Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

Gatekeeping Theory: Definition, Examples, Criticisms

In communication theory, gatekeeping is the process through which information is filtered before it is disseminated. Gatekeeping is associated with exercising different types of power, such as selecting news, enforcing the status quo, mediating between different groups, brokering expert information, and so on (Barzilai-Nahon, 2009). Gatekeeping theory was first introduced by the social psychologist Kurt […]

Gatekeeping Theory: Definition, Examples, Criticisms Read More »

18 Informal Fallacy Examples (A to Z)

An informal fallacy is a fallacy that is caused by the content and context of an argument, and not necessarily due to the form of the argument. Scholars commonly define fallacies as deceptively bad arguments. In contemporary studies, scholars often distinguish between formal and informal fallacies (Hansen, 2020). Formal fallacies are those arguments that have

18 Informal Fallacy Examples (A to Z) Read More »

15 Federalism Examples

Federalism is a mixed form of government that combines a central (federal) government with regional governments (provincial, state, territorial, etc.). Federalist nations divide power between the central government and the regional governments. Federalism was first adopted in the union of states during the Old Swiss Confederacy (Forsyth, 1981, p. 18), but several countries have federal

15 Federalism Examples Read More »

10 Fallacy of Division Examples

The fallacy of division is an informal fallacy that occurs when one assumes that something true of a whole must also necessarily be true of its parts (Hansen, 2020). A simple fallacy of division example goes like this: Australian people are good at surfing. Matt is Australian. Therefore, Matt is good at surfing. An informal

10 Fallacy of Division Examples Read More »

Communication Accommodation Theory – Explained for Students

Communication accommodation theory (CAT) is a communication theory that provides a framework for explaining and predicting how individuals change the ways they communicate to create, maintain, or decrease social distance (Dragojevic et al., 2015). Communication accommodation theory, as the name suggests, explores how we accommodate our communication (Giles & Ogay, 2007, p. 293). As a

Communication Accommodation Theory – Explained for Students Read More »

10 Actor-Observer Bias Examples

Quick Definition: Actor-observer bias refers to the biases we have in overestimating the role of external factors in our own behavior and overestimating the role of internal factors in others’ behavior. This leads to blaming external factors for our own failures, but blaming others for their own failures. When we try to explain human behavior,

10 Actor-Observer Bias Examples Read More »

10 Positive Externality Examples

In economics, externalities are indirect costs or benefits of economic activities on uninvolved third parties. When a third party is affected by an externality, they get a benefit or suffer from something that arose from an economic activity they weren’t involved in. There are two main types of externalities: positive and negative. For example, water

10 Positive Externality Examples Read More »

21 Negative Externality Examples

In economics, externalities are indirect costs or benefits of economic activities on uninvolved third parties. When a third party is affected by an externality, they get a benefit or suffer from something that arose from an economic activity they weren’t involved in. Governments and social institutions sometimes take actions to deal with (“internalize”) externalities (Stewart

21 Negative Externality Examples Read More »