Topic Selection
This investigation required three issues representing low, moderate,
and high issue involvement, and reflecting a roughly equal distribution
of opinion both for and against. Researchers brainstormed possible topics
and prepared policy propositions on 31 topics. After a lengthy discussion,
they settled on 16 policy propositions that they believed met these criteria.
The policy propositions were included in a survey instrument designed
to measure involvement and the distribution of opinion. Three 10-interval
scales were used to assess involvement in each issue. The items were
adapted from an instrument originally developed by Traylor (1981) to
gauge product involvement and included the following: importance of
the issue, interest in the issue, and relevance of the issue. Distribution of
opinion was assessed by means of a single item: agree, disagree, or
neutral/no opinion.
The survey was administered to 118 university undergraduate students
(the population that would be employed in the subsequent study).
Results of the survey revealed three topics that met the criteria of representing
low, moderate, and high involvement and reflecting a relatively
equal distribution of opinion both for and against the proposition. The
topics selected for the study included whether manufacture, sale, and
possession of handguns should be banned throughout the United States
(involvement mean: 7.52 on a receiver involvement scale ranging from 1
to 10); whether the United States should legalize sale and use of marijuana
(involvement mean: 5.95); and whether gambling should be completely
legalized throughout the United States (involvement mean: 4.77).
Participants
Participants were recruited from introductory courses in the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication, the Department of Communication
Arts, and the School of Business at a midwestern universiq. The study
featured three distinct phases extending over a period of 3 weeks. A total
of 790 subjects completed all three phases (a retention rate of 82.7%)