Digital Commons Network^™

Developing A Sustainable Ecotourism Foundation In Indonesian National Parks Using Cross-Cultural Adaptation And Communication Framing, Adriana Salas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on ecotourism in Southeast Asia has focused on its positive and negative effects for conservation. However, the focus in this particular study is to look at what it takes to run a successful ecotourism site in four diverse areas in Indonesia using communication elements like cross-cultural adaptation and communication framing. Communication should be used as a baseline for a successful site and should be used as the most useful tool to address issues and challenges in ecotourism project development.

A successful ecotourism site must carefully look at how their ideas and programs are framed. Ecotourism must also create …

The Development Of The Rapport Scales For Investigative Interviews And Interrogations, Misty Christina Duke

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop the Rapport Scales for Investigative Interviews and Interrogations (RS3i), a measure of rapport for use in the context of investigative interviews and interrogations. Eighty "source" participants were interviewed by 80 "interview" participants. Each source rated the interview using the Prototype RS3i-Source Version. Observer participants each viewed and rated two interviews. Exploratory analyses were done on 374 observer ratings of 20 interviews to explore the factor structure of the items and develop the final scales. The final version of the RS3i contained 32 items comprising 8 rapport scales and one Commitment to Communication …

The Purposeful Demonization Of Muslims And Arabs By The Mass Media, Rafael Lerma

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The study of the mass media's affect on influencing viewers perceptions towards Muslims and Arabs. The study will deal with how the mass media through the news media, TV shows, and Hollywood film creates a negative impression of Muslims and Arabs through their media content. Cultivation Theory hypothetically explains that enough media viewing could lead viewers to see these individuals in a negative light as few positive representations of Muslims and Arabs are shown.

Todas Las Muertes De Lázaro, Diego Murcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

TODAS LAS MUERTES DE LÁZARO es una novela negra que habla de corrupción, ansias de poder, ambición y decepción. En este libro, el tema de la muerte es una excusa para hablar de todo un paí­s, El Salvador, y sus contradicciones a través del cinismo, el humor y el escepticismo. Su personaje principal, El Pí­tbul, es una representación del desamparo generalizado que el ciudadano común tiene de las instituciones del Estado. Este detective se embarca -por orden presidencial- en una búsqueda misteriosa que le requiere dar con un amo del disfraz. A medida que el investigador se interna en los …

Civic Campaigns And Protest Against Ciudad Juarez Violence, Laura Lizeth Sarinana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Civic Campaigns and Protests Against Ciudad Juárez Violence

By Laura Sariñana

This thesis examines civic campaigns and protests in relationship to the violence in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. While thousands of people have died in what the Mexican government has called the drug war, thousands more have opted to go out and protest for a better and safer environment in which they and their family can reside. This research aims to explain how social movement activists respond to the current violence in their community. It is based on the observation that while social movements in Ciudad Juárez have undertaken issues …

Sarah Palin And The Media During The Elections, Angelica Olmos Urbina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze former candidate Sarah Palin's portrayal by the media during the 2008 political campaign for vice-president of the United States. Through media framing, political communication, politics and the media, the study will present a qualitative study on her portrayal through two different media sources. The presidential elections of 2008 involved two women, a first in American history, and made waves for varying reasons. The purpose of the study is to build a greater understanding between the unique relationship between the media and political candidates.

The Impact Of Interpersonal Communication On Breastfeeding, Jennifer Alarcon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The medical community has offered a lot of evidence in support of breastfeeding which has led to many of the leading medical associations (i.e. the American Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization) to recommend breastfeeding infants exclusively for the first six months of life and for at least a full year, up to two years or whatever is mutually desirable to mother and child. However, in the United States, many mothers do not follow this recommendation. Research shows that instances of women being unable to breastfeed exist but are minimal. Many people have attempted to address the problem of low …

Online Support Communication Among Military Spouses, Larissa Krenzer

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Communal Coping is characterized by the use of a shared support system to collectively manage stressors faced by individuals within a group sharing a common bond. I will argue that Communal Coping is present in the written communication between military spouses through the use of groups on Facebook during times of separation from service members. I will determine how these communities are formed within Facebook and how identities are formed within these support groups online through the use of language. I will examine unofficial military spouse support groups and FRG (Family Readiness Group) pages on Facebook and how group members …

Framed Golden Arch Messages: A Content Analysis Of Mcdonald's Television Commercials In Correlation With The Obesity Epidemic Around The Globe, Laura Leanne Macauley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Obesity is a growing problem all around the world. Fast food companies invest billions of dollars every year intending to sell their new and improved menu items. This study examined one of the largest fast food companies in the world, McDonalds. The present study investigated how McDonalds communicates nutritional claims as well as portion size throughout television commercial messages. The countries that took part in this examination were the United States, Canada, India, and Japan. Each of these countries has much different percentage rates of obese citizens. A content analysis examined one commercial in each of the four countries. In …

Benefits Of Baby Sign On Cognitive Development In Infants, Clarissa Navedo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research in the area of baby sign language has increased dramatically over the past several years, however there is still a lack of research regarding baby signs effects on typical infant development, specifically in the area of cognition. The hypothesis of this study was that instruction of baby sign would be correlated with a significant increase in the development of cognition and language acquisition for infant participants. This study provided a five-week instructional course on baby sign for parents/caregivers to implement with their typically developing infants (n=11). The course provided instruction of baby signs, methods of implementation and encouragement to …

The Chicana Experience In Indonesia: An Autoethnography And Dialogic Performance Evaluating The Influence Of Cultural Identity And Gender, Bianca Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to evaluate how aspects of cultural identity, gender and religion play a role on a Chicana's (mestiza's) experience of studying abroad internationally through an Indonesian conservation program. The experience of traveling to Indonesia, engaging in cross-cultural dialogue, and experiencing adversities prohibiting multiculturalism, influences the ability of the Chicana/o ethnographer to examine cross-cultural parallels in dialect and behavior. I also analyzed the rhetoric contained within the dialogic performances of the mestiza ethnographer's documented experiences. Lastly, the intersections of cultural identity, gender, and class were evaluated to determine their influence on the mestiza ethnographer's ability to successfully engage in …

An Exploration Of Social Media Use Among Multiply Minoritized Lgbtq Youth, Alfie Leanna Lucero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study responds to a need for research in a fast-growing and significant area of study, that of exploring, understanding, and documenting the numerous ways that multiply marginalized LGBTQ youth between the ages of 14 and 17 use social media. The primary research question examined whether social media provide safe spaces for multiply minoritized LGBTQ youth to express and explore issues of sexuality and gender. In addition, the study explores and categorizes multiple ways that the participants interact with social media and makes comparisons to prior work with more general populations. The study provides descriptions of the participants in terms …