Date of Award

5-1-1935

Degree Type

Bachelors Essay

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Maynard W. Brown

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to present facts which may in some measure indicate the possible existence of an anti-social influence exerted by the column of personal items which appears daily in the classified advertising section of the London Times and which is commonly known as the "Agony" column.

No attempt will be made in this thesis to establish definitely the exact measure of this influence, since to do this with any degree of accuracy would be impossible in the absence of an adequate knowledge of the total conditions which accompanied publication of the items in the column. An effort will be made, however, to indicate the nature of the column's influence in the presence of given circumstances.

It is believed that this study will be of some possible social value, perhaps the more because the subject, to our knowledge, has not as yet been thoroughly investigated. No information directly relevant to this topic is available, and much of the material which this study contains was drawn perforce from primary sources.

The "Agony" and its contributors have been the object of learned psychological research; it has been the setting of many mysteries, adventures and romances by authors of past and present; from it has been gleaned many a thrilling anthology; but its relative influence for good or evil has never been charted.

This study was conducted and this thesis was written in all sincerity as a worth-while contribution to the literature surrounding the subject which is considered by the author is being eminently worthy of the time and efforts expended to reveal it and to estimate it according to factual standards.

Comments

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Journalism, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in Journalism

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