Digital Commons Network^™

Faith And News: A Quantitative Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity And Tv News Exposure, Raquel Marvez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between religiosity and broadcast news usage. This study examines the level of religiosity of individuals and its correlation to broadcast news exposure. The correlation between religiosity and perceptions of violence on broadcast news was also measured. Two theories were applied in this study. Uses and Gratifications asserts the active character of the audience to choose what they watch, how often, etc., and Selective Exposure defends the ability of the individual to select media that coincides with personal value systems. These two theories complement each other and provide support in the …

Monarch Cheers, Integration Whimpers, And A Loyalty Conflict: Kansas City Call's Coverage Of The Black Yankees, 1937-1955, Eric M. Eames

Theses and Dissertations

Already regarded as one of the top teams in Negro League baseball, the Kansas City Monarchs became known as a powerhouse unit in the 1930s and 40s. They rolled into towns with lights, amazing athletes, and competitive play. They won championship after championship during these years as Kansas City baseball fans strongly supported them. As they became an integral part of the city, the Monarchs' success, open-seating policy, and jazzy home openers fostered a large following of mixed-race fans. The local black newspaper, the Kansas City Call, held them up on a pedestal, while sportswriters for the mainstream Kansas City …

Manager Tools Podcast: A Study Of Podcasting's Effectiveness With Profit Potential, Quincy Frodesen Beal

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to understand further the effectiveness and profit potential of podcasting. The study combines the theories of uses and gratifications and subjective theory of value to create a model for podcasting's value. The model is put to the test using the Manager Tools podcast as the subject. Data suggest the three main drivers behind perceived podcast effectiveness are pleasure, habit, and information gathering. Relaxation proved to have a negative influence on perceived effectiveness. The audience's willingness to pay was determined by perceived effectiveness, scarcity, and habit. Though not a generalizable study, the conclusion discusses the findings' implications on …

Film Families: The Portrayal Of The Family In Teen Films From 1980 To 2007, Caroline Clayton Clark

Theses and Dissertations

American adolescents watch an average of 3.5 hours of television and movies everyday; many attend more than one movie a month. Adolescents as a group watch more movies than any other group of the population, yet little research has been done on what is shown in teen movies. Adolescence is a time when values, beliefs, and opinions are formed and the media has been found to be a place that adolescents find information that can influence the construction of these identities. While there has been a vast amount of research looking at the family as portrayed on television shows, there …

From Suffragettes To Grandmothers: A Qualitative Textual Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Of Five Female Politicians In Utah's Deseret News And Salt Lake Tribune, Holly M. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines press coverage in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune of five female politicians in Utah history: Martha Hughes Cannon (1896), Reva Beck Bosone (1948), Karen Shepherd (1992), Enid Greene Waldholtz (1994), and Olene S. Walker (2003). A total of 438 articles were reviewed using qualitative textual analysis. Coverage by candidate varied, though it was not in general overtly biased concerning candidate gender. However, the press did call attention to the gender of candidate and gendered commentary was present. The press also called attention to the rarity of women running for high political office and addressed the …

Scientific Consensus On Manmade Global Warming: Think Tank Influence On Public Opinion Through News Media, Greg Howe

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of think tanks, in the news media, on public opinion of what most scientists believe about the cause of global warming.

The researcher performed a content analysis on two national newspapers spanning May through July, 2006, the three months surrounding the U.S. release of An Inconvenient Truth, to determine whether papers of differing political ideology provided different amounts of context concerning the global warming scientific consensus. The data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel. Experimental research was also conducted using 103 undergraduate Rowan University public relations and public relations and advertising majors to determine if …

Music And The Modern Maya: A Reception Study Of Rock-Maya Music In Guatemala, Malcolm Miguel Botto

Theses and Dissertations

The current global flows of people, capital, technology, images and ideas--a phenomenon described as "mediascapes" by Arjun Appadurai (1996), traverse the most isolated Maya communities in Guatemala. These flows have recently influenced the creation of hybrid media products among the Maya. Among them we find an emerging indigenous musical genre called "Rock-Maya." I use reception analysis methods to document the encoding and decoding of this new indigenous medium of communication. Through qualitative interviews I attempt to show how K'iche'-Maya youth appropriate, what Motti Regev (1997) calls, the rock aesthetic to promote a sense of K'iche'-Maya youth identity in a modern …

Predicting The Longevity Of Dvdr Media By Periodic Analysis Of Parity, Jitter, And Ecc Performance Parameters, Daniel Patrick Wells

Theses and Dissertations

For the last ten years, DVD-R media have played an important role in the storage of large amounts of digital data throughout the world. During this time it was assumed that the DVD-R was as long-lasting and stable as its predecessor, the CD-R. Several reports have surfaced over the last few years questioning the DVD-R's ability to maintain many of its claims regarding archival quality life spans. These reports have shown a wide range of longevity between the different brands. While some DVD-Rs may last a while, others may result in an early and unexpected failure. Compounding this problem is …

The Image Of Professional Wrestling: A Case Study Of The Chris Benoit Double Murder-Suicide, Neil Borenstein

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the media's role in influencing public perception of the professional wrestling industry following the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide. The researcher sought to understand the manner in which newspapers portrayed the professional wrestling industry and whether media coverage in general played a role in forming the public's opinion of the industry.

Through a content analysis of articles and headlines in The New York Times and The Miami Herald, the researcher evaluated the tone of the media coverage of the professional wrestling industry. Intercept studies conducted at two southern New Jersey sports bars revealed where people received their information …

Deception In Super Bowl Advertisements: An Analysis Of Deceptive Story Lines, Christopher R. Near

Theses and Dissertations

Many ethical studies have focused on advertising; however, they have yet to focus specifically on Super Bowl advertisements. This thesis examines the ethical issue of portraying deceptive acts within the storylines of Super Bowl advertisements from 1988-2008. Results indicate that 196 of the 2,172 advertisements studied, contain deceptive storylines. Most often the advertisements depicted white males, ages 30-64, using deception. Also, deception was usually done out of self interest at the expense of others. The deception often led to negative social, material, and emotional consequences for the person being deceived, with mostly positive outcomes being shown for the person doing …

Using The Zmet Method To Understand Individual Meanings Created By Video Game Players Through The Player-Super Mario Avatar Relationship, Bradley R. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Video game researchers have recently begun to explore qualitative techniques to understand video games and their audiences. Yet many questions remain concerning the significance of gaming media and how video game research should be conducted. This research addresses the changing focus of video game researchers from the "producers," or sender of the video game, to the "audience" or receiver. This is accomplished in the following ways: by exploring meanings created by individuals while "role-playing" in an electronic world as an on-screen video game avatar; by using the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET), to gather a deeper understanding of how players …

An Empirical Investigation Of Factors Influencing Knowledge Management System Success, John F. Whitfield Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge has been viewed as a critical component for organizations. Consequently, organizations implement Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) to seek competitive advantages, but they may encounter mixed results. This research draws on previous information system and knowledge management system success-related literature and selects eight factors that are believed to be critical for the successful implementation of a KMS. These factors were derived through a literature search of current KMS success-related literature. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that could have a clear influence on the development and implementation of KMSs. The study presents the empirical examination of a …

An Exploratory Examination Of Social Website Quality, Joseph B. Werling

Theses and Dissertations

With websites becoming the frontend for numerous systems, the system's benefits require customers to have a favorable evaluation of the site and an intention to re-use it. It must be considered to be of high quality. With websites increasing adding collaborative technologies (such as tools for social networking, forums, and blogging) a new instrument to evaluate the quality of these types of sites is needed. Before such an instrument is developed, an understanding of the applicable theories is needed. This study offers that background. First the potential benefits of this research and its guiding questions are presented. Next is a …

High Performing Teams: The Moderating Effects Of Communication Channels, Edgard I. Zamora

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to support the Air Force's goal of improving team performance by bringing visibility to several overlapping areas of study where little comprehensive research has been conducted. Specifically, an officer's ability to successfully complete his or her mission has been complicated in recent years by the emergence of new communication technologies. For example, communication networks now make it possible for pilots to fly Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) who sit on one continent while the aircraft and mission planners are on another and, although they may not see each other, their physical separation does not negate …