Summary

In 1981 the first edition of Public Communication Campaigns effectively presented the state of the art in public communication campaigns. Program managers, policymakers, administrators, and evaluators brought together valuable perspectives on influencing public knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The second edition of Public Communication Campaigns continues this tradition, bringing to bear the continual advances--and challenges --in campaign theorizing and research over the past decade. Original chapters from the first edition are significantly revised, providing a fuller body of research and experience. Relevant case studies such as the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Project and studies of cancer and antismoking campaigns serve to broaden and enrich these discussions. New chapters include a highly innovative campaign sampler that sketches 11 notable campaigns and their implications, and provides historical context for more recent studies. Here is a tutorial on formative evaluation, a discussion of community campaigns, a systems-based evaluation planning methodology, an evaluation of television soap operas as campaign tools, and timely analyses of the conduct of political campaigns and the use of persuasion in adolescent AIDS prevention campaigns. An insightful closing chapter by Larry Wallack challenges some of the basic campaign assumptions about the role of mass media. Like its enlightening predecessor, this volume will play an important role in communication efforts to improve the lives of individuals and society by scholars, policy makers, researchers, practitioners, planners, and evaluators. "Most readers will find the book valuable. . . . The book′s scope guarantees some sustenance for all. . . . It packages some impressive pieces by researchers of theoretical and methodological sophistication who have applied their expertise to specific problems. . . . For those interested in the present state of thinking about public communication campaigns, this volume is most useful." --Canadian Journal of Communication