Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Tiktok For Relationship Maintenance: An Exploratory Study, Shannon Nemes

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The recent boom in popularity of the social media app TikTok has provided more opportunities for users in a committed relationship to express their love to their partner through features such as video sharing, tagging, or creating content together. The purpose of this study is to learn how romantic partners use TikTok to support relationship maintenance; in addition, this study draws on research related to the five love languages to gauge how romantic partners express their love for each other using TikTok. Interviews with eight individuals involved in long-term romantic relationships revealed how TikTok assists with relationship maintenance. Six themes …

Narrative Of The Wild: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Protected Areas Within The United States Of America, Isaac S. Reimer

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

As conditions for the global environment continue to degrade and the climate crisis deepens, wilderness and protected areas (PAs) serve as a bulwark for sustainability goals. As much of the protections and strengths of PAs stem from the public’s opinion of them, this research seeks to further understand the communicative underpinnings of PAs. Utilizing autoethnography and applying it to a rhetorical framework, this study explores the constitutive qualities narrative in conjunction with the wilderness can possess. The results offer suggestions for future communication scholars and advocates to employ while discussing and communicating about the wilderness.

Characteristics Of Effective Communicative Partners For Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd), Mardee Anne Kohlmann

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study identifies communicative and non-communicative characteristics of spouses of veterans with PTSD as discussed by the participants. Due to the exposure to traumatic events, language abilities of soldiers are often affected, commonly delaying the retrieval of memories, as well as analysis and production of everyday speech. These symptoms make it difficult to perform the communication behaviors that are conducive for healthy relationships. Improved acceptance and acknowledgment of PTSD in veterans by the armed services has increased the demand for preventative and therapeutic methods being used to treat returning veterans assimilating back into society. Qualitative methodology was used in this …

Reel Women: Gender Stereotypes In Film, Kayla Marie Krahn

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Horror films portray female characters as sexual, helpless victims. When horror films attempt to portray female characters as the hero, this sends a message to audiences that women can be strong and independent. An experiment was conducted to test an audience's perceptions gender stereotypes of women in the horror film, Scream. Results indicate that stereotypes present in the horror film effected the participants' perception of women as competent heroes. Female participants were also more likely to perceive women as more competent than male participants. Then, from a qualitative standpoint, five individuals were interviewed about their perceptions of characters in their …

An Investigation Into The Implementation Of The Instructional Consultation Team Model, Kathleen A. Senita

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 made Response to Intervention (RtI) an acceptable alternative for identifying students with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The purpose of this study was to examine one particular problem-solving approach, Instructional Consultation (IC) teams within an RtI framework, to determine the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of teachers and administrators about this model and its effect in identifying and supporting students with learning disabilities between two elementary schools in one Michigan school district.

Interviews were done with a typical case sampling of interviewees from within both buildings. Interviewees were both participants …

Uncovering Identities Through Performance Poetry, Angela Vanhook

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Research in the area of performance poetry is still relatively new to the field of communication. Using Hecht’s Communication Theory of Identity, this study explores performance poetry as a communicative tool for identity management. By observing the performances of five poets from six seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, a thematic analysis of the communication practices that occurred during the performances was used to code the processes of identity management. Additionally, this study explores how validation of enacted identity occurs between the poets and their audiences. Findings suggest that performance poetry could effectively be utilized as a tool in identity …

The Relationship Between The Perceived Level Of Contribution Of Virtual Team Members And Their Energization Source As Described By Jung's Typology, Edward Carl Bartone

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The increasing use of virtual teams as a result of advances in technology has altered the manner in which team members communicate and interact (Holton, 2001). The media-rich faceto- face team environment has frequently given way to asynchronous communication, using tools such as emails and discussion threads (Ohler, 2004). This study focused on the role of personality type in the emerging academic asynchronous environment; specifically, it explored the relationship between the Jungian dimension of energization (introversion vs. extroversion) of a team member and the perceived level of contribution of that team member to a team in an academic asynchronous virtual …

Analysis Of Propaganda Structure: Developing The Interpersonal Paradigm Of War Propaganda, Virginia Camille Zimmerman

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This communication research analysis examines the ways in which the interpersonal theory, Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT), combines with the 19 Principles of Propaganda to lend insights in to current war propaganda and the ways in which we can use URT to make sense of war propaganda messages. Propaganda has evolved due to technological advancements made in media such as television and internet. We may better understand the process and function of propaganda if we examine it from an interpersonal communication standpoint. Here in a textual analysis of past propaganda and propaganda of today illustrates the evolution that has occurred. Through …

Ypsilanti: A Cultural Assessment, Sarah Mark

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the culture of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Participants consisted of four leaders and five residents, all long-term citizens of Ypsilanti. Participants were interviewed and first asked to describe the general culture of Ypsilanti, then asked to comment on the potential presence of a music and arts scene as part of the culture of Ypsilanti. These questions are research questions one and two, respectively. Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth as people heard about the research through people I know. A content analysis of the interviews was conducted to find conceptual patterns in participants’ descriptions of the general culture as well …