| William
C. Adams
Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration The George Washington University • Washington, DC |
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| Bill
Adams is Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration at The
George Washington University. His research interests span several
fields, including public administration, public policy, political
science, applied statistics, social psychology, and mass
communications. Along with a variety of survey research and evaluation
projects for both public and private sector organizations, his research
has also focused on public opinion and/or
the U.S. mass media. Professor Adams earned his Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University, and his B.A. and M.A. from Baylor University. Books that he has authored and edited are Election Night News and Voter Turnout: Solving the Projection Puzzle; Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign; Television Coverage of International Affairs; Television Coverage of the Middle East; and Television Network News: Issues in Content Research. As a researcher with the Rand Corporation, Dr. Adams co-authored An Assessment of Telephone Survey Methods, a Rand monograph. For many years, Prof. Adams was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Communication and a member of the Board of Visitors of the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. His scholarly studies have been published in journals such as Policy Studies Journal, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting, Journal of Politics, Journalism Quarterly, Foreign Service Journal, Policy Review, Experimental Study of Politics, Political Communication and Persuasion, Public Administration Review, Journal of Church and State, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Public Administration and Management, Public Opinion, and The Public Manager. Articles by Prof. Adams have also been published in books such as Media Power in Politics, Media and Momentum, Doing Public Administration, Practicing Texas Politics, The President and the Public, and Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. During the past decade, Prof. Adams has conducted extensive research for the Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He has also conducted research for a variety of other organizations such as the space shuttle (United Space Alliance), Goodwill Industries, Reuters, the Council on Foreign Relations, and others. He has lectured at many universities abroad and traveled extensively in more than 120 countries.. |
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Professional Experience Professor, School of Public Policy
and Public Administration, The George Washington University, 1985- present. |
Books Election Night News and Voter Turnout: Solving the Projection Puzzle (Lynne Rienner, 2005). Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign, editor (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1983). Television Coverage of International Affairs, editor (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1982). Television Coverage of the Middle East, editor (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1981). Monographs 1999 Nationwide LEPC Survey, with Mark Starik (Washington: Environmental Protection Agency, 2000). Student Attitudes Toward Careers in Public Service, with K. Newcomer, A. Goldsmith, D. McKenna, P. Rosse (Washington: GWU, 1998). The Impact of CEPPO's No-Charge Distribution of CAMEO Software: 1998 Survey of Recipients, (Washington: Environmental Protection Agency, 1998). Emergency Response and Preparedness Software: Nationwide Surveys of Cameo, Landview and Tier II Users, with M. Morgan and M. Viana (Washington: Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). Nationwide LEPC Survey, with S. Burns (Washington: Environmental Protection Agency, 1994). An Assessment of Telephone Survey Methods, with William Lucas (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1977). |
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Articles in Journals and Books |
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| "Benchmarking
World-Class Annual Reports" (with Ted Smith III), in D. Cushman and S.
King, Communication Best Practices (Albany, NY: State University
of New York Press, 2003).
“Whose Lives Count?” in Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies, Toby Miller, ed. (Oxford: Routledge, 2003). "Best Practice Methods for Improving Annual Reports,” Proceedings of the International Applied Business Research Conference (Western Academic Press, 2003). "MPAs
View Federal Employment:
"Top Undergraduates View Federal Employment," The Public Manager 29 (Summer 2000). "On the Campaign Trail: Roundtable Discussion of the 1996 Presidential Campaign," The Brookings Review (Winter 1997). "Research Priorities and the Chi-Square Test," with B. Catron, in Doing Public Administration, Nicholas Henry, ed. (3rd ed., William C. Brown, 1991). "Media Power in Postindustrial Society," Addresses Commemorating the Sixtieth Year of the Panteios School of Political Science (Athens: Panteios, 1988, in Greek). "Mass Media and Public Opinion about Foreign Affairs: A Typology of News Dynamics," Political Communication and Persuasion 5 (Autumn 1987). "Go Where the Ducks Are: Decision Support for Political Marketing Strategy," in Robert F. Dyer and Ernest H. Forman, eds., Marketing Decisions Using Expert Choice (McLean, Va: Decision Support, 1988). "As New Hampshire Goes..." in Media and Momentum, Gary Orren and Nelson Polsby, eds. (Chatham, N.J.: Chatham House, 1987). "C-SPAN in the Classroom: Media and Politics," News for Teachers of Political Science (Washington, DC: American Political Science Assoc.) Summer 1987. "El Poder y Problemas de la Televisión," Periodismo Televisivo (Madrid: IFEMA, 1986, in Spanish). "Whose Lives Count? Television Coverage of Natural Disasters," Journal of Communication 36 (Spring 1986). "Redistricting the Texas House of Representatives," with Richard Riley, in Practicing Texas Politics, E. W. Jones, et al., eds. (6th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986). "Before and After ‘The Day After': Unexpected Results of a Televised Drama," with Dennis Smith, et al., Political Communication and Persuasion 3 (Spring 1986). "The Beirut Hostages: ABC and CBS Seize an Opportunity," Public Opinion 8 (August/September 1985). "The Power of ‘The Right Stuff': A Quasi-Experimental Field Test of the Docudrama Hypothesis," with Allison Salzman, et al., Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (Autumn 1985). "Convention Coverage: The Media and Campaign '84," Public Opinion 8 (December/January 1985): 43-48; reprinted in The Mass Media in Campaign '84, M. J. Robinson and Austin Ranney, eds. (Washington, DC: AEI, 1985); also reprinted in That's The Way It Isn't (Alexandria, Va: MRC, 1990). "Recent Fables about Ronald Reagan," Public Opinion 8 (October/ November 1984). "Media Coverage of Campaign '84" Public Opinion 8 (April/May 1984): 9-13; reprinted in The Mass Media in Campaign '84, M.J. Robinson and Austin Ranney, eds. (AEI, 1985). "Opinion and Foreign Policy," Foreign Service Journal 61 (May 1984). "Grenada Update: The Grenadian Public's Attitudes," Public Opinion 7 (February/March 1984). "Box Office Boost," with A. Baker, et al., Washington Journalism Review 5 (December 1983). "Why the Right Gets it Wrong
in Foreign Policy," Public Opinion 6 (August/September 1983).
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"Reputation,
Size, and Student Success in Public Administration/ Affairs Programs,"
Public
Administration Review 43 (September/October 1983).
"Redistricting the Texas House for the 1980s," with Richard Riley, in Practicing Texas Politics, E. Jones, et al., eds. (5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983). "Media Power in Presidential Elections: An Exploratory Analysis of 1960-1980," in The President and the Public, Doris Graber, ed. (Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1982). Reprinted in Media Power in Politics, Doris Graber, ed. (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1984); also reprinted in Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign, William C. Adams, ed. (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1983). "Deciding the Future of a Job-Training Program: Research Priorities and the Chi-Square Test," with Bayard Catron, in Doing Public Administration, Nicholas Henry, ed. (2nd ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1982). "Blaming Israel for Begin," Public Opinion 5 (October/November 1982). "Middle East Meets West: Surveying American Attitudes," Public Opinion 5 (April/May 1982). "Unnewsworthy Holocaust," with Michael Joblove, Policy Review 11 (Winter 1980). Reprinted in That's The Way It Isn't (Alexandria, Va.: MRC) and in Television Coverage of International Affairs, (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1982). Excerpts also reprinted in publications such as Baltimore Sun, Rocky Mountain News, Asia Mail. "Effects of Telephone Canvassing on Turnout and Preferences: A Field Experiment," with Dennis Smith, Public Opinion Quarterly 44 (Fall 1980). "Public Information and Social Change: Television Coverage of Women in the Workforce," with Suzanne Albin, Policy Studies Journal 8 (Spring 1980). "Local Broadcast News Coverage of the Central City," Journal of Broadcasting 24 (Spring 1980). "Measuring Legislator-Constituency Congruence: Liquor, Legislators, and Linkage," with Paul Ferber, Journal of Politics 42 (February 1980). "Wheeling and Dealing, Gerrymandering and Litigating," in Practicing Texas Politics, E. W. Jones, et al., eds. (4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980). "The Social Basis of American Politics," with Robert Darcy, Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 7 (November 1979). "Local Public Affairs Content of Television News," Journalism Quarterly 55 (Winter 1978). "Talking, Television, and Voter Indecision," with W. Lucas, Journal of Communication 28 (Autumn 1978). "Television Coverage of the 1976 Presidential Campaign," Essays in Political Science (Washington, DC: National Capital Area Political Science Association, 1978). "The Politics of Visibility: TV Interview Shows," with P. Ferber, Journal of Broadcasting 21 (Spring 1977). "Urban Representation in the Texas House of Representatives," in Practicing Texas Politics, E. Jones, et al., eds. (3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977). "Candidate Characteristics, Office of Election, and Voter Responses," Experimental Study of Politics 4 (July 1975). "American Public Opinion in the 1960s on Two Church-State Issues," Journal of Church and State 17 (Autumn 1975). "Candidate Characteristics and Electability," Essays in Political Science (Washington, DC: National Capital Area Political Science Association, 1975). "Redistricting the Texas House of Representatives, 1971-1973," in Practicing Texas Politics, E. Jones, et al., eds. (2nd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974). "Introductory American Government Textbooks," PS 7 (Summer 1974). "Single-Member Districts, Competition, and Texas Politics," Potomac Review 6 (Summer 1973). "Democratic Party of McLennan County," "Republican Party of McLennan County," in Book of Waco and McLennan County, Texas, Dayton Kelly, ed. (Austin: Texas Press, 1972). |
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Book Reviews "Studies of the 1976 Presidential Debates," Presidential Studies Quarterly 10 (Spring 1980). "Analysis of Subjective Culture by Harry Triandis," Potomac Review 7 (Summer 1975). "Christian Biopolitics by Kenneth Cauthen," Journal of Church and State 14 (Spring 1972). |
Other Publications “Estimating Community Standards: Comment,” Public Opinion Quarterly 56 (Spring, 1992). "California, a Colossus on the Political Landscape," San Francisco Chronicle (August 12, 1991). "Recent Coverage of Middle East Reflects Ten-Year Evolution," Business/Economic News Report 1 (October 1982). "Make-or-break Coverage of John Anderson," Washington Star, Sunday, August 24, 1980. |
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Papers and Panels at Professional Conferences "Best Practice Methodologies for Improving Annual Reports,” International Applied Business Research Conference; Mexico; March 20, 2002. "Attracting Top Graduates into Public Service," American Society for Public Administration Conference on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations; Bethesda, Maryland; February 21, 2001. "Phi Beta Kappas View Federal Employment: Revisiting the ‘Quite Crisis'" annual conference of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration; Boise, Idaho; October 17, 1998. "In the Public Interest? Media and Politics," roundtable panel moderator; American Society for Public Administration's conference "Ethics in Government: An Intricate Web"; Washington, DC; Nov. 13, 1989. "Responsible Campaign Coverage," roundtable panel at the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association; Chicago; April 15, 1988. "The Impact of ABC's ‘Amerika,'" with T. Smith, American Association for Public Opinion Research Roundtable; Hershey, Pennsylvania; May 22, 1987. "Hermetical Hegemony and Heretical Hermeneutics," American Political Science Association; Washington, DC; September 6, 1986. "TV Power and Politics," IFEMA Conference on Periodismo Televisivo e Informacion; Madrid, Spain; April 11, 1986. "One Italian Equals 22 Filipinos: How U.S. TV Prioritizes the World," World Association for Public Opinion Research; St. Petersburg, Florida; May 18, 1986. "International News and American Opinions: Toward a Typology," Harvard University, Center for International Affairs Speaker Series; Cambridge, Massachusetts; August 1, 1985. "Voting and Exit Polling," plenary session panel; Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; Memphis; August 4, 1985. "Early Projections in 1984: How Western Voters Deplored but Ignored Them," American Association of Public Opinion Research; New Jersey; May 17, 1985. "International News and Network Television," Council on Foreign Relations; New York; March 15, 1985. "Exit Polling, Elections, and Policy Debates in Content Regulation," American Bar Association, Communications Law Conference; Washington, DC; March 29, 1985. "Hart Hype and Media Muscle: Power of Status Conferral in Campaign '84," International Society for Political Psychology; Toronto; June 25, 1984. "Before and After The Day After: A Nationwide Survey of a Movie's Political Impact," with D. Smith, et al., International Communication Association; San Francisco; May 27, 1984. "Hollywood Hype and Political Power: Quasi-Experimental Studies of The Right Stuff and The Day After," Telecommunications Policy Research Conference; Airlie, Virginia; April 25, 1984. "International News and Public Opinion," discussant, International Society for Political Psychology; Washington, DC; June 25, 1982. "Public Administrators and the Media," panel chair, American Society for Public Administration; Honolulu; March 25, 1982. "Public Opinion and the Iran Hostage Crisis," District of Columbia Psychological Association; Washington, DC; December 4, 1981. "Candidates, Issues, and the Media in the 1980 Election," panel chair, Southern Political Science Association; Memphis; November 6, 1981. "Opinion Climates, the Media, and the National Agenda," discussant, American Political Science Association; New York; September 5, 1981. "Issues in Public Opinion Research," panel chair, Western Social Science Assoc.; San Diego; April 24, 1981. "Applying Content Analysis Methods," Modern Media Institute Seminar; St. Petersburg; May 29, 1981. "Media and Voting Behavior," Yale University; U.S. Politics Speaker Series; New Haven; March 25, 1980. "An Exploratory Analysis of American Voting and Media, 1960-1980," Southern Political Science Association; Atlanta; November 7, 1980. "Field Experiments and Public Policy Issues," Midwest Political Science Association; Chicago; April 26, 1980. "News Coverage of the NRC and Three Mile Island," American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Chapter; Washington, DC; December 6, 1979. "TV Archives and Public Policy Research and Training," moderator; National Capital Area Political Science Association; Washington, DC; October 20, 1979. "Adding Insult to Injury: News Media Coverage of Sex Discrimination, 1968-1978," with S. Albin; American Political Science Association Women's Caucus panel; Washington, DC; September 1, 1979. "Media Agenda-Setting and American Politics," discussant, Midwest Political Science Association; Chicago; April 20, 1979. "The Newsroom and the Classroom," Modern Media Institute Seminar; St. Petersburg; March 25-31, 1979. "TV News Archives: A Guide to Research," Southern Association for Public Opinion Research; Chapel Hill; March 18, 1978. "Undecided Voters and Political Communications in the 1976 Presidential Campaign," with W. Lucas; Southwestern Political Science Association; Dallas; April 1, 1977. "Television Coverage of the 1976 Presidential Campaign," roundtable organizer and moderator; National Capital Area Political Science Association; Washington, DC; March 26, 1977. "Who Wants What, When, How: Issue Politics in America, 1952-1972," with R. Darcy; Midwest Political Science Association; Chicago; May 2, 1975. "American Public Opinion and the Separation of Church and State," Southwestern Political Science Association; San Antonio; March 27, 1975. "Candidate Characteristics and Voter Responses," National Capital Area Political Science Association; Washington, DC; April 27, 1974. "Political Consequences of Texas Constitutional Reform," Southwestern Political Science Association; Dallas; March 17, 1974. "The Introduction of Single-Member Districts: Implications for Texas Politics," Southwestern Political Science Association; Dallas; March 18, 1973. "Recent Political Developments in Brazil and Argentina," Southwestern Council on Latin American Studies; Austin; April 2, 1972. |
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Other Activities |
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Cosmos Club member, Washington, D.C., 1990-2005. Publisher, Executive Editor, Founder, Talk Daily (daily digest of the ten top talk radio shows), 1995-96. Board of Visitors, Vanderbilt University Television News Archive; Nashville, Tennessee; 1985-1991. Executive Committee, National Capital Area Political Science Association, 1978-1984. Producer, "A Videotape Anthology
of TV News: November 1979 through January 1981," a five-hour series prepared
at request of the U.S. Department of State and shown in Wiesbaden to U.S.
hostages after their 1981 release from Iran. |
Board of Directors, Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia, 1979-85. Membership in professional associations included the International Communication Association, National Association of Scholars, American Political Science Association, and the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Extensive experience abroad in over one hundred countries and special guest lectures at: |
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