Digital Commons Network^™

News Source Preferences And News Source Credibility Among College Staff, Faculty, And Students, Larissa A. Bolalek

Theses

News consumption practices in the United States have been studied for decades. Recent technology has influenced traditional news consumption by allowing people to access news through the Internet and social media. Today, people have more options than ever as to where to obtain news. People remain interested in getting news that is credible and trustworthy. A survey was distributed to in order to learn where people say they turn for their primary sources of news and the credibility people assigned to various news sources. Respondents were split up into two groups, heavy and light social media users. Results suggest that …

A Content Analysis Of Advertisements In The Fra And Craftsman Magazines, 1908-1916, Kathryn Runyan

Theses

The present study used content analysis to examine advertisements appearing in Elbert Hubbard's The Fra and Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman magazines from 1908 through 1916. A total of 599 ads were analyzed to determine what type of advertisements dominated this period and to discover differences in the persuasive and informative appeals used by two creative forces in American business at the beginning of the 20th century, Elbert Hubbard and Gustav Stickley. The purpose of this study is to understand the advertising strategies appearing in The Craftsman and The Fra magazines.

The Role Of Information And Communication Technology In The Acculturation Of Vietnamese Refugees, Khanh A. Tran

Master's Theses

One of the most significant refugee populations in the United States is the Vietnamese. This group initially fled their native country to escape political oppression at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975 and continued to flee in a series of separate waves that continued for more than three decades. As a relatively new immigrant group in the U.S., the Vietnamese still face a variety of challenges as they try to reestablish their lives and adapt in a new cultural environment. Acculturation is a complex process that is influenced by a number of factors. Throughout history, U.S. immigration policy …

Social Marketing And California High-Speed Rail: A Framework For Behavioral Change Towards Sustainability, Spenser Dill

Master's Projects and Capstones

In this analytical paper, I advocate for the use of social marketing techniques in a campaign targeted towards Central Valley communities with the primary objective of reducing this population’s opposition to the state’s High-Speed Rail project. A secondary objective is to use this strategy to promote positive attitudes towards sustainable practices in general. The goal is to stimulate a change in regional culture, which will support the behavioral changes needed to protect California’s natural resources and reduce our state’s contribution to climate change. I argue: 1) creating a sustainable transit infrastructure with high-speed rail as its centerpiece will reduce harmful …

Winning Hearts And Minds: Using "Ag-Gag" Outrage And Corporate Rebranding To Achieve A Public Image Makeover For The Animal Rights Movement, Alison J. Spasser

Master's Projects and Capstones

Despite limited legal victories—particularly in the realm of companion animal protections—the animal rights movement has failed to make substantial progress in other focal areas, including the acquisition of increased rights for food animals on factory farms. The public image of the movement has taken a hit in recent years, due in part to effective campaigning by opposing lobbies and corporate entities and in part to self-inflicted damage from failed messaging and tactics. The perceived alignment of animal rights advocacy organizations with extremism and the public distrust of activists leaves the movement in need of a critical public image makeover. However, …

How Social Media Affect The Social Identity Of Mexican Americans, Kaitlin Eve Felsted

Theses and Dissertations

This is a thesis conducted qualitatively using the Grounded Theory approach where in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 legal Mexican Americans in order to understand how social media affect Mexican Americans' social identity. This effect was understood by discovering the relationships between social identity theory and integration. Results showed that Mexican Americans felt that social media helped them with their English skills and connected them to their friends and family in Mexico. Mexican Americans were able to use social media to connect to their in-group community, and Mexican American community leaders were able to connect Mexicans to their in-group within …

Sexting Unleashed: The Social Phenomenon According To Youth Sexters, Jessica Marie Mcgraw

Dissertations and Theses

What is missing from academia and society at large is a more holistic picture of youth sexting. Not adequately understanding youth sexting has stunted previous attempts to effectively educate young people on its potential consequences. As such, the social and legal consequences of sexting gone viral have negatively impacted countless individuals. This study offers a preliminary glimpse of the sexting phenomenon by highlighting the experiences of 20 young people. I explore emergent themes regarding the nature of youth sexting as well as the interrelations amongst privacy, relationships, and sexting. Two distinct forms of sexting emerged from participant narratives, opening the …

Celebrity Endorsements In Print And Twitter: Comparing Brand Name Memorability And Credibility, Lauren Palmieri

Theses

The present study investigated the differences in brand name memorability and credibility of celebrity-endorsed advertisements presented in print and in Twitter. An experiment was conducted between two groups of participants. One group received treatments for print and the other for Twitter. Participants reviewed five advertisements, one of which contained a celebrity, then responded to 11 credibility belief statements and were tested on their memorability of the celebrity-endorsed ad. Significant differences were found in favor of remembering, buying and trusting a brand/product in celebrity-endorsed print ads. Significant differences were also found in the memorability of a celebrity-endorsed ad. The print group …

An Examination Of The Best Practices Of Experiential Marketing In Selected Popular Beverage Companies, Taylor Matthews

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

In recent years, marketing efforts have shifted from traditional marketing strategies toward experiential marketing in order to ensure that consumers become emotionally attached to a brand. Experiential marketing strategies help companies create relationships with consumers and engage them through unique and memorable experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of experiential marketing in three popular beverage companies. The research for this study was conducted using a best practices matrix created by the researcher, which examined experiential marketing strategies for selected popular beverage companies in the soft drink industry. The results of this study indicate that each …

Social Media Marketing: A Best Practices Analysis Of Selected Destination Magazines, Claire Hird

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

Social media is rapidly becoming one of the most efficient, wide-reaching and successful forms of marketing used by organizations all over the world. Destination magazines, for example, offer a wide variety of services and products, and one of the most effective ways to reach loyal customers as well as potential customers is through social media outlets. The purpose of this study was to determine the best practices of social media marketing techniques amongst Sunset Magazine, Travel + Leisure Magazine, and Coastal Living Magazine. The instrument used was a checklist and matrix that were developed to analyze the most effective use …

Managing The Veterinary Clinic Enterprise, Shelby N. Smyly

Animal Science

This document serves as a guideline for the student management of the Veterinary Clinic Enterprise.

Language Contact And Variation In The Spanish Of Catalonia, Nikoleta Papa

Communication

When taking into consideration the language situation of Spain, it is important to realize that the presence of different languages varies with each region of the country and that the knowledge and status of these languages impact the use of Castilian. Catalonia is one such region in which it is important to understand and be able to recognize the differences in the Spanish language production of bilingual Castilian/Catalan speakers as opposed to monolingual Spanish speakers. The subject matter of this study is the variation in the use of Spanish language in Catalonia. Catalan has been spoken in the history of …

In What Ways Can Social Media Impact Communication And Improve How Businesses Are Marketed In Heidelberg German?, Madeline Marie Gregory

Theses & Dissertations

Social media is impacting society at an extremely fast pace. With so many social media platforms available to individuals, social media is becoming a necessary method of communication. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Pinterest, and many other international sites are being used to to communicate with others and share information. Since this method has become highly used, local businesses and corporate companies are now needing to implement a social media marketing strategy to reach their target audience and interact with customers. The international statistical data gathered in Heidelberg Germany expresses this necessity of social media implementation due to the high volume of …

Framing Of Business In China: East Vs. West, Xueyi Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

China is one of the largest and most promising markets for new global business ventures. This exploratory research investigates the current news-related themes regarding business in China by comparing news originating from eastern countries to western countries. This study applied agenda-setting and framing theoretical frameworks. A mixed-method approach of both qualitative and quantitative content analyses was used to generate key themes and their related concepts. The results indicate some thematic similarities as well as differences in agenda and news framing between eastern and western news samples. This exploratory study contributes to agenda-setting and framing literature as well as by creating …

Technology Use In Rural Appalachia: A Pilot Study Of The Implications For Pediatric Behavioral Health, Courtney E. Lilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technology is a promising means for increasing rural individuals’ access to behavioral healthcare. However, the range of technology use in rural areas is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to examine the use of technology in rural areas, the relationship between technology use and willingness to access pediatric mental health services via videoconferencing, and this relationship within the context of other critical variables linked to service uptake. Data were collected at 2 pediatric primary care clinics. While no significant relationship was found between technology use and willingness to use videoconferencing, a significant relationship emerged between previous service seeking …

Creating And Maintaining Social Presence Via Computer-Mediated Communication: Measuring The Self-Rated Behaviors That Lead To Social Presence, Scott A. Christen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation involved the creation and validation of a new measure of social presence. The first study involved the use of focus groups to create items for the future measure. The focus groups were presented with a set of items that were created based upon past literature; an through discussion of these items, a preliminary measure was created. The second study gathers data concerning the measure that was created from study one and an exploratory factor analysis was performed to eliminate items that did not work well with each other. This reduced the measure from 54 items to 23. The …

Personality Traits And Motivations For Usage Of Online Social Network Sites Among College Freshmen, Jason Paul Rieger

Doctoral Dissertations

Millions of people worldwide log onto social network sites (SNS) every day. Some users have positive experiences while others have negative experiences. The functionality of any given SNS is the same for each user, but the choice of how and when to use certain features leads each user to have different experiences. This study utilized a uses and gratifications framework to help understand what gratification expectations affect the usage of SNS among college freshmen in their first semester. Additionally, the research explored a possible link between individual personality traits of freshmen and gratification expectations as well as a link between …

The Mechanisms Of Interpersonal Privacy In Social Networking Websites: A Study Of Subconscious Processes, Social Network Analysis, And Fear Of Social Exclusion, Bryan I. Hammer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing usage of Social networking sites like Facebook there is a need to study privacy. Previous research has placed more emphasis on outcome-oriented contexts, such as e-commerce sites. In process-oriented contexts, like Facebook, privacy has become a source of conflict for users. The majority of architectural privacy (e.g. privacy policies, website mechanisms) enables the relationship between a user and business, focusing on the institutional privacy concern and trust; however, architectural privacy mechanisms that enables relationships between and among users is lacking. This leaves users the responsibility to manage privacy for their interpersonal relationships. This research focuses on the following …

Resolving Public Records Disputes In Wisconsin: The Role Of The Attorney General's Office, Jonathan Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how the Wisconsin attorney general reviews and sometimes intervenes in access disputes over the state's public records law. The study posed three primary questions: How do the attorney general's administrative review mechanisms operate in practice? To what extent are the mechanisms effective at resolving disclosure disputes? And do the mechanisms help people unable to hire a lawyer to litigate? The study analyzed correspondence in 304 cases over six years to generate data on the quantity and nature of the attorney general's caseload in that time period. The study also interviewed 17 requesters to understand their disputes, their …

Giving To Be Seen: The Influence Of Facebook Charitable Advertisements On Conspicuous Donation Behavior, Lei Jia

Theses and Dissertations

The arduous financial environments that nonprofit organizations face today motivate nonprofits to continuously search and leverage new communication platforms such as social media to approach a wider individual donor base. This thesis examines whether a Facebook charitable appeal promoting a donation via Facebook Gifts may attract

Facebook users to give for conspicuousness (a public display of a donation behavior). Findings of this thesis revealed a gender difference in responses to the Facebook charitable appeal due to the gender difference in self-construals such that men were more likely to give via Facebook Gifts when the ad promoting the donation via Facebook …

What You See Isn't Always What You Get: An Evaluation Of Color Differences Across Different Devices, Craitishia Lewis

All Theses

The objective of this thesis was to examine color differences between different digital devices such as, phones, tablets, and monitors. New technology has always been the catalyst for growth and change within the printing industry. With gadgets like the iPhone and the iPad becoming increasingly more popular in the recent years, printers have yet another technological advancement to consider. Soft proofing strategies use color management technology that allows the client to view their proof on a monitor as a duplication of how the finished product will appear on a printed piece of paper. A possible problem can occur if clients …

Understanding Wisconsin Legislators' Use Of Social Media, Christian T. Moran

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the use of social media by legislative offices of the Wisconsin State Assembly. A survey of legislators and their staff documented the extent to which each office uses Facebook or Twitter. In addition, multivariate analysis of the survey data provided an understanding of which kinds of legislators are more likely to use Facebook or Twitter. There were three important findings. First, most Wisconsin legislators whose offices use Facebook or Twitter do not seem to be doing so to reach the news media. Second, overall, the characteristics of a Wisconsin legislator are …

Cyberbullying In 'Left 4 Dead 2': A Study In Collaborative Play, Kimberly L. Kulovitz

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to further our understanding of the role of cyberbullying in the cooperative team-based game Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2). A sample of 41 4-person groups generated a total n = 415 messages used for evaluating the behavioral content of game play. Four hypotheses were advanced assessing cyberbullying behavior and game outcome (success vs. failure), group cohesion, target participation, and perceptions of bullies. Out of the 41 groups 25 groups had cyberbullying behavior present and 16 groups had prosocial behavior. Overall, cyberbullying behavior had little effect on game outcome, group cohesion and target participation. Groups using only prosocial …

All The Web's A Stage: The Dramaturgy Of Young Adult Social Media Use, Jaime R. Riccio

Theses - ALL

This study presents an in-depth, qualitative examination of dramaturgy in young adult interactions on the social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. The dramaturgical perspective introduced by Erving Goffman in the study of sociology and symbolic interactionism is applied to a new media setting, wherein the interpersonal interactions of users are influenced by a mass media context. The author ventures into the field of dramaturgy as part of a broader sphere of hyperdramatic acculturation that millennials are growing up in, with constant access to one another through social media and the prevalence of dramatic and attention-seeking behaviors in entertainment media. A …

Identifying Emerging Researchers Using Social Network Analysis, Syed Masum Billah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Finding rising stars in academia early in their careers has many implications when hiring new faculty, applying for promotion, and/or requesting grants. Typically, the impact and productivity of a researcher are assessed by a popular measurement called the h-index that grows linearly with the academic age of a researcher. Therefore, h-indices of researchers in the early stages of their careers are almost uniformly low, making it difficult to identify those who will, in future, emerge as influential leaders in their field. To overcome this problem, we make use of Social network analysis to identify young researchers most likely to become …

Communication And Resilience In Collaboration, Social-Ecological Systems, And Discourse, Bridie Mcgreavy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does communication connect with and shape resilience and sustainability? I understand communication as a dynamic and context dependent concept. I draw my understanding of communication from systems, materiality, and discourse theories. I employ a mix of quantitative, qualitative, and critical approaches in three discrete projects focused on collaboration, social-ecological systems, and discourse.

In the first project, my collaborators and I ask: how does an understanding of complex communication dynamics help identify ways to improve participation for intended collaboration outcomes across scales? We explore this question through a two-year mixed methods study of interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement in Maine’s …

Always A Bridesmaid Never A Bride: Examining The Deinstitutionalization Of Marriage And The Modern Day Spinster, Kasha Nicole Glynn

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the deinstitutionalization of marriage and the stigmatization of women who remain single past the expectant marital age. The goal of this research was to investigate the social identities of women who remain single past the age of twenty-five, and to gain an understanding of how gender-based stereotypes influence their lives by examining their personal experiences. In an effort to better understand the stigmatization of today’s single woman, a qualitative method using focus groups was adopted for this study.

Twenty-five participants were selected using a purposive, inclusion/exclusion sampling technique. Three focus groups consisting of six participants each and …

Damage Control: How Scrutinized Professional Athletes Use Twitter To Combat Negative Press, Jeffrey K. Haeger

Honors Theses

In recent years many elite professional athletes have been criticized in the media for questionable on and off the field behavior. How these athletes use social media to reframe or repair their public images was the focus of this research. Research on social media has grown in recent years, but still remains relatively shallow, making the strong correlation between social media and sport the ideal breeding ground for this exploratory research. This study confined social media use to the way in which two purposefully selected professional athletes - Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong - use Twitter to self-present and directly …

Expressions Of Grief On Facebook: Navigating Discomfort, Persistent Identity, And Public Memorialization, Molly Kalan

Theses - ALL

When someone dies, their online identity does not die with them. If a deceased Facebook user leaves behind a once active profile, friends and family members may choose to use this virtual space to express grief, interact with one another, and engage in active memorialization. Young adults who are traditionally marginalized in the grieving process can take advantage of the digital space to engage in mourning rituals. Through qualitative inquiry and in-depth interviews with 20 young adults who have dealt with the death of a friend or family member on Facebook, this study addresses phenomenological research questions concerning expression of …

Examining Written And Spoken Fast-Mapping Abilities In Children With And Without Language Impairment: A Feasibility Study, Brooke Rice

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Linguistic skills foundational to literacy success are skills such as phonology, morphology, and orthographic knowledge. Phonological awareness, the awareness of specific units of sounds within words, and morphological awareness, the meaningful units which make up words, have been studied in depth and received recent attention in research. Phonological awareness has been attributed to increased literacy abilities of written word decoding, syllable analysis, and word recognition (Stackhouse, 1997). Additionally, morphological awareness has been attributed to increased literacy abilities of sight word reading, decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling (Carlisle, 1995, 2000; Carlisle & Nomanbhoy, 1993; Wolter, Wood, & D’zatko, 2009). Orthographic awareness, …