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Promoting Disrespect Through Children's Television, Amy B. Brown Jan 2011

Promoting Disrespect Through Children's Television, Amy B. Brown

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The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency and portrayal of disrespectful behaviors as they occur on popular children's cable television shows. A content analysis of children's shows appearing on The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon was conducted. Disrespectful acts were organized into three categories: non-verbal, verbal, and physical. A total of 468 acts were recorded across the 18 episodes sampled for this study. Disrespectful acts that were classified as verbal in nature were the most prevalent, with 73 of the 468 identified acts falling into the verbal category. Fourteen percent of the acts were physical in nature, and …


Facebook Anonymous Information Seeking (Fais) Behaviors: Emerging Definitions And Conceptual Relationships, Julie A. Cajigas Jan 2011

Facebook Anonymous Information Seeking (Fais) Behaviors: Emerging Definitions And Conceptual Relationships, Julie A. Cajigas

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One of the fastest growing modes of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), Social Network Sites (SNS) are revolutionizing the way that people communicate andacquire interpersonal information. The largest of these is Facebook, with more than 500 million users (Facebook.com, 2011). A new lexicon of terms has evolved to describebehaviors specific to Facebook, including the term "Facebook stalking," a term which is used to describe a specific type of browsing behavior on Facebook. This exploratory research study attempts to define and measure "Facebook stalking," a behavior that has anumber of interpersonal and network communication implications.Using previous research as a guide, the terms …


A Content Analysis Of Advertising In Popular Video Games, Peter G. Lindmark Jan 2011

A Content Analysis Of Advertising In Popular Video Games, Peter G. Lindmark

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There have been a plethora of analyses on the effects of and brand image of advertising in video games, but a dearth of analyses simply examining the role advertising has played in video games over the years. This study seeks to add to the available research on this topic. This study has yielded a great amount of information which should have pre-dated any analysis of the effects of advertising in video games, or brand placement and recall, and certainly any analysis on purchase intent as a result of interacting or observing brand or product placement in video games. Not only …


Walk With Me: A Telepresence Study Of Mediated Tours, Erika K. Gress Jan 2010

Walk With Me: A Telepresence Study Of Mediated Tours, Erika K. Gress

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The subsequent study examines variations of self-guided tour mediums in relation to telepresence, transportation, and satisfaction. Three conditions were used to explore the relationships. Those conditions were audio only, audio and visual, and map self-guided tours of a portion of Euclid Avenue adjacent to The audio condition yielded the highest mean scores of the three conditions on all analyses. Condition was found to significantly impact the report of 'worthwhile', a subscale of satisfaction. No other hypotheses resulted in significant findings. Significant differences were seen between the conditions participants report of 'worthwhile'. The practical and theoretical impacts are discussed in the …


The Influence Of New Communication Technologies On The Acculturation Of Bhutanese Refugees In An American Community, Cheryl A. D'Mello Jan 2010

The Influence Of New Communication Technologies On The Acculturation Of Bhutanese Refugees In An American Community, Cheryl A. D'Mello

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This study examines the Bhutanese refugees, who are the newest group of refugees to arrive in the United States. It provides a detailed account of this community in the Cleveland-Akron area in Ohio. Research on this refugee population has only just begun, and they have been surveyed at an early time in the acculturation process. In 2007, their resettlement in the United States from camps in Nepal began, and by 2012, a total of 60,000 are expected to arrive in the United States. The research questions examine to what extent new communication technologies and media (ethnic and host) help the …


Perception Becomes Reality: Student-Teacher Relationships And Verbally Aggressive Messages, Angela Buford Jan 2010

Perception Becomes Reality: Student-Teacher Relationships And Verbally Aggressive Messages, Angela Buford

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This study examined the impact of verbal aggression toward students when recalling a hurtful incident between a teacher and a student. Specifically, this study investigated the relationship between students reported verbally aggressive incidents with teachers, self-esteem and student-teacher relational satisfaction. A total of 83 participants were surveyed to obtain recollections of verbally aggressive incidents and their reported impact. Verbally aggressive messages were represented by Infante's (1987) typologies of verbally aggressive messages, which included character attacks, competence attacks, background attacks, physical appearance attacks, maledictions, teasing, ridicule, threats, profanity and nonverbal emblems. The researcher also included a "never experienced" category for respondents …


The Role Of Personal Experience In Forming Spatial Presence In A Video Gaming Context, Mu Wu Jan 2010

The Role Of Personal Experience In Forming Spatial Presence In A Video Gaming Context, Mu Wu

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Advanced media technologies, such as video games, provide people with brand new media experiences including a sense of spatial presence - a sense of immersing in mediated environments. Many media and user factors that may induce spatial presence have been examined in previous studies. However, personal experience as one possible factor is still under examined. Based on the Two Level Process Model of Spatial Presence proposed by Wirth et al. (2007), the current study examined personal experience by connecting it with spatial situation models (SSMs), and comparing the effects of different types of personal experience on the process of constructing …


Young Voters And The Power Of Political Internet Culture: An Exploration Of Political Websites And Political Engagement, Amanda H. Zima Jan 2009

Young Voters And The Power Of Political Internet Culture: An Exploration Of Political Websites And Political Engagement, Amanda H. Zima

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This thesis examines how far the use of online political information like political news websites, social networking sites, and online political humor websites relate to young adults' intention to vote, political knowledge, political efficacy, and having political discussions with parents and friends. To better understand these relationships the O-S-O-R model (e.g., Cho, Shah, Mcleod, McLeod, Scholl, Gotlieb, 2009 McLeod, Kosicki, and McLeod, 1994) will be used as the theoretical framework. The survey data for this study was collected during the exciting and noteworthy 2008 Presidential Primary elections. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 years of age were …


Relationship Between Foreign Film Exposure And Ethnocentrism, Lingli Ying Jan 2009

Relationship Between Foreign Film Exposure And Ethnocentrism, Lingli Ying

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This study looked at the relationship between foreign film exposure and ethnocentrism by both considering individual differences factors and motives to watch foreign films, based on the uses and gratifications theoretical model. The individual differences factors include cosmopoliteness, access to foreign films and environmental ethnic diversity. The uses and gratifications theory posits that social and psychological factors influence individuals' motives to use media and ultimately lead to different media effects. Accordingly, this research investigated how individual differences related to motives to view foreign films and how foreign film exposure affected people's attitudes to other cultures. A pilot study was conducted …


Evolutionary Psychology, Social Emotions And Social Networking Sites: An Integrative Model, Sandra L. Suran Jan 2009

Evolutionary Psychology, Social Emotions And Social Networking Sites: An Integrative Model, Sandra L. Suran

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Humans engage their environment through the combined effort of the mind, body proper and corresponding instinctual emotive devices (Damasio, 1994). These structures are a part of the same phenomena: human biology. Our emotive devices along with the brain and body act as an interwoven organism appraising the environment and making necessary adjustments for it survival and efficient functioning. Moreover, these structures actively engage socially complex signals like those that we experience daily in our social world. Plausibly, when these devices are not utilized the interwoven organism will be in a state of atrophy. Much like an antigen would trigger a …


Text Me You Love Me. Mediated Communication In Dating Relationships, Anna Caruso Jan 2009

Text Me You Love Me. Mediated Communication In Dating Relationships, Anna Caruso

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The purpose of this study was to examine how text message communication creates a feeling of social presence, and how it affects self-disclosure, intimacy, and uncertainty. A total of 171 participants were surveyed who at the time were engaged in a dating relationship and used text messages. The findings indicated that a feeling of social presence can be achieved through text message communication. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between the amount of text messages sent to a dating partner and the feeling of social presence. Specifically, a relationship was found between the amount of text messages sent daily …


Communicating Forgiveness Within Adult Sibling Relationships, Sharon Apel Jan 2009

Communicating Forgiveness Within Adult Sibling Relationships, Sharon Apel

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The purpose of this study was to examine the role of communicating forgiveness within adult sibling relationships. Specifically, this study investigated the relationship between seeking forgiveness and attachment style, the relational outcomes of forgiveness, and forgiveness as a relational maintenance strategy. A total of 172 participants were surveyed in order to acquire as many participants as possible with adult siblings. Forgiveness seeking communication was represented by Kelley's (1998) typology of forgiveness tactics which included explicit acknowledgment, indirect tactics, and compensational-conditional tactics. In addition to Kelley's typology, a choice of "do nothing" was included to enable participants to express no forgiveness …


Understanding The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Faculty Members In Regards To Learning Communities At Cleveland State University, Clare M. Gross Jan 2009

Understanding The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Faculty Members In Regards To Learning Communities At Cleveland State University, Clare M. Gross

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This thesis examines the intentions of faculty members' in regards to their participation in learning communities at Cleveland State University (CSU). Like many higher education institutions, CSU offers learning community courses as an option to incoming students. Research has found that learning communities lead to a number of benefits for students, including higher grades and retention. However, CSU faces a continuous challenge in being able to offer learning community courses to students, and that is an increased need for faculty participation. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was applied as a theoretical framework in order to better understand how the …


Learning From Crime Dramas, Bridget E. Rubenking Jan 2008

Learning From Crime Dramas, Bridget E. Rubenking

ETD Archive

As the authors of the Transportation-Imagery Model (Green & Brock, 2000 2002) often state, much attention has been paid to the effects of persuasive communications, frequently at the cost of studying the effects that narratives have on individuals' real-world beliefs. This study is primarily interested in examining the role that transportation and presence - along with a host of related variables - play in individuals adopting story-consistent beliefs based on entertainment narratives. A secondary goal of the study is to explore the similarities and differences between transportation (Green & Brock, 2000) and presence (Lombard & Ditton, 1997 Wirth et al. …


Navigating The Paradoxes Of Working From Home, Susan L. Rosiek Jan 2008

Navigating The Paradoxes Of Working From Home, Susan L. Rosiek

ETD Archive

Many of today's organizational employees are turning to flexible work programs, such as telework, to help them balance their work and life responsibilities. Previous research indicates working from home has positive effects, but the same research reveals telework can have a negative impact on work-life balance. There are gaps in the amount and variety of theoretical development in the area of telework. The goal of this research study was to extend the scope of telework analysis beyond technology use by exploring the various tensions teleworkers encounter when working from home, learn how teleworkers alter their communication practices to deal with …


I'Ll See You On Myspace, Carolyn M. Kane Jan 2008

I'Ll See You On Myspace, Carolyn M. Kane

ETD Archive

Social network sites like MySpace and Facebook are a popular online venue for interaction and expression. This study was designed to identify the ways in which people present themselves online in the social network environment of MySpace.com. To examine the types of self-presentation displayed in MySpace profiles, this study drew from current online research, self-presentation theory (Goffman, 1959 Jones, 1990), nonverbal traditions, and the field of visual communication to develop a novel measurement scheme which could be used to analyze photographic and textual elements. Content analysis of a random sample of public profiles selected from MySpace.com focused primarily on the …


Myspace Or Ourspace: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Analysis Of Myspace Comments, Bettina Lunk Jan 2008

Myspace Or Ourspace: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Analysis Of Myspace Comments, Bettina Lunk

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The goal of the current study was to compare users from two distinct cultures to examine the extent to which they communicate differently through MySpace comments and to see how such differences might relate to their cultural background and biological sex. For this purpose, Hofstede's theories of individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity and Ting-Toomey's face negotiation theory were used as frameworks. Content analysis was performed on 150 Hungarian and 150 American randomly selected MySpace comments. One-way ANOVAs and crosstabulations showed some significant differences and similarities between Hungarian and American MySpace comments. Real-life cultural differences and sex-linked differences were found to be reflected …


Catching The Video Virus, Trupti Guha Jan 2008

Catching The Video Virus, Trupti Guha

ETD Archive

In the process of computer-mediated exchange, some online videos travel from one person to another resulting in the process of diffusion of the video. However, there are very few empirical investigations of the audience involved in the process. This exploratory research employs Rogers' diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework to study online video users. Theories from social networks on tie strength and homophily are applied to create an integrated diffusion model. Based on survey data from college students, online video audience was profiled in two ways: one based on individual characteristics and another on activities with video content. Participants …


Worship Styles, Music And Social Identity, Terri Lynne Johnson Jan 2008

Worship Styles, Music And Social Identity, Terri Lynne Johnson

ETD Archive

This study explored worship style, music and social identity from a communication perspective. Specifically, this study was interested in understanding the variables that influence worship music preference. Results indicated that Missouri Synod Lutherans who prefer traditional worship components identify more strongly with the larger organization, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Moreover, music preference strongly predicts worship style preference. In addition, parishioners perception of self-disclosure in hymns and praise songs was also examined. Results indicated that certain dimensions of self-disclosure are more prevalent in hymns and praise songs than others and perceived self-disclosure is stronger with those who attend a …


Observations In A Local Television Newsroom: Preparing The Newscast, Gary L. Rockey Jan 1993

Observations In A Local Television Newsroom: Preparing The Newscast, Gary L. Rockey

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.