Digital Commons Network^™

Using Multimedia To Help Agricultural Producers Communicate With Consumers About Gmos, Stacey F. Stearns, Jennifer E. Cushman, Joseph A. Bonelli, Bonnie E. Burr

The Journal of Extension

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their uses are often misunderstood. Consumers are regularly unsure what GMOs are, or if they are safe for consumption and the environment. Contradictory and sometimes inaccurate information is available from numerous sources, and challenges consumers and others to separate the facts from sensationalized stories. Agricultural producers often communicate with consumers, neighbors, and members of the general public; however, they do not have information to share about GMOs. Multimedia resources can provide agricultural producers with science-based information to share with consumers. Agricultural communicators and Extension educators can create science-based multimedia resources to bridge the communication gap.

Division-I Student-Athletes’ Socialization Out Of Sports: The Role Of Exit Circumstances And Interpersonal Support On Wellness, Hannah J. Gertz

All Theses

Student-athletes who compete at the Division-I level typically receive much public exposure and attention during their athletic careers, often leading them to form a high athletic identity. As such, they often need help transitioning away from the athletic competitor role following their retirement. This process, known as socialization out of sport (SOS), is characterized by a loss of purpose and identity for student-athletes and can harm their overall well-being and quality of life. Establishing the empirical associations between SOS's proposed characteristics/features (e.g., the impetus of SOS, educational status, athletic identity, and sense of closure) and former student-athletes’ subsequent life experiences …

“Home On The Phone”: How Black Students At A Pwi Use Digital Space To Form Community, Malaysia Barr

All Theses

College is a time when students are traditionally away from home in the hopes of not only securing a better future through higher education but have the ability to shape who they are as individuals. As Predominately White Institutions serve few minority students, this can prove to be challenging for them as they do not fit into the majority racial group. This thesis investigates how Black students at a PWI utilize the mobile app, GroupMe, as a method of connecting and networking within their racial community. Through focus groups and individual interviews, this study found that Black students use digital …

The Fans Have Spoken: Understanding Survivor Fandom Through Semi-Structured Interviews, Ben Katarzynski

All Theses

Survivor is an American competition-based reality television show in which contestants compete with and against one another in physical and social challenges while being stranded in remote parts of the world. In the end, the last contestant standing is awarded a one-million-dollar grand prize. Since premiering in 2000, Survivor now has over 40 completed seasons in its catalogue which has allowed for the show to develop many fans over the past two and a half decades. However, not every Survivor fan thinks or behaves in the same way. For this thesis I paired Henry Jenkins and Janet Staiger’s fan action …

Using Linkedin To Promote Effective Corporate Social Responsibility Communication Through The B2b Supply Chain, Eden Wallace

All Theses

Utilizing LinkedIn as a communication tool for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) communications is a relatively unknown area of CSR research. However, existing scholarship and current business trends suggest that LinkedIn may be beneficial for business to business (B2B) companies to communicate to their corporate partners. Findings from this study advance communication scholarship in this relatively new area of research and provide new understanding in how LinkedIn can be used by companies to strengthen business operations pertaining to corporate social responsibility. This thesis examines how Equinix, a B2B company, communicates its socially responsible initiatives on LinkedIn and to what extent its …

Autoethnography As Self-Portrait: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Trauma-Sensemaking Through Art, Kally Werning

All Theses

This project thesis is centered around coping with early onset childhood trauma through an autoethnography of narrative and art creation. The goal of this project is to understand more deeply how the art making process synthesizes or disrupts trauma sense-making through the introspective lens of the artist as scholar. The project consists of an interactive art exhibit and this written scholarly analysis of the creation and display of this exhibit. This includes an introduction to my life as a trauma survivor and Greek-American woman, informed by communication scholarship and other relevant fields regarding narrative theory, Greek history, religious and trauma …

Refigured: Separations In Portraiture, Caroline Myers

All Theses

Utilizing traditional painting techniques embedded with digital syntaxes, Refigured: Separations in Portraiture, serves as a catalog of my experiences with communication in a hyperconnected world. Processing illegible information caused by my hearing loss informs the process of imposing similar boundaries within my paintings. Like a technical glitch, these obstructions create an illegible visual experience, with evidence of my process remaining as a clue for the viewer’s understanding of the image.

Though personal in nature, I expand from my experience with auditory communication to employ pertinent explorations into the sustained unpredictability of today’s ever-expanding medium that is technology. My paintings …

Individual Differences In Vulnerability To Phishing, Fake News, And Vishing, Jeff Black

All Theses

Digital deception, such as phishing emails, scam phone calls, and fake news, poses a threat to anyone using digital devices. Research on digital deception often points to individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, and digital literacy, but has only investigated different types of digital deception independent of each other. Therefore, it is unclear whether users vulnerable to one type of deception are also vulnerable to others, and why. The present research examined relationships between vulnerability to different types of deception, and how this vulnerability is associated with common individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, digital literacy, and gullibility, and exploratory …

The Influence Of Break-Ups On Subsequent Romantic Relationship Conflict Strategies Among College Students, Mattelyn Garza

All Theses

This study examined past romantic relationship partner break-up strategies (OPBS) and their influence on subsequent romantic relationship conflict strategies (SRCS) through the lens of social cognitive theory (SCT). According to SCT, observed behaviors are modeled by individuals through the mechanisms of attention, retention, motivational process and production. Past research supports the idea that romantic relationship partners and break-ups are likely to be considered important and memorable to an individual, however research has not yet investigated if romantic relationship break-ups could incite observational learning. Break-up strategies and conflict strategies have been conceptualized and evaluated very similarly by past research. Therefore, it …

The Erasure Of Rural West Texas Voices In Higher Education Institutions An Autoethnographic Study Of Minoritized Students Of West Texas In Their Journey To Obtain Success In Higher Education Institutions, David Whaley-Weems Sr

All Dissertations

I was once told there is a person in the world who has locked within his or her mind the framework for the cure for cancer or even the ability to create an energy model that will revolutionize how society consumes natural resources. Now imagine if I told you I have seen that person alive and well working as an oil well driller on a rig in Mentone, Texas. The first question most people would ask is, “Why is the person drilling in the middle of nowhere Texas instead of impacting the world by way of displaying his or her …

“We Felt Powerful And Rebellious”: Contested Spaces, Lesbian Identity, And The Evolution Of Separatism, Sarah Cooper

All Dissertations

Drawing on theoretical perspectives from lesbian studies, queer theory and studies and, feminist rhetorics while using rhetorical analysis, interviews, and archival research, this project traces the relationships lesbians have had to place, through case studies. To date, research on how space occupancy or land practices have contributed to the constitution of a contemporary lesbian identity in the United States lack scholarly attention. My following chapters ask: how has separatism historically and at present contributed to the constitution of lesbian identity? To answer, I turn to archival evidence of women’s lands in Southern Oregon, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and Olivia Travel. …

The Impact Of The Csr Messages Type On Corporate Image: A Cross-Cultural Investigation, Hansen Lee

All Theses

This study investigates the impact of internal and external CSR messages on corporate image within a cross-cultural context. A 3 x 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted to examine the effects of CSR message types on general corporate image, trust, and credibility among U.S. and Chinese participants. The results revealed that U.S. and Chinese participants displayed varying levels of perceived corporate image and credibility. Chinese participants exhibited higher levels of trust, corporate image, and credibility after receiving CSR messages, regardless of type. Significant interaction effects were noted between CSR message type and culture on corporate image and credibility. Chinese participants had …

The Myth Of Perfection: Charting The Rhetoric Of Veteran Disability For A Course To Stability, Nicholas Rader

All Dissertations

This dissertation rhetorically analyzes discrimination in Western institutional discourses and documentation procedures, such as architectural texts and procedures, through a historiographic lens. An analytical methodology will be offered to show how discrimination of intersectional bodies is historically informed and reaffirmed by the manipulation of Western myths and mythos. Specifically, by mapping navigational mathematics and cartographic methods over rhetorical, architectural, and historiographic theory, it will be shown how the manipulation of Western myths establishes and reifies patriarchal discrimination that eventually fissions into eugenicist logics in nineteenth and twentieth century France, England, and the United States. In modernity, the practice of manipulating …

“I Chose To Look Like This”: Body Modification And Regretting Visibility, Stephen Ross

All Theses

I began collecting tattoos and piercings just after I turned eighteen. As my collection grows and it becomes harder for me to conceal my modifications, I must contend each and every day with the ways in which my body is Othered by my choice to look different. Body modification is self-actualizing for so many, but it can position someone to be stared at, to be physically violated, to be tokenized, or to be vilified. This current project dissects a few key literature areas, from body modification history to the contemporary politics of modification to aesthetic and spectacular philosophy, with the …

Exploring Avenues On Social Media For Public Health Organizations To Connect With The Lgbt+ Community, Louisa Glazunova

All Theses

There has been a significant increase in the number of nonprofit organizations that focus on health and wellness in the United States. These organizations center on creating and maintaining relationships with stakeholders through various approaches. One of these approaches is to use social media marketing to connect with their target audience and promote engagement with provided services and informational content. This study analyzed how sources of content on social media impact the LGBT+ community's perception of their relationship with a nonprofit organization specializing in LGBT+ health and well-being. An organizational-public relations and social media marketing framework was adapted to analyze …

Strangers Switching Their Identities: Cultural Identity Management And Performance On Social Media A Qualitative Analysis Of International Students’ Intercultural (Ex)Change Processes And Perceptions Regarding Their Stay In The United States And Countries Of Origin, Vivian Kretzschmar

All Theses

In this globalized world, cross-country travel for education has been a prevalent (5.6 million students identified as international students in 2020) and ever-increasing (with a predicted increase of 250% by 2030) trend through the past decades. The sojourn impacts the students’ experience of the new culture and the ensuing shocks and adaptations. The understanding of something as complicated as culture, trying to be integrated into a new culture, and its perception to individuals, of course, have their ways of distinct communication trends through social media.

The struggle of maintaining and changing one’s cultural identity and adaptation across cultures has been …

“We’Re Not Gay One Month Out Of The Year…We’Re Always Who We Are.” Exploring Connections Between Organizations, Pride Branding, And Lgbtq+ Publics, Sam Goodman

All Theses

LGBTQ+ visibility has increased in American society; moral acceptability of these identities increased significantly over the last 20 years alone and several US Presidents deemed June to be Pride Month in recognition and celebration of these individuals. To major companies and organizations, LGBTQ+ identities – which constitute more than 11 million US adults – are a growing and richly diverse market segment with considerable buying power and cultural influence. As companies attempt to engage with this segment, they increasingly attempt to engage with Pride Month and events related to Pride – including but not limited to having same-sex representation in …

Examining The Impact Of Design Features Of Electronic Health Records Patient Portals On The Usability And Information Communication For Shared Decision Making, Rong Yin

All Dissertations

The use of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) patient portal has been shown to be effective in generating positive outcomes in patients’ healthcare, improving patient engagement and patient-provider communication. Government legislation also required proof of its meaningful use among patients by healthcare providers. Typical patient portals also include features such as health information and patient education materials. However, little research has examined the specific use of patient portals related to individuals with specific diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). IBDs are life-long, not curable, chronic diseases that can impact the whole population. Individuals with IBDs may have higher needs …

The Impact Of Oversaturation And Corporate Identity On Csr Messages Within The Electric Car Industry, Carla White

All Theses

Rooted in the call for increased electric and zero-emission vehicles, this study aims to analyze the impact of repeated industry-wide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) messages on public perception. This research will test the impact of oversaturation on CSR message outcomes according to Hon and Grunig's (1999) organizational-public relationships (OPRs) scale. Additionally, this research will incorporate corporate identity (CI) framework derived from business literature to test CI's influence on CSR messages and OPR outcomes. Participant's overall trust, satisfaction, and commitment towards a company mission statement and various advertisements under differing experimental conditions will determine the effect of both oversaturation and CI …

The Effects Of News Framing On Policy Support For Incarcerated Black Women, Rebecca Pool

All Theses

Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected many people; however, Black women have been routinely dismissed from the majority of prison scholarship and are at a particular risk through harmful stereotypes that serve as justification for their imprisonment. By examining their unique stance in the prison-industrial complex, this thesis draws attention to mechanisms to generate support for these women. Under the framework of framing theory and critical media effects, this research determined whether individual attribution of responsibility frames or societal attribution of responsibility frames affect individuals’ support for anti-mass incarceration public policies. According to the results, there were no effects between Black …

Distraction In Retrospect: A Retrospective Interview Study, Andrew Obeng

All Theses

Student success, as currently defined, neglects the well-being of some students, specifically those who manage medical conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD), which complicates the educational experience regardless of age and is not fully addressed. In order to account for the needs of students with ADHD/ADD, it is important to understand how their medical needs manifest and impact them. ADHD/ADD, commonly associated with impulsivity and inattention, often presents with comorbid psychological or physiological conditions. While this combination of symptoms would prove difficult for anyone, it becomes particularly challenging within the context of college life, as students are often …

Small Farmers’ Use Of Social Media And Other Channels For Marketing Their Agricultural Products, Carlos Alberto Moreno-Ortiz, Donna J. Peterson Dr., Alba J. Collart, Laura Downey, Susan Seal, Roberto Gallardo

The Journal of Extension

We examined small farmers’ use of and preference for different channels for marketing agricultural products and explored differences by gender, age group, and education level. Farmers markets and social media were preferred channels, with participants under age 55 being more likely than those 55 and over to prefer and use social media and agree that social media would be useful for promoting products and increasing sales. While selling via social media could provide a larger market, one challenge is that the average age of Mississippi farm operators is 59. Therefore, Extension must consider multiple approaches for delivering training on marketing.

A Case Of Shifting Focus Friction: Extension Directors And State 4-H Program Leaders’ Perspectives On 4-H Lgbtq+ Inclusion, Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Donna Westfall-Rudd, Eric Kaufman, Megan Seibel, Rama Radhakrishna

The Journal of Extension

Contemporary Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth are identifying and communicating their identities earlier in childhood than generations before as a result of more awareness and more acceptance of gender identity and sexual minorities by society. A qualitative study of U.S. 4-H program leaders and Extension directors generated an emergent theme around the importance of serving LGBT youth and the resulting implementation challenges. The administrators of 4-H, the largest youth serving organization in the country, recognize the presence of LGBTQ+ youth in 4-H and believe the organization must be inclusive. But challenges remain in ensuring youth experience inclusion at …

Cultivation 2.0: The Mediated Environment As Message In The 21st Century, Chelsea Slack

All Dissertations

It is hard to deny social media and its omnipresence is affecting users. What’s more, the online mediated environment is becoming increasingly diverse, with more social media platforms being created and used each year. What is social media doing to us? How do different platforms affect views of users? To answer these questions, this study applied cultivation theory to the mediated environment, which included the social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok. With 413 respondents, the results of this study indicated that Facebook consumption is related to first order cultivation effects, and non-Facebook platforms contribute to …

They Say, We Say: A Standpoint Analysis Of Stay-At-Home Mothers’ Engagement With Public Discourse, Ayesha Tanzila

All Theses

The purpose of this research was to study stay-at-home mothers’ engagement with the prevailing discourse surrounding them. Staying home and engaging in "invisible and unpaid" labor has led this group of mothers to be out of public sight and somewhat voiceless. Thus, public discourse about SAHMs without significant input by SAHMs has resulted in a monolithic and static identity. Using standpoint analysis as the theoretical framework and textual analysis as the methodology, I have analyzed opinion pieces written by SAHMs, published on popular magazine portals, and on their blogs, through which they attempt to navigate this public depiction of themselves. …

Integrating Underutilized Black Volunteers In 4-H Youth Development Programs, Maurice Smith Jr., Shannon Wiley

The Journal of Extension

4-H Youth Development prides itself on providing essential resources to reach underserved minority populations. 4-H provides programming and professional development for volunteers to include diverse hands-on training, and cultural competency workshops. This article provides best practices for the inclusion of African American volunteers in 4-H programming efforts that could help extension educators better understand the need to include minority volunteer roles and responsibilities. These strategies include strengthening diverse volunteer make-up, increasing participation and trust among African American youth, and engaging volunteers working in educational organizations that could provide real world experiences for youth.

Designing Educational Newsletter Interventions: An Example That Supported Grandfamilies’ Physical Wellness Needs, Priscilla Brenes, Mary Meck Higgins

The Journal of Extension

Effective newsletters have theory-based content and designs tailored to their readers and offer limited-cost community-level approaches to providing helpful, relevant, and engaging information. In accordance with this, we offer an example of a newsletter intervention that supported grandfamilies’ physical wellness needs. Six issues of a brief mail-delivered newsletter were sent yearly for up to 5 years to low-income custodial grandparents. In evaluating the newsletter, most respondents reported reading it, discussing its information, and having greater awareness, knowledge, and motivation or confidence regarding wellness recommendations. Furthermore, 91% described improving 1 or more of their grandfamilies’ cooking, eating, or physical activity practices.

Farm Dinner Theater: Improving Health And Safety For Farm Families, Deborah B. Reed, Debra Mccallum, Eileen Legault

The Journal of Extension

This article provides a brief overview of Farm Dinner Theater (FDT), a novel intervention that positively influences the health and safety behaviors of senior family farmers and their family. The FDT uses principles of adult learning and engages the audience in conversations about their health and safety experiences. The FDT was developed through interdisciplinary community-engaged research and tested using a repeated measures design with 553 intervention and 317 comparison participants. Significant changes were reported and the FDT is now being used by Extension through the use of a toolkit developed by the project.

Fish Disease Outreach Messages: Testing Of Gain And Loss Frames, Erin L. Pavloski, Heather A. Triezenberg

The Journal of Extension

Gain and loss framing has been used as a technique in risk communication to shape individuals’ behaviors in many fields. Our community-engaged research, conducted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), experimentally tested five message frames to determine efficacy for outreach programs. We found: a) to increase risk perceptions of fish disease use a loss frame in a management context, b) to decrease risk perceptions of fish disease management use a gain frame in a disease context, and c) to motivate behavioral intentions for prevention and risk reduction use a gain frame in a disease context.

Creating Order Out Of Chaos? Development Of A Measure Of Perceived Effects Of Communication On The Crisis Organizing Process, Ryan Patrick Fuller, Andrew S. Pyle, Laura Riolli, Amy Mickel

Publications

Organizations are important sources of communication during natural-hazard crises. How members of an organization perceive these communications (e.g., creating confusion, causing disorder, providing clarity, and restoring order) influences response and recovery from such a crisis. Using Chaos Theory as a guiding framework, the authors developed a new instrument measuring the perceived effects of an organization’s communication on crisis-organizing processes. Three distinct studies were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of this new instrument: the “Perceived Effects of Communication on the Crisis-organizing Process (PEC-COP)” scale. This one-factor scale can be used by both scholars and practitioners to assess the effects …