Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 104

Internet Learning Journal – Volume 4, Issue 1 – Spring 2015
were not homogeneous with regard to their reference citations and chapter headings. The
order in which authors presented classic scholarly psychology topics and the terminology
identified in published journal studies revealed no consistency among the textbooks. Finally,
Griggs et al. noted that an inconsistency existed in the number of scholarly studies cited and
the authors of the scholarly studies.
Because the study was a partial retest of the Griggs et al. (2004) benchmark research,
the study included the content analysis format. A content analysis provides a superior
quantifiable data investigative approach compared to a qualitative study. A quantitative
study, such as the content analysis, allows variables to be measured to determine whether
the hypothesis can be generalized (Creswell, Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003).
Terminology Scale
A terminology scale was created that incorporated two categories, broad and minor
for the purposes of researching immediacy-related terms in the textbooks. Broad terms relate
to immediacy in its simplest term. For example, Mehrabian (1971) indicated immediacy as
the psychological closeness experienced between sender and receiver. Thus, closeness was
selected as one of the broad immediacy terms, whereby minor terms related to timely online
instructor replies, such as quick, fast, and speedy.
Although the study involved tracking the more important broad definition of
immediacy, tracking the minor counterpart was advantageous. The intent was to determine
whether textbook paragraphs contained immediacy terminology in its most simplistic
purpose as operationally defined. In the case of broad immediacy, terms such as feelings and
closeness represented immediacy in its most simplistic form. The minor delineated terms
included timely, quick, and fast.
In several cases, synonyms of the words (see Appendix B) represented terms related
to immediacy. However, the more such terms departed from feelings and emotions, the more
likely the terms were not included in the scale; for example, Textbook 2 contained the term
psychological, which was eliminated from the scale. While the term may relate to the social
and emotional well-being of the student, the term closeness was selected as it represented
the outcome immediacy was intended in its most simplistic form. The term think did not
function as a synonym for thought because thinking is an activity that occurs constantly and
was too broad to appear in the category with feelings and emotions. Textbook 16 included
the word moderating, which was not included in the scale.
The term participation emerged in several textbooks, including Textbook 19.
Participation was judged a generic term, like moderating, related to interaction or
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