By
Academic Program and Subject Area Characteristics
Maintenance, Concept, Purpose, Faculty Involvement
The Interactive Nature of the Medium
CHAPTER FIVE
ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS
This chapter begins with an interpretation of the results obtained from the analysis of World Wide Web sites and evaluation of survey responses. Also included is a discussion of the comments offered by survey participants, as those comments relate to other findings. The chapter concludes with a review of the limitations of this study, and suggested directions for further research.
The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which higher education journalism/ mass communication programs use program World Wide Web sites to communicate information about academic offerings. The study also was aimed at making qualitative evaluations of the use of visual, operational, and informational enhancements on sites which characterize academic programs and offerings-and at determining possible quantitative relationships between institutional or program variables and use of enhancements on program Web sites.
A secondary purpose of the study was to ascertain how higher education journalism/ mass communication faculty members perceive social order variables as they relate to program Web site creation and maintenance, and how faculty qualitatively rank their program sites. An effort was made to identify possible relationships between institutional or program variables and faculty rankings.
The institutions and programs in the population for study were appropriate. The
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is the nation's premier
professional association for those who are involved in journalism education at the college
level. The association's membership is large and broad-based. The programs randomly
selected for inclusion in the study represent approximately half of the U.S. academic
program membership of AEJMC and included some of the smallest and some of the largest
programs in the nation, as well as a broad range of programs from different types of
institutions.
Individual faculty selected to participate in the study were chosen as a result of their
professional listings on academic program Web sites, and contacted via e-mail links on
those sites. While the survey population, as a whole, cannot be considered
"random" it certainly is representative-those who were asked to respond to
questions about academic Web sites were asked because their name and/or image is shown on
such a site, promoting the program in which they work. Furthermore, faculty members were
contacted through e-mail links, rather than through e-mail messages to
individually-entered e-mail addresses. By contacting faculty in this fashion, the study
also tested the veracity of e-mail links on program Web sites.
The research outcomes were addressed through a series of seven questions. The questions follow below, with discussion of the applicability of the findings to the research effort.
1) To what extent do U.S. college and university journalism/ mass communication programs utilize publicized academic program Web sites?
The study found high levels of adoption of the World Wide Web by institutions and programs. Each of the institutions in the study population had a listed World Wide Web address. Only one institutional site was not electronically accessible during the study period.
Among journalism/ mass communication programs, most had a significant World Wide Web presence which includes at least one academic program Web site. Only a small percentage of institutions and programs included in the population for study had no publicized Web site devoted exclusively to journalism/ mass communication-or had a program site which was unaccessible for some reason.
These findings are important because they demonstrate that the discipline of journalism/ mass communication has rapidly adopted the relatively new communication technology of the World Wide Web. The findings demonstrate that the discipline is integrating Web technology into the social order of institutions and programs in a multitude of ways. This is shown by the large variety of operational and informational enhancements which 'connect' users with information and resources relevant to academic offerings.
The findings are also important because they demonstrate technological reliability of the medium. Even though many faculty e-mail addresses and other links on program Web sites turned out to be invalid, most institutional and academic program sites were electronically accessible and did fulfill their basic informational role. There is research support for the claim that much of the responsibility for invalid e-mail addresses and other links can be traced to software and hardware which has not reached optimum levels of technological sophistication (Tse et al, 1994).
The findings are consistent with existing knowledge of Web site adoption and use by business in general and education specifically (Rich, 1999; Picciano, 1994). They also are consistent with what is known of the adoption of the medium of WWW and application of the many enhancements which can be incorporated into Web sites (Bates, Chambers, Emery, Jones, McClung, & Park, 1997).
2) What types of visual, operational, and informational enhancements are in evidence on journalism/ mass communication program Web sites?
The study found variation in the types and amounts of visual, operational, and informational enhancements used on Web sites. The study found variation in the overall 'quality' of Web sites as seen through the coordination and application of enhancements.
A qualitative analysis of the visual enhancements used on academic program Web sites is important because a high visual enhancement score does not necessarily mean a particular site is attractive or user-friendly. The analysis of Web sites found that some sites scored high in visual enhancement but did not productively use enhancements presented. Other sites used smaller numbers of enhancements in ways which were more in support of operational and informational enhancements.
Most sites could be described as 'average' in their use of visual enhancements. They were fairly common in appearance, and often lacked visual enhancements which would distinguish them from the sites maintained by competing institutions and programs. Most of the 27 programs which used institutional Web sites to disseminate journalism/ mass communication information could be qualified as 'average' in that no unique visual enhancements were used to distinguish journalism/ mass communication from any other university subject area.
A few sites could be described as 'poor' in their use of visual enhancements. This was commonly seen in the use of garish colors, oversized fonts, or garish clip-art illustrations-often presented out of proportion to the desired space. Even the most basic guidelines for effective visual presentations (Fuccella & Pizzolato, 1998; Geske, 1997; Hagerty, 1995) were often flouted.
Occasionally, illustrations used as site background made text content difficult or impossible to read. One particular school of journalism site covered almost every page with background illustrations of a famous black and white photo of Edward R. Murrow. The result was an almost unreadable on-screen hodgepodge of text and illustration.
Photographs were commonly used on Web sites, and in most instances they were used sparingly, appropriately, and in good taste. A few exceptions were noted, however. One school of communication site included more than a dozen large color photos of a small building demolition project-with detailed description of the effort. Little was offered to explain the project's relevance to the academic unit. One department of communications site published a detailed "tour" of the department facilities using narrative text only-no photos were found anywhere on the site. A media arts department site included a photograph of facilities with a description contradicting what was portrayed in the photo.
Overall, the use of visual enhancements on program Web sites was less extensive than that found on many commercial or business promotional sites (See Ho, 1997). While nearly all journalism/ mass communication sites used common visual enhancements such as fonts, illustrations, and graphics, only a few included such high-profile, technically sophisticated enhancements as enlargeable photos, video clips, or "live" video. Given the faculty comments obtained through the survey-which will be addressed later in this chapter-it would appear likely that many sites do not offer these more sophisticated enhancements because their host academic programs do not have sufficient coordination of personnel or resources to do so.
A qualitative analysis of operational enhancements used on academic program Web sites is important because-as with visual enhancements-a high site enhancement score does not necessarily mean a particular site is functional or user-friendly. The analysis of Web sites found that some sites scored high in operational enhancement but did not structure or display enhancements in productive ways. Other sites used smaller numbers of enhancements, but linked more critical informational content to them-in essence, making the operational enhancements more valuable.
A key qualitative issue in operational enhancements is the ease of navigation through the site. The majority of sites were easy for the user to navigate, either by mouse clicking on posted icons or by pursuing commonly-anticipated paths (See Whitaker, 1998).
A few sites were exceptionally difficult. Some had long blocks of text, rather than links to subordinate pages-forcing the user into the time-consuming and frustrating process of scrolling and reading to glean desired information. Other sites had too many levels for the user to wade through. One communication and journalism department site required the user to mouse click through four pages between the institutional site and the opening page of the journalism site.
Operational enhancements which did nothing operational were frustrating. These "dead" or invalid links were identified on a high percentage of journalism/ mass communication sites. The opening page of one journalism department Web site had five dead hyperlinks to lower-level pages.
Several sites had numerous dead links to faculty members' e-mail addresses or professional Web sites. One university's school of media and public affairs site crowed that "Access is just one click away!" and then presented four invalid e-mail links to faculty members. A New York school of public communication's "interactive communications" faculty had no site e-mail links to faculty, and no listed postal address or telephone number for the school. Another east coast program faculty list names the department's "digital media guru"-but the e-mail link to this professor returned the message "file not found."
One site highlighted a simple list of faculty names in the blue color associated with hyperlinks-leaving the user unsure of whether the color was used in error, or whether the names actually were links that were invalid due to some technical problem. One site barred off-campus Web site users from accessing faculty profiles or e-mail links--items which are routinely posted on other Web sites across the breadth of the medium.
The rationale behind the use of some links on WWW sites was difficult to determine. One large communications department site included links to communication programs at competing universities in nearby communities-something which would be the marketing equivalent of a Toyota dealer linking its site with those of Ford and Chevrolet. Another department had almost no academic information on its Web site-but had dozens of links to media "fun sites" and "games."
In total, 21 sites (11 %) were operationally structured in ways which rendered them difficult to use, based on common user expectations of WWW content and features. Structural components which made these sites more difficult to use included one or more of the following: Absence of an internal directory of contents; information or links placed randomly within the site; informational frames used within other frames; minimal contrast between background color and text; lack of highlighting for hyperlinks; and presence of 'one-way' links from which users are not able to return back into the body of the site.
A qualitative analysis of informational enhancements used on academic program Web sites is important, as well, because high levels of informational enhancement alone do not guarantee quality of content. Information offered on Web sites needs to be accurate in fact and presentation, and relevant to users' needs and wants. Information offered on Web sites should integrate with operational and visual elements to create a single unifying theme for the host site.
The analysis of Web sites found many were lacking in the basic information users search the World Wide Web to find. One site did not name the university with which the journalism/ mass communication program was associated. Another site exclaimed-"Come See Us!"-and then offered no address or telephone number with which to do so. Forty percent of the sites analyzed offered no program address or phone number which potential students could use to make personal contacts for enrollment information or assistance. This clearly is a major failing, given that the academic program Web site is seen as a key marketing tool for any program (Topor, 1993; Pollard, 1997, July 10).
Other sites did not identify degrees offered, or requirements students must meet to complete degrees. This, too, is a major failing. It defies logic that Web site designers would create informational content which fails to provide even the most basic academic and program information that large numbers of users in key publics would be searching for.
On the other hand, some sites contained entirely too much information. Several sites offered seemingly endless detail about fairly trivial subjects, such as faculty members' pets, hobbies, and relatives. One site prominently displayed the key information item that a faculty member's great-uncle was a Titanic survivor. One university's department of media studies Web site had an "open guestbook" in which prospective students' names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail comments to the department and individual faculty were published. More than a dozen comments-some, fairly personal-were published on the site for anyone to read.
While typical public relations and promotions guidelines would tell communicators to 'put the best face forward,' many journalism/ mass communication Web sites display candid ignorance. "This page is Under Construction. More to come as we get better at this webpage stuff!" trumpeted one state university mass communication department site. Another site, hosted by a journalism department at a small private college, announced itself as "THE HOME OF JOURNAISM" (sic). The site also was sprinkled with punctuation errors. Twelve sites within the study population (6 % of the total) contained one or more obvious errors in text.
Outdated information was common, which is not surprising given that the mean amount of time since last posted revision was in excess of nine months. One university's journalism program site had catalog information dated 1996, with the disclaimer "a major curriculum change is taking place in Fall, 1997." Another journalism department site contained on its front page "new information" for the March, 1998, pre-registration. One site had not been updated in 44 months. Three sites within the study population (2 % of the total) contained obviously out of date information.
The majority of the sites seemed reasonably well equipped to allow users to interact with the information contained. A small percentage of sites contained technically sophisticated enhancements such as load time warnings, downloadable files, and internal search engines which are common among business and professional sites on the World Wide Web.
In summary, most of the journalism/ mass communication sites analyzed for information content showed at least the basic level of information prospective students and others look for-degree requirements, program news, and student organization information. But the overall level of enhancement was perhaps surprisingly low given the fact that the discipline itself is all about mediated communication-and reaching targeted audiences with information of relevance and importance to users. While some sites were very well prepared-such as one communication department site which invited prospective students to partake of 'CU-CME' video teleconference capabilities-many sites exhibited far less quantity and quality of information that would be typically found on a commercial or business Web site.
These findings have significance for the discipline because they show that although much progress has been made to integrate our discipline into the online environment, much more needs to be done. As a whole, journalism/ mass communication programs need to work much more effectively to plan, produce, and publish online content for the World Wide Web. Faculty members and administrators need to be much more involved in the process, to avoid the online publication of enhancements which can be interpreted by the user as incomplete, trivial, improper, or-for lack of a better word-stupid. The mis-spelling of the word "journalism" is such an example. A mis-spelling of this type says something about educators and their attention to detail in a detail-oriented profession. It says 'no one notices' or 'no one cares.'
In many ways, the qualitative findings in regard to enhancements are not surprising, especially given the survey responses and faculty comments which will be discussed later in this chapter.
The findings also illustrate great differences between the creation and maintenance of Web sites for academic programs and the creation and maintenance of Web sites for business ventures. There is research support for the claim that those engaged in business ventures are, and would consistently be, more concerned about the visual, operational, and informational enhancements which are used on WWW sites (Helmstetter, 1997). A 'poor' quality Web site hosted by a business can generate immediate negative feedback from consumers. Consumers will express their dissatisfaction with products or services offered (McCarthy, 1996), or they may report that the site is unable to demonstrate product competitiveness versus other brands (Siskind & Moses, 1996). In the end, lost sales opportunities (Ellsworth & Ellsworth, 1997) are an immediate result.
Because academic program Web sites are not considered precursors to 'direct sales' activity, and faculty members often report not feeling responsible for or included in institutional or academic program marketing efforts (Simerly, 1989; Ryans, 1986; Ihlanfeldt, 1980), it seems not surprising that many academic Web sites fall so short of qualitative expectations in regard to enhancement content.
3) What quantitative differences are observed among enhancements displayed by journalism/ mass communication program Web sites, and how do these enhancements work together to establish "user friendliness" of sites?
The study found much variation in the quantity of visual, operational, and informational enhancements displayed by journalism/ mass communication Web sites. Some academic program Web sites were found to be especially technologically complex and information-rich, while others were simplistic and featured minimal information about their host institutions, programs, and academic offerings. While each site had at least one type of visual, operational, or informational enhancement, it was not uncommon for sites to display half or fewer of the enhancements in each of the three categories.
Overall, the sites analyzed were found to more consistently use visual enhancement content than operational or informational enhancement content. This is not surprising, given that the World Wide Web is primarily a visual medium-and it is not especially difficult or time-consuming to post a site which would have varied visual elements. An examination of the data shows that 99 percent of sites had varying fonts, 93 percent of sites used lines and borders, and 82 percent of sites employed visual graphics. In all, more than half of the sites examined used more than half of the total visual enhancement types contained in the content analysis frame. But, on the other hand, visual enhancements which are now considered 'state of the art' for business and commercial Web sites (See Rich, 1999; Helmstetter, 1997)-such as enlargeable photos, audio clips, and live video-were used by fewer than 5 percent of program Web sites. This leads to the conclusion that many site designers are creating Web sites with common, popular visual enhancements-but fewer numbers of designers are going 'the extra mile' to make their sites as complex and sophisticated as those in the commercial sector.
The mean enhancement score for operational enhancements was lower than that calculated for visual enhancements-and the standard deviation among operational enhancements was higher. Furthermore, only three of the 18 enhancement types were observed on more than half of the sites. Seven of the operational enhancements (39%) were in evidence on fewer than 10 percent of sites. The operational enhancement data affirm that far fewer sites are structured to be operationally complex. As with visual enhancements, one can easily conclude that many site designers are creating Web sites with common, popular operational enhancements-but fewer numbers of designers are going 'the extra mile' to make their sites as interactive as those in the commercial sector.
The analysis of informational enhancements turned up a more complicated situation-with a much higher mean score of 8.02, and a proportionately higher standard deviation of 4.35. Analysis of the data shows that more than half of the sites used more than 42 percent of the informational enhancements, and a small number of sites were extremely informationally-rich. Eleven sites used 15 or more enhancements. However, 109 sites used fewer than ten enhancements, indicating their presentation of information was minimal. The examination of sites suggests that some programs do extremely well in presenting a large quantity of different types of information on their Web sites, while other programs make only a minimal effort-or almost no effort at all.
While "user friendliness" is a subjective, user-centered concept, there is some value to an effort to make generalizations here about it. Certainly one would expect that journalism/ mass communication program sites should attempt some objective measure of "user-friendliness." At the very least, this would involve appropriate and pleasing visual enhancement displays, operational enhancements which work appropriately and seem consistent with site design, and informational enhancements which support-rather than detract from-the overall effort.
The reviewer's admittedly subjective effort to determine "user friendliness" found almost one-third of the sites analyzed (55 sites, or 28% of the total) failed in one or more of these three areas. Examples of specific problems are mentioned above, and in other sections of this report.
While it is impossible to state with authority whether another reviewer might agree with these qualitative conclusions, at least one objective observation can be made: The sites which the reviewer determined to be "not user friendly" were so because the absence of coordinated enhancements which were found on other journalism/ mass communication sites, sites which were determined to be "user friendly." In that regard, there is an objective standard for site "friendliness" and at least one-third of the journalism/ mass communication sites analyzed did not meet it.
These findings are not especially surprising, when viewed in context of the written comments of survey participants. Several faculty members expressed concerns about the ability of their program to create and publish well-enhanced Web sites, given management, resources, and technology limitations. "Development and maintenance of our website falls into the category of "service," which means that nobody wants to do it," wrote a faculty member at a Doctoral I university in the Midwest.
Several survey respondents expressed frustration over a lack of leadership within the program administration, and a lack of general faculty involvement. One respondent said her department site is just "a hobby" for its sponsoring faculty member. These comments suggest that many programs may end up using Web sites which fail to meet common expectations for the medium, due to expedience or convenience. "Right now, if you want something changed or created, you better be prepared to do it yourself because the technician in charge of the site is rarely available to help," a faculty member from a midwestern state Research I institution wrote.
Faculty concerns of this nature seem to be common, since 20 percent of the 127 respondents offered written comments on the survey-and nearly all were critical of program leadership, resources, technology, or faculty involvement. The comments focusing on presentational quality of Web site displays were particularly harsh.
The comments addressing use of enhancements in Web site displays point out what may be a problem within the academic discipline of journalism/ mass communication-a problem which boils down to a basic marketing issue demonstrated again and again in the literature (See Topor, 1996; Goldgehn, 1990; Doyle & Newbould, 1986): If our discipline is to be perceived by potential students and the general public as one which is vital, active, and involved in new technology-then we should be able to present mediated portraits of our programs which are dynamic and multi-faceted. If we cannot or will not do so on the World Wide Web-itself the most dynamic and contemporary means for interacting with potential students-then the public is likely to quickly reach the conclusion that our discipline and academic programs are antiquated, backward, or 'old-fashioned.'
4) Are relationships indicated among particular institutional, academic program, or subject area characteristics and quantitative differences observed among journalism/ mass communication program Web sites?
The study found significant differences (.01) between the Web site enhancement scores for academic programs within public institutions and academic programs within private institutions. Journalism/ mass communication programs contained within public institutions had significantly higher enhancement scores in visual, operational, and informational categories and in sum. Additionally, the standard deviation among public institution Web sites was lower, indicating that there is significantly less variance among public institution Web sites than among those within private institutions.
These findings are not surprising, given that there is research affirming that public institutions are often better funded and staffed than private institutions (Bowen, 1996; Boyer, 1987). Within the population for study, 66 of the 90 graduate programs are offered in public institutions-suggesting that these programs would, by design, have more opportunity for the development and growth of trust, resources, academic process, and labor support which are functions of social order and which would in turn support the creation and maintenance of Web sites.
There is research support for the contention that many journalism/ mass communication programs among private institutions are liberal arts-oriented, with particular social and scholarly perceptions of the discipline which would affect the use of technological resources (See Ragan & McMillan, 1989; Cowdin, 1985; DeMott, 1984). This, too, is a social order issue. Liberal arts-oriented programs may be more likely to have a social order which is unregulated and unstructured. Liberal arts-oriented programs may be more likely to view the discipline in traditional, non-technological means. Liberal arts programs commonly view journalism in a language and literature context, rather than in a media context. Therefore, these programs may be less likely to have a social order which supports technology and fewer resources to allow for developing technology. Consequently, the academic leadership may be less willing to proceed with extensive World Wide Web development.
The study found significant differences between the Web site enhancement scores of Carnegie Baccalaureate II institutions and those institutions in several of the other Carnegie classifications (at the .05 and .01 levels). As a group, the Baccalaureate II programs had mean visual enhancement scores which were significantly lower than mean visual enhancement scores for Research I and Research II institutions at the .05 level. Baccalaureate II programs had mean operational enhancement scores which were significantly lower than mean operational enhancement scores for Research I, Research II, Doctoral I, and Master's II institutions at the .01 level. Baccalaureate II programs had mean informational enhancement scores which were significantly lower than mean informational enhancement scores for Research I, Research II, and Master's I institutions at the .01 level. Finally, total enhancement scores for Baccalaureate II institutions were significantly lower than total enhancement scores for Research I, Research II, and Master's I programs at the .01 level-and significantly lower than Doctoral I programs at the .05 level.
These findings affirm that, as a group, the Web sites hosted by journalism/ mass communication programs within Baccalaureate II schools are far less enhanced than the Web sites hosted by programs within most of the other Carnegie classifications. Again, the reasons for this seem clear. The colleges and universities within the Baccalaureate II classification are the smallest in terms of institutional size, enrollment, and types of degrees granted. Many of the institutions are religious schools with a literature or liberal arts orientation throughout the curriculum. Thus, these are the types of institutions-and, as a consequence, journalism/ mass communication programs-which may be likely to have a social order in which World Wide Web technology is not or cannot be a priority. Again, they may be less likely to have developed systems of trust, resources, process, and division of labor which create a social ordered system which could or would pursue technology development.
Although Baccalaureate II programs represented 8 percent of the population for study, the survey response from faculty members among these programs was disproportionately low. Of the 127 survey responses obtained, only 5 (4%) were returned from faculty members within Baccalaureate II programs-and none offered a written comment.
As the survey was being administered, the author found it difficult on many occasions to even identify faculty in Baccalaureate II journalism/ mass communication programs. In many instances, the academic discipline was contained within an English or Humanities program. Often, the journalism/ mass communication discipline had no exclusive Web site-or had a site which was difficult to identify because it was contained within a larger subject entity site.
The study found significant differences (at the .05 and .01 levels) between the Web site enhancement scores of programs housed within graduate degree-granting institutions and those of programs in undergraduate institutions. Web sites hosted by journalism/ mass communication programs within graduate degree-granting institutions displayed significantly higher enhancement scores in visual, operational, and informational categories and in sum. Additionally, the standard deviation among sites housed within graduate degree-granting institutions was lower, indicating that there is significantly less variance among these institution sites than among sites within undergraduate institutions.
Given the knowledge that 66 of the 90 graduate programs in this study are offered in public institutions-together with the research support for the claim that public institutions are likely to have more expansive management, resources, and technology to support the creation and maintenance of Web sites-it seems consistent that Web sites within graduate degree-granting institutions would display higher levels of enhancement. The social order would be in place to support this activity, because there would likely be the development of trust, regulation of resources, support for academic processes, and division of labor which are necessary to create a social order supportive of WWW development.
Academic
Program and Subject Area Characteristics
Analysis of the data did not allow for establishing clear relationships between journalism/ mass communication academic program structure and Web site enhancements. This is because it seems impossible to quantify the variables for classifying an academic program as a 'college,' 'school,' 'department,' 'division,' or 'program.' Some subject institutions' journalism/ mass communication schools were smaller in enrollment than journalism/ mass communication departments in other
institutions. Lacking a consistent framework for quantifying differences between academic structures, this segment of the research effort was abandoned.
Similarly, analysis of the data did not allow for establishing clear relationships between journalism/ mass communication subject area description and Web site enhancements. Again, it seems impossible to quantify the variables for classifying an academic program as 'journalism,' 'mass communication,' 'communication,' 'theater,' or a combination of these names. Furthermore, the statistical breakdown showed that most programs fell into the category of 'combination'-with at least three different identifying titles in common use. Therefore, this segment of the research effort also was abandoned.
These findings indicate that there are statistically significant relationships between higher education institutions, academic programs and the World Wide Web sites created by academic programs to promote and market their academic offerings. The findings suggest that Web sites hosted by programs within public institutions, or by programs within graduate degree-granting institutions consistently display more visual, operational, and informational enhancements than sites hosted by programs within private institutions, or programs within undergraduate-oriented institutions.
The findings also suggest that Web sites hosted by Carnegie Baccalaureate II-category programs consistently display fewer visual, operational, and informational enhancements than sites hosted by programs in other Carnegie classifications. Web sites hosted by Carnegie Baccalaureate II-category programs seem to consistently display fewer total enhancements than sites hosted by programs in other Carnegie classifications.
These findings are significant because they suggest World Wide Web site creation, maintenance, and display are regulated at least in part by the social order of the host academic unit-and elements which are a function of social order, including trust, availability of resources, the academic process, and the availability of labor. When these elements are present, Web sites are likely to be more enhanced. When these elements are not present, Web sites are less likely to be enhanced. An argument could be made that ‘the Matthew principle’ is at work (Zwerling, 1976) in that academic programs with the most socially-ordered resources and stature are so established that they are likely to continue gaining in resources and stature, while those programs with lesser amounts of socially-ordered resources and stature are so established that they are likely to lose even what they have gained.
5) How do faculty members qualify four key areas of social order (delegation of labor, establishment of trust, regulation of resources, and support for academic processes) as those relationships affect journalism/ mass communication program Web site creation and maintenance?
The study found a significant difference (.01) between the responses offered by faculty members to social order statements contained within the survey instrument. Respondent faculty members working in journalism/ mass communication programs housed within institutions which offered graduate degrees gave lower mean rankings to each of the four categories of social order statements as compared to responses of faculty members working in journalism/ mass communication programs housed within institutions which were exclusively undergraduate. The lower mean scores were observed in the four individual social order categories as well as in sum.
Lacking verification of the reasons why the mean scores were different, perhaps some speculation is in order. Many researchers have pointed out the increased fragmentation of the faculty among graduate and research-oriented institutions (See Bowen, 1996; Tucker, 1984; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Clearly, the social order of the undergraduate faculty is likely to be more unified-more focused on teaching within the curriculum (See also Clark, 1991; Becher, 1989). Perhaps these faculty, as a consequence, are more able to highly rank social order variables. Future research may clarify relationships.
In any case, no other relationships were found-and surely the low response rate is a contributing factor in this issue. Some discussion about response rate is in order.
The survey of faculty members resulted in a response rate of 20 percent, which was lower than had been hoped--and is too low to allow for many statistically-sound generalizations about the academic discipline as a whole. Recognized survey expert Earl Babbie contended that a response rate of at least 50 percent was needed for survey data to be "adequate for analysis and reporting" (Babbie, 1990, p. 182); therefore this survey falls far short of traditional expectations.
Still, one significant relationship was indicated (.01). The social order responses given by faculty members working in journalism/ mass communication programs housed within institutions which offered graduate degrees were significantly lower than responses given by faculty members working within undergraduate institutions.
It is interesting to note that the reminder mailings to participants did seem to help boost the response rate. The response rate had reached only 9 percent when the first reminder notice was sent. Within three days, the response rate had reached 17 percent. After the final reminder notice was sent, the response rate reached 20 percent. No responses were received after the extended February 12 cutoff date.
The response rate was undoubtedly hindered by the large percentage of "undeliverable" surveys sent to e-mail links posted on program Web sites. Ninety responses (12% of the total) were returned "undeliverable."
The overall low response rate to this e-mail survey and the large percentage of "undeliverable" returns is not surprising, given an analysis of the recent research which focuses on e-mail surveys. Schuldt and Totten's national survey of university marketing and MIS faculty, for example, reflected almost a 30 percent lower response rate for e-mail versus postal surveys (1994). A survey of university faculty and staff in Hong Kong showed the e-mail response rate to be more than 20 percent lower than the postal response rate (Tse et al, 1995). A similar conclusion was reached after a survey of academic telecommunications administrators done by Fouty (1998).
In the private sector, a survey by a California software developer found 85 percent of Fortune 100 firms failed to respond to a simple e-mail inquiry within three hours. A total of 36 percent of the firms either never responded or could not be contacted at all via e-mail from corporate Web sites (Beer, 1999).
On the other hand, there has been research in the academic sector which reached opposite conclusions about e-mail response. Good's study of university faculty and staff members found a 16 percent higher response rate to an e-mail survey than to a postal survey. It should be noted, however, that much of the increased performance of the e-mail was attributed to reminder notifications which increased response rate by almost 50 percent in the e-mail survey.
One would logically expect several variables to influence whether or not an e-mail or Web-based survey is responded to promptly-or at all. In the academic environment, one variable would be the degree to which faculty would feel motivated to respond. Universities typically have a fairly well established reward system in place for the traditional faculty tasks of research, teaching, and service. But a study by Doty (1995) showed that no such system had been generally accepted to reward faculty for using electronic communications technology. Doty found faculty members are not granted and do not expect formal rewards for use of online technology. A lack of explicit rewards for online use could impact faculty members' motivation for communicating through these means-especially for 'extra-curricular' tasks.
The ability of faculty members to do basic manipulation of computer hardware and software is likely to be an issue, as well. University faculty who have received informational technology training have been shown to be much more positive about the use of online communications (Gilmore, 1998). There has been support for the claim that teachers who have more years of teaching experience display greater e-mail skill (McLeroy, 1998). At least one study showing most faculty have positive feelings about computer use also showed that there are significant positive relationships between users' computer attitudes and their computer use patterns (Lee, 1998).
Still, the decision to use or not use e-mail is not consistently objective or rational. A great variation in e-mail use has been identified (Krishnamurthi, 1996) based on user perceptions of task uncertainty, the need for clarification, the need to convey trust, and the need to gather information.
A recent study showed that social influences affect users' choice of e-mail, and that these influences do regulate perceptions of e-mail's richness and usefulness as a communications medium (Stuckey, 1998). Furthermore, many faculty members feel e-mail is best used for simple, routine tasks and not for those which are complex or non-routine (Wigand, 1995). All of these would potentially affect a faculty member's ability to want to respond to online communication.
Finally, another factor affecting response to online communication is the validity of e-mail addresses used to reach populations for survey. As was demonstrated by the survey reported by Beer (1999), many e-mail addresses cannot be accessed at all-or are electronically invalid. One world-wide survey of academic faculty found 30 percent of electronic surveys were returned undeliverable due to address invalidity (Anderson, 1998). Despite the lack of much other research in this area, one has to accept it is an important related issue to non-response.
Regardless of all the complexities of the findings, some generalizations can still be made about the social order relationships faculty members surveyed in this research perceive as affecting program Web site creation and maintenance. Initially, it can be affirmed that most faculty do not perceive high levels of social order within their academic units.
The mean response to all social order statements on the survey was 3.19, indicating that faculty members are "unsure or don't know" of their agreement to most of the 16 affirmative social order statements offered to them. The standard deviation was .67, indicating low variation among responses by the 127 participants.
The highest rankings of faculty members were in the area of trust. The mean score was 3.59, with standard deviation of .40. Faculty do report fairly strong indications of trust in their Web site administrator to do good work. For the most part, faculty also accept that their academic programs have trustworthy systems and support. This trust was reflected in written comments, as well. No respondent indicated a lack of trust in site management. In fact, several praised their Web site administrator for taking on "a heavy burden" or doing "a good job."
The mean response to social order statements reflecting regulation of resources was slightly lower-at 3.55. Standard deviation was notably higher, at 1.10. Faculty members' responses suggest they feel less comfortable with the way their programs strategically plan Web development. These feelings, too, were reflected in written comments. A faculty member in the journalism school at a Southwestern U.S. Master's I institution wrote that, at his school, "the Web site is an afterthought, like many other things." Another faculty member, from a Master's I institution in the Midwest, wrote: "We have one overworked person who does our website. He asks for help, but usually few if anyone help (sic). At this time, it is a missed opportunity for the department as a unit."
Still lower mean scores were recorded in response to statements in the category of 'outgrowth of the academic process.' Many faculty members gave responses which indicate that the best expectations for the Web site have not been met, and that their academic program has difficulty keeping the academic Web site technologically advanced. A Virginia department chair expressed frustration at his inability to have changes made in online sites-and said his program is going back to more traditional means of information dissemination, in part, because of a failure of the technological processes involved in Web-based information dissemination:
"We have two different web sites, the official one maintained by the university and one maintained by the department. The official one is very hard to change and only reflects "official" changes, i.e., catalog changes and the like. Consequently, when personnel changes occur, we can't update but we can request to update it. We have made the request for two years to make minor changes in the staff, for example, but still no one has responded. As to the other web site what we are finding is that the maintenance has to come out of someone's time - that's time that none of us have and consequently it isn't as to date as it should be (sic). We have also found that creating course web sites has begun costing the university and the department a lot more money for paper then (sic) when we just ran a syllabus off. Consequently, we are going back to hand out (sic) in the classroom syllabus with web page supplemental information."
The lowest response means were recorded in the category of 'division of labor.' The mean score of 2.83, and standard deviation of .85, indicate that the majority of faculty respondents "disagree" with statements that there is sufficient labor in their academic unit to update Web sites and keep content current. The lowest-ranked of all 16 statements was "Faculty work is coordinated; everyone helps in some way with the Web site." The response mean to this statement was 1.85, indicating "strongly disagree." The standard deviation was .95. Faculty comments which addressed this area of concern included several which were quite direct:
"The college began planning for and developing its web site many years ago with tremendous faculty enthusiasm. Once the site got started, the faculty, with few exceptions, turned its attention elsewhere."
(Faculty member, Midwestern U.S., Research I program)
"Attempting to gain access to resources to maintain a professional web presence for the department has been difficult at best and rewards for faculty to develop web-based instructional support for their courses has been met with disinterest at best, but more typically with disdane (sic). Maintaing (sic) our departmental web presence has more often than not been a heavy burden born (sic) by one faculty person and a graduate student who are never encouraged for their efforts, but quickly chastized (sic) if the page(s) should be down, or inaccurate..."
(Web site administrator, Western U.S., Research I program)
"There is minimal interaction in developing the site."
(Faculty member, Midwestern U.S., Master's I program)
"Half our faculty do not have a clue as to why the Web is important or useful for academic use."
(Faculty member, Midwestern U.S., Master's I program)
Nearly every comment offered by survey participants was negative-particularly in the
context of administrative planning and faculty involvement. The following was one of the
few 'positive' comments offered:
"The web site provides basic information very well, but simply lacks consistent
leadership. Right now, our department is tying the web site to its overall strategic plan
and I think this will give it more emphasis and possibly more resources."
(Web site administrator, Southwestern U.S., Doctoral I program)
Though perhaps not 'statistically significant,' the data generated by the survey and the comments of participants do indicate that faculty members have great concerns about how existing social order within academic programs supports Web site creation and maintenance. There is an indication of discontent among journalism/ mass communication faculty in regard to allocation of resources for Web development, the application of Web site activity to the academic process, and the division of labor within programs to accomplish online tasks.
6) How do faculty members rank their own academic program Web sites in regard to visual, operational, and informational enhancements; concept; site maintenance; purpose; and faculty involvement?
The study found that, as a whole, faculty members did not indicate tremendous enthusiasm about the contents of their program Web sites, or several of the socially-ordered processes related to site creation and maintenance. Survey respondents were presented with seven affirmative statements on the questionnaire; the group mean response to all statements was 3.24, indicating "unsure or don't know." One can reasonably interpret the finding to indicate only a moderate level of agreement to statements offered. The standard deviation was .44, indicating a fairly small amount of variance among responses.
Faculty members indicated a slightly higher level of agreement to the statement "The visual components of our site are complete, professional, and attractive." The mean response to this statement was 3.73, with standard deviation of .90. The statement received the second-highest level of agreement among the seven statements presented. The data would indicate that faculty members feel more satisfied with visual components of program sites than with the information offered, the level of maintenance, the concept for the site, purpose of the site, and overall faculty involvement.
This finding is noteworthy, given that the standard deviation among site visual enhancement scores from the analysis of Web sites was the lowest among all categories-and that none of the written comments from survey participants was specifically critical of site visual enhancements. The findings suggest that faculty members are, for the most part, moderately satisfied with the visual elements used to portray their academic programs on academic World Wide Web sites.
Faculty members indicated their highest level of agreement to the statement "The operational components of our site are complete, professional, and attractive." The mean response to this statement was 3.76, with standard deviation of .90. The response mean is only slightly higher for that given to the visual enhancement statement, the standard deviation is equally low. The data would indicate that faculty members feel more satisfied with operational components of program sites than with the information offered, the level of maintenance, the concept for the site, purpose of the site, and overall faculty involvement.
The site operational enhancement mean score from the analysis of Web sites was the lowest among all categories. So, even though Web sites as a whole scored fairly low in operational enhancements, faculty members evaluating their own program sites seem satisfied with the level of enhancements in this category. None of the written comments from survey participants was specifically critical of site operational enhancements.
Faculty members indicated a lower level of agreement to the statement "The information offered by our site is thorough, accurate, and relevant." The mean response to this statement was 3.43, again indicating "unsure or don't know." The standard deviation was 1.12. A lower mean response is not especially surprising, when viewed in context with survey responses which were critical of program Web site informational content or content management. One respondent complained of his site being "a cobweb site" while another complained of a program site which "is totally outdated with faculty members listed who are not on the faculty any more." Others wrote of site information "inaccuracies" and one respondent contended that minor site information changes take "years" to get posted.
What is perhaps surprising about the lower level of agreement to the informational enhancement statement is the fact that the site informational enhancement mean score of 7.58 from the analysis of Web sites was the highest among all three enhancement categories. The category did have the second-highest standard deviation, however. The standard deviation of 4.22 would indicate there was a wider variance among site informational enhancements than among visual and operational enhancements.
Maintenance, Concept, Purpose, Faculty Involvement
Faculty members indicated their lowest levels of agreement with the statements focusing on maintenance of the Web site, concept for the site, purpose of the site, and faculty involvement in its development and use. The responses would indicate that survey participants were far less satisfied with the socially-ordered procedures supportive of-and supported by-the development of the program Web site.
The lowest level of agreement was with the statement: "I am pleased with the level of involvement of faculty, staff, and students in regard to Web site planning, development, and use." The mean response to this statement of 2.54 indicates fairly widespread "disagreement" with the statement, although the standard deviation of 1.09 indicates a greater variance of opinion than for that of the earlier statements addressing visual and operational enhancements. This low level of agreement is not surprising, given the many written comments offered by survey respondents who were critical of involvement of their colleagues in Web site-related work.
"Faculty with narrow, traditional interests don't give a darn about the Web in any respect, and they resist its development," wrote a faculty member from a Kentucky Master's I school. "This faculty is clearly split between those who have been here a long time and have little regard for the role/ importance of the site, and those recently hired who feel little clout and emphasize getting into the job," wrote a faculty member from a Master's I school in the Midwest.
The Web site administrator for an east coast Master's I institution seemed to reflect the opinions of several survey participants. She blamed "apathy and being busy with other tasks" for preventing faculty from being more involved in site issues.
The significance of the findings in regard to faculty members' rankings of their own academic program Web sites is clear-especially viewed in context with what we know about social order. Social order is the state which results from predictable or coordinated human actions (Elster, 1989). Human beings have a demonstrated need to perceive a sense of order, not only in society (Visnovsky, 1995) but in their economic and political relations with others (Silvert, 1998). People must also perceive a sense of order in the work environment; a sense of order and belonging has been demonstrated to be a key precursor to human involvement, productivity, and creativity (Postrel, 1998). This is especially true for academicians, who have unique perceptions of their work and its relation to others' work in the education environment (Becher, 1989).
This social order, which is so critical to productivity, is sustained through division of labor, construction of trust and solidarity, a regulation of power, and a legitimization of social activity among humans (Eisenstadt, 1992). The rankings offered by faculty respondents to this survey cast great doubt on the existence of these components in large measure within journalism/ mass communication programs in the subject population.
It could be argued that a review of the survey non-response data could indicate that the faculty population is not as socially ordered as it could be in regard to Web site creation and maintenance. Of the 750 surveys sent out, 90 were returned "undeliverable" because they were sent to faculty e-mail addresses which were invalid. This causes one to wonder whether the invalid links remain on WWW sites because the social order exerts no pressure on Web administrators to have the links corrected or removed, or because the social order puts no pressure on faculty members to care about the issue.
Twenty-nine replies were received from faculty who refused to participate. Four had retired, but their e-mail links remained on program sites as if they were still teaching in those institutions. One had left his state university faculty 18 months earlier and was teaching in another school in another part of the country-but still was listed as a state university faculty member and was receiving e-mail through its page. He wrote back to say he had requested several times-without success-for his e-mail link to be removed.
Twenty-four of the surveys sent out resulted in written responses from journalism/ mass communication faculty members who declined to participate for other reasons. Their written reasons for non-participation included the following:
"I have no responsibility or connection with the College of Journalism web site."
"I do not handle our department's Web site."
"I am not in charge of our Web page, and cannot answer questions."
"I am out of touch with the department website."
"I would be happy to forward it (the survey) to one
of our faculty members who knows more about what we are doing on the web."
"I do not teach journalism."
"I don't use the web for academic purposes. . . I
sometimes find articles or current facts on the web which I print out and duplicate to
share with classes."
A total of 502 surveys which by all indications were
transmitted to recipient e-mail addresses without hindrance resulted in no responses from
the intended participants. Similarly, no responses were received to the two 'reminder'
notices sent to these 502 faculty members.
Among those who did respond to the survey, program chairpersons and Web site administrators responded in much higher percentages than did other faculty. A total of 92 chairpersons were surveyed. Thirty-two responses (35%) were returned. A total of 76 Web site administrators were surveyed. Thirty-six responses were returned (47%). A total of 582 other faculty were surveyed. Fifty-nine responses were returned (19%). Clearly, program chairs and Web site administrators were more inclined to reply to the survey than other faculty members. One could logically surmise that they either felt more responsibility or interest in doing so-or were more familiar and involved with the Web site and its management and felt more comfortable expressing opinions about the site. This, too, is a result of social order within the academic unit.
In short, while the survey responses were insufficient to make broad-based claims about the entire academic discipline, one can say with confidence that faculty members from the institutions studied in this research have given strong indications that the social order in their work environments is not supportive of efficient and productive use of the World Wide Web as an academic communications medium.
It is important to remember that there is no developed scale with which we can ‘measure’ observations of social order, nor is there existing research to quantitatively link observations of social order with technological applications. Furthermore, social order as a concept represents a set of behaviors and not a defined theory. For these reasons, and for the others described above, much more investigation and research in this area seems warranted.
7) Are relationships indicated between particular institutional, academic program, or subject area characteristics and faculty rankings of journalism/ mass communication program Web sites?
The response rates across all Carnegie classifications were low, despite a fairly even distribution of requests sent to intended participants. The population for survey included faculty at some fairly large university programs-where ten or more faculty were asked to participate, and none responded. On the other hand, a few smaller programs had three or four faculty asked to participate, and each one did so.
The author is inclined to believe that there is 'something,' some social order variable at work, either individually or interacting with technology which may make some faculty in some programs more willing as a group to become involved in online communication. Alas, within the parameters of this research it is impossible to determine what this unknown variable may be or how it is regulated.
The survey response included data from only 33 program chairs (36% of 92 surveyed), 35 Web site administrators (46% of 76 surveyed), and 59 'other' faculty (10% of 582 surveyed). Obviously, Web site administrators responded in much larger proportion than faculty members in the other two classifications. One could easily surmise that Web site administrators would, by nature, be more technologically active on the WWW and with e-mail-and thus more inclined to respond to surveys of this nature. The subject of the survey itself, of course, would also seemingly be of immediate interest to Web site administrators and perhaps result in greater response from individuals in this group.
While the proportionately large response from Web site administrators was heartening, the disproportionately small response from 'other' faculty members was unsettling. There are a number of unanswered questions about the reasons for faculty non-response. At least one involves whether faculty members would be equally non-responsive to queries about academic program offerings, enrollment, and campus life submitted by prospective students. Are faculty members as non-responsive, generally, as they are with e-mail surveys? If so, why? If 90 percent of faculty members are unable to answer general information inquiries from the public and from prospective students-for whatever reason-a great many institutions and programs may have serious marketing issues to be addressed right in their own backyards.
It should also not be forgotten that at least 90 of the intended survey recipients (12 percent) had e-mail links which were "dead." This statistic dramatically reduced survey response, and, consequently, affected findings. It is unclear whether there may be institutional or program variables which directly affected presence or absence of "dead" links.
In any case, though the statistics were not found to confirm relationships between institutional or program characteristics and faculty rankings of Web sites, the author cannot help but believe there are relationships waiting to be uncovered by a future researcher. The voluntary submission by so many respondents of explicit and emotionally-charged comments about their programs and Web sites-and the informal comments of faculty heard through 'the grapevine' of academe would suggest there is much more at work here than these survey results can confirm.
The research effort was limited initially by a lack of theoretical development in the literature. Previous work did not propose linking program social order as it relates to creation and maintenance of World Wide Web sites as evidenced by the dependent variables of Web site enhancements. While the methods used here are reliable, and the means of measurement appear valid, the concepts involved have not previously been investigated elsewhere and should be subject to further study.
From the outset, this research was not intended to make claims about the entirety of social order within the academic discipline of journalism/ mass communication. Rather, the research was aimed at making generalizations about social order processes as they relate to-and are affected by-the creation and maintenance of program academic Web sites. This research supports the generalization that program social order acts as an independent variable to affect creation and maintenance of World Wide Web sites hosted by academic programs. All the dynamics of this relationship have not been established or investigated, however. Broader theoretical frameworks are needed. When these frameworks for social order are established-and supported by additional research into social order effects and inter-effects with technology-scholars can develop more specific and wide-ranging hypotheses about social order's impact on the academic unit as a whole. At some point, it is hopeful that research may allow for illustration of an unequivocal and overriding relationship between social order throughout an academic program and social order as demonstrated by an academic program's WWW site.
As a consequence of the lack of past investigation into this issue, this research effort was further limited by the inability to locate data collection instruments designed specifically for an investigation of this type. While the author believes the instruments used are reliable, and that they generated data which are valid, it would have been preferable to use a content analysis instrument previously used to analyze academic Web sites and a survey instrument previously used to assess faculty perceptions of social order in the context of Web site creation and maintenance.
Interactive Nature of the Medium
A further limitation stems from the nature of the World Wide Web itself. The WWW is an interactive medium. The perceived functionality and value of a Web site are, to a great degree, influenced by user skills and predispositions (Fucella & Pizzolato, 1998; Corry, Frick, & Hansen, 1997). The WWW is constantly changing. The construction of a Web site, and use of enhancements contained therein, can change at a moment’s notice. The World Wide Web is dependent totally on the interworking of technology. Its constantly-changing set of technological standards can support or hamper user access. Its use in the academic environment is a complicated issue, since the academic environment is built on ‘stable’ administrative and social traditions (Becher, 1989).. As a result, it is difficult to make lasting conclusions about the content, functionality, and value of the Web itself or of particular sites used in higher education.
A related issue involves the structure and application of World Wide Web sites on behalf of educational institutions and programs. Most journalism/ mass communication programs studied in this research were found to maintain just one academic WWW site. However, a small number of programs were found to maintain multiple sites-as many as four. Often this was the case in a department or school in which 'journalism' encompasses a text editorial sequence and 'communication' represents broadcasting, theater, communication theory, public relations, and/or other related academic areas. In instances where this was found to be the case, the program's 'journalism' WWW site was included in the research survey population. It is reasoned that this was the most appropriate inclusion strategy to take, since as a sub-discipline in a multi-faceted program, journalism is more accurately associated with the WWW editorial issues at hand. However, in any instance where just one site out of several can be chosen for analysis, the resulting quantitative and qualitative 'picture' of the academic program remains incomplete.
Conducting a survey in which participants are contacted via online methods brings additional limitations. As was discovered in the course of this research, Web sites often do not identify faculty members, making them unavailable for survey. In other instances, Web sites mis-identify faculty or fail to characterize members' rank or position. Because of these evidenced inaccuracies and omissions in the areas of operational and informational content, it would be impossible to use information from Web sites to assemble an accurate or "randomly selected" database of survey participants. Such was the case in this research.
This research found a high percentage of e-mail links to be "dead" due to technological or programming errors, thus preventing e-mail from reaching intended recipients. Web site hyperlinks are often "dead." Occasionally, they route e-mail to faculty members who have retired or left the institution for a teaching assignment elsewhere. While e-mail sent to a "dead" link or invalid e-mail address will presumably return to its sender with the notice "undeliverable," this is never a guarantee. So the survey taker is left wondering how many surveys really did survive the tortuous path and land in respondents' e-mail boxes.
Once the e-mail lands in the e-mail box, of course, there is no guarantee it will be accessed or viewed. Since the use of e-mail is growing so rapidly, and so many faculty members are barraged with e-mail from administrators, colleagues, textbook vendors, students, and others, e-mail requests to participate in a survey could easily be perceived as an effort at "spamming," the sending of trivial correspondence which is unnecessary in the workplace (Rich, 1999). E-mail messages could thus be deleted or misplaced.
The intent of an e-mail surveys also could be misinterpreted. Three very stern messages were received by this author as replies to his survey questionnaire. One respondent criticized the author for "bothering" him with the request to participate. Another lambasted the author for failing to clarify his methods-methods which were explained in detail in the initial survey request. The third was sent by an internationally-renown communication scholar and author. His response, showing he had mis-interpreted the information presented about sponsorship of the survey, asked why the author could not pay him to answer the questionnaire.
Sometimes, faculty members may be technologically equipped-but unable to use their equipment for online communication. One participant in this survey printed his survey questionnaire on paper, wrote answers on it with an ink pen, and mailed it to the author. The faculty member explained in a note that he had learned to access and print e-mail messages, but was unable to send messages electronically. A few respondents who replied to the e-mail version of the survey form acknowledged earlier receipt of the survey request with embedded WWW hyperlink, but said their computers had no Internet access.
In the end, surveying by e-mail certainly has its limitations. This research might well have been able to achieve a greater response rate by other means. However, since the research subject area was the World Wide Web, it would have seemed illogical to use traditional 'paper and pencil' or telephone survey methods to ask members of the survey population about their involvement with computer mediated communication processes and the social order involved.
This research affirms much about the visual, operational, and informational content of academic program Web sites-findings which had heretofore been only conjectured among online users. The research affirms that many academic program Web sites are flawed from a marketing perspective. A large percentage of sites was found to contain visual, operational, or informational elements which detract from site content, functionality and value. Finally, some statistically-significant relationships were affirmed between institutional type and levels of enhancement on program Web sites. But these findings are tempered by a low response rate for the e-mail survey used-thus, the generalizability of the findings is in question.
Despite the theoretical, procedural and technological limitations of this study, the research findings still have import not only for the discipline but for Web creators and users. If anything, the limitations may even serve to further advance the field of research in this area-because they show how much more work needs to be done to make data collection, analysis, and reporting on electronic communications technology and its affects easier and more reliable.
This study has hinted at a number of research areas which
merit further study. In the area of content analysis, it would be helpful for there to be
an ongoing effort to evaluate journalism/ mass communication program academic Web sites-to
see on a continuing basis how the content, functionality, and value of these sites
changes. After all, sites change on a daily basis-several of the sites evaluated in this
research have already been drastically altered-before this research has even been reviewed
by committee. Surely there will be even greater amounts of change in the future, as
resources for Web creation are advanced, technology becomes more 'user-friendly,' more
students and faculty become Web savvy, and institutional and program leaders see more
value in Web sites. These changes should be quantitatively and qualitatively tracked.
There should be additional research work to compare the visual, operational, and informational enhancements of journalism/ mass communication program Web sites with sites operated by entities in the commercial sector. In the increasingly competitive marketplace of higher education (Topor, 1997; Goldgehn, 1990), colleges and universities should be at the forefront of Web marketing and promotions technology. Our discipline demands it. Yet, the current research has illustrated areas in which the discipline lags well behind the standards already set in the business sector. Here again, further ongoing research is warranted to track the professionalism of journalism's Web applications.
Beyond that, we must attempt to quantify why Web site creation and maintenance issues are given the 'short shrift' perceived by many faculty members. Perhaps additional research work with larger populations would help in this regard. What specific social, organizational, administrative, procedural, or disciplinal variables affect the decisions of faculty and administration to be assertive-or passive-when it comes to Web site development? What is the discipline doing to make changes? How can we alter the reward structure so more faculty can get more involved in the creation and management of this vital communications link with the 'outside world'?
Of course, before this can begin in earnest, additional work is needed to build the theoretical foundation on which more broad-based generalizations can be made about the social order of academic programs as that order relates to Web site creation and maintenance. The current research has barely scratched the surface of what is obviously a concern to a great many faculty members. A reading of the written survey responses-by any standard-shows there are clearly many faculty who are not content with the social order of things in their academic units. A clear relationship has already been established between social order and productivity and success in the academic environment; we must continue to build this theoretical foundation so that it can help explain some of the unanswered questions about Web sites and their role in the order of things.
Finally, more research attention is warranted in the area of surveying via e-mail. There is only a small amount of research available on this topic, and much of what exists is contradictory. We simply do not have a good understanding of the most effective means of surveying a population by electronic means-along with all the variables in the process. This should be a key concern for researchers in journalism and allied disciplines, especially since the increasing cost and complexity of "traditional" survey methods has resulted in greater numbers of academicians turning to e-mail and Internet-delivered surveys to accomplish research goals.
All these issues are important in a general sense, in that the investigation of them will help us better explain our world and the people working within it. But the issues are critical to the future survival of the journalism discipline, which itself has been threatened in many ways in the recent past. If we are to be the best journalists-the best communicators-we can possibly be, the research effort along these lines must continue. We must be able to create a more effective social order, a more effective online presence, and-as a result-a more effective marketing strategy for our discipline now and in the next century.
