Digital Commons Network^™

Perspectives On Choral And Solo Singing: Enhancingcommunication Between Choral Conductors And Voice Teachers, Matthew August Ferrell

Open Access Dissertations

Concepts of choral and solo singing diverge among the masses of pedagogues, teachers, and conductors who have differing opinions about healthy vocal technique and training. These differences have generated tension within some university music programs, with choral faculty and voice faculty sometimes on opposing sides. This document presents answers from professional singers who engage in choral and solo singing while maintaining a healthy vocal technique. All subjects interviewed for this document were asked to speak in detail to vocal adjustments made to sing in different styles. In addition, they were asked to identify any vocal faults that may arise from …

Doctoral Program Quality And Scholarly Productivity, Steven G. Shenouda

Open Access Dissertations

The present study was undertaken to examine the relationship between the reputation of doctoral programs in Interpersonal Communication and the degree of research productivity associated with the faculty offering the program. Authors, institutional affiliation, number of authors, position of article, and related information for every article published in Communication Monographs and Human Communication Research from 1994 through 2004 were recorded. Based on this analysis, productivity factors were calculated for faculty of every Ph.D. program in the National Communication Association (NCA) reputational study (2004) focused on Interpersonal Communication. Data analysis was conducted to explore possible statistical associations between quality assessments of …

Mother And Daughter Communication About Sexual Health In Rural Kenya, Jessica Velcoff

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The present study focused on young women, and the manner in which communication with their mothers may facilitate decreased sexual risk behaviors in rural Kenya. With regard to sexual behaviors, Hutchinson and Wood (2007) developed the parent-based expansion of the theory of planned behavior (PETPB). The PETPB is a theoretical framework that builds upon the theory of planned behavior, to include the influence of parents in understanding adolescent sexual risk behavior. The present study was guided by the PETPB and explored communication, knowledge of sexuality and sexual health, and preventative behaviors among rural secondary school aged Kenyan young women (15 …

Engaging Rural Community Members As Problem Solvers: Application Of Health Communication To Improve The Quality Of Health Care In Southwest Uganda, Tesfa N. Alexander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using communication theories and anthropological models, I analyze the narratives of community members who are caretakers of children ages 5 and under in Southwest Uganda to situate rural community members as problem solvers whose insights can be used to inform sustainable and effective public health strategies that can lead to improved health outcomes. Throughout my analysis, I uncover themes and concepts from community members' narratives that demonstrate that health-seeking behaviors of rural community members are largely shaped by perceptions of interpersonal and social trust in local health care practitioners. Additionally, an analysis of discourse from patient-provider interactions in biomedical and …

Still Flying: The Communicative Constitution Of Browncoat Fandom As Culture, Jonathon Nicholas Lundy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In contemporary western culture, fandom is common. Many academics and members of the general public alike conceive of fandom as outside the norms of spectatorship; to be a spectator is to enjoy an interest individually and passively. However, others contend that fandom is a more significant cultural achievement.

This study qualitatively investigated how Browncoats, or fans of the cancelled television series Firefly , communicatively construct their fandom culture. Methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, data analysis through Grounded Theory, and a comparative thematic analysis of the original Firefly source texts and Browncoat cultural data in order to discover meaningful themes …

Equine Assisted Activities And Therapies, Carol C. Petitto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation is composed of three essays in which each carefully examines an important aspect of the field of equine assisted activities and therapies (EAAT). In the first essay, I review how equine assisted activities and therapies should be considered as an early intervention to help facilitate communication skills in children with autism. The majority of participants in NARHA programs have autism, and therefore it is critical to appraise the validity of EAAT as a positive intervention. Respondents of NARHA centers to a survey on their use of assessments in tracking the progress of their participants indicated that only 7% …

The Experiences Of Expatriate Teachers In International Schools: Five Ethnographic Case Studies, James S. Anderson Edd

Dissertations

An increasingly global economy has produced a growing demand for teachers to work in international schools. However, data about teachers who elect to move abroad and work in international settings are limited. The lack of research in this area is surprising, given the relatively large number of expatriate teachers who work in international schools. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how expatriate teachers perceive their experiences in international schools and the role that these perceptions may play in their decisions to continue at a school or to seek other employment. In order to explore …

America's P.R.I.D.E.: Entertainment Education As A Health Communication Intervention Strategy For Middle School And High School Students, Elizabeth Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation research was to study the ways that members of the P.R.I.D.E. club at Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee used entertainment-education communication strategies in their presentations and the interpersonal persuasive strategies members used when talking with peers about substance abuse. Participants in this study were members of the P.R.I.D.E. club and ranged in age from 14-years-old to 18-years-old. My research questions examined how P.R.I.D.E. incorporated constructs of entertainment-education (emotional involvement, identification with characters, self-efficacy, perceived realism, and fear appeals) into their presentations to persuade peers to abstain from using alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, and examined …

A Midsummer Night's Dream On The Radio: Technology In Voice And Speech, David Becker

Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in sound technology have had significant implications for the teaching of voice and speech that are only now becoming apparent. As more students become “plugged in” it becomes more difficult, both for the instructor and the student, to communicate, let alone find a voice. We are becoming increasingly addicted to communicating through our devices, rather than through the traditional and accepted modes of the past: using the human voice. In light of these rapid and various new developments, voice training, especially at the introductory level, needs to be examined anew. A number of traditional approaches and teaching methods …

Communicative Facework In Marital Dissolution And Post-Dissolution Processes, Brandi N. Frisby

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Divorce affects nearly 24,000 adults (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2008) and one million children yearly (Amato, 2000), often with negative consequences for those who are involved (Amato, 2000; Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001). Unlike previous research which focused on predictors of divorce, this dissertation (2 studies) focused on the communicative processes that occur when divorce is initiated and in turning points which comprise the interactions in post-divorce relationships. In study one, participants (N = 69) reported on the conversation where the decision to divorce was made, the face threats and facework which were communicated during that conversation, and the individual …

Students' Perceptions Of Classroom Justice And Their Use Of Politeness Strategies, Charles K. Rudick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study was to investigate how students' use of politeness strategies differed based on their perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice when they engaged in a face threatening act (FTA) with their instructors. Participants included 76 undergraduate students enrolled in undergraduate communication courses at a large mid-Atlantic university during the summer. Results revealed that students engage in all types of politeness strategies when speaking with their instructor, with students reporting the bald-on-record strategy the most frequently. However, students' use of politeness strategies did not significantly differ based on their perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. …

The Effect Of Cross-Chain Discussion By Eyewitnesses And Non-Eyewitnesses On Rumor Accuracy, Samuel Brougher

Theses

As rumors travel from person to person, information is lost during the transmissions. Discussion, however, increases retention of the original account and organizes later transmissions. This organization then decreases the attentional load of the listeners, thus allowing them to attend to and retain a more complex message. Further, the information that is lost tends to be explanatory statements (instead of event statements). Such explanatory statements make ratings of a negative event more neutral, but are lost when the listener's attentional load is increased, and the central (event-based) message is more likely to be retained. With this in mind, the effects …

Navigating Reentry Shock: The Use Of Communication As A Facilitative Tool, Caroline C. Niesen

Communication ETDs

Even though many university students travel and study abroad, there is minimal literature and research about supporting these students when they return from their study abroad experience. In order to understand and incorporate the experience into the students everyday life, communication plays a key role in facilitating the transition back into the United States. Thus, the principal purpose of this study was to expand the research on reentry shock and communication by creating a new scale of reentry shock and testing a proposed model of variables to uncover which factor is most important (individual, interpersonal, and cultural). One hundred fifty …

An Examination Of Communicative Dialectical Tensions And Paradoxes Encountered By Native American Researchers In The Field And In The Academy, Lorenda Belone

Communication ETDs

This study investigated the communicative dialectical tensions and paradoxical situations faced by Native researchers in the academy and in research with their own communities or with other Native communities. Thematic analysis was conducted on narratives from 12 semi-structured interviews from participants across the country. Three major themes emerged regarding communicative struggles for the participants when conducting research with Native communities: a dialectic of insider/outsider; challenge of developing positive communication; and concerns of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Four major themes emerged with regards to communication challenges for the participants while working in the academy: insider-outsider dialectic, paradox of walking the talk, …

Teaching Conflict Reconciliaton To Those Who Use Technological Communication - A Ministry For Postmodern People, Jeffrey E. Skopak

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

With a large group of postmoderns at Fountain of Life Lutheran Church I have access to the community I wish to study and assist with biblical communication, conflict, and reconciliation tools. With that in mind, the purpose of this project is to equip postmodern people with biblical communication, conflict, and reconciliation tools so that they may maintain and nurture healthier relationships with other people by better understanding and using biblical communication, conflict, and reconciliation tools. In order to accomplish this task I have developed four critical events that focus on the topics of communication, relationships, conflict, and reconciliation. These critical …

Communication In Married Couples: Exploring The Roles Of Betrayal And Forgiveness, Nikki N. Frousakis

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the associations between having experienced a major betrayal, forgiveness, and communication behaviors in married couples. The first aim of the current research was to compare the communication behaviors of couples who have experienced a major betrayal and are in various stages of the forgiveness process as delineated by Gordon, Baucom, and Snyder (2005) to couples who reported never having experienced a betrayal in their current relationship. The second aim of the study was to explore whether injured partners and their spouses behave differently when discussing the betrayal event than when they are conversing about a separate problem …

Generational Perceptions Of Productive/Unproductive Information Received From Management Through Different Communication Channels, Eva Lynn Cowell

Doctoral Dissertations

This exploratory study identified generational preferences for receiving information from management through different communication channels and determined if age predicted productivity for productive and unproductive information received through different communication channels. This is the first study to empirically examine the relationship between age cohorts, communication channel preferences, information categories, and productivity. Sample participants worked as Extension agents at a major land-grant university. The four generations represented in the sample utilized multiple communication channels and were geographically dispersed throughout the state. The survey was administered electronically and completed by 204 (74%) of the eligible 275 employees in the organization. Independent Samples …

Examining The Dissemination Of Innovations In The Sporting Goods Industry., Marion E. Hambrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

US consumers spend $87 million annually on sporting goods and services (National Sporting Goods Association, 2008). Each year sporting goods manufacturers also spend millions of dollars creating innovative products for consumers looking to improve their playing performances and enjoyment of the sport (Reisinger, 2002). Manufacturers want to receive adequate returns on their research and development investments and create innovations consumers support and want to buy (Berman & McLaughlin, 1973). To facilitate the dissemination of innovations, manufacturers provide information about their innovations to increase product awareness and help consumers make informed purchasing decisions (Rogers, 2003). The purpose of the current study …

The Nightingale Of Austerlitz, Lindsay Marianna Walker

Dissertations

The Nightingale of Austerlitz employs poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to articulate the theme of (mis)communication. A pliable, multi-genre approach was necessary to convey the urgency of two central characters’ desire to connect despite the impossibility of doing so. Prose interrupts and challenges the set precision of poetry in order to embody the stops and starts—the literal and figurative breakdowns—of communication. The juxtaposition of genres dramatizes dialogue, silence, affective distance, and desire. Song, sound, repetition (using lullaby, referencing music, thematizing the ear) further assert the power of language as performance and aesthetics as consolation, and provoke a particular kind of attention …

Application Of Systems Engineering Science To The Healthcare Environment, Jonathan Mack Phd, Msn, Anp, Rn

Dissertations

This Doctoral dissertation consists of a research portfolio examining the application of systems engineering techniques to the healthcare environment. The portfolio consists of three final publishable articles submitted to meet the program requirements for the, Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing degree from the University of San Diego, Hahn school of Nursing and Health Sciences. Article one is titled; "Use of a bed projection tool to predict ICU bed needs." This article describes the dissertation research study in which a bed projection tool was piloted on an ICU unit to determine the tool's ability to predict inpatient bed requirements. Article 2 …

The Closed Cohort Learning Model: Enabling Innovation And Organizational Success, Frederick D. Ellrich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

AbstractThis study examines the development of trust, communication, and collaboration in a closed cohort academic community. The closed cohort has gained in popularity in recent years and is now common at the graduate level, especially in the colleges of business and education. A closed cohort is a group of students who begin and end together, and proceed in lock step through a sequence of courses. The research is a case study of a master’s program in leadership at a university in the mid-south area of the United States. The research approach is phenomenological in that the researcher was an instructor …

Effects Of Parental Divorce On Uncertainty Following Initial Communication With A Potential Romantic Partner, Julia Ann Hansch

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Decades of research have supported Berger and Calabrese's (1975) Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT), which posits that reducing uncertainty is a chief goal of initial communication between strangers. This study extends the scope of URT, focusing on initial communication between strangers who see themselves as potential romantic partners. Further, this study specifically examines the potential influence of a well-researched external factor that has been found to negatively affect the way people communicate and behave within romantic relationships: parental divorce. Although many studies have assessed the impact of parental divorce on communication in developed relationships, there is little research examining its impact …

Lived Experience: Near-Fatal Adolescent Suicide Attempt, Phyllis Ann Dougherty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent suicide has become a national health crisis. Suicide now ranks as a leading cause of adolescent death in the U.S. In response to this, the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2001b) recommended the promotion and support of research into suicide and prevention, particularly high-risk groups such as adolescents. However, due to concerns for safety and liability, there have been few studies of highly suicidal individuals, specifically adolescents. Leading suicidologists have agreed that studying the qualities of the near-fatal suicide attempt can most resemble the completed suicide.

This case study explored the phenomenon of the near-fatal suicide attempt through the …

Effective And Compassionate Communication Between Hospital Staff And Parents Of Children With Newly Diagnosed Cancer, Natalie Volz

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This study was conducted to determine the most effective and compassionate modes of communication for hospital staff at The Children's Hospital to use when conveying information to parents of children with cancer. Twelve parents whose children were four to twelve weeks post diagnosis were interviewed. Parents were asked a series of eleven open-ended questions addressing their experience with hospital staff's communication skills. Recurring themes resulting from the interviews include delivery of diagnosis, value of information, receptiveness to questions and availability of hospital staff. These themes reveal that parents value thorough and complete explanations of their child's diagnosis and treatment plans, …

The Pedagogical Role Of Reggio-Inspired Studios In Early Childhood Education, Laura Ann Ganus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influence of the Reggio Emilia philosophy has been present in early childhood programs across the United States for decades, with many programs attempting to adapt the philosophy's concept of a studio, but few studies have examined them. This study describes, interprets, and appraises two Reggio-inspired studios in the United States in order to provide an in-depth analysis and shed new light on such practices.

Four questions guided this study: 1) What is the role of a studio in a Reggio-inspired school? 2) What is happening in the studio? 3) What are children learning in this environment? 4) How does …

Effects Of Video-Conferencing On Gaze Behavior And Communication, Leanne Bohannon

Theses

Through the use of eye-tracking and conversation analysis this study examined the impact of video-conferencing on communication. Paired participants performed a collaborative task over four communication media: face-to-face; desktop video-conferencing with eye contact; and life-size video-conferencing with and without eye contact. Participants more frequently checked the information their partner verbally relayed when communicating face-to-face and over life-size video-conferencing with eye contact. They also looked more at their partner when conversing over life-size video-conferencing with eye contact compared to the other conditions. The results imply that the mode across which we communicate does influence our verbal and non-verbal interactions but that …

Looking Good And Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, And Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens, Elizabeth Edgecomb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Looking Good and Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, and Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens is an ethnographic examination of how poor, minority, urban tweens (age 7-14) use consumer culture to create and perform their personal and social identities. Although portrayed in mass media as selfish and hedonistic, this work finds tweens creating profoundly social, giving, and caring identities and relationships through consumption. Their use of consumer culture is also a form of political resistance that subverts their place in the age, class, and race hierarchy. These tweens use “looking good” (attention to grooming, style, and behaving respectably), and not name brand …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Adolescent Females' Use Of Social Networking Websites, Janine Pate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present study was to explore the ways adolescent females, age 14 through 17, utilized social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook for communication, self-presentation and identity development purposes. Uses and gratifications theory served as a framework for identifying the participants' motivations for heavily using these websites, which allow users to post pictures, interests and updates for their friends to view and interact with online. Using a qualitative method, one preliminary focus group and ten in-depth interviews were conducted, totaling fifteen female participants between the ages of 14 and 17. Interview questions covered topics such as …

Increasing Parental Awareness And Monitoring: The Development And Evaluation Of A Web-Based Program To Empower Parents To Reduce, Pamela Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parent attitudes about underage alcohol use and parent monitoring of the activities of their adolescent children have been found to be directly related to the likelihood of underage alcohol use. Unfortunately, there are relatively few programs or resources available to parents to assist them to reduce their children's potential for early and problematic alcohol involvement. In an effort to address this need, the present project entailed the development and evaluation of a web-based psychoeducational program entitled, Increasing Parental Awareness and Monitoring (iPAM). This online program begins to fill the gap in effective and convenient programming focused on development of parent …

Roots: Agrarian Movements And The Importance Of Ground Within The Philosophy Of Communication (A Synecdoche), Maryl Roberts Mcginley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work looks at the way in which an agrarian philosophy communicates the meaningful connection between cultivating land and being attentive to the philosophical notion of ground. It tells the story of agrarian movements from the last century with special attention to what about the philosophy has durability. This work outlines the possibility of an agrarian framework as a potential alternative to modernity. Each chapter is attentive to a different voice in the movement, exploring his engagement with an agrarian philosophy and connection to the philosophy of communication.