Publication Date

2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Jeria, Jorge||Roth, Gene L.

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Counseling, Adult and Higher Education

LCSH

Educational evaluation; Communication; Library science

Abstract

The publication of a new edition of a textbook affects the effort required by authors to update the text, the costs incurred by students to buy or rent the book as well as the time required by instructors to update course materials. This study investigated the extent that the number, age, and type of references changed across editions of introductory public speaking textbooks using 43,094 references from 177 editions of 28 titles published since 1970. Patterns based on copyright date and edition number were examined controlling for the number of pages in the title and whether references were found in footnotes or bibliographies. The analysis found that the number of references increases over time, increases with each edition, and is greater when footnotes are used rather than a bibliography. The age of references is unrelated to the edition of the title but, as the copyright year increases, so does the age. Significant differences exist in the mix of references used by authors. Across time, the percentage of books and magazines used by authors decreased, but the percentage of internet, journal, and newspaper references increased. As a result, students may want to save money by buying an older edition and instructors may want to save time by not adopting new editions. Research in this area would be facilitated if introductory books were included in citation indices.

Comments

Advisors: Jorge Jeria; Gene L. Roth.||Committee members: Nestor Osorio.||Includes illustrations.||Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

243 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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