Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Influencer Effect: Exploring The Persuasive Communication Tactics Of Social Media Influencers In The Health And Wellness Industry, Deborah Marie Deutsch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the emergence of social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, social media influencers (SMIs) have been a growing source of information in the health and wellness industry. Through their creative, informative, and appealing content, SMIs have the innate ability to reach and attain a large following on social media platforms. The purpose of this study is to ascertain an understanding of the persuasive tactics employed by SMIs in the creation and dissemination of information in the health and wellness industry. Using the theoretical framework of Aristotle’s Rhetorical Appeals and Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm, this qualitative study seeks to examine …

Erosion Of Credibility: A Mixed Methods Evaluation Of Twitter News Headlines From The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, And Usa Today, Melinda M. Skrbin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

To entice and commodify social media news consumers, contemporary news organizations have increasingly relied on data analytics to boost audience engagement. Clicks, likes, and shares are the metrics that now guide the editorial process and shape decisions about content and coverage. As such, news headlines are regularly manipulated to attract the attention of those who quickly scroll through social media networks on computers and smartphones. However, few studies have examined the typologies of news content most likely to be manipulated in social media news headlines or the impact of news headline manipulation on news source credibility. For this research, source …

Communication For Personal Relationships: A Qualitative Study On Taylor Swift's Music Videos And Message-Design Logics Theory, Matthew Magliocca

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation focuses on Barbara O’Keefe’s message-design logics theory and Taylor Swift’s music videos on YouTube. The first chapter provides background information and study elements for the project, focusing on the scholarly area of communication, the problem statement, the purpose statement, research questions, and definitions. The second chapter reviews the relevant literature associated with message-design logics theory and music videos on YouTube. The third chapter discusses the dissertation’s methodology, focusing on the study’s approach, framework, setting, instruments, procedures, analyses, and trustworthiness. The fourth chapter features the results of the research questions about Swift’s music videos and message-design logics theory. The …

Communication And Community: The Impact Of Closed Facebook Groups On Athletic Trainers, Allison M. Schwartz-Strickland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research study will use semi-structured interviews to explore the motivations of athletic trainers using social media for professional collaboration. The socio-psychological tradition is used to frame the study. Communities of practice, uses and gratification theory, and the Wisdom of the Crowd model are used as the guiding theoretical perspectives as they provide a framework for understanding how and why athletic trainers use social media. This qualitative study sought to show the impact of closed Facebook Group participation on athletic trainers. How athletic trainers understand patient privacy laws when participating in closed Facebook groups for athletic trainers will also …

Evaluating Biblical And Theological Training In The Developing World Through The Lens Of Communication Infrastructure Theory, David Keep

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research that shows the impact of training throughout the developing world is positive and limited. Informed by Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) and framed within the Cybernetic tradition, this study expands communication research to understand the impact of biblical and theological training among marginalized people in San Gabriel Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Through semi-structured interviews and direct observation, this qualitative research study shows how the curriculum developed by Shepherd’s Global Classroom (SGC) and deployed through Ezra Biblical Seminary in San Gabriel works to equip believers and church leaders in their developing-world context. The storytelling network of CIT is examined and discovered to …

An Exploration Of Defensive Mediatization Strategies And Motherhood Media Decision-Making, Emily B. Young

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study focused on media-related decision-making in motherhood, with mediatization theory serving as a framework for the research. The study began with an overview of recent changes to motherhood and family media use. The purpose of this study was to explore the problem of how mothers make decisions about their children’s media use. After providing a basic overview of the changes to motherhood and family media use, as well as establishing the purpose and problem for the study, the literature on relevant topics for this study was discussed. Primarily, the literature review focused on mediatization theory. Next, the survey …

How The Input-Process-Output Model Affects The Decoding Of Internal Strategic Financial Communication By Non-Financial Branch Managers, Andrew James Schell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore how non-financial branch managers at US mortgage companies processed the decoding of internal strategic financial communication (ISFC) when the message was encoded by the language of numbers (LON). The LON includes Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). A non-financial branch manager is an individual who manages a mortgage company branch office and may not possess LON decoding proficiency. This lack of LON decoding proficiency could result in ISFC decoding errors, potentially resulting in unintended financial consequences. Financial miscommunication is connected to the failure of over 50% of new small businesses each …

Framing Roles Of Protagonists And Antagonists In Visual Media, Jonas Braden Larson

Masters Theses

Many characters and stories have been interpreted over the past few thousand years. Humans are innate storytellers and make connections through various communication methods. Heroes and villains have affected many lives and given people a lens through which to view the world. The perception of stories and their characters in the visual media may not be as subjective as many people think. The framing communication theory was used to study the perception of audience member’s view of protagonists and antagonists in a visual story. Two short films were produced and screened to an audience that filled out surveys on their …

Self-Image As A Micro Reality: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Social Media Influencers And Adolescent Followers, Jessica Amanda Consterdine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aimed to investigate content depicted by social media influencers and examine how its engagement aligns with the theoretical components of social comparison theory, providing an understanding of how adolescents view self-image. The parasocial relationships between social media influencers and adolescent followers on Instagram were investigated by exploring how the relationship dynamic is challenged with paid endorsements, envy by followers, and strategic communication. Incorporating content analysis with thematic analysis from the most popular social media influencers on Instagram, findings revealed a relationship between hashtag usage and the adolescent creation of self-image micro realities. The analysis demonstrated a strong correlation …

A Case Study On How Hbcus Use Social Media To Reduce Uncertainty Of Covid-19, Kelsey Anne-Gabrielle Armstrong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This case study aims to understand how HBCUs use social media to deliver crisis communication messages to students about COVID-19 and how the HBCU culture impacts student perspectives. The theory guiding this study is uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1974), as it explains the communication strategies used to reduce uncertainty during a crisis. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured interviews and content analysis. Data analysis strategies included deductive and inductive coding and directed content analysis. The study results provide insight into how the HBCU culture impacts the perspective of an HBCUs response to COVID-19 and overall crisis communication messaging …

Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me...Until I See Them: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Trolls In Relation To The Gricean Maxims And (Im)Polite Virtual Speech Acts, Angelika C. Smith-Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The troll is one of the most obtrusive and disruptive bad actors on the internet. Unlike other bad actors, the troll interacts on a more personal and intimate level with other internet users. Social media platforms, online communities, comment boards, and chatroom forums provide them with this opportunity. What distinguishes these social provocateurs from other bad actors are their virtual speech acts and online behaviors. These acts aim to incite anger, shame, or frustration in others through the weaponization of words, phrases, and other rhetoric. Online trolls come in all forms and use various speech tactics to insult and demean …

Together Alone: The Effects Of Phubbing In A Romantic Partnership, Stephanie Elease Ligon-Tucker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Partner phubbing has been defined as an individual distracted by their phone or someone who would rather be on their phone than interact with the people in front of them. In most romantic partnerships, phubbing is directly connected to relationship satisfaction and can be linked to how frequently phubbing occurs in the union. Several research studies provide qualitative data on how phubbing negatively influences romantic relationships. 97% of the population admit that phubbing has lowered the connection quality with their partner. Phubbing can lead to jealousy, declining mental health, partner surveillance, conflict, separation, reciprocal phubbing, and adaptation. This research aims …

How Do International Students In A University In The United States Relate Their Cultural Identity To Fashion Trends, Kharen Alejandra Martinez Murcia

Masters Theses

International students who move to the United States must endure the challenge of adapting to a new culture. Understanding different aspects of how the adaptation process works is essential to create better avenues to connect with these students as they go through the acculturation process. This research focuses on how international students communicate their cultural identity through clothing choices. This study followed a qualitative method through in-depth interviews with ten participants from eight countries. Participants answered questions regarding motivation, cultural adaptation, clothing adaptation, and cultural identity and expression. Findings show that participants consider clothing communicates something about themselves and their …

Student Expectations From Faculty Based On Their Enneagram, Kate Clinton Ndikumagenge

Masters Theses

In this study, the researcher uses the Enneagram to examine whether students’ expectations of faculty change during a crisis. This mixed methods study used surveys to collect data from full-time students from higher education institutions. The data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic was used to predict students’ expectations of faculty during any crisis. The overall goal of this study is to understand whether students’ personality types affect how they expect faculty to act during a crisis and whether their expectations were met during a crisis. The results indicate that students’ Enneagram types affect their perception …

Developing Interpersonal Relationships Between Deaf And Hearing People Using Instagram, Kimberly Ann Erskine

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand how deaf and hard of hearing individuals use Instagram to interact with and develop interpersonal relationships with hearing individuals. The researcher used her personal experience as a member of the deaf and hard of hearing community to connect with members of the researched population on a personal level. The theories guiding this study were Elihu Katz’s uses and gratifications theory, Joseph B. Walther’s social information processing theory (SIPT), and Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur’s media dependency theory. These theories were applied to help the researcher gain a better understanding of the …

Living The Dream- A Rhetorical Analysis Into The Morgan Wallen Racial Slur Scandal Through William Benoit’S Image Reconstruction Theory, Dylan Joseph Singletary

Masters Theses

Public figures often find themselves in controversies that result in a damaged image. In the field of communication image repair is conducted as a form of crisis communication. William Benoit’s image repair theory views image repair through specific strategies which are mortification, corrective action, denial, evasion of responsibility, and reducing offensiveness. Benoit’s image repair strategies can be found through country music star Morgan Wallen’s rhetoric in his attempts at image repair through the four artifacts. Results of the rhetorical analysis of the artifacts show that image repair strategies work better for certain situations. Benoit’s image theory is supported by Wallen’s …

Cross-Cultural Travel: A Study Of How International Travel At A Young Age Impacts Communication Skills As An Adult, Allison Grace Clark

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study “Cross-cultural Travel: A Study of How International Travel at a Young Age Impacts Communication Skills as an Adult'' was to gather the perception of the weight of impact that traveling to foreign countries throughout childhood carries upon the individual later in life. This qualitative research approach focused on individuals who have spent extended periods of time in foreign cultures around the globe and with the inhabitants thereof, and assessed through interviews how past intercultural experiences through childhood contribute to effective engagement and communication throughout adulthood. This research provides insight for the audience in terms of …

Hello There: An Integrative Framing Analysis Of The Disney+ Series Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hannah Grace Sawchuck

Masters Theses

The effective communication of emotions within audio-visual content, such as film, was one of the most important aspects that needed to be considered when creating such content. Within the field of communication, there was a limited amount of research that existed on the communication of emotions in film. This was a problem as such content is becoming more prevalent in society. Knowing how those emotions were created and developed would allow communication scholars to better understand how to effectively elicit emotions from their own audio-visual content. By examining a well-known series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, scholars could see how different aural and …

Slava Propahandi (Glory To Propaganda): A Content Analysis Of Propaganda In The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Melanie Gardner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study conducted a content analysis to examine the media framing and agenda setting that online news media outlets underpinned to portray President Zelensky and the Ukrainian military as heroes in their battle against the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The media framing and agenda-setting of the news media coverage of the Russian invasion, as well as the utilization of multiple social media platforms by the Ukrainian military and President Volodymyr Zelensky, signifies a shift in the utilization of popular media for propaganda purposes. There is research on the broader topic of the successful use of propaganda …

Communicating Indirect Feelings: American Stories Of Indirect Experiences, Susan Hess Lawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The words people use to describe indirect human experiences and how narratives play a role are examined within qualitative research. The problem is that some people have difficulty communicating indirect experiences, and few studies have examined the issue. The purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to examine how people who encountered indirect communication in their lived experiences can communicate the indirect experiences and messages they received. The theory guiding this study is the indirect communication theory as it relates to Communicating Indirect Feelings (CIF). The definition of CIF is how people attempt to communicate indirect feelings for shared …

The Semiotics Of Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Publicly Accessible Information, Laura Elizabeth Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to explore the content and semiotic structure of publicly accessible type 1 diabetes information and assess what content is tailored to the adolescent and young adult population. As an effort to enhance adolescent and young adult self-management practices and outcomes, this research aimed to better understand what information is accessible to the type 1 diabetes community and the ways in which it is categorized. Framed by Greimasian semiotics, ten peer-reviewed sources were selected and coded using frequency and thematic analysis. This comparative process identified five themes including Management, Staying Alive, Type 1 …

An Analysis Of Nonverbal Communication Behaviors Enacted By Christian Worshipers Of Various Denominations, Holly Alexandria Vasiliki Smith

Masters Theses

This study seeks to determine how members of different denominations use nonverbal communication in their worship practices within the Christian faith. Previous studies have looked at specific elements related to music, classified the common behaviors and beliefs of denominations, and provided descriptions of nonverbal communication cues. However, no study has looked at the intersection of these factors. In order to determine how members of different denominations use nonverbal communication in their worship practices, a qualitative data gathering method in the form of an open-ended survey was distributed to 40 participants of a preliminary screening survey, providing 26 responses. Participants were …

The Grade Is The Message: An Analysis Of The Grading Structure’S Effects On Student Grade/Learning Orientations, Grant Lynn Rye

Masters Theses

This qualitative study was undertaken to study the medium of the grade in education contexts under the assumptions made within the field of media ecology. The goal of this study was to build on previous research that has identified that learning-oriented students are better set up for success in the classroom than grade-oriented students. With this in mind, this study aims to identify, from the student perspective, what different aspects of the grading system communicate to students that they should value in the classroom, especially in regard to grade-oriented or learning-oriented mindsets. After conducting interviews with current students from a …

Political Compromise In America: Why Are Americans So Politically Divided And What Can Be Done To Prevent A Fractured Nation, Zachary Cary

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Ask anyone who is politically active what they believe to be the biggest problem in politics today. More often than not, Americans tend to blame the failing parts of society on the stubbornness of the opposing political party. This generally opens up the floor to asking questions about whether individuals are willing to listen to members of the opposing party discuss their points of view, and unfortunately, many will choose not to listen at all, having already decided that they are wrong and there is no possibility of coming to a middle ground between the two points of view. People …

Cultural Health Literacy: A Case Study Of Somali Refugee's Information-Seeking Behavior And Health Communication Praxis, Andrea Mckinnon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This case study examines Somalian refugees who have sought health information from a trusted source and how it affected their health decision. Health literacy, the ability to find, understand, and use health information and make health decisions, is an understood barrier to achieving optimal health. Social determinants affect an individual’s ability to access and appropriately use the information for decision-making. The communication inequality theory states that health disparities occur when communication inequalities transpire across the communication continuum, and inequitable access to learning manifests within specific individuals or groups. Research data was collected using a sociodemographic and SNS use questionnaire and …

Can Feminism And Christianity Coexist According To 40 Christian Women?, Riley George

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Student Expectations Of Grace And Compassion From Faculty Based On Their Enneagram, Kate Clinton Ndikumagenge

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Three Minute Thesis

The Netflix Effect, Caleb Barnes

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Cassian Andor's Conflicted Personal Self In Rogue One: Star Wars Story, Jennifer Berkebile

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

God And Devil Terms: Adolf Hitler's Rhetorical Impact Upon The Shifting Mindset Of The German People, Jennifer Berkebile

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative