Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

To Promote Or Prevent When Near Or Far: Exploring Regulatory Focus In Geographically-Close And Long-Distance Relationships, Adam James Hampton

Theses and Dissertations

No research to date has examined how regulatory focus theory applies to relationships that are maintained long-distance, nor if individuals’ regulatory orientations differ in predicting relationship maintenance efforts between relationships that are geographically-close and those that are long-distance. The current study explores the communication efforts, ideal perceptions, and regulatory behaviors of individuals as a function of their regulatory focus (promotion focus vs. prevention focus) and relationship type (geographically-close vs. long-distance). One hundred eighty participants completed a survey that assessed their relationship type, regulatory focus, and relationship maintenance efforts (i.e., communications, perceptions, and behavior). Overall, it was found that individuals in …

Birds Do It, Bees Do It, And Even Electric Fish Do It: Cultural Transmission Of Maze Learning In The African Weakly Electric Fish, Gnathonemus Petersii (Mormyridae, Teleostei), Ann Tomaszewicz

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the ability of a maze-experienced, weakly electric fish to transmit spatial information to an inexperienced conspecific through exposure via paired training in a maze is evaluated using maze trial latency, electric signals discharged within the maze and the subsequent effect of training on molecular markers of memory.

2016-05 Library Impact Statement For Com 321g Social Media And Interpersonal Communication, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

Library Impact Statement submitted in response to new course proposal for COM 321G Social Media and Interpersonal Communication. This class was supported with no need for additional resources. Responding library faculty: Joanna Burkhardt. Requesting faculty: Tracy Proulx.

Academic Freedom, Public Art, & Private Universities: Examining The Expression Of Communication At Usd, Ivy M. Guild

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This present case study explores how language styles and power distance led to miscommunication between an administrator and student via computer mediated communication. Email exchanges were examined using textual analysis between an administrator and an undergraduate student. Results indicate high-context and low-context communication and power distance roles led to problematic actions and decisions. Furthermore, divergent speech with regard to communication styles was an additional problematic. Implications of the results specific examples of how this interaction could have been prevented were discussed.

Communication In Information Seeking Behaviour, Aondoana Daniel Orlu, Kaase Dominic Imeh, Benedict Ifeanyichukwu Okike

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstracts Much research has been carried out into information behaviour over many years. In every field, researchers study information seeking and use in yet another context (culture, organization, health, community, domain, and so on) without regard to any understandings of information seeking and use in other contexts.” This research set out to address these criticisms by building on existing models from library and information science and from communication studies to develop a new representation of information behaviour – one that encompasses seeking, use and communication of information. The ISCM model has been used to examine information behaviour in health care …

Visual Rhetoric: A Case For Visual Literacy In The Classroom, Kaitlyn J. Tomlinson

Professional Writing and Information Design Capstone Projects

We live in a visual age in which we find visual information surrounding us on every side. The persuasive power of the visual has long been recognized by scholars, but there is a lack of emphasis in the classroom on how to effectively create an effectively persuasive visual. Professors at the collegiate level need to teach their students to be visually literate, to make them responsible users and creators of images.

No Soy De Aquí, Ni Soy De Allá: How Stateless Individuals In The Dominican Republic Construct National Identity, Lindsay Wright

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Resolution 12, a piece of national legislation in the Dominican Republic, retroactively revokes citizenship from individuals whose ancestors came to the country illegally. The resolution was proposed in 2007, signed into law in 2008, and ratified in 2013, rendering a large number of Dominican-born individuals stateless. Using the framework of Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the researcher analyzed the communication processes and cultural elements stateless individuals utilize to form their national identity. The researcher used a qualitative approach to gather data, which were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Responses from the participants, provided through in-depth individual interviews, indicate that …

My Body, Our Illness: Negotiating Relational And Identity Tensions Of Living With Mental Illness, Erin E. Casey

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis uses an autoethnographic methodology informed by narrative theory to interrogate my experiences of relational and identity tensions as both a consumer of mental health services and an advocate for the care, autonomy and acceptance of those who identify with concepts of mental illness recovery. In doing so I am using my personal diaries and medical records from the past seven years as archival data to assist me in recovering and reconstructing narratives that represent meaningful truths about these experiences. I also call on heavily what Carolyn Ellis (2004) calls "relational ethics" because I know that while I am …

“To Each Their Own”: Comparing Satisfaction, Money Management, And Financial Communication Across Couple Types, Anne Nicole Zmyslinski-Seelig

Theses and Dissertations

Negative outcomes associated with poor money management and financial communication prompt research that provides fresh theoretical perspectives with the ultimate goal of providing concrete advice to both couples and practitioners. Contributing to scholarship regarding finances in committed relationships, the current study examined connections among relationship satisfaction, financial management, and financial communication. Results demonstrated positive associations between: (a) relationship satisfaction and financial management as well as (b) relationship satisfaction and financial communication.

Further, utilizing Fitzpatrick’s (1988) couple types, the investigation tested whether or not the typology explained differences in individuals’ and dyads’ relationship satisfaction, financial management, and financial communication. Regarding differences …

If We're Mocking Anything, It's Organized Religion: The Queer Holy Fool Style Of The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence, Christina L. Ivey

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Asking questions in and about the often rough terrain at the intersection of sexuality/gender and religion/spirituality, this dissertation seeks to excavate the concept of queer holy fool style as a fitting response to dominant Judeo-Christian narratives that marginalize LGBTQ individuals. To do so, I utilize the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), a drag performing community of “21^st Century Nuns,” as a synechdoche; pulling examples of their communication and performances as evidence of queer holy fool style. In exploring three facets of stylistic study (embodied, textual/hypertextual, and sociological), I blend queer theoretical concepts (like camp, performativity, and disciplining) with rhetorical …

Family Group Conference Experiences From The Perspective Of Volunteer Facilitators, Rebecca Ann Saunders

MSU Graduate Theses

This study examined the experiences of volunteer Family Group Conference (FGC) facilitators for the purpose of understanding how they experience and manage their role in the FGC process. By focusing on the benefits and challenges of volunteer FGC facilitators, this research adds a new perspective to the limited literature on FGC facilitators. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 11 volunteer Family Group Conference facilitators in order to create a deeper understanding of these volunteers' experiences. The Ecosystems Perspective and Uncertainty Reduction Theory created a framework for understanding the complex role of the FGC facilitator and allowed for a more detailed …

Leadership Development Programs: Exploring The Real Impact Upon Communities And Organizations, Brandon Steinert

Master's Theses

Leadership development programs are a popular tool utilized by communities and organizations to influence culture, challenge status quo and develop individuals. Research targeting the effectiveness of these programs is voluminous, but much of the work done thus far measures program effectiveness by one of two methods: either by the change in the attitudes and behavior of participants, or by the opinions participants held regarding the content and curriculum of the program. This study sought measure program effectiveness by looking at the real impact upon communities and organizations. This study explored the potential relationship between health and vibrancy of communities and …

Facilitating Effective Communication Between First Responders And Older Adults During Fall Incidents: An Educational Intervention, Krystin M. Beeman, Erica L. Berger, Isabel A. Cabezas, Nicole M. Mathews

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

PURPOSE. The purpose of this project was to provide first responders with communication strategies for older adults that may help when responding to fall- related calls. General information was also provided to First Responders on working with older adults with a focus on the aging process, fall risk factors, and communications strategies.

METHODS. A series of educational sessions to first responders at a local fire district were developed and presented by occupational therapy students. Materials were developed by presenters from evidence-based resources and tailored to the target population. Each presentation focused on statistics about older adults, the aging process, fall …

The Voice And Action Of Service: Exploring Nonprofit Volunteerism From A Dual Perspective, Colleen L. Mestayer

Dissertations

Key factors emerged for communicating with volunteers and staff in the nonprofit sector using a mixed methods approach in two phases. Phase I sought to explain volunteer satisfaction through the development of a new model that included motivation, identification with the nonprofit organization, attachment to the nonprofit organization and its mission, and the impact of interpersonal relationships formed between staff members and volunteers. Findings indicated that the model was an accurate predictor of volunteer satisfaction, and all variables were significantly correlated to volunteer satisfaction. Phase II sought to discover the communication patterns used by internal stakeholders of the nonprofit organization …

Towards The Enhancement Of A Critical Cultural Paradigm In Health Communication: An Examination Of The Impact Of Paradigmatic Structures, Laura Elizabeth Arneson

Theses and Dissertations

In the field of Communication there are a wide variety of ways in which scholars can utilize theories to serve as epistemological frameworks in order to examine sociological structures. In this thesis, the subfield of Health Communication will be examined through a positivistic and critical cultural studies paradigm. This work will then examine underlying assumptions related to theoretical approaches in health communication.

With the primary argument of this work being that the dominant approaches in Healthcare Communication have been primarily rooted in positivism, this research study will attempt to show how this assumption continues to extend even into new digital …

Can Social Media Reduce Discrimination And Ignorance Towards Patients With Long Term Conditions? A Chronic Kidney Disease Example In The Uk And More Widely, Shahid N. Muhammad, Amy J. Zahra, Howard J. Leicester, Heather Davis, Stephen Davis

Patient Experience Journal

Long Term Conditions (LTCs) are increasing in prevalence and cost in Western healthcare. Patients with such conditions are often classed as “disabled”, because of impacts of self-care on “activities of daily life” or secondary consequences of conditions (impairments) affecting factors such as mobility, concentration and communications. Disability needs are often ignored in the design of services and treatment of individuals. It manifests as services which some find difficult to use and lack of personal respect (discrimination) often based on lack of understanding by the healthcare profession itself (ignorance). This paper explores how Social Media (SM), an example “Assistive Technology” in …

#Bg4unity: Testing The Effectiveness Of A Social Media Activism Workshop, Drew Ashby-King

Honors Projects

Social media is not only a form of communication that surrounds one’s personal life, but it has also become a platform for expressing opinions and advocating for social change. Using #BG4Unity, an anti-hate social media campaign, as a foundation I developed a workshop that aims to educate participants on the value of diversity and to increase their social media activism skills. This study found that the workshop increased participant’s attitudes toward diversity, social media activism skills, and that those who attended the workshop had increased attitudes toward diversity and social media activism skills compared to those who did not attend …

The Cowl - V.80 - N.24 - Apr 28, 2016

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 80- No. 24 - April 28, 2016. 32 pages.

Uncovering America’S Horror Story: A Content And Critical Analysis Of American Horror Story., Jessica Maio

Honors Projects in Communication

The popular television series American Horror Story has captivated millions of Americans with its shocking and twisted plotlines that never fail to surprise. Perhaps one of the reasons that the show has become so popular is that it uses the horror genre as a way to explore controversial topics. The purpose of this project is to examine the controversial topics that are presented in American Horror Society and compare them with the current views of mainstream society to determine whether the show primarily reflects the views of the larger society or challenges them. In other words, how does American Horror …

The Cowl - V.80 - N.23 - Apr 21, 2016

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 80- No. 23 - April 21, 2016. 24 pages.

The Cowl - V.80 - N.22 - Apr 14, 2016

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 80 - No. 22 - April 14, 2016. 24 pages.

The Cowl - V.80 - N.21 - Apr 7, 2016

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 80 - No. 21 - April 7, 2016. 28 pages.

Communo Magazine, Spring 2016, School Of Communication

CommUNO Magazine

CommUNO magazine is produced by Capstone Communication and published annually by the UNO School of Communication: 6001 Dodge Street, ASH 140, Omaha, NE 68182: Phone: 402.554.2600. Fax: 402.554.3836. For more information, follow us on Twitter@ CommUNO, join the “UNO School of Communication” page on Facebook or visit communication.unomaha.edu.

A Black Art: Ontology, Data, And The Tower Of Babel Problem, Andrew J. Iliadis

Open Access Dissertations

Computational ontologies are a new type of emerging scientific media (Smith, 2016) that process large quantities of heterogeneous data about portions of reality. Applied computational ontologies are used for semantically integrating (Heiler, 1995; Pileggi & Fernandez-Llatas, 2012) divergent data to represent reality and in so doing applied computational ontologies alter conceptions of materiality and produce new realities based on levels of informational granularity and abstraction (Floridi, 2011), resulting in a new type of informational ontology (Iliadis, 2013) the critical analysis of which requires new methods and frameworks. Currently, there is a lack of literature addressing the theoretical, social, and critical …

Examination Of Common Errors Committed During Eoc Operations: A Content Analysis Study, Michael Kenneth Ryan

Dissertations

One of the key aspects in the learning process, whether it is at an individual or organizational level, is the ability to recognize where errors occur. This is especially important in the field of public safety where small errors can present a serious threat to the safety of first responders and victims of disasters. Up to this point, there has been no systematic study to identify the most common errors that occur during emergency operations center (EOC) activations at the local level of government. Following the introduction, one chapter explores the history of emergency management and the difficulties local jurisdictions …

The Magic Behind Success: What Can Business Leaders Learn From Magicians Regarding Creativity And Communication?, John Logan

Honors Projects in Communication

The following research demonstrates the connection between the art of magic and the world of business. More specifically, it explores the overlap between the innovation and communication techniques magicians use when creating new ideas, developing a routine, performing, and a parallel comparison on what it takes to run a successful business. The capstone will first look at what the "magician" is including the types of tricks they perform. It will then analyze the entrepreneurial magicians and their creative process behind developing new routines. Finally, it will examine the verbal and non-verbal communication techniques magicians use to connect with their audience …

Your Face Betrays You: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of Lie To Me, Caroline Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research concerning the consequences of edutainment has revealed that television shows have the capability to influence audience members. As the lines between education and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred, viewers may not be aware of how watching such shows impacts them. Lie to Me is a popular edutainment television series that educates viewers about the power of micro expressions. Ekman has dedicated a large part of his life to the development of research related to micro expressions. The show’s main character, Cal Lightman, portrayed Paul Ekman’s special talents and knowledge through his ability to detect micro expressions. The first three …

Relational Leading: Practices For Dialogically Based Collaboration. By Lone Hersted & Kenneth J. Gergen., Stanley E. Patterson Phd

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

RELATIONAL LEADING: PRACTICES FOR DIALOGICALLY BASED COLLABORATION By Lone Hersted & Kenneth J. Gergen. Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute Publications (2013). Kindle edition, 197 pages.

The Taos Institute and the authors have made a valuable contribution to the leadership community by providing not only a theoretical base for relational leadership but also a description of a practical application of the concept. The model is explored primarily in the corporate management context where “new and highly complex problems require linking many different kinds of knowledge; cooperation across cultural borders is increasingly necessary; work teams are needed to supply continuous innovation. Successful …

Super Student, Juliet Camille Sivori

Communication Studies Student Works

In this comic, the student reflects on the process of writing a “literature review,” a requirement for a course taught by Dean Scheibel called “Introduction of Research in Communication Studies.” The comics were created by students as a final course assignment. Students were instructed to create comics using photographs, drawings, or a computer program called Comic Life 3.

The idea of reflection is important in education. These comics could be viewed as a response to reflective learning (or metacognition) about the idea of the literature review, or “research as inquiry.” Through reflection on what we do, we learn more deeply …

Lit Review Story, Abrielle S. Haley

Communication Studies Student Works

In this comic, the student reflects on the process of writing a “literature review,” a requirement for a course taught by Dean Scheibel called “Introduction of Research in Communication Studies.” The comics were created by students as a final course assignment. Students were instructed to create comics using photographs, drawings, or a computer program called Comic Life 3.

The idea of reflection is important in education. These comics could be viewed as a response to reflective learning (or metacognition) about the idea of the literature review, or “research as inquiry.” Through reflection on what we do, we learn more deeply …