Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What Now? What Next? A Narrative Analysis Of Cross-Cultural Adaptation And College Student Retention, Jason Matthews Martin

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

First year college student retention is important to colleges and universities nationwide (Bean, 2005). Most of the research on retention focuses on self-report data collected from students after they withdraw from the institution. The present study focuses, instead, on student stories about school, as well as at and about “home” during their first semester.

The experiences of students who transition from high school to college are sometimes likened to those of individuals who enter a new culture for the first time. Thus, this dissertation is grounded in cross-cultural adaptation theory (Kim, 1988, 2001), which posits that successful adaptation occurs via …

Texting In The Presence Of Others: The Use Of Politeness Strategies In Conversation, Jennifer Ann Maginnis

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The following study used politeness theory to explore the impact of simultaneously engaging in a face to face conversation and a text message conversation. Specifically the study used Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) five original politeness strategies to see whether strategy choice (in the face to face conversation) impacts the face threat present in engaging in multiple conversations. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to understand the impact different politeness strategies had on the following variables: conversational appropriateness, relational/social appropriateness, immediacy, attentiveness, and politeness. Findings show that when a face to face partner ignores (no verbal/nonverbal politeness) a text message …

Understanding Interactive Experiences: Perceived Interactivity And Presence With And Without Other Avatars In The Online Virtual World Second Life, Jennifer Lynn Robinette

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Interactivity research lacks consensus regarding the qualities and consequences of interactive experiences. Empirical proof is needed to substantiate the numerous interactivity theories and provide direction for new media technology developers. Specifically, there is a shortage of research on differences between user experiences of interactivity when technology enables communication versus when it does not. In addition, interactivity research is often confounded by the construct of presence.

This study’s objectives included: 1) identifying qualities associated with interactive experiences; 2) disambiguating the constructs of interactivity and presence; and 3) developing a measure of perceived interactivity for VW research. The experimental design measured perceived …

Structures, Roles And Relationships Within Public Health’S Response To The 2009-2010 H1n1 Outbreak: The Ties That Bind Public Information Officers And Emergency Risk Communication Efforts, Kathleen G. Vidoloff

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Little is known about the role of public health public information officers (PIOs) during public health emergencies. This study uses interpretative methods to learn about the organizational structures that facilitate and constrain emergency risk communication efforts during public health emergencies. Interpretive thematic comparative analysis of PIOs experiences and reflections about their involvement in the 2009-2010 H1N1 response will be used to illustrate how social interactions between and among PIOs, public health staff, and representatives from other agencies create implicit and explicit structures that facilitate and constrain emergency risk communication. The application of three specific concepts from structuration theory, namely, agent, …