Military Readership and Community Attachment Theory

摘要

This study analyzes data collected during the Fort Gordon, Georgia,readership/audience survey in light of community attachment theory. The study uses the community attachment model originally developed by Keith R. Stamm in 1985 and applies the theoretical framework in the analysis of two military subgroups, permanent party soldiers and student transient soldiers, contained within a large military community. The study attempts to show the media habits of each group based upon the relative level of community attachment perceived by each. It further demonstrates the utility of applying a theoretical model to the standardization Army readership survey to make it more revealing and fruitful. The method used was a written survey questionnaire through a systematic random sample for each soldier group under study. A series of community attachment variables provided the needed theoretical framework from which to view each group and frequency distributions, contingency tables, chi-square, correlation coefficients and regression analysis were used to test relationships and measure variance. The concept of community attachment having an effect upon newspaper reading habits and the usefulness of that information for newspaper managers is discussed throughout.