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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Communication
Widow Narratives On Film And In Memoirs: Exploring Formula Stories Of Grief And Loss Of Older Women After The Death Of A Spouse, Jennifer R. Bender
Widow Narratives On Film And In Memoirs: Exploring Formula Stories Of Grief And Loss Of Older Women After The Death Of A Spouse, Jennifer R. Bender
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation analyzes narratives (written and mediated) about widows’ post-loss experiences—specifically the ways in which these women embody and adjust/adhere to their post-loss widow identities—and whether or not the canonical/formula stories about widows reflect current experiences of widowhood. I look at older widowed women—both those in well-read widow memoirs and also in media portrayals of widows on film. The canonical view of widows as not attractive, not useful, and not interesting needs to be reexamined in light of changing ideas about gender roles and increased longevity. Surely older women have experiences, desires, and goals that encompass more than being socially …
The Uses Of Community In Modern American Rhetoric, Cody Ryan Hawley
The Uses Of Community In Modern American Rhetoric, Cody Ryan Hawley
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study examines the functions of the term “community” in American social and political rhetoric. I contend that community serves as a god-term, or expression of value and order, which rhetors use to motivate actions, endorse values, include/exclude persons, and compensate for modern losses. Informed by the philosophy of Kenneth Burke, I explore the general features of “rhetorics of community,” including community’s ambiguity and status as an automatic good, the relationship between community and modernity, the myth of communal loss, and the uses of community as a site of political unity and contest. I analyze the writings of John Humphrey …
Household Food Waste Prevention In Malaysia: An Issue Processes Model Perspective, Syahirah Abd Razak
Household Food Waste Prevention In Malaysia: An Issue Processes Model Perspective, Syahirah Abd Razak
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Food waste has been a worldwide concern for several decades but this problem is relatively new in the Malaysian context due to the increasing amount of food waste in recent years. Thus, the goal of the study is to provide the basic information of knowledge and involvement level, and their interaction in food waste prevention among households in Malaysia. This study seek to further mass communication research in the area of food waste. The Hallahan’s Issues Processes Model was used within this study in order to determine the relationship between knowledge, involvement, and food waste prevention behavior. The convenience sampling …
Practical Theology In An Interpretive Community: An Ethnography Of Talk, Texts And Video In A Mediated Women's Bible Study, Nancie Hudson
Practical Theology In An Interpretive Community: An Ethnography Of Talk, Texts And Video In A Mediated Women's Bible Study, Nancie Hudson
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study of social interaction in a small religious group used ethnography of communication as a research method to collect and analyze data from 20 months of fieldwork. As a long-term participant-observer in a women-only interdenominational Bible study, I investigated the group’s patterned ways of speaking, how print and electronic learning materials influenced the practical application of Scripture to daily life, and how the contemporary format for women’s Bible study alters the traditional Bible study experience. Patterned ways of speaking in this setting included group discussions and conversational narratives about religion, motherhood and lack of time. Using affirmations of faith, …
Volunteer Tourism: Fulfilling The Needs For God And Medicine In Latin America, Erin Howell
Volunteer Tourism: Fulfilling The Needs For God And Medicine In Latin America, Erin Howell
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study seeks to understand how short-term medical missions fulfill health needs for their recipients in Honduras, and how in turn, mission participants experience need fulfillment as well. By using the theoretical concept of co-construction of health to see how health needs are or are not met, I conducted a thematic analysis of the Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International (BMDMI) resulting in the following themes: 1.) Mission workers receive fulfillment from their experiences in the mission field. 2.) Mission recipients receive partial fulfillment of needs from the mission. 3). Through a calling, missions are a means to an end. …
Avatar Self-Identification, Self-Esteem, And Perceived Social Capital In The Real World: A Study Of World Of Warcraft Players And Their Avatars, Melissa Watts
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study explored the relationship between people who play massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) and their avatars, as well as the impact on players’ self-esteem and perceived social capital in the real world. To examine these influences of online video gameplay, this research investigated gamers who play the popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft (WoW). This study employed an online survey made available on Reddit, a widely-used news, entertainment, and social-networking website, in which all the content is user-generated. The research questionnaire was intended to reveal the bond between MMORPG players and their avatars; the study examined how this relationship …
A Semiotic Phenomenology Of Homelessness And The Precarious Community: A Matter Of Boundary, Heather Renee Curry
A Semiotic Phenomenology Of Homelessness And The Precarious Community: A Matter Of Boundary, Heather Renee Curry
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
My dissertation focuses on the articulation of the concepts of precarity —i.e., temporary, affective, creative, immaterial and insecure labor—and community in an overheating system. My site of inquiry is homelessness broadly, but more specifically the labor of panhandling and the identity of “the panhandler.” I recognize that primary theorizations of precarity have located it as a problem of labor and economy. Others have looked at it from the sociological domain. My work looks at precarity as diffuse across social, political, and communal systems, but primarily as an effect of the problem of overheating as it manifests at varying levels of …
Love And (M)Other (Im)Possibilities, Summer Renee Cunningham
Love And (M)Other (Im)Possibilities, Summer Renee Cunningham
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation is a performative interrogation of the disagreement and (dis)interest, communication issues, surrounding motherhood in contemporary U.S. culture. Textual analysis of Mary Kelly's Post-Partum Document (PPD) plays a key role in my inquiry. I juxtapose documentation from my lived experiences and academic projects with Kelly's work to build upon the themes and ideas introduced throughout PPD. This project is guided by the concepts love and (im)possibility, and I will argue that, together, they are central to understanding mothering/caregiving as a site of communication inquiry. Love and (im)possibility are inherent to both mothering and communication, but they also are essential …
The Accidental Motivator: Florida's Medicinal Marijuana Ballot Initiative's Impact On The Youth Vote, Robert Winsler
The Accidental Motivator: Florida's Medicinal Marijuana Ballot Initiative's Impact On The Youth Vote, Robert Winsler
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to examine single-issue voting in the youth population, specifically involving the upcoming medical marijuana ballot initiative to be voted on in Florida November, 2014. Single-issue voting is becoming a more prevalent trend in American politics. The young voter demographic has historically showed the lowest percentage of voter turnout thus giving it the highest potential to influence the outcome of an election if more voters showed up to the polls. This study sought to understand if a single issue such as medical marijuana could be that motivation to go vote. Data was gathered through conducting …
An Examination Of Motives, Experiences, And Behaviors Of Mmorpg Players, Theresa Lynn Woods
An Examination Of Motives, Experiences, And Behaviors Of Mmorpg Players, Theresa Lynn Woods
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are growing in popularity and use worldwide. This study seeks to explore the motivations and experiences of MMORPG players through an extensive online survey with more than a thousand participants (n=1,422). The findings support a complex relationship between the variables, including the direct effects of motivations and flow on the time invested by players in MMORPG play, as well as the mediated effects of motivation via flow. Causal relationships are examined in addition to the significance of direct and indirect effects on frequency of play, yielding several significant results, including (1) the overwhelming importance …
Organizing Disability: Producing Knowledge In A University Accommodations Office, Shelby Forbes
Organizing Disability: Producing Knowledge In A University Accommodations Office, Shelby Forbes
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
As it is generally conceived, knowledge belongs to the individual: we imagine how a lightbulb suddenly illuminates above the scientist's head, a muse whispers in the philosopher's ear, cogs slide into place as wheels turn in the thinker's mind, and, "Eureka!" an idea is born. As an individualistic experience, knowledge is secure in the repository of the mind, a "steel trap" as it is so often referred, which can only be breached by the most sophisticated and precise methods. From these popular representations of knowledge, one can extrapolate further to conclude that knowledge is not made, it is received. All …
(Dis)Abled Gaming: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Decreasing Accessibility For Disabled Gamers, Kyle David Romano
(Dis)Abled Gaming: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Decreasing Accessibility For Disabled Gamers, Kyle David Romano
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Within the context of culture, disability has long existed as a stigmatizing quality (Goffman, 1963). As a result, people with disabilities are often overlooked or completely omitted from various, cultural artifacts. This exclusion of people with disabilities is largely recognized as unproblematic because their disabilities imply an inevitable failing. Through my own experiences as a disabled gamer, I have recognized that video games have also framed gamers with disabilities as problematic. Video games are largely constructed in a one-size-fits-all mentality (Grammenos, 2014), where very specific people, with very specific kinds of bodies, are granted access to play them. Since disabled …
Citizens United, The Marketplace, And Influence, Corin Shanti La Pointe-Aitchison
Citizens United, The Marketplace, And Influence, Corin Shanti La Pointe-Aitchison
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study analyzes the rationale used by the Supreme Court in the 2010 case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The majority opinion and dissent were dissected and scrutinized for any weaknesses. After careful review and comparison with First Amendment theories and scholarly articles, it was found that the majority opinion and final decision were poorly reasoned and created a dangerous political communication landscape and a weakened Marketplace of Ideas.
Effects Of Task Evaluation Knowledge And Leadership Style On Employee Attitude Toward A Task, Alan Abitbol
Effects Of Task Evaluation Knowledge And Leadership Style On Employee Attitude Toward A Task, Alan Abitbol
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Ideally, an employee will attempt to perform a task at his or her best ability in order to complete a work task appropriately. However, there are several factors that affect how an employee approaches a task. Two such factors are the understanding an employee has on how his or her supervisor may evaluate performance of the task and the supervisor's leadership style. This study focuses on the effect task evaluation knowledge (TEK) and different leadership styles have on an employee's attitude toward performing a task. By using a 2x2 (transformational/transactional leadership by limited/increased amount of information communicated) experiment, participants were …
Global Csr And Photographic Credibility: Exploring How International Companies Portray Efforts Through Photographs In Csr Reports, Janel Lynn Norton
Global Csr And Photographic Credibility: Exploring How International Companies Portray Efforts Through Photographs In Csr Reports, Janel Lynn Norton
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
We are living in the age of the visual. Imagery is an important element in constructing and deriving meaning through symbols, colors, and context. Images may hold persuasive power, be used as evidence, or simply provide a moment of beauty. Organizations rely on photographs to help them convey an image to their stakeholders within annual reports. Telling an organizations' story through photographs has become an intrinsic part of their efforts to convey sustainability. We live in the age of transparency, and organizations that construct an image that is not truthful will face consequences in today's socially connected and conscious world. …
Mentoring Experiences Among Female Public Relations Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Investigation, Sabina Gaggioli
Mentoring Experiences Among Female Public Relations Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Investigation, Sabina Gaggioli
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This phenomenological study expands from current mentoring literature within the mass communication field in understanding how mentoring can contribute to the successful careers of public relations entrepreneurial women. While many scholars indicate that mentoring is effective for women, the present study describes how mentoring has affected the women participants' public relations careers and personal lives. In-depth interviews focused on following five research questions: What have been the key contributing factors in the success of public relations women entrepreneurs? How has mentoring helped the women participants achieve their goals in a public relations career and in starting their own company? Which …
Looking Good And Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, And Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens, Elizabeth Edgecomb
Looking Good And Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, And Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens, Elizabeth Edgecomb
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Looking Good and Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, and Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens is an ethnographic examination of how poor, minority, urban tweens (age 7-14) use consumer culture to create and perform their personal and social identities. Although portrayed in mass media as selfish and hedonistic, this work finds tweens creating profoundly social, giving, and caring identities and relationships through consumption. Their use of consumer culture is also a form of political resistance that subverts their place in the age, class, and race hierarchy. These tweens use “looking good” (attention to grooming, style, and behaving respectably), and not name brand …