"The Routledge Handbook of Family Communication offers a comprehensive exploration and discussion of current research and theory on family interaction. Integrating the varying perspectives and issues addressed by family researchers, theorists, and practitioners, this volume offers a unique and timel ... y view of family interaction and family relationships. With a synthesis of research on issues key to understanding family interaction, as well as an analysis of many theoretical and methodological choices made by researchers studying family communication, Family Communication serves to advance the field by reframing old questions and stimulating new ones. The contents are comprised of chapters covering: zheoretical and methodological issues influencing current conceptions of family; research and theory centering around the family life course; communication occurring in a variety of family forms; individual family members and their relationships; dynamic communication processes taking place in families; family communication embedded in social, cultural, and physical contexts." (Publisher description) more

"After almost three decades of experiments with donors and donor agencies in development, no comprehensive picture of the relationship between communication and development has appeared. We have no systematic research or justifiable theory on which to base efforts in this direction. We operate under ... a number of assumptions, the ultimate assumption being that those assumptions are correct. On a more concrete and positive note, several trends can be identified in the literature and work on the use of communication in development. In the last 10 to 15 years, five areas have been the focus of activity in the field. 1. First is the study of the impact of modern technology on development. The number of symposia and seminars in this area have been increasing quantitatively and improving qualitatively. For example, in 1983, two major international conferences were sponsored by Unesco (in Rome and in Istanbul) to discuss the role of modern technology in development. 2. A second emphasis has been in the area of strategy and planning. As more and more projects were ineffective or failed to materialize because of infrastructural and managerial inadequacies, it was realized that a careful process of planning and evaluation research must be included in any communication and development project. 3. A third apparent trend is toward viewing communication and development as an integrative process, not only considering all societal, political and economic factors of a given system, but also realizing the close relationship between modern technology and the existing infrastructure of communication, both human and mechanical. 4. The fourth level of growth has been in national communication policies, Stimulated by the controversy of the world information and communication debate, discussions in different international fora, including Unesco and its International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, have made the question of communication policy a dominant theme of communication and development efforts. 5. The fifth area, less defined and less concrete, is the transfer of technology and its potential for development, especially in the field of communication. Developments in this area have been encouraging in that writings on the transfer of technology have become increasingly related first to the area of communication policy, and second to the growing interest in technological assessment." (Conclusions, page 16) more