Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ontological Inquiry In An Undergraduate Communication Course, William B. Strean

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

This essay explores how ontological and somatic approaches were applied in an undergraduate communication course. Beginning by contrasting the assumptions of traditional knowledge and skills-based approaches with the shift to a focus on being within ontological methods, the author expands to show specifically how somatics informed the learning activities and students’ development in communication. After providing examples of the core content of public speaking and interpersonal communication and shares students’ learning and feedback, the author concludes by considering broader possibilities for ontological inquiry and transformative education.

Zoom Fatigue: Case Presentation And Brief Review, Alan Lucerna, James Espinosa, Risha Hertz, Robin Lahr, James Lee

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In this review, we discuss the phenomenon of what has been called Zoom Fatigue—a sense of fatigue as well as physical and emotional stress that can be associated with teleconferencing (especially long teleconferences with minimal breaks). The Zoom Fatigue Scale is discussed as well as various theories to explain the phenomenon. Some preventive strategies are discussed.

Addressing The Health Needs Of The (D/D)Eaf And Hard Of Hearing Community, Zainab Krayem, Rachel Jeff-Macauley, Nicolette Falco, Vanesa Pizutelli

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines deaf to describe an individual who has total or partial hearing loss. However, the term carries much more weight as it breeds its own culture, Deaf culture, to be exact. There’s an emphasis placed on the spelling where deaf, spelled with a lowercase d, refers to individuals who are born deaf and grew up within this deaf culture. Whereas, members who identify as Deaf with a capital D have lost their hearing later on in life, and did not necessarily grow up within deaf culture. There is often a discrepancy whereby members who identify as d/Deaf or …

Evaluation Of Available Medical Interpretation Resources Available To Spanish-Speaking Patients In Nj Ahec Counties, Magdalene Lederer, Cindy Nativi, Madhav Patel, Joseph Mendoza, Nhi Tran, Yesha Patel, Melissa Vincent, Rebecca Moore

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

According to the US Census Bureau Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in the US. Despite the growing population of Spanish-speaking individuals, most healthcare providers can only communicate in English. Linguistic differences between patients and providers have been identified to impact the quality of care received, therefore, it is not surprising that Spanish-speaking patients have been found to be less satisfied with healthcare. Language barriers in healthcare lead to poor compliance and underuse of services which eventually negatively impact health outcomes. Several studies found that the most effective communication tools are often underutilized, with healthcare providers relying on …

Are They Still Determining? Analysis Of Associations Among Gender, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Neighborhood Factors And Covid-19 Vaccination, Bokyung Kim, Seoyeon Celine Hong, Sojung Kim

College of Communication & Creative Arts Faculty Scholarship

Introduction: This study explores associations among adult vaccination, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic variables such as educational attainment and income, as well as neighborhood factors. Methods: A telephone quota sample of New Jersey adults (N = 1,984) was used to text associations among proposed predictors of vaccination behaviors. Results: Our multivariate logistic regression analyses found that certain races/ethnicity, respondents' household income, and perceived safety of one's community were the strongest predictors of COVID-19 vaccination. The odds of COVID-19 vaccination were 52% lower for Black/African American respondents compared to white/Caucasian respondents (p = 0.001) and 44% lower for Hispanic/Latino respondents compared to …

Zoom Affordances And Identity: A Case Study, Angela Cirucci

College of Communication & Creative Arts Faculty Scholarship

While how to engage students in online settings is a popular topic of study, largely left out are the ways in which virtual learning environments (VLEs) have implications for identity performance (and subsequently learning quality). This case study pairs a walkthrough analysis of Zoom with an open-ended survey (n = 250, M = 21.5) to investigate how VLE affordances impact student identifications. Findings indicate that students prefer Zoom because it is “user-friendly,” forgoing wordy options and instead presenting a more “appified” user interface. Students were concerned about their classmates and professors seeing their physical backgrounds, particularly those who reported family …

Rowan Community Health Center’S Ask First Model: Building Authentic & Impactful Community Relationships By Asking A Simple Question, Patrick J. Tempera, Christian Diliberto, Ruchi Shah, Daniel Hurst

Cooper Rowan Medical Journal

Spring of 2017, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine’s student-run free clinic, the Rowan Community Health Center, launched an outreach initiative named the Unity Project. This is an ongoing initiative aimed at fostering relationships with Camden, New Jersey organizations to both educate community members about our clinic services and collaborate on improving Camden’s health. The objective of the Unity Project is to work towards affecting long-term change by forming authentic and impactful relationships with organizations that are already participating in meaningful community work. In order to achieve such a goal, we needed to overcome the traditional model of medical school …

The Value Of Peer Mentoring In A Service Learning Program, Ali Harb, Archana Salek

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Peer mentorship is a critical component of service learning programs (SLPs) at several medical institutions. The objectives of this project were:

• To explore the value of peer mentorship in SLPs within the setting of medical education
• To describe an effective mentorship structure that can be utilized in SLPs by employing reverse mentorship and a near-peer mentorship structure to positively impact participants

Giving Feedback [To Residents And Students], Alan Lucerna, James Espinosa, Andrew Vasta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Advice for giving effective, constructive feedback to residents and students. Part of a Faculty Development Series.

Library’S Editing Service Popular With Rowansom Students, Lisa M. Price

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

WHY:

- Identified need for proofreading and editing assistance

- Librarian with writing and desktop publication experience and interest in clear, grammatically correct writing

RESPONSE:

- Popular , especially with students applying for residency

- Anticipate continuing this service

Establishing A Resident-Lead High School Outreach Program To Improve Physician Community Engagement, Dylan Mcdivitt

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

New Jersey’s Cumberland County is home to a vastly diverse population of people, comprised of numerous racial, ethnic, economic, health, and educational backgrounds among its nearly 150,000 residents. Per U.S. Census data, about 15% of the population is below the poverty line, including about 20% of those below the age of 18. With economic hardship often come health problems and disparities, and Cumberland County’s rates of obesity, tobacco use, lung cancer, and drug-induced deaths are all above the national averages.

Notable student survey findings:

• 67 students reported a friend had shared thoughts of depression with them in the last …

Why Do Frames Matter?, Samantha T. Crown

Open Educational Resources

In this assignment, students examine the coverage of a single event from two different points of view. They analyze the frames used in each report and determine how the journalist uses those frames to construct meaning and encourages a way of thinking about an environmental issue. What frames are represented in the reports? How might this also impact what is included in the report and how a journalist represents environmental issues?

Effects Of Social Media On Patient Perceptions And Compliance, Annmarie Butare, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

It is the physician’s responsibility to ensure that their patients are collecting credible and accurate information. Considering the significant proportion of patients using social media to assist with medical decision making, physicians should incorporate this into their patient education in order to ensure patient understanding of the information gathered both outside and inside the medical office, thereby improving compliance and outcomes.

The goals of this study were to examine the influence of social media on patient perceptions of healthcare and use this infomration to improve physician understanding of patient health information-seeking behaviors to improve patient compliance. The three-part survey included …

Lessons From The Five Data Breaches: Analyzing Framed Crisis Response Strategies And Crisis Severity, Bokyung Kim, Kristine Johnson, Sun-Young Park

College of Communication & Creative Arts Faculty Scholarship

To fill a gap of research that explores cyber crisis management, this study analyzed news stories of the five largest data breaches experienced in 2014 by retailers (i.e. Target, Michaels, Neiman Marcus, Home Depot, and Staples). Corporate crisis communication and its news coverage (n = 64) were evaluated for crisis communication strategies and framed situational factors. Despite companies’ use of multiple strategies, newspapers reported their use of advocate strategies more often. Massmediated crisis response strategies were even different among the five companies. Newspapers also reframed crisis severity and crisis controllability. Finally, our findings addressed the key to dealing with the …

Latinotwitter: Discourses Of Latino Civic Engagement In Social Media, Alison N. Novak, Kristine C. Johnson, Manuel Pontes

College of Communication & Creative Arts Faculty Scholarship

Twitter, like other social media platforms, has been identified as a space for cultural groups to debate political ideologies, engage civically, and even form action strategies for social change. Since 2014, the #LatinoTwitter hashtag has been used by Latino users for these purposes. Despite the popularity of the hashtag, few studies have examined it or its users. This study provides the results of a discourse analysis of the 31,000 tweets from 2014–2016 that use the hashtag. The findings indicate Twitter has become a popular platform for Latinos to debate political issues, find parity between ethnic communities, and even promote Latino-centered …

The Changing Focus Of Education: How Rowan University Professors View The Shift Toward Online Education, Genevieve Cross

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores Rowan University professors' attitudes toward online education and its increasing prevalence. The researcher used an online survey program by which participants' feedback was gathered. The survey was sent to 201 Rowan University professors, and the data was analyzed with the computer program, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to obtain calculations and percentages. The survey results are presented in both narrative and chart form. The researcher concluded that from the results of the study that Rowan University professors' have diverse opinions about online education, but also recognize the value in this asset to higher education. Specific …

Character Education And Parental Involvement: Impact On Academic Achievement, Katie Hood

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine (a) if a positive correlation exists between character education and academic achievement in three New Jersey public elementary schools and (b) if a positive correlation exists between parental involvement and academic achievement in the same three schools. NJ ASK data supported the notions that character education and parental involvement related to academic achievement. A content analysis of two documents about each school provided the researcher with the level to which each school promoted character education and parental involvement. Interviews with public school administrators and staff discussed the relationships that exist among these three factors …

An Analysis Of The Marketing Tactics Used To Influence Millennial Generation Students In Their Decision To Attend A Two-Year Or A Four-Year College, Andrea Stanton

Theses and Dissertations

This study will attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of college recruitment marketing tactics used to influence Millennial Generation students, ages 17 to 22 years old, in their decision to attend either a two-year or a four-year college. Changing demographics and projections indicate a decline in the number of high school graduates within the next three to five years. This shift translates into fewer college applications and more competition among institutions of higher learning making it easier for most students to get accepted into college. The researcher will use focus groups and a survey to examine the perception of community colleges …

Why Do We Just Do It: A Study Of Adolescents' Influences For Nike Sneakers, Kyle Gallagher

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project is to examine the motivations, influences and purchase-decision behavior of adolescent boys regarding athletic footwear and apparel. Due to its supremacy in the athletic apparel and equipment industry, the author focused on Nike during this study. The researcher collected a convenience sample of fifteen adolescent boys residing in Southern New Jersey to participate in a focus group session and telephone interviews, and complete a 24-question survey. The researcher segmented the population into three groups, using age ranges as the parameters. Group A consisted of five boys ages 10-12 years old, Group B consisted of …

Alerting The Public During Food Product Recalls: Social Media's Impact On Organizational Reputation, Salita Demary

Theses and Dissertations

Crisis managers are constantly striving to find the best media outlets to reach the public in the event of a crisis or emergency and still maintain good public reputation. This researcher uses the food industry to examine the impact social media is having on the way the public is gathering news. This researcher will also study generational divides and how news gathering preferences differ among generational groups. This study also investigates the impact social media use has on organizational reputation in a crisis. A focus group and content analysis will serve as this study's qualitative measures and a surveymonkey.com survey …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Nasa Media Relations Strategies And The Relationship To U.S. Space Policy, Julian Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes for this comparative analysis were to (a) compare the efficacy of NASA media relations strategies according to NASA's stakeholders and (b) reveal if these media relations strategies have a causal relationship or correlation with U.S. space policy. NASA employees reflected positive responses to questions related to the efficacy of NASA media relations strategies and the overall communications philosophy of the organization. Journalists who report on NASA through traditional and online channels had mixed responses toward the organizations media relations efforts during crisis situations like the Columbia and Challenger shuttle disasters. However, journalists were very supportive of NASA's dissemination …

The Impact Of Social Media On The Access Of Music Among Rowan University Students, Douglas Cohen

Theses and Dissertations

The study's primary goal was to determine the extent and impact of social media on Rowan University student's access of music. Social media and music have become a significant part of college student life. The vast majority of student age ranges from 18 to 24. The study's secondary goal was to determine if social media has replaced the traditional music label of feature films and whether it affects more males or females in the 18 to 24 year-old demographic. To ascertain both levels of data, the researcher used intercept surveys and questionnaires. The intercept surveys were administered to 400 Rowan …

Using Public Relations Techniques To Market Organic Food: Understanding Consumer Buying Behavior, Catherine Girone

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this research were to determine which consumers tend to purchase fresh organic food and which consumers tend to purchase packaged organic food, which type of messaging organic food distributors rely on to entice customers and which messages work most effectively to promote organic food consumption, and which channels different organic consumers use to gain knowledge about organic food. Implications for organic food marketing are discussed.

Public Relations 'Tech'niques: Vocational School Recruitment, Rachel Graeff

Theses and Dissertations

The problem is that the large majority of high school graduates pursue four-year college degrees when there are not enough professional jobs that require four-year degrees but rather require workers to have job-specific skills. These skills are taught by vocational schools at both the high school and the post-secondary levels. The purpose of this study was to determine what public relations techniques vocational schools use and how they can improve on these techniques to increase enrollment. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with PR/marketing practitioners at vocational schools to find out what techniques and channels their school uses to attract students. …

Consumer Perception Of The Efficacy Of Social Media Branding By Non-Profit And For-Profit Organizations, Melissa Novak

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this exploratory investigation were to (a) examine if organizations using social media maintain relationships with their loyal consumers, and do not direct their marketing toward new consumers, and (b) determine if non-profit organizations use social media more effectively and issue stronger call to actions than for-profit organizations. This study includes a survey of 234 participants, a content analysis of ten organizations, and interviews with eight professionals in the marketing and public relations field who work with social media on a daily basis. This study shows that although industry professionals enjoy the vast reach of social media and …

Social Media Influence On Evolving Health Care Marketing Communication, Michele Cash

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this investigation were to (a) determine how much of an impact social media has on health communication (b) understand the evolving impact of social media effectiveness and (c) consumer preferences for health care communication. The author conducted both qualitative and quantitative research. This research includes an in-depth interview, a survey and a website content analysis of two health care organizations in the Delaware Valley. This will provide health care organizations with communication techniques to use for current and future consumers. The research revealed that the majority of consumers prefer to hear messages from a trusted source. Both …

The Effects Of Technology On Interpersonal Relationships Among Rowan University Students Ages 18 - 25, Michelle Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine how young adults are communicating with each other and (b) understand what is driving them to communicate using different methods of communication. After completing a literature review, the researcher conducted primary research using survey instruments and interviews. What people are trying to communicate determines how they are going to relay messages. The urgency of a message affects how respondents answer the message.

Engaged Or Just "Friends": Using Social Media For Membership Engagement Or Identity Management Through Group Affiliations, Emel Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study investigation was to ascertain the engagement levels of emerging-aged adults that affiliate and hold membership in groups both on and offline. In-person and online participation levels were examined, and motives for online activity on groups' social media pages were investigated to understand how profile identity formation played a role in emerging-aged adults' associations. Information acquired through this study assists in further examining Facebook and Twitter's influence on social capital production within groups. Group members demonstrated a preference for email and in-person communication over social networking sites, higher levels of offline engagement versus online, and an …

Influence Of Social Media Networks On Corporate Communication Strategies, Sylwia Majewski

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of social media networks for corporate marketing and communication by United States based companies. The researcher surveyed marketing, advertising, communications and sales professionals of nearly 80 companies and conducted in-depth interviews with four corporate marketing experts. Survey participants provided data about the extent of use of social media networks in corporate marketing and communication strategies and their effectiveness. The findings show that the majority of corporate marketing strategies (77%) incorporate the use of social media. The social media networks are also viewed as an effective means of communication.

The Impact Of Social Media Use On Fundraising As Reported By Nonprofit Organizations In Southern New Jersey, Rose Howerter

Theses and Dissertations

This research study examines the impact of social media use on fundraising activities as reported by nonprofit organizations within three southern New Jersey counties. The study does this by exploring the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of participating nonprofits toward social media use in fundraising and communication. The author surveyed 40 nonprofit organizations to discover the extent of their knowledge, attitudes and use of social media. The author designed a 30-question survey, posted it online at SurveyMonkey.com and contacted the selected population by email. By categorizing the participating nonprofits into two groups - nonprofits using social media and nonprofits not using …