Rumor
[[File:WPA-Rumor-Poster.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A 1930s Works Progress Administration poster depicts a man with WPA shovel attacking a wolf labeled 'rumor.]] A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern." In the social sciences, a rumor involves a form of a statement whose veracity is not quickly or ever confirmed. In addition, some scholars have identified rumor as a subset of propaganda. Sociology, psychology, and communication studies have widely varying definitions of rumor. Rumors are also often discussed with regard to misinformation and disinformation (the former often seen as simply false and the latter seen as deliberately false, though usually from a government source given to the media or a foreign government). Early work French and German social science research on rumor locates the modern scholarly definition of it to the pioneering work of the German William Stern in 1902. Stern experimented on rumor involving a "chain of subjects" who passed a story from "mouth to ear" without the right to repeat or explain it. He found that the story was shortened and changed by the time it reached the end of the chain. His student was another pioneer in the field, Gordon Allport. The experiment is similar to the children's game Chinese whispers. A Psychology of Rumor (1944) "A Psychology of Rumor" was published by in 1944, in which he reports on his analysis of over one thousand rumors during World War II that were printed in the Boston Herald'''s "Rumor Clinic" Column. He defines rumor as <blockquote> a proposition for belief of topical reference disseminated without official verification. So formidably defined, rumor is but a special case of informal social communications, including myth, legend, and current humor. From myth and legend it is distinguished by its emphasis on the topical. Where humor is designed to provoke laughter, rumor begs for belief. </blockquote> Knapp identified three basic characteristics that apply to rumor: they're transmitted by word of mouth; they provide "information" about a "person, happening, or condition"; and they express and gratify "the emotional needs of the community." Crucial to this definition and its characteristics is the emphasis on transmission (word of mouth, which then was heard and reported in the newspaper); on content ("topical" means that it can somehow be distinguished from trivial and private subjects—its domain is public issues); and on reception ("emotional needs of the community" suggests that though it is received by an individual from an individual, it is not comprehended in individual but community or social terms). Based on his study of the newspaper column, Knapp divided those rumors into three types: Pipe dream rumors: reflect public desires and wished-for outcomes (e.g. Japan's oil reserves were low and thus World War II would soon end). Bogie or fear rumors reflect feared outcomes (e.g. An enemy surprise attack is imminent). Wedge-driving rumors intend to undermine group loyalty or interpersonal