Other Communication Commons^™

Relational Uncertainty Management In Adult Children Of Divorce, Sylvia L. Mikucki-Enyart, Sarah R. Petitte, Sarah E. Wilder

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Utilizing uncertainty management theory (UMT) and a multiple goals theory of personal relationships (MGPR) the present study examined how adult children of divorce (ACOD) manage relational uncertainty following parental divorce. In-depth, semistructured interviews with 25 adult children who had experienced parental divorce when they were 18 years of age or older revealed two broad types of information acquisition strategies: deliberate (i.e., information-seeking and information-avoiding) and incidental (i.e., incidental information acquisition). Deliberate information acquisition strategies were animated by several goals, including reducing and maintaining uncertainty, avoiding feeling caught, and protection. Alongside goals, various constraints (e.g., target efficacy, coping efficacy) played a …

Discourses Of Forgiveness And Resilience In Stepchild–Stepparent Relationships, Vincent R. Waldron, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Bailey M. Oliver, Dayna N. Kloeber, Jaclyn S. Marsh

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Challenges and conflicts experienced by stepfamilies are well documented, but researchers are increasingly focused on communication processes that facilitate resilience in these relationships. In other contexts, communicating forgiveness has been linked to relational healing after transgressions or adversity. In the current study, the researchers sought to understand how stepchildren talk about the role of forgiveness in the development of positive adult stepchild–stepparent relationships. Data were drawn from interviews with adult stepchildren who have a positive relationship with a stepparent. Following an interpretive analysis, the researchers identified five themes representing the ways forgiveness was conceptualized and enacted in these positive stepchild–stepparent …

Asset, Liability, Possibility: Metaphors Of Human Difference And The Business Case For Diversity, Jennifer J. Mease (Also Peeksmease), Brittany L. Collins

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Purpose – This analysis draws on interviews with 19 self-identified US diversity consultants and 94 diversity statements posted on corporate websites. The findings challenge existing literature that characterizes the business case for diversity as monolithic and wholly problematic for the way it constructs understandings of human difference. The authors accomplish this using metaphor analysis to demonstrate how business case arguments incorporate three metaphorical systems for thinking and speaking about human differences – as asset, as liability and as possibility. Given this diversity of metaphors, the business case does not construct human difference in a monolithic way, but in a variety …

Mutual Gaze Among Strangers, Allie Vaknin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reactions people experienced when engaged in extended eye contact with a stranger. Artist Marina Abramović and an organization entitled The Liberators International have demonstrated a spectrum of reactions, many emotionally-charged, that have occurred from the opportunity to sit across from and gaze into the eyes of a stranger. Current research on eye contact has been predominantly quantitative, with no available research that qualitatively investigates the scenario in focus. The design of this study involved interviewing 35 people who participated in "The World’s Biggest Eye Contact Experiment," where individuals paired with a …

Instructional Communication Scholarship: Complementing Communication Pedagogy, Alan K. Goodboy

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Instructional communication and communication pedagogy are complementary areas of inquiry; that is, communication instructors will not be effective educators without strategically considering--for each course taught in a given semester--both pedagogical techniques (e.g., writing accurate course objectives; choosing or creating activities that align with the objectives; teaching communication skills using proven pedagogical strategies) and instructional communication practices (e.g., communicating with students clearly; confirming students; integrating appropriate humor). These disciplines offer micro (i.e., communication pedagogy) and macro (i.e., instructional communication) perspectives on teaching that both deserve close attention as instructors strive to be the best educators (and communicators) in the communication courses …

Communication Pedagogy And The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning: A Natural Match And A Promising Future, Mary Ann Danielson

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Engaging in principles of good Scholarship of Teaching and Learning practice elucidates communication pedagogy and offers communication scholars opportunities to contribute to both the Communication discipline and a(n) (inter)national body of scholarship. Felten (2013) identified five principles of good practice in SoTL: (a) inquiry focused on student learning; (b) grounded in context; (c) methodologically sound; (d) conducted in partnership with students; and (e) appropriately public.

From The Classroom To The Community: Best Practices In Service-Learning, Donna R. Pawlowski

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As a pedagogy, service-learning connects students with the community while focusing on course outcomes. The community becomes a live text for reflection and enriches students’ experiences they otherwise would not have in the classroom. This article provides tips and strategies for implementing service-learning in the classroom. These tips and strategies include developing the structure of the course, linking service-learning to outcomes, creating partnerships, working through logistics with partners, communicating with community partners, setting logistics, preparing students, creating reflections, handling challenging issues, giving credit for the learning, and assessing service-learning.

Effective Marketing Strategies To Reach Mobile Users, Melissa R. Roy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Reaching users on mobile devices has never been more critical for retailers given the ubiquitous use of mobile devices. U.S. consumers who shop online are using personal computers less and mobile devices more when doing so. The purpose of this single case study was to explore mobile device marketing strategies used by retail marketing leaders to reach mobile users effectively. Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Participants included a purposeful sample of 8 marketing managers employed by a Fortune 1000 retail organization in the Pacific Northwest. Data collected via in-person, semistructured interviews and a …

Managerial Strategies Small Businesses Use To Prevent Cybercrime, Doreen Lynn Maahs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Estimated worldwide losses due to cybercrime are approximately $375-575 billion annually, affecting governments, business organizations, economies, and society. With globalization on the rise, even small businesses conduct transactions worldwide through the use of information technology (IT), leaving these small businesses vulnerable to the intrusion of their networks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the managerial strategies of small manufacturing business owners to protect their financial assets, data, and intellectual property from cybercrime. The conceptual framework was systems thinking and action theory. Participants included 4 small manufacturing business owners in the midwestern region of the United States. …

Arguing With Friends, William Baude, Ryan D. Doerfler

All Faculty Scholarship

It is a fact of life that judges sometimes disagree about the best outcome in appealed cases. The question is what they should make of this. The two purest possibilities are to shut out all other views, or else to let them all in, leading one to concede ambiguity and uncertainty in most if not all contested cases.

Drawing on the philosophical concepts of “peer disagreement” and “epistemic peerhood,” we argue that there is a better way. Judges ought to give significant weight to the views of others, but only when those others share the judge’s basic methodology or interpretive …

Perception Of Emotion In Music In Adults With Cochlear Implants, Delainey Spragg

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Music is an integral aspect of culture that is uniquely tied to our emotions. Previous studies have shown that hearing loss and cochlear implantation have deleterious effects on music and emotion perception, particularly cues related to pitch, melody, and mode. The purpose of this study is to examine acoustic cues that adults with cochlear implants and adults with normal hearing might use to perceive emotion in music (e.g., tempo and pitch range). One adult (ages 18-50 years) with a cochlear implant and 15 adults who have normal hearing were tested. The participants listened to a series of 40 melodies which …

Vendorgraphs - Data Visualization, Samuel Park

Masters Theses

Creating a data visualization solution for automotive dealers to enhance sales performance. As many auto dealers use over 20 vendors per store, it is very difficult to keep track of vendor performance. Therefore, auto dealers need a tool that explains vendor performance through visual charts and graphs. VendorGraphs will meet this need.

The Influence Of Family Communication Styles On Campus Experience In College-Aged Children, Madison Kjosa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As an environment, the modern university setting is diverse and subject students to numerous challenges and opportunities that prepare them to enter careers, build families, and grow as an individual. Yet what a student experiences in college differs greatly and is shaped by internal and external factors in their environment, including campus participation, college self-efficacy, depression and stress. Prior research indicates the impact of family on how a student expresses each of these variables (Schmidtgall, King, Zarski & Cooper, 2000; Bradbury & Mather, 2009; Hannum & Dvorak, 2004; Kenny & Donaldson, 1991; Lopez et al, 2001; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2006). …

Technological Literacy Across Disciplines: Examining Graduate Instructors' Experiences, Sidouane Patcha Lum

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines graduate instructors’ technological literacy across disciplines in a four-year university, in order to explore avenues through which their challenges teaching with classroom technologies can be met. It also investigates the possibility that non- resident instructors and resident instructors’ difference in cultural orientations (patterns, norms and ways of doing) influence instructors’ ability to use technology for their specific functions. For this purpose, Multi (modal) literacy theories and the TPACK framework (technological, pedagogical and content, knowledge) are used as theoretical underpinnings which foster a better understanding of instructors’ technological literacy, while grounded theory developed by Glaser and Strauss …

Music To Mend Heartache: Song Choices To Match, Change, And Distract Mood, Rhiannon Kallis, Anna V. Ortiz Juarez-Paz

The Qualitative Report

Romantic turmoil is something that most people experience in their life. When faced with an upsetting event, such as a breakup or fight with a partner, a person may turn to music to achieve a more desirable state of mind. The current study extended past research on music and coping by focusing specifically on a person’s use of music when they have emotional distress due to a romantic event. Ten interviews revealed the major theme “Music as a Tool,” regarding how people use music as social support. The first subtheme, Alliance with Mood, describes how participants used music as a …

Effect Of Female Superhero Body Types On Parasocial Relationships, Perceived Homophily And Self-Esteem Of College Women, Ashe C. Cleveland, Michael John Farzinpour, Alyssa Aroz Vega

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examines how exposure to female superheroes’ body images increases the strength of parasocial relationships, perceived homophily, and level of self-esteem that female college students experience. Three images of female superheroes were manipulated into round, muscular, and hyper-thin body types. Eighty-one students at a west coast university were randomly assigned to view one of three images of the female superhero. After viewing the images, the participants were asked to answer three Likert scales to determine the strength of parasocial relationships to the superheroine (bonds with the character), perceived homophily (perceived similarity), and self-esteem. The results of the study indicate …

Deflection, Disassociation, & Acknowledgement: A Content Analysis Of The 2011-2014 Media Framing Of Hydraulic Fracturing And Oklahoma Earthquakes, Alicia Mason, Catherine Hooey, James Triplett

Faculty Submissions

In June of 2014, geologists reported that, for the first time, more earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 occurred in Oklahoma than in California [Terry-Cobo, 2014]. In Oklahoma, the frequency of earthquakes that are strong enough to be felt has increased 44 times in recent years and this has been correlated to a dramatic increase in high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (HVHHF) operations [Hume, 2014]. The aims of this study are: (1) to determine how hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, and Oklahoma earthquakes are framed by print-based media at the local, national, and international levels; (2) to understand how the association between …

Signature Whistle Production During A Bottlenose Dolphin Group Integration, Megan S. Broadway

Dissertations

Bottlenose dolphins are an important species of interest because they possess a variety of abilities that are relatively rare in the animal kingdom, one being complex acoustic communication. Signature whistles - distinctive calls that are unique for each individual – are one of the most studied call types, but we know little about how these calls are used in various contexts, such as during an introduction. Looking at the socio-behavioral context in which signature whistles are used is likely the best way of learning how these whistles are used in a particular context (Caldwell, Caldwell, & Tyack, 1990). For this …

Sony Pictures And The U.S. Federal Government: A Case Study Analysis Of The Sony Pictures Entertainment Hack Crisis Using Normal Accidents Theory, Mohamed Ismail

Master's Theses

In this case study, I analyze the 2014 North Korean computer database hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a serious national security crisis of cyberterrorism. I utilize Normal Accidents theory as a lens, to help explain how the accident within one system (SPE) and later crisis lead to the interaction with a second system (U.S. Federal Government), the development of a new crisis, and the need for a crisis response from system two. The evolution of a single organization’s accident into a national security crisis does not occur without specific complex interactions that take place to connect the two systems …

The Relationship Between Nonverbal Communication And Patient Willingness To Comply In Framed, Low-Risk Medical Settings, Rachael A. Katz

Communication Studies

This study discusses framing and communication tactics in the medical field. It specifically aims to understand whether expertise and empathetic nonverbal communication impacts patient willingness to comply with physician directives in gain- and loss-framed medical settings. Framing has been studied in many settings, including medical situations, and has been found to impact decision-making. This experiment utilizes college-aged individuals to examine Meningitis, a disease where the most at-risk group is college aged young adults. Participants were exposed to one of six conditions to examine whether perceived expertise/empathy in their scenario impacted willingness to comply with the doctor directives. Although no mediation …