Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

All Good Women Are Mothers: Exploring Gender Binaries In How I Met Your Mother, Jessica Marinho

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Television is thought to be a form of entertainment through its many genres from comedy to drama, however, it is more than a relaxing pastime. Television series construct messages that influence audiences to accept specific behaviors. In this thesis, I analyzed the portrayal of the two main female characters in the popular television series How I Met Your Mother (2005-2009) and I argued how their depiction served to represent childless women as unwomanly and mothers as the ideal woman.

Vietnam Continued: The Battle For American Public Memory In Public School History Textbooks, Donnie Owens

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The question of “how do we actively remember the past?” can perhaps best describe the purpose of public memory studies. Acknowledging this question, I analyze popular public-school textbooks to assess the way in which educational literature constructs the public memory of the Vietnam War. In total, the narratives of the texts construct a public memory of Vietnam as a controversial conflict contained within a decade of American uncertainty. However, these narratives also take care to minimize or leave aside the details of Vietnam’s lasting impact and in favor of reaffirming American exceptionalism. Ultimately, this thesis finds that students who read …

Reconstructing The Practical Theory Of Communication In Dating Matters: Examining Teen Dating Violence Prevention From A Communicative Approach, Diana Costanzo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teen Dating Violence (TDV) has lasting impacts on teens’ health and well-being. Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships (DM), a curriculum published by the CDC in 2019, seeks to mitigate the consequences of TDV and promote healthy relationships. Using Grounded Practical Theory (Craig & Tracy, 1995, 2014), this paper analyzes how DM conceptualizes communication. Specifically, I explore and critique how DM discusses topics related to communication and conflict. The findings of the analysis show that DM focuses on sending the right message in communication. In DM, parents and teens are encouraged to “talk it out” or “speak up” …

The Personal Is Still Political: An Analysis Of Jessica Valenti's Contemporary Feminine Style, Michala M. Zilkey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2016, Jessica Valenti’s memoir, Sex Object, was published. Sex Object describes Valenti’s experiences of sexualization and objectification in a personal and anecdotal format. The feminine style, a rhetorical style that bridges the divide between norms of femininity and expectations of public oration, has been heralded as essential for advancing the feminist movement. This thesis asks the question, to what extent does contemporary feminists’ rhetoric mirror and diverge from earlier iterations of the feminine style? I argue that Valenti’s employs a feminine style that utilizes relational norms and self-disclosure to illustrate the personal as political and the political as …

Community And Cultural Reentry: Exploring Reverse Culture Shock Among Returning Missionaries Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Sydney Pond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Considerable research asserts that individuals who have immersive experiences in foreign cultures may experience mental and emotional challenges upon returning home, a phenomenon known as reverse culture shock. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints annually sends tens of thousands of proselytizing missionaries to various locations around the globe, and the nature of their missionary service places them at risk of experiencing problems during reentry. Despite this risk, reverse culture shock among returning Latter-day Saint missionaries remains relatively unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine how former Latter-day Saint missionaries made sense of their experiences returning to …

The Rhetoric Of The Double-Voiced: Strategic Ambiguity In The Silent Protest Parade, Shelby R. Crow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Examinations of historical social movements offer great insight into contemporary social justice activism. In this thesis, I analyzed the Silent Protest Parade of 1917. The Silent Protest Parade consisted of approximately 10,000 African American men, women, and children who marched in complete silence to illuminate racial violence and the lynchings of African Americans. I argued that through the concept of strategic ambiguity, protesters were able to communicate between African American and powerful White audiences, many of whom held racist beliefs and attitudes.

The Relationship Between Social Skills And Coping Drinking Motives: A Test Of The Social Skills Deficit Vulnerability Model, Jaimee A. Smart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Because drinking alcohol to cope has many negative outcomes (e.g., alcohol use disorder, problematic drinking patterns, etc.), it is vital to understand what contributes to drinking to cope. Having adequate social skills and social support has been found to help overall mental health. As such, it was logical to reason that social skills and social support could also impact physical health. Specifically, social skills and social support were examined as potential ways to buffer coping drinking development. This study utilized information from 176 adults living in the United States to understand the role social skills and social support play in …

Snake Mind, Wolf Body, Panther Courage: Jojo Rabbit As A Critique Of Hegemonic Masculinity, Christian W. Lippert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2019, the movie Jojo Rabbit (Waititi, 2019) was released to theaters. Because the film uses comedy and satire to tell a story about Jojo, a young Nazi who has Hitler as an imaginary friend, it received mix reviews. This analysis focuses on how the movie sheds light on the negative influence of hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity refers to the messages and actions that place men above women or types of masculinity above femininity and other masculinities. Jojo’s desire to be a Nazi is deeply connected to his desire to be man. This analysis examines how hegemonic masculinity a) can …

Associations Between Adolescent And Parent Media Connection And Perceptions Of Emotional Climate In The Home, Laura A. Woodland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An overwhelming increase in technology and media use this past decade has been found to affect family relationships in various ways. Devices such as cell phones, tablets, and computers, have been found to both be the means of bringing family members closer together by communicating from a distance, while also disrupting and straining family connection, in particular the adolescent to parent relationship. Data from the Flourishing Families Project was used to analyze the varying perceptions of adolescent and parents regarding technology communication with one another and their personal perception of the emotional climate in the home. Results from this study …

Rewriting The Unwritten: Decorum As A Tool For Social Justice In Technical Communication, Jennifer L. Scucchi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With the recent turn to social justice in Technical and Professional Communication (TPC), it is important to develop a variety of theories and methods that can address issues of power and oppression within TPC. Additionally, some of these theories and methods should work to engage resistant audiences and persuade them to not only be aware, but to also take meaningful action for change. Social justice efforts should also consider the intersectionality that occurs when multiple marginalizing factors intersect, compounding the experiences of oppression for those who fall into each unique category. In this dissertation, I present a theory and method …

Extending Ethos In Digital Rhetorics, Andrew J. Hillen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation researched the concept of ethos, or appeal to authority or trust, on the social media platform, Twitter. Looking at collections of tweets, I found that the characteristics of the Twitter platform, as well as the general qualities of writing online, pushed users to use short cuts to trust, such as focusing in on specific buzz words, or through referencing well known organizations and individuals. Users also used internet culture as its own source of authority. They demonstrated that they were up to date on the latest trends and memes, and so were trustworthy accounts to follow. Users appealed …

Building Engagement In Facebook: A Case Study With Utah State University Extension Sustainability, Kenna Kesler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to explore how Utah State University (USU) Extension Sustainability uses Facebook to engage followers. The researcher conducted a quantitative content analysis of 504 messages posted to the USU Extension Sustainability Facebook page. Graphics and links were the most common post characteristics used. Text-only posts and posts containing videos were used the least. Food was the most common area of sustainability discussed on the page. Posts containing videos, shared content, or that tagged other pages in Facebook messages experienced statistically significantly higher user engagement than posts without those characteristics. Posts containing hashtags experienced statistically significantly …

Assessment Of The Impact Of The Premarital Interpersonal Choices And Knowledge (Pick) Program On Adolescents, Raquel R. Boehme

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to determine if the information from the Premarital Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge (PICK) program How to Avoid Falling for a Jerk/ette helped positively change adolescents’ attitudes about relationships. The program was taught to 9,130 high school students (ages 14 -18) from 35 different high schools in a Western state.

Surveys were given at the beginning of the first class (pretest) and at the end of the final class (posttest). In addition to demographic information, students rated (1) their attitudes about what it takes to get to know a potential partner, (2) their belief that love alone …

From Crisis To Crisis: A Big Data, Antenarrative Analysis Of How Social Media Users Make Meaning During And After Crisis Events, Adam R. Bair

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Crisis events are now common, ranging from computer errors, which might cause only minor inconvenience, to floods, which can cause loss of life and significant property damage. Such events can affect people’s ability to pay bills, trust food sources, or deal with events that could impact the environment and lives for decades. Understanding how crisis information is presented to audiences, how these audiences interpret and respond to a crisis will help researchers develop new approaches to improve communication among and with people affected by crisis.

To understand how individuals make sense of crisis events, I applied David Boje’s theories and …

The Assessment Of Articulation And Phonological Skills In Preschool Cleft Palate Children, Michelle G. Rasmussen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There has been a lack of comprehensive analyses of the articulation and phonological skills of preschool cleft palate children. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis, following a model suggested by Ingram (1981), was completed on three preschool children with cleft palates. The analysis was completed on a videotaped conversational play sample.

Each sample was transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), compensatory substitution symbols, and diacritics. The samples were analyzed for a phonetic inventory of the sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions of words; for homonyms; for substitutions, distortions, and omissions; and for phonological processes. Each of the four analyses …

Oral Communication In Genre Theory And Software Development Workplaces, Jason L. Cootey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

My dissertation defines how software developers have abandoned traditional documentation practices for other kinds of media that work better in their workplace practices. Ultimately, even though other media like white boards, sticky notes, and “oral communication” are vastly different than traditional, written software documentation, they match the fast paced, decision-making situations of contemporary developer communities. I focus particularly on oral communication because it is the most unacceptable means to “document,” according to traditional standards. I use North American Genre Theory to describe those decision-making situations contemporary developers and note how the theory does not account for all the documentation I …

Taking Culture And Philosophy Into Consideration: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Marketing Strategies In China, Yi Huang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Globalization makes the physical boundary between countries almost disappear, while on the other hand, it exacerbates cultural and philosophical differences. The overall aim of this dissertation is to dig into the philosophical values of Western and Chinese cultures to provide some theoretically sound and pragmatically useful guidance for future communication and marketing in China.

While some American corporations have been embraced by the Chinese, many more have not. This research concerns itself with searching what the leading causes are for the above phenomenon, and more specifically, this study explores answers to the following questions:

• What strategies are used for product …

Young Children‘S Mathematics References During Free Play In Family Child Care Settings, Shawnee M. Hendershot

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was undertaken to determine how children use math in their everyday activities, which includes caregiving environments outside of their home. Audio recordings were taken of children while they played. The researcher typed transcripts of the audio recordings in order to search for references to math. The different types of math that the children used were: (a) classification, (b) magnitude, (c) enumeration, (d) patterns and shapes, (e) spatial reasons, and (f) part/whole. An example of classification would be a child sorting blocks into groups based on shape. Magnitude is used when a child uses phrases to compare two or …

Framing Anti-War Theatre: Public Perceptions Of Embedded, Jeremy Gordon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Extending research of framing anti-war protest is framed in the public sphere, this study examines theatre critics' reviews and viewers' responses to Tim Robbins' anti-war play Embedded. My research examines how two groups of publics interpreted Embedded: (1) professional theatre reviewers and (2) a sample of Utah State University students. It is important to note that the majority of the students who participated in this study are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), a consistently social and political conservative religious sect. Thus, how this specific group of viewers deciphered Embedded is of special …

Visitor Use Of Interpretive Facilities At Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming, Rizal Bukhari

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visitors expect to a gain high-quality outdoor experiences at any recreation site they visit. In order to support that effort, most recreation managers utilize interpretive facilities to educate and inform visitors about the site. It is important for interpretive managers to be aware of what kind of interpretive media could best be used in a given setting for the type of visitor anticipated. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to understand visitors' behavior and incorporate that understanding into the interpretive planning process.

This study looks at visitor use of interpretive facilities provided at Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming. The …

Photo Manipulation And Its Effect On Future Credibility Of Documentary Photojournalism, Douglas M. Lind

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With today's increased use of computers and computer technology in newspaper photo departments, digitally transmitted and managed images are quickly becoming standard practice. In one sense, this is a tremendous boon for the industry. On the other hand, the electronic age is potentially harmful to the documentary nature of photojournalism. Unlike advertising or fine art photography, documentary photojournalism is a record, a visual witness if you will, of actual events and happenings. People consider such photos as being a view of the facts.

With the new technology comes the ability to change those facts, to create a lie. Therein rests …

Journalistic Codes Of Ethics: A Proposed Standard For Juries In Libel Trials, Michael H. Eldridge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The standard of judgment for determining fault in tort law as applied to libel is ambiguous. Juries are allowed to rule against media defendants by using a standard that does not consider professional journalistic practice. I argue that the determination of professional fault is beyond the understanding of a lay jury due to the unique professional practice of journalists. Juries find it far easier to empathize with private party plaintiffs than with media defendants. I abstract criteria from standards of conduct for the journalism profession and determine what the reasonable journalist might do in general practice. In conclusion, I offer …

Crime Victims And The Media: A Comparison Of Newspaper Coverage In The Los Angeles Times From 1969 To 1985, Cory J. La Bianca

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was to compare the newspaper coverage of crime victims in five mass murder cases covered by the Los Angeles Times over a 16-year period from 1969 to 1985. Specific cases studied included the 1969 Manson murders, the 1976 Cal State Fullerton murders, the 1977-78 Hillside Strangler serial murders, the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald's restaurant massacre and the 1985 Night Stalker serial killings. Coverage of each incident was analyzed, with particular attention paid to coverage of crime victims. Subtle but significant changes in the treatment of crime victims were reported. The Los Angeles Times was found …

Transfer To And Operation Of The Cache Citizen By The Utah State University Department Of Communication, William P. Davis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On January 21, 1985, the USU Department of Communication assumed the responsibility of providing editorial content for The Cache Citizen, a weekly newspaper published in Preston, Idaho. The department plans to continue operation of the paper, to provide professional experience for undergraduate and graduate students.

The thesis has a twofold purpose. First, it is an historical document, designed to preserve the details of the transfer and first year of operation by the department, for use by future journalism scholars and historians. Second, it analyzes the transfer, identifies problems encountered and steps taken to correct them, and makes recommendations for …

Cable Television Utilization In Logan, Utah, Kathryn Whittle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The recent expansion in the cable television industry has brought about a kind of media revolution. Many more types of programs are being made available to the public via cable than would have been possible through regular network broadcasting.

Adjusting To Academic And Social Life At Utah State University: A Series Of Video Program Scripts For Chinese Students From Taiwan, The Republic Of China, Lu Chiang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study is to identify the major problems and solutions for Chinese students in their adjustment to academic and social life at Utah State University. The author intended to give Chinese students an orientation through a series of five video scripts which could be later produced into a series of five video programs.

The adjustment problems of Chinese students were determined by reviewing related literature and by surveying 50 Chinese students at Utah State University. The solutions to those problems were determined by interviewing 10 professors and faculty members on the campus of Utah State University.

According …

A Mass Media Campaign To Promote Divorce Adjustment, James C. Gardiner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Introduction. This study produced and evaluated a mass media campaign designed to promote emotional adjustment to divorce.

Hypotheses. (a) Sending a promotional newsletter to divorced persons will increase their reported utilization of the campaign. (b) Divorced persons who report heavy utilization of the campaign will report greater emotional improvement than divorced persons who report light or no utilization of the campaign.

Method. A field experiment was conducted in rural northern Utah. The names of all recently (less than 12 months) divorced persons were obtained from the county clerk and randomly divided into an experimental group, who received a newsletter promoting …

Neonatal Identification Screening For Hearing Impairment: A Comparison Of The Utah Maternal Questionnaire And Birth Certificate, Carl Hugh Clark

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare the Utah maternal questionnaire and birth certificate as they relate to the identification of hearing impairment in infants. Comparative data relating to rate of return, number of high risk infants, number of at risk infants, number of hearing impaired infants, false positive rates, and item analysis were obtained for both screening instruments. Tabulation of the results showed the birth certificate to be a better neonatal screening device of hearing impairment than the maternal questionnaire. The birth certificate maintained a low false positive rate and a high rate of identification of hearing impairment …

A Content Analysis Of Stereotyping Of The American Indian In Selected Mass Media, Michael Pratt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to see to what extent, if any, the American Indian was stereotyped. In three magazines, two aimed at the young reader and one for a specialized adult audience, two areas of the publications were content analyzed. First, all of the cartoons that dealt specifically with American Indians were surveyed and categorized. Next, all magazine articles about American Indians were collected, read thoroughly and placed into categories. The magazines were the "Boy's Life," "Jack and Jill", and the "Western Horseman".

To gather data on media presentations of Indians eight categories were used, they were: (1) Personal appearance, …

Electroacoustic Impedance Measurements: A Learning Packet, Michael J. Cevette

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper is to provide an instructional format in the presentation of the clinical application of electroacoustic impedance measurements. Journal articles and impedance procedural booklets were used as a source of data for the information contained in the learning packet. Fundamentals of acoustic theory were treated to show the conceptual relationship of acoustic impedance and acoustic admittance. The terminology, normative data, and clinical interpretation of static acoustic impedance measures were examined. Diagnostically significant variables of the tympanogram were related to the audiometric-medical status of the patient. Clinical application of the acoustic reflex was investigated through descriptions of …