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The Effect Of Personality On The Spiral Of Silence Process, Kyoungtae Nam

Doctoral Dissertations

The study examines the effect of personality on the spiral of silence process. Despite the social-psychological nature of the spiral of silence theory, there has been little investigation on the relationship between personality and the spiral of silence process. In the current study, two personality constructs, independent/interdependent self-construal and right wing authoritarian personality, are examined to see how they affect a person’s willingness to speak out. In March through April 2002, 714 college students were surveyed. Three topics that were identified as highly controversial in the preliminary study were used in the final survey: abortion (n=238), affirmative action (n=234), and …

International News Coverage, Borrowed News And Geopolitical Focus In The New York Times During 1991, 1996 And 2001, Heather E. Rogers

Masters Theses

International news coverage by the U.S. media (and for the purpose of this study, newspaper coverage) is a heavily debated issue within the scholarly and professional worlds. Critics, both in the United States and abroad, charge that the U.S. media prescribe to an egocentric attitude about international news coverage, and that Americans do not receive the quality of news that could be expected in a nation with a free press, where citizens are, for the most part, highly educated and where access to news is not restricted.

Previous studies have focused on how much international news coverage Americans receive, and …

Framing Of Breast Cancer In African American Magazines, Lanise Hutchins

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Print Media Portrayal Of The Culture Of Nasa Before And After The Challenger Explosion, Jodi M. Lockaby

Masters Theses

In recent years, culture has become a major topic within organizational studies. The culture of an organization affects how individuals in the organization interact, what is valued in the organization, and what goals the organization strives to achieve.

However, the view of culture that outsiders hold of an organization also has significance for the organization. Mostly, the mass media influence the outsider's view of an organization's culture. Yet, organizational cultural studies have failed to look at the external perception of an organization and how the external viewpoint is affected by major actions by or events in the organization. This study …

Selling The Internet: An Analysis Of Advertisements For The Internet And Related Products In Time Magazine, 1995-2000, Guiohk Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

This study attempted to examine how the Internet has been presented in advertising in the United States and to explore how cultural values play a role in shaping the images of the Internet. Using a document analysis method based on principles of qualitative research, 504 advertisements for the Internet and Internet-related products appearing in Time magazine during 1995-2000 were examined. The analysis focused on identifying categories of message strategies and technological themes used in the ads and examining the changes in the use of the message strategies and technological themes.

Careful analysis revealed that the number of ads promoting the …

An Expectancy-Value Analysis Of Web Gratifications, Meiling Shih

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study explored the mechanisms directing Web usage decisions to determine more reliable estimates of the importance of various influences involved.

A Web-based survey was administered to respondents who voluntarily participated by responding to a message posted to selected Internet discussion groups. Exploratory factor analysis and covariance structure model were employed to examine the relationships between attitude, expectancies, motivation, intention, and usage regarding the Web.

Research evidence spoke strongly against univariate or bivariate motivational schemes. In addition to surveillance and diversion functions that have been found in traditional mass media, the Web also provided two unique qualities, utility and …