Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Aristotle’S Contribution To Scholarly Communication, Stephen Edward Bales

Doctoral Dissertations

This historical study examines the Aristotelian foundations of the Library and Museum of Alexandria for the purpose of (1) understanding how the Library and Museum differed from preceding ancient Near Eastern information institutions (i.e., “protolibraries”) and (2) how Aristotle’s methodologies for producing scientific knowledge were carried out in Alexandria. While protolibraries served as safeguards for maintaining a static cultural/political “stream of tradition” and created, organized, and maintained “library” documents to this end, the Library of Alexandria was a tool for theoretical knowledge creation. The Library materialized Aristotelian pre-scientific theory, specifically dialectic, and served the scholarly community of the Museum …

Backpack Journalism In Television Newsgathering: Audience Perceptions Of Quality, Charles Wesley Gee

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore preferences by younger news audiences of backpack journalism in local television news. Local television news has to compete with Internet and other media to attract viewers. The theoretical foundation for this study, uses and gratifications, proposes audience members will actively seek news information using television as a primary source.

The focus of the study centered around technology’s influence on television newsgathering techniques and if the techniques delineated the quality of journalistic presentation. Four hundred and ninety three college students were surveyed about their media use, news gratification, and preferences of production quality …

How Mexican-American Women Define Health: Cultural Beliefs And Practices In A Non-Native Environment, Emma Kathleen Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

Culture impacts the ways people evaluate and respond to health and illness. As a result, Mexican-American culture plays a part in how women take care of their heath and react toward the threat of breast cancer. Using previously identified dominant cultural factors that may influence the health of Mexican-American women as a foundation, this qualitative study describes how Mexican-American women define and maintain health, particularly breast health.

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States. As a result, it is important to better understand how Mexican-American women define health and take care of themselves. Doing so will …

No Sickness, No Need: A Qualitative Exploration Of Female Undergraduates‘ Health Message Perspectives, Cheryl A. Lambert

Doctoral Dissertations

College student health scholarship indicates a stark contrast between health impediments college students identify and the health information their respective campuses provide; campus health promotions often lacking personal relevance for college students, and health programs that utilize control-based strategies to compel behavior change. College student health scholarship also indicates a heavily positivistic research slant with little consideration given to humanistic, student-centric approaches. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore college student perspectives about health messages to enhance college student health communications, thus bridging the disciplines of public relations and college student health. Findings revealed that female undergraduates are proactive …

“Successful Communication In A Social Movement: A Case Study Of The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Felicia Mcghee-Hilt

Doctoral Dissertations

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a social movement. It is often referred to as the first defining movement within the broader context of the Civil Rights Movement. Planned communication can be critical to the success of a social movement. This historical case study analyzed the communication that occurred during the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, a 381-day protest of the segregated bus system in Montgomery. The overall research questions addressed were: How was communication used during the boycott to inform and mobilize the participants? How did news organizations mediate and frame communication? How was the information about the boycott communicated among …

University Alcohol Prevention, Public Relations And Organizational Legitimacy From The Parental Perspective, John E. Brummette Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

Developed from the public relations process model, the purpose of this study was to identify parental perceptions of university drinking norms and their relationship with parental perceptions of the organizational legitimacy of the university. This study used a web-based survey to assess an N = 173 parents of current university students at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. The results of this study identified that parents have exaggerated misperceptions of college drinking that are related to their overall perceptions of the university in terms of organizational legitimacy. The study also found that parental awareness of university prevention efforts were strongly …

Business Role Schema Effects: Exploration Of Information Processing In The Perception Of Values Advocacy Advertising, Yoon-Joo Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The study found consumers hold different types of business role schema. When participants viewed values advocacy advertisements, those who held socially oriented schema were more sensitive to the company’s prior perception (called individual company schema in this paper) on evaluating the sponsor’s motives than those who held business oriented schema. Sponsors’ perceived motives had influence on evaluating attitude toward and trustworthiness of the sponsor. Issue involvement significantly interacted with perceived motives. High-issue involvement subjects were more sensitive to perceived motives on the perceptions of the sponsor (trustworthiness and attitude) than low-issue involvement subjects. Issue involvement was also significantly interacted with …

Just Another Day At The Office: An Investigation Into How Public College Administrators Balance The First Amendment Rights Of The Student Press And The Broader Interests Of Their Campuses, James Edward Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

Courts have ruled for decades that student journalists at public colleges and universities are entitled to constitutional protection. As a result, higher education officials are faced regularly with dilemmas that pit the free campus press against what the administration sees as the greater good of the institution at large. With a summary of relevant case law as its backdrop, this qualitative study describes how public college administrators balance the First Amendment rights of the campus press and the broader interests of their institutions.

A number of authors have suggested that open dialogue and mutual understanding are crucial for a healthy …

Interest, Convenience, Or Necessity? An Experimental Study Of Listener Responses To Localism In Radio Programming And Ownership, Glenn Thomas Hubbard

Doctoral Dissertations

Localism has long been a key goal of broadcast regulatory policy. In recent years, members of the FCC have echoed the often-repeated claims of community activists that lowpower radio stations, being inherently more “local”, not only serve the public interest more effectively but also function as an antidote to what many consider the negative effects of nationally consolidated, corporate ownership of increasing numbers of radio stations. However, such a claim hinges on the assumption that small, low-power and/or community radio stations are able to compete effectively for at least some of the same listeners big corporate stations pursue. Furthermore, there …

The Power Of A Paradoxical Persona: An Analysis Of John Peel’S Radio Talk And Career At The Bbc, Richard P. Winham

Doctoral Dissertations

John Peel holds a unique place in British broadcasting history. During his almost 40-year career as a DJ on the BBC’s Radio One and Radio Four, he not only introduced innovative music—including psychedelia, reggae, punk, hip hop, grunge and electronica—into the British mainstream, but championed hundreds of musicians whose work might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Using Peel as a case study, this research focuses on the role his persona played in three distinct aspects of his success: (1) his ability to attract audiences across several generations; (2) his longevity at the BBC, a bastion of conservative bureaucracy; and (3) his …