Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Facebook Ruined My Marriage: Digital Intimacy Interference On Social Networking Sites, Lynessa Marie Williams

Media Studies - Theses

This study employed a mixed method approach to understand how Facebook interferes with romantic relationships. The methods included a qualitative textual analysis of 53 Facebook interest groups about marriage dissolution as a result of Facebook. The text consisted primarily of wall comments. However, images, links, and Facebook likes were also analyzed. Concepts were organized into themes that detailed how Facebook contributes to computer-mediated relationship dissolution, a concept dubbed digital intimacy interference (DII). The textual analysis also unveiled how and why individuals use Facebook groups to discuss DII. The textual analysis was then used to inform a quantitative study of individuals' …

Nationalism On The Net: Exploring The Ideology Of India's Bharatiya Janata Party, Adrienne Lee Atterberry

Media Studies - Theses

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created the first political website in India during the year 1998 and continues to maintain an active online presence. The two most popular places for computer and Internet usage are college campuses and offices--places frequented by members of India’s growing middle class. As the BJP’s supporters have traditionally come from middle-class, upper-caste social backgrounds, this group has particular importance to the BJP’s political success, thus the BJP’s online publications may establish hegemony of the middle class and its ideals. For these reasons, studying the BJP’s online group-identity and political message has salience.

May 2004 to …

Pocket Full Of Jesus: Evangelical Christians' Use Of Religious Iphone Applications, Wendi R. Bellar

Media Studies - Theses

Mobile phone applications are providing users many different choices in how they go about their everyday lives, including their spiritual lives. This research explores the factors Evangelical Christians consider when choosing an app, how they actually use the app, and how their app expectations compare with their app experience. Modified diary reports, using the iPhone Voice Memo app, and in-depth interviews were used in order to examine the research questions. The Uses and Gratifications theory, as well as the Religious Social Shaping of Technology theory, were used as lenses for the study. After navigating the process of finding an appropriate …

Parenting Blog Coverage Of The Autism-Vaccine Controversy, Aidan Bryant

Media Studies - Theses

This study examines source type, citation accuracy, and anecdotal reliance in parenting blog articles about the autism/vaccine controversy. Existing literature on common errors and shortcomings of traditional health journalism, in conjunction with existing guidelines and suggestions for optimal health journalism practices, were used to synthesize a content analysis code structure. The code structure was used to examine 122 parenting blog posts from 18 different blogs, spanning a time period from June 22, 2005 to January 9, 2012, for details including the following:

• author demographics (gender, profession, parenthood, vaccination patterns)

• type of blog the article appeared in

• author stance of the …

How Much Does This Tick You Off? Online Rejection And Criticism Lead To Negative Affect And Retaliatory Aggression, Gina Masullo Chen

Mass Communications - Dissertations

A three-condition (rejection, criticism, control) single-factor experiment (N = 77) on a mock social-networking site similar to Facebook reveals that even a slight rejection - not being allowed to join groups on the site - lead to increases in self-reported negative affect and retaliation against the site and the rejecting groups compared to a control. Subjects who were accepted into the groups but then criticized experienced the same increases in negative affect and retaliatory aggression, as those who were not allowed to join. In addition, men showed heightened retaliatory aggression compared to women and responded differently to criticism than women. …

Thank You For Being A Friend: Women's Self-Disclosures And Social Support On Facebook, Emily A. Dolan

Media Studies - Theses

This study focused on women's self-disclosures on Facebook and how they functioned to both gain and give support on the site. After employing 17 textual analyses of participants' Facebook pages and 17 in-depth interviews, a variety of themes emerged in regards to how and why women give and seek support on the site, the types of information disclosed, and the benefits of self-disclosing to gain support on the site. More specifically, results indicate that gender role expectations, which for women include exhibiting behaviors that convey warmth, kindness and politeness, play a large role in giving and receiving support on the …

Terra Nova, An Experiment In Creating Cult Televison For A Mass Audience, Laura Osur

Media Studies - Theses

When it aired in Fall 2011 on Fox, Terra Nova was an experiment in creating a cult television program that appealed to a mass audience. This thesis is a case study of that experiment. I conclude that the show failed because of its attempts to maintain the sophistication, complexity and innovative nature of the cult genre while simultaneously employing an overly simplistic narrative structure that resembles that of mass audience programming. Terra Nova was unique in its transmedia approach to marketing and storytelling, its advanced special effects, and its dystopian speculative fiction premise. Terra Nova's narrative, on the other hand, …

Court Of Public Opinion: How The Convicted Perceive Mass Media Have Affected Their Criminal Trials And Personal Lives, Marti Cecilia Howell-Collins

Mass Communications - Dissertations

This paper is designed to provide insights into a neglected aspect of crime news effects. This mixed-qualitative methods study explores what effects convicted criminals report experiencing in the wake of media coverage of their alleged crimes and trials. There are two primary areas of focus in this study: What effects inmates perceive media coverage has had on their cases and how they feel they have been personally affected by media coverage of their alleged crimes and subsequent trials.

Technosexuality: Technology, Sexuality, And Convergence, John M. Wolf

Mass Communications - Dissertations

Convergence refers to a phenomenon where multiple communication technologies are integrated into a single device. Technosexuality proposes a convergence between sexuality as a social phenomenon and technologically mediated modes of interpersonal communication and sexual information consumption. The findings of this study indicate that though there is not a complete convergence between technology and sexuality, there nonetheless exists a relationship between the two constructs. Consistent with extant literature about computer-mediated sexuality, the technosexual behaviors in this study were organized primarily by arousal type; however, subsequent degrees of classification suggest that technology also plays a decisive role in the ways in which …

State Of The Arts - No Word From The Sponsors: Public Tv's Notorious Funding Problems Are Compounded By Cable, Mary Ellen Mengucci

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

News Makers - Next Door To The Cia, Walt Shepperd

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Quotables - Fish Story, William Safire

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Media & Madison Ave - The Life And Times Of Ny, Susan Piperato

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

History And Memory In Gettysburg, Jeffrey M. Parrotte

Media Studies - Theses

Media productions have often turned to history as a source for a narrative. Wars have been refought, kingdoms have risen and fallen, and significant moments have been replicated for documentaries, films, television shows, radio productions, and other live mediums. These presentations give audiences access to moments in history that might have otherwise been forgotten. With this access, research suggests audiences will actually learn from the presentations available. This study focuses on the types of information available in a historical film.

The study is a textual analysis the 1993 film Gettysburg, one of the most well-known and best remembered films about …

Exploring Consumers' Attitudes And Behavior Toward Product Placement In Television Shows, Eun Seon Kwon

Media Studies - Theses

In recent years, many studies have investigated consumers' attitudes toward product placement in media content such as movies and television shows. However, few studies have used systematic framework to assess influence of social structural variables and socialization agents on consumers' product placement attitudes and purchase intentions for product placements in television shows. Based on Consumer Socialization framework and agenda-setting, cultivation theory, current study investigates product placement attitudes and behavioral intentions among college students. The results show that peer communication, one of the socialization agents, has strongest relationship with for both placement-related attitudes and purchase intentions. Findings also show the associations …

Back Matter

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

"Carneys Point" - A Short Film, Alexander Parkin

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Carneys Point is a fifteen minute short film shot on 16mm film that tells the story of a woman's life, fractured into three facets each representing an important crossroad of a single life: the disenchanting prelude to the coming of age, the anxiety of motherhood, and the mental decay of old age.

The film is divided into three vignettes, which overlap to paint a multi-layered portrait of a woman, a trilogy of the human spirit, heart, and mind.

One is the story of a little girl who is obsessed with flight and dreams of escape. Though she has the naïve …

Frente Al Mar (Oceanfront): A Short Film, Adriana González-Vega

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The inspiration for Frente al Mar (Oceanfront) came in 2009 during the winter break vacation in my first year of college. I was visiting my home in Puerto Rico, when the story broke in the news about a group of families being evicted from their houses after living there for many years.

According to the reports, the government identified these families as squatters and Dominican immigrants. As I was watching the news, TV reporter Efrén Arroyo was giving a summary of the entire situation, as well as placing it in the context of similar cases in the past.

February 6, …

Assumption Food Pantry Website And Multimedia Content, Jessica Smith

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The capabilities of technology today can solve problems that have plagued mankind since the establishment of civilization. In its assent over the past decade or two, technology has been leveraged to close gaps in communication, cure diseases, and explore propel mankind into a new renaissance, one in which information is more bountiful and accessible than ever before. Although the project I embarked on a little more than a year ago will not solve global woes or usher in the next great evolution of our social existence, it is using technology for the betterment of mankind nonetheless.

Sophia Bernard and I …

The Accused, Nathan Damon Hopper

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Exonerations are increasing, largely thanks to the advent of DNA evidence, which several prisoners’ rights advocacy groups, like the Innocence Project, have used to prove the innocence of the convicted. But returning home after spending years imprisoned for a wrongful conviction brings with it several types of challenges: psychological, financial, and simply personal.

Roy Brown, the main subject of this story (though there are several other important characters) is an incredibly intricate man. Before his 25-to-life sentence for the murder of a county social worker, he’d faced several other convictions for a slew of misbehavings and a general disregard for …

Hue Magazine, Sadé Khadijah Muhammed

Honors Capstone Projects - All

HUE magazine is a print title dedicated toward the uplift and synergy of women of color in America. At present, there is no publication that makes a conscious effort to not single out women of color in specific ethnic groups, but instead to talk to all of them simultaneously.

At its core, HUE’s target audience is first generation women of color between the ages of 18-25. It is a lifestyle magazine with stories in fashion, beauty, love, culture, health, entrepreneurship, and more. The goal is for the magazine to appeal to the girl in us all who loves fashion and …

United States Sophistry On The Palestinian Resolution For Statehood, Marc James Mason

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This project examines the rhetorical devices and practices used by the Obama Administration to express and construct opposition to the Palestinian Authority’s statehood bid. This study focuses on uncovering the ideology embedded within President Obama’s Speech to the United Nations General Assembly during the opening of the 66th Session. By conducting an ideology rhetorical analysis of this text, this examination will uncover the reasoning that Obama deploys to make sense of and define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and more specifically, the Palestinian bid for statehood. This ideology has contributed to the perpetuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories; thereby, …

Connecting The Peaces: Working To Make The World A Better Place – The Encompass Journey Of Understanding, Alison Sara Kurtzman

Honors Capstone Projects - All

On October 12, 2002, the Indonesian island of Bali experienced the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history. 202 people were killed when a bomb was detonated outside of a nightclub in the tourist city of Kuta. Among those killed was Daniel Braden, a young British man who was in Bali for a rugby tournament. Daniel’s parents believed that the attack happened because the majority of people in the nightclub were white and therefore viewed as “the enemy.” They believed that if young people had the opportunity to meet and speak with people different from themselves a lot of terrorist …

Woodrow Wilson: Examining The Scholarly Statesman Through A Rhetorical Lens, Candice Elaine Mae Radloff

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My Capstone Project is a rhetorical and descriptive analysis of President Woodrow Wilson’s most notable speeches from 1896 to 1917. As a scholar-president, I particularly focus on Wilson’s ability to translate his personal scholarship into effective rhetoric at different points in his career. I provide the historical background and context necessary to understand the relevance and impact of the selected speeches. The six speeches that I analyze reflect his scholarship and rhetorical genius in the political arena, covering the three pivotal phases of his profession life: university scholar and president, governor, and President of the United States. I also consider …

How Digital Media Affects The Nature Of Social Interactions, Johnny Liang

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for evaluating and understanding the roles of digital media, in particular the mobile phone and the internet, in our interpersonal and societal relationships. Though this paper is essentially grounded in research, drawing from the work of psychologists, cyber anthropologists, philosophers, and professors of communication studies as well as years of personal observations, it should be understood as more of a theoretical rather than research-based primer on the effects of digital media in our everyday lives. While this paper includes various ways digital connections can improve our relationships, it primarily discusses …

Late Night Television And Its Impact On The Music Industry Via Album Sales And Social Media, Matthew Robin

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Experiential learning has been a large part of my college experience. My work experiences have allowed me to understand the music industry in a very unique way. One experience was my semester in Los Angeles, where I worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was there that I was able to see the influence that these shows could have on musical guests and vice versa. The late-night landscape is as booming as it ever has been, with many different outlets for talent. I wanted to demonstrate that the process of getting an artist on a late-night show is a very …

Vocal Velocity: A Strategic Public Relations Plan For The Contemporary A Cappella Society Of America, Deanna Payson

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The Contemporary A cappella Society of America (CASA) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is, “to foster and promote contemporary a cappella music around the world through education, recognition, and the creation of performance opportunities.” In order to fulfill this mission, CASA must develop and maintain fruitful relationships with two key publics: a cappella groups and a cappella fans. My Honors capstone will be two-tiered, including a short-term public relations strategy aiming to strengthen the organization's relationship with a cappella groups, along with a long-term strategy to increase its recognition and presence in the world of a cappella fans. The …

Analyzing The Tea Party Movement, The Coffee Party Movement, And The Occupy Wall Street Movement’S Use Of The Internet: Case Study On How The Internet Influences Grassroots Social Movement, Tsubasa Morioka

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The Tea Party movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement have made great use of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This phenomenon intrigued my interest in how grassroots social movements have employed all types of media to mobilize, as well as how they furthered their agenda in the past. In order to better understand how the Internet impacted the three movements, my thesis draws on resource mobilization (RM) and new social movement (NSM) theories for theoretical understanding and textual analysis. The movements I reviewed for analysis are the Tea Party Movement (TPM), the Coffee Party Movement (CPM), …

Syracuse Spotlight: Building A Greater Performing Arts Community, Alison Rose Mierzejewski

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Syracuse Spotlight is a performing arts magazine created in part to build a stronger performing arts community for the Syracuse University campus. Since the campus lacks any sort of regular coverage of live performance, I wanted to provide a resource to fill this void in student publicatons. For the most part, the coverage was not in depth, and most of the coverage was solely of the work done by the Syracuse University Drama Department.

With the creation of Syracuse Spotlight, I bring to the university community an outlet for respresentation of all performing arts – both of majors and …

From Barbie With Love: Implications Of The Mixed Messages From America’S Plastic Sweetheart, Lisa Gapinske

Honors Capstone Projects - All

As a controversial, yet influential icon in American society, Barbie doll sends a variety of mixed messages to young girls. She is an icon of feminine perfection. She represents ambitious, working women. She presents reality with a completely unrealistic body type. This study determines the potential effects of Barbie doll on individual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Data was collected through one-on-one interviews with young girls and their parents. Each responded to a series of questions regarding their perceptions and feelings towards the doll. They also reacted to several commercials, each depicting the mixed message that the doll sends. Finally, the …