Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Surveillance Culture And Potential Resistance Of Social Media In Egypt, Dina Refaei

Theses and Dissertations

Social media companies have become dominant over their users. With digital capabilities that enable them to monitor, analyze and process users’ data, they are able to restrict users’ activities in accordance with their own policies. The present study examines the potential for users to encounter social media policies – specifically, privacy and content moderation policies imposed over activities on these platforms. The surveillance culture model is proposed to highlight surveillance perceptions among users and determine the factors that might affect users' intention to resist social media policies. A sample of 547 Egyptian social media users were surveyed. The findings showed …

Destiny Diaz Named Winner Of Ouachita's David Glaze Music Competition, Abigail Blankenship, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Destiny Diaz won the first David Glaze Music Competition, held Thursday, April 28, at Ouachita Baptist University. Sponsored by the Division of Music in Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts, the competition featured performances from outstanding students in vocal and instrumental music performance programs at Ouachita.

Diaz is a senior instrumental music education major from Malvern, Ark. She received a $1,000 award for her winning performance on flute of “Allegretto Malincolico” by Francis Poulenc and “Fantasie, Op. 79” by Gabriel Fauré.

Searching For A Solution To Political Polarization In The U.S. Through A Feminist Ethics Of Care, Marissa Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American politics have seen growing polarization in the past few years (Serrano-Contreras et al., 2020; Wojcieszak & Warner, 2020). Polarization is generally defined as “the distance between opposing political views” (Serrano-Contreras et al., 2020, p. 65). With focus on college students, this thesis considers ways to bridge the political divide in the United States and to promote generative engagement with differences across the political spectrum. The specific research questions this study explored were: 1) How do Ethics of Care principles and practices appear in and impact conversations on politically-charged topics among college students? and 2) How does participating in a …

Running Up Against A Brick Wall: U.S. Metajournalistic Discourse Of Gender Equality In Newsrooms, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh, Tim P. Vos

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Drawing on institutional theory, feminist critiques of three popular stances on gendered workplaces, and previous research about women in newsrooms, this study considers the metajournalistic discourse about gender equality in newsrooms through a discourse analysis of more than 500 online articles and blog posts in American journalism industry publications from January 2002 until September 2019. The findings confirm that the status of women journalists remains problematic. Journalists recognize that women remain underrepresented in terms of numbers and face a pay gap, glass ceiling, and various forms of harassment. Solutions are sometimes presented in terms of women’s individual empowerment. Arguments in …

Non:Wa: Navigating Indigenous Modernity Through Female Artists' Perspectives, Nicole Bussey

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This article examines the relationship between tradition and modern elements of Indigenous music through a cyclical perspective, and challenges colonial concepts of Indigenous modernity. Indigenous culture is often portrayed in mainstream culture as a relic of the past, which renders it incompatible with modernity. With a special focus on Indigenous female artists’ perspectives, I examine the ways in which women placed in this unique intersection challenge the binaries of past/present and tradition/modern.

Tag Your Friends For A Chance To Read This Paper: Self-Monitoring And Renumeration Posts On Social Media, Andrea Weng

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Brands frequently offer consumers the opportunity to win prizes or be entered into a sweepstakes by asking for likes, shares, tags and even content creation. However, many consumers are not interested in interacting with their social media audience for the sole purpose of remuneration. This study explores the willingness of Gen Z to participate in remuneration posts and the likelihood of liking, sharing, tagging and more. Findings reveal that most Gen Z consumers are willing to like a post in order to be entered to win something, but further engagement is less likely. When using more popular platforms like Instagram, …

Mitigating Covid-19 Infection Rates And Increasing Vaccination Rates For Children Ages 5-11: A Content Analysis Of How Two Hospitals’ Use Of Effective Social Media Engagement Helped To Influence A Healthier Public, Jacqueline Delorey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The Covid-19 outbreak initiated an international public health crisis, altering our publics dependency on health organizations communication strategies and tactics. Immediate crisis communication and public health efforts were needed to mitigate panic and infectious disease across the globe. The digital marketing strategies utilized for social media began to reflect the value of accurate and timely information spread in correlation to a healthier targeted public for large health organizations. The significance of this thesis in the field of communications directly correlates to the health belief model, which is used to observe the motivation and decision-making processes that influence an individual’s choice …

From Bridgerton To Love Is Blind: Romantic Relationship Expectations Based On Consumption Of Original Streaming Television, Elena Bartolomey

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This study examines how relationship expectations differ when a user consumes traditional television in comparison to original streaming TV. The findings of this study are consistent with previous studies that found that those with lower perceptions of trust and commitment in relationships tend to watch more romantic television. In addition, those who watch more original streaming television of all kinds, tend to have a more romanticized view of relationships. In addition to replicating previous studies, this study found that while young people may be reticent to define their relationships, those who do have higher levels of trust and commitment than …

Exploration Of How Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use Of Technology Enhances Trust In Communication, Samantha M. Ricciardi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The qualitative study aims to understand the central phenomenon of how trust enhances communication with online grocery shopping for participants who are 25 years and older and are active online grocery shoppers. Venkatesh, Morris, and Davis created a technology acceptance model called Unified created Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, which explains the acceptance and use of information systems and communication technology innovations with consumers (Kim et al., 2008; Phillippi et al., 2021). The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology is an alternative theoretical model that ties into eight existing user acceptance models: (a) Technology Acceptance Model …

The Magazine Industry: How The Internet Has Changed It All, Marissa Bradstreet

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The goal of this thesis is to understand the changes the magazine industry has seen through the emergence of digital technology. This project can help us further understand the role of online magazines, and how their reading experience differs from reading the traditional print magazines. This project can help consumers and producers understand what magazine readers are looking for in their magazine experience and what factors make them choose to read magazines from one platform to another. This is important for producers and publishers because it helps decide what content is worth creating based on the wants of consumers.

Higher Education Social Media: Student Perceptions Of University’S Covid-19 Crisis Communication, Bailey Cormier

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This study, as stated, is aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of full-time undergraduate students of the university’s social media crisis communication. These students, the stakeholders of BSU, have followed Instagram accounts and have both accessed and been the audience of during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is a novel health crisis, the findings of this study have significance and can provide insights into effective crisis communication strategies that organizations and crisis communicators can implement in the current pandemic and future health crises. Experiences with different aspects during the pandemic such as participating in education online during …

From Fitspiration Posts To Food Shaming: Social Media’S Impact On Adolescent Girls’ Body Image, Madison Jones

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Social media is marketed as a way to connect and share with others all over the world—a fast way to connect to grandma down in Florida, do research from a university on the other side of the world, or even spark environmental change across the globe. So how, at the same time, can this be a harmful tool, one that has been identified as a cause of depression and even, in some cases, suicide in young girls? Social media sites like Instagram, FaceBook, and TikTok encourage users to post pictures and videos that show your “best self” alongside a rating …

Marvel-Ous Women: Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, And The Representation Of Female Superheroes, Alexis Lee Tavares

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The goal of this project is to determine the manner in which female superheroes Natasha Romanoff and Wanda Maximoff are portrayed by Marvel Studios’ depictions. These portrayals will help us understand if Marvel reinforces or challenges sexism placed upon female superheroes, given that their role as leaders in the industry influences other media. The following questions guided my research process: What does the physical appearance of this superhero say about her character? How does her appearance speak to how she is viewed as a woman? What is in the significance of the relationships this hero has with others? How does …

Covid-19 And The Transition To Online Learning In The Basic Course: Examining Effects On Student Learning, Jeffrey H. Kuznekoff, Stevie M. Munz

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: This study examines how the transition to remote delivery during the spring of 2020 affected student learning in the basic communication course.

Methods: Participants in three different course delivery modes (face-to-face, online, and live interactive) were enrolled in a public speaking course with standardized adaptive reading quizzes, exams, and speech assignments. Participants completed several measures over the course of the semester and had their responses paired up with their end-of-semester grade book data.

Results: Results of this study indicate that students who were enrolled in a face-to-face course and transitioned online during the COVID-19 pandemic were outperformed by online …

Effects Of Strategic Communications Of Middle-Level Managers On Strategic Thinking And Organizational Performance: A Quantitative Study, Anthony Uwem Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study explored the relationship between Middle-Level Managers' (MLM) strategic communications, strategic thinking, and organizational performance. Pieces of evidence about strategic communications processes and strategic thinking supporting increased organizational performance are critical to an organization. According to researchers, when strategic communications and strategic thinking are not in the manager’s thought processes, any plans based upon such methods might fail to achieve the desired outcomes concerning organizational performance. While strategic communications and strategic thinking are essential to corporate performance, researchers have not fully substantiated their impact on the performance outcomes of an organization. Identifying to the highest Degree how a relationship …

How The Power Of Film Inspires Christianity, Stephanie Mullins Sellers

Masters Theses

Ruthie’s Game is a screenplay designed to repeat supernatural episodic events, which, according to research, may act as foundations for faith systems because watching films is a prayerful act, and the more it is repeated the longer the brain stores the memory. The thesis explores how Christian messages are received through film with a brief on the science behind the brain’s activities and how it reflexes film’s episodic events for later use. Testimonies, interviews, and personal comments show an audience seeking secular films with intellectual storyline and with no preaching to the choir. Ruthie’s Game shares Christian messages in an …

Facing The Matter: An Eye-Tracking Assessment Of Social Media Beauty Filter's Impact On Cosmetic Surgery Normative Beliefs, Camilla Marie Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Communication research has begun to assess the unique relationship between social comparison, social media, and body image (Lewallen & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), yet little research has been done to assess the unique connection between body dissatisfaction, social media filters, and cosmetic surgery (Beos et al., 2021). Studies have found that viewing edited body images on Instagram positively correlates with decreased body satisfaction and behaviors of body objectification (Tiggemann, & Barbato, 2018). This study used a series of scales to measure individuals' media exposure (MTUAS: Rosen et al., 2013) body area satisfaction (BASS; Brown et al., 1990), facial region satisfaction (FRSS; Guthrie …

Spectral Analysis Of Multiscale Cultural Traits On Twitter, Chandler Squires, Nikhil Kunapuli, Yaneer Bar-Yam, Alfredo Morales

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Understanding and mapping the emergence and boundaries of cultural areas is a challenge for social sciences. In this paper, we present a method for analyzing the cultural composition of regions via Twitter hashtags. Cultures can be described as distinct combination of traits which we capture via principal component analysis (PCA). We investigate the top 8 PCA components of an area including France, Spain, and Portugal, in terms of the geographic distribution of their hashtag composition. We also discuss relationships between components and the insights those relationships can provide into the structure of a cultural space. Finally, we compare the spatial …

International Students’ Perception Of Intercultural Communication From Official University Sources, Liseth Hubbard

Communication Theses

Research on intercultural communication has centered on the difficulties that international students experience during their adjusting journey in their new residence away from home. However, there are relatively few in-depth studies that report on international students’ perceptions of communicative practices from university officials. Following a social phenomenological approach, this study focuses on understanding the impressions and experiences of 12 international students. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews centered on three sensitizing concepts: intercultural sensitivity (IS), intercultural communication competence (ICC), and intercultural learning (IL). Data were analyzed using an iterative phonetic approach as described by Sarah Tracy (2019). The findings were …

Lindenwood Digest, August 17, 2022, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Mapping Governmental Engagement With Community Engaged Learning In Canadian Higher Education: An Environmental Scan Of Key Trends, Hannah R. Argiloff

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This is an environmental survey my supervisor and I conducted pertaining to the landscape of government engagement with Community Engaged Learning in Canadian Universities.

Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is a valuable type of experiential learning characterized by collaboration between student and community partner/ stakeholder for the creation of a mutual outcome.

Given the relations between provincial governments and their influence over publicly funded universities, compounded by a recent uptick in CEL programs across Canada, we wanted to survey government rhetoric, policy, and legislation across the country to create a picture of the interactions between provincial governments and CEL in the …

A Psychological Profile Of The Digitized Economy: Who Buys Cryptocurrencies, Nfts, And Meme-Stocks (And Why)?, Nicole Wolfe

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

As the global digital economy continues to grow in interest and financial worth, it is imperative to harvest data to gain early information on this nuanced economy. Already, we have witnessed billions of dollars in losses and wins at the blink of an eye, encouragement to invest from well-known celebrities and politicians, and high anxiety from the newness, power consumption, and potential outcomes of this nuanced system. Stemming from the lack of solid evidence in this emerging field, we hope to gain more insight on the early players and variation within the digitized economy. Similarly, we hope to identify specific …

Pandemic-Related Stress And Information Overload Handbook, Alexia T. Baggetta

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The pandemic has affected every part of our lives over the past two years. Despite the fact that everyone's perspective on this matter varies, this research project was particularly helpful in examining how Western University students were affected. For the purpose of evaluating our findings, we defined information-related overload, which includes having too much, not enough, or difficulty finding information as our reference point. In addition to uncovering evidence of information overload, we also explored the impact of information and our interactions with others, institutional systems, and ourselves.

Behind The Names: O.C. Bailey, Madison Cresswell, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

More than a century ago, in 1911, a Ouachita freshman was falsely accused of trespassing on a farmer’s land across the Ouachita River. Since the university lacked men’s dormitories, the student was served a warrant of arrest on the front porch of his rooming house. Luckily, his Latin professor, Mr. Gaines, dismissed his classes the day of the student’s trial and went to the courthouse to testify on behalf of this student, resulting in the charges being dropped.

Cedarville Professor Studies Thriving In Students Of Color In Doctoral Dissertation, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

Cedarville University’s Rebecca Kuhn has completed an eight-year journey to receive her Ph.D., shining a light on thriving students of color and demonstrating the value of higher education at any age.

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Emergency Care For Youth Who Experience Suicidality And Identify As Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning (Lgbtq+): An Interpretive Phenomenology, Theresa Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Suicide is a leading cause of death in children; youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are at an exponentially higher risk of suicide. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of young adults who identify as LGBTQ+ and sought emergency care for suicidality when they were adolescents.

Methods: Heideggerian hermeneutics phenomenology is the research method used in this study. Youth, ages 18-25 years, who identify as LGBTQ+ and sought emergency treatment for suicidality when they were adolescents (13-17 years) were recruited to participate;fifteen youth enrolled. Individuals ranged in age from 20 to 25 years. Participants described …

Interview With David Munyamahoro, David Munyamahoro, Ezra Schrader

Interviews

Transcript of interview conducted with David Munyamahoro. Per the "Methodology" section, the transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

This interview was recorded in Indianapolis, USA, and manually transcribed.

Does A Sender’S And Recipient’S Relationship Influence Readers’ Interpretation Of Message Tone?, Allison Arp

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Given the importance of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the uniqueness of the cues that have meaning in this environment, research is warranted to investigate how the relationship between the people communicating via CMC might impact the way the message and cues are interpreted. This study aims to investigate whether different inherent levels of authority and familiarity between a message sender and recipient affect how email tone is interpreted. Previous studies demonstrate that when individuals communicate with authority figures, they employ different strategies than when communicating with peers. Furthermore, individuals adapt their behavior to mimic the interactants behavior, which in turn …

The Theory Of Reasoned Action As A Basis For Investment In Cryptocurrency, Wrr Rinaldo

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the past decade and a half, emergent blockchain technology has gained widespread attention, especially in the past few years. For the most part, attention has been focused on cryptocurrencies, but non-fungible tokens (NFTs), that use similar technology, have been given attention as well. Many concerns about these technologies have arisen, particularly that of the environmental impacts associated with them. Utilizing the theory of reasoned action, diffusion of technology theory, and surveys conducted through Amazon Mechanical Turk, this research attempts to uncover if there is a link between the level of cryptocurrency knowledge that an individual possesses and the level …