CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Frenette, M. (1999). Explorations in adolescents’ sense-making of anti-smoking messages. The Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line serial] 9 (2, 3, & 4).
© The Electronic Journal of Communication (1999).

ABSTRACT:
In the context of information use, the implementation of Sense-Making Methodology assumes that humans only use information resources in the context of their own experience—where they have come from, what they are struggling with, and where they are going. This article pulls together a series of qualitative studies that verified the relevance of this approach for understanding smoking habits among adolescents and for the design of related health campaigns. Teenage smokers and non-smokers were interviewed about their experiences with cigarettes and their perceptions of different anti-smoking campaigns that included radio and television public service announcements as well as posters and other print material. Their responses were analyzed using the core metaphor of the Sense-Making Methodology—the idea that the person’s progression through time-space involves step-takings across gaps and building bridges (cognitive, emotional, spiritual, physical) from past to future. In the context of health campaigns, the kinds of gap-facing and gap-bridging emphasized are the asking of questions (implicitly or explicitly), the searching for answers (purposively or capriciously), and the constructing of answers that work for each person. In closing, preliminary reflections are offered on the challenges and promises of designing media health messages in accordance with such a dialogic model of communication.

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See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistfrenette.html.