Consortium for the Study of
Communication and Decision Making
The Consortium is founded on the philosophy of collaborative research. One of its goals is to foster opportunities for graduate students to work with professors on a variety of original, cutting-edge research projects.
Consortium members are faculty working as team on a variety of extramurally funded projects. Faculty with an interest in joining the Consortium should contact the directors. Consortium faculty select graduate students who work with the Consortium based on the students' research experience, fit, and academic achievements.
Consortium students often work with professors on grant sponsored projects and produce papers for conferences and publication. Additionally, Consortium students are encouraged to apply for grants for their own research projects, including their dissertations.
Directors:
Erica Austin, Ph.D.
(Ph.D., 1989, Stanford University) is Dean and professor of communication at Washington State University and is widely published on media literacy, family communication and health issues. Her research focuses on the uses of media in decision making and social development. Topics include the interplay of media and parental influences in children's decisions about health, politics and social reality. Dr. Austin also studies political decision making and disaffection among adults. She has served as advisor to organizations nationwide and the federal government on media literacy issues. She received the 2001 Krieghbaum Under-40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the 2005 Public Relations Educator of the Year award from the Greater Spokane Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Bruce Pinkleton, Ph.D.
(Ph.D.,1992, Michigan State University) is professor of communication at Washington State University. His research program focuses on the role of individual motivations and information source use in individuals' decision-making processes, and the behavioral outcomes associated with message exposure. This includes, for example, examining the relationship of political campaign strategies and techniques to citizens' political decision making and participation. He also investigates decision making in other contexts such as health communication campaigns and has conducted a number of studies to evaluate heath campaign effectiveness. He is coauthor of Strategic Public Relations Management and is widely published in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Communication, Health Communication, Political Communication, Pediatrics, the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, the Journal of Advertising, Communication Research,and Mass Communication and Society. His research has been sponsored by the Associated Press-Seattle, the American Legacy Foundation, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and the Alcoholic Beverage and Medical Research Foundation. He recently received the 2007 Public Relations Educator of the Year award from the Greater Spokane Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
Faculty:
Douglas Blanks Hindman, PhD.
(Ph.D. Mass Communication, University of Minnesota) is an associate professor of communication at Washington State University where he teaches courses in telecommunications and new communication technologies. His research focuses on the role of mass media in community adjustment to social conflict and change. His work is published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Mass Communication & Society, Health Education Research, Journal of Radio Studies, Mass media, social control, and social change: A macrosocial perspective, and in the International Encyclopedia of Communication.
Stacey J.T. Hust, PhD.
(Ph.D., 2005, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is assistant professor of communication at Washington State University. Her research explores whether the mass media can be used for health promotion through strategies such as entertainment education and media advocacy. As a health communication scholar, Dr. Hust focuses on the media's effects on sexual and reproductive health and substance abuse prevention. Her research has examined the media's effects on adolescents and gender identity, and she has studied media's coverage of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs for the past six years. Hust has earned awards for her research, which has been published as book chapters and journal articles. Her work has been published in Journal of Health Communication, Health Communication, Journal of International Advertising, Women & Health Journal, and Public Relations Review.
Research Assistants:
Michelle Arganbright, Doctoral Student, kistler@wsu.edu
Ming Lei, Doctoral Student, ming_lei@wsu.edu
Chunbo "Richard" Ren, Doctoral Student, chunbo_ren@wsu.edu
Masahiro Yamamoto, Doctoral Student, masapokorin@wsu.edu
Current Research Projects:
- The Campus Campaign Against Sexual Assault. Sponsoring Agencies: Washington State University Office of the University President and Health & Wellness Services
- The Effects of a Greater Awareness of the Self Regulation of Alcohol Advertising. Funding Agency: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, WSU
- The Role of Media Advocacy Editorials in Framing Adolescent Marijuana Use as a Societal Problem. Funding Agency: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, WSU
- Media literacy based comprehensive sex education program. Funding Agency: Washington State Department of Health
- An evaluation of anti-tobacco public service announcement. Funding Agency: Washington State Department of Health
- Help develop and evaluate media campaign to reduce adolescent tobacco use. Funding Agency: Washington State Department of Health.