A survey of certain audience attitudes toward commonly taught standards of public speaking

105 Pages·04.054 MB·English

by  Clark, William Keith

A SURVEY OF CERTAIN AUDIENCE ATTITUDES TOWARD
COMMONLY TAUGHT STANDARDS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Speech
University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
by
William Keith Clark
June 1950
UMI Number: EP66024
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This thesis, written by
.WXLL.IAM....XEXTE....GLARK
under the guidance of h..iB.. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
...11LM.. 1350.
Date.
Faculty Committee
ifc &,JuUtA
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The writer wishes to express his sincere appreciation
to Professor Redding for suggestion of the problem and for
valuable direction during the investigation. The writer
also wishes to thank the other members of the committee,
Dr. Milton Dickens and Dr. William B. McCoard, for their
interest and helpful guidance throughout this period of
graduate study.
The writer also wishes to express his gratitude to
the members of the following organizations for their kind
cooperation: ’’The Filibusters Club;"- the Lions Club,
University Park group; the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, #99; Kiwanis International, University Park group;
"Toastmistresses International," Wilshire group; the Inter-
Fraternity Mothers Club of the University of Southern
California; the Junior Guild of the South Gate, California,
Christian Church; and Alpha Pi Omega.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION .................................... 1
Definition of effective public speaking . . . 1
Definition of standards of effective
public speaking ............................. 3
Statement of purpose . . ................... 3
Significance of the study ................... 4
Methods and procedures ....................... 7
Preview of remaining chapters ............... 10
II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE....................... 12
Rating scale studies in general ............. 12
Closely related studies ..................... 16
Summary....................................... 24
III. SURVEY OF T E X T S ................................ 25
The textbooks surveyed and the results
of the survey.............................. 26
Comparison of “essential” classifications
with rating scale criteria ................. 34
Bryan-Wilke Scale........................ • . . 35
Purdue Speech Rating Scale ................... 35
Knower’s scale................................ 36
Norvelle’s scale.............. 36
Stevens’ scale ................................ 36
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
Henrikson’s scale ........................... 36
Summary of Chapter I I I ................. 36
IV, CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE 39
Construction of theq uestionnaire ............ 40
Question I .................................... 40
Question I I .................................. 42
Question I I I .................................. 44
Application of questionnaire ................. 44
Respondents..................... 44
Procedures................................. 45
Summary of Chapter I V ................... 46
V. PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA . . 47
Over-all summary .............. • , . 47
Question I ................................ . 47
Question I I ............................ 50
Question I I I ............................ 52
Results by sexes.......................... 52
Question I .............................. 52
Question I I ............................. 5^
Question I I I ............................... 5^
Results by age g r o u p s ................... 59
Question I ................. 59
Question I I ............................ 61
Question I I I ............................ 65
CHAPTER PAGE
A comparison of the questionnaire results
with the textbook survey results ........ 68
Summary of the textbook survey results * * 68
Summary of the questionnaire results . . . 70
Comparison............................ JO
Summary.............. - . . 75
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . ............ 79
Summary.................................... 79
Conclusions............... ............... 82
Suggestions for further research .......... 84
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ 8j
APPENDIX A......... 92
APPENDIX B....................................... 94
APPENDIX C....................................... 95
APPENDIX D.......................... ................. 96
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi
FIGURE PAGE
I. "Essential" Ratings, by Textbooks and Audiences,
of Fourteen Possible Characteristics of
Effective Public Speaking ................... 73
TABLE
I. First, Second, and Third Place Rankings of
Eight Well Known Speakers..................
II. "Essential, " "Doubtful, " "Not Essential, "
"Least Essential," and "Most Essential"
Ratings for Fourteen Possible Character­
istics of Effective Public Speaking ........ 51
III. First, Second, and Third Place Rankings,
by Sexes, of Eight Well Known Speakers . . . 53
IV. "Doubtful," and "Not Essential" Ratings,
by Sexes, for Fourteen Possible Charac­
teristics of Effective Public Speaking . . . 55
"Least Essential" and "Most Essential"
Ratings, by Sexes, for Fourteen Possible
Characteristics of Effective Public
Speaking..................................... 56
VI. Characteristics Most Frequently Rated
in Each of Four Categories: "Most
Essential," "Doubtful," "Not Essen­
tial , " and "Least Essential................. 5$
vii
TABLE PAGE
VII. First, Second, and Third Place Rankings,
hy Age Groups, of Eight Well Known
Speakers................................. . . 60
VIII. "Doubtful" and "Not Essential" Ratings,
by Age Groups, for Fourteen Possible
Characteristics of Effective Public
Speaking.................................. 62
IX. "Doubtful" and "Not Essential" Ratings,
by Sexes in Each Age Group, of Four­
teen Possible Characteristics of Effec­
tive Public Speaking ....................... 63
X. nLeast Essential" and "Most Essential"
Ratings, by Age Groups, for Fourteen
Possible Characteristics of Effective
Public Speaking ........................... 66
XT. "Least Essential" and "Most Essential"
Ratings, by Sexes in Each Age Group,
for Fourteen Possible Characteristics
of Effective Public Speaking ............... 67
XII. Characteristics Most Frequently Rated, by
Age Groups, in Each of Four Categories:
"Most Essential," "Doubtful," "Not Essen­
tial, " and "Least Essential" ............... 69
viii
TABLE PAGE
XIII. “Essential“ Ratings, by Textbooks and
Audiences, of Fourteen Possible Char­
acteristics of Effective Public Speaking . . . . 72
XIV. Comparison: “Most Essential11 Ratings with
“Least Essential” Ratings for Fourteen
possible Characteristics of Effective
Public Speaking ................................ 77
XV. First, Second, and Third Place Rankings,
by "Under 21" Age Group, of Eight Well-
Known Speakers..................... 9^
XVI. "Doubtful»“ “Not Essential," “Least
Essential," and "Most Essential" Rat­
ings, by “Under 21" Age Group, for
Fourteen Possible Characteristics of
Effective Public Speaking ................. . 95
XVII. First, Second, and Third Place Rankings,
by Sexes within Each Age Group, of Eight
Well Known Speakers................... 96