a
medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content.
Current research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains:
1) inequality (the "digital divide"); 2) community and social capital; 3) political participation;
4) organizations and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation
and cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the Internet tends to
complement rather than displace existing media and patterns of behavior. Thus in each
domain, utopian claims and dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical
possibilities have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations, and reinforces
particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain the ultimate social implications
of this new technology depend on economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping
the Internet as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings on individual user behavior
with macroscopic analyses of institutional and political-economic factors that
constrain that behavior.
Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation, 1999
This chapter will briefly review eight spectrum skirmishes that precede and parallel the 1996 Ame... more This chapter will briefly review eight spectrum skirmishes that precede and parallel the 1996 American DTV spectrum decision. We outline the general political and economic contours of these battles and conclude that regulators and lawmakers are at a distinct disadvantage in trying to promote competition, flexibility and a digital paradigm shift against the arrayed forces of incumbent spectrum users. In
Political Communication, 1993
We argue that there exists a critical opportunity for independent communications policy research ... more We argue that there exists a critical opportunity for independent communications policy research to make a difference and to anticipate and facilitate a paradigm shift in telecommunications regulation.
Communication in the Future of Democracy, 2000
Public Opinion Quarterly, Jan 1, 1982
Public Opinion Quarterly, Jan 1, 1976
Employing a specially designed survey experiment with a large sample size and extensive measureme... more Employing a specially designed survey experiment with a large sample size and extensive measurement batteries, we examine and contrast the roles played by personality traits and emotional states in shaping political attention, openness to new ideas, and an inclination toward cooperation. Of particular concern is the possibility that the evident emotional effects on citizens' information processing might be a proxy for underlying and unexamined personality traits. The study utilizes a simulated news story on terrorist threats and assesses emotional reactions and choices about political attention, steadfastness of views, and an inclination toward compromise. We find that extant personality traits do play a role in patterns of political response, but controlling for those effects does not reduce or reverse the predicted emotional state effects predicted by Affective Intelligence Theory.
Public Opinion Quarterly, Jan 1, 1990
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Articles and Chapters by W. Russell Neuman
Could it be that tackling computer science or organic chemistry has a higher return in postgraduate salary trajectories than a major in French literature? Further, why is it that so many colleges and universities require that their undergraduates demonstrate some level of proficiency in a foreign language? This persisting language requirement for graduation piqued my curiosity. Typically any language qualifies for the requirement: Urdu, Navajo, Spanish and, in increasing popularity, American Sign Language. Yet the question remains whether the requisite student investment in foreign language proficiency matches up meaningfully with the intended intellectual outcomes.
This analysis reviews the technical, economic, regulatory and political basis of the singularity proposition in more detail. These issues include: the hard-to-predict evolving marketplace definition of minimally acceptable broadband throughput, the potential spectral demands of wireless broadband provision at scale, increasingly efficient fourth and fifth generation high speed wireless modulation standards, the politics and economics of the current and prospective spectrum auctions, the possibility of driving fiber deeper into the cellular system, the special case of rural access, the shrinking distinction between fixed and mobile IP, and the ramifications of such market dynamics for network neutrality policy.
There are two particularly difficult impediments to a meaningful evolution of a marketplace for fixed wireless IP. The first is delicate market economics of wireless data caps. Most consumers consider cellular data and wireline-based Wi-Fi access as two different animals – one as billed by the bit and one by the month. The distinction, of course, is historical rather than technical and it may be hard to wean wireless providers from what are currently decidedly profitable schemes of data provision. The second is the realpolitik of incenting such major wireless players as Verizon and AT&T to, in effect, cannibalize their sunk-cost investments in wireline DSL.
The analysis concludes with a brief review of international experiments in competitive IP provision that might offer lessons for the American case and global regulatory models more generally.
theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a
medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content.
Current research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains:
1) inequality (the "digital divide"); 2) community and social capital; 3) political participation;
4) organizations and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation
and cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the Internet tends to
complement rather than displace existing media and patterns of behavior. Thus in each
domain, utopian claims and dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical
possibilities have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations, and reinforces
particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain the ultimate social implications
of this new technology depend on economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping
the Internet as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings on individual user behavior
with macroscopic analyses of institutional and political-economic factors that
constrain that behavior.
Could it be that tackling computer science or organic chemistry has a higher return in postgraduate salary trajectories than a major in French literature? Further, why is it that so many colleges and universities require that their undergraduates demonstrate some level of proficiency in a foreign language? This persisting language requirement for graduation piqued my curiosity. Typically any language qualifies for the requirement: Urdu, Navajo, Spanish and, in increasing popularity, American Sign Language. Yet the question remains whether the requisite student investment in foreign language proficiency matches up meaningfully with the intended intellectual outcomes.
This analysis reviews the technical, economic, regulatory and political basis of the singularity proposition in more detail. These issues include: the hard-to-predict evolving marketplace definition of minimally acceptable broadband throughput, the potential spectral demands of wireless broadband provision at scale, increasingly efficient fourth and fifth generation high speed wireless modulation standards, the politics and economics of the current and prospective spectrum auctions, the possibility of driving fiber deeper into the cellular system, the special case of rural access, the shrinking distinction between fixed and mobile IP, and the ramifications of such market dynamics for network neutrality policy.
There are two particularly difficult impediments to a meaningful evolution of a marketplace for fixed wireless IP. The first is delicate market economics of wireless data caps. Most consumers consider cellular data and wireline-based Wi-Fi access as two different animals – one as billed by the bit and one by the month. The distinction, of course, is historical rather than technical and it may be hard to wean wireless providers from what are currently decidedly profitable schemes of data provision. The second is the realpolitik of incenting such major wireless players as Verizon and AT&T to, in effect, cannibalize their sunk-cost investments in wireline DSL.
The analysis concludes with a brief review of international experiments in competitive IP provision that might offer lessons for the American case and global regulatory models more generally.
theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a
medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content.
Current research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains:
1) inequality (the "digital divide"); 2) community and social capital; 3) political participation;
4) organizations and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation
and cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the Internet tends to
complement rather than displace existing media and patterns of behavior. Thus in each
domain, utopian claims and dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical
possibilities have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of
how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations, and reinforces
particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain the ultimate social implications
of this new technology depend on economic, legal, and policy decisions that are shaping
the Internet as it becomes institutionalized. Sociologists need to study the Internet
more actively and, particularly, to synthesize research findings on individual user behavior
with macroscopic analyses of institutional and political-economic factors that
constrain that behavior.
In the digital age, fundamental beliefs about privacy and identity are subject to change, as is the formal legal basis of freedom of expression. Will it be possible to maintain a vibrant and open marketplace of ideas? In W. Russell Neuman’s analysis, the marketplace metaphor does not signal that money buys influence, but rather just the opposite—that the digital commons must be open to all ideas so that the most powerful ideas win public attention on their merits rather than on the taken-for-granted authority of their authorship.
Technologies by their nature do not cause freedom nor do they limit it. Technologies are embedded in a complex set of cultural expectations and institutions as well as regulatory and legal principles. Fear of the “communication effects” of “bad ideas” is the enemy of free speech. Neuman traces the digital difference from the era of propaganda studies and concerns about Big Brother to issues of information overload and the core policy debate about Internet network neutrality.