Communication Commons^™

Twittering To The Top: A Content Analysis Of Corporate Tweets To Measure Organization-Public Relationships, Haley Edman

LSU Master's Theses

Corporations worldwide are realizing the potential to build relationships with publics using social media. The microblogging site, Twitter, has transformed from a platform in which people merely update the Twitterverse about their daily activities to a communication channel where interpersonal conversations between millions of users thrive. As public relations practitioners, it is important to utilize new media to reach out to publics in order to build mutually beneficial relationships. This study examines how 47 corporations use Twitter as a communication and relationship-building tool and works towards developing guidelines for practitioners on using and evaluating their communication efforts on Twitter. Grounded …

The Blame Is In The Frame: Inter-Reality Comparisons Of Crime Reports And Local News Crime Coverage On The Internet, Dana Marie Tumblin

LSU Master's Theses

Research of crime news suggests that Blacks are over represented as criminals when compared to crime reports; study of race and crime judgments reveals that viewers with heavy amounts of television news viewing associate Blacks with crime more often than viewers who watch lower amounts of television news. Further complicating the perception of Blacks is their lack of diversified coverage in the news. Most coverage of Blacks frames them as liabilities to their communities, while offering few positive depictions to counter the Black criminality frame. The Internet may aid in exacerbating stereotypes of Blacks by allowing users to selectively expose …

Public Perception And The Oil Industry: An Analysis Of Oil Employees' And Nigerians' Opinions Regarding Exxon Mobil And Shell Oil's Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts, Liana L. Narcisse

LSU Master's Theses

This study looked at oil industry employees’ and Nigerians’ perceptions of Exxon Mobil and Shell Oil as socially responsible corporations and the role the two-step flow model of communication plays in shaping these publics’ impressions of the companies. Measures of participants’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) were developed using Carroll’s 1971 three-dimensional model of CSR and Ketola’s (2008) holistic model of CSR. This study found that for both companies participants had average to less-than-favorable perceptions of the companies’ socially responsible behavior, according to the various categories of CSR. However, employees were more likely to view the companies more favorably …

The Act Of Raising Donors: An Assessment Of Fund-Raising Stewardship Practices In Healthcare Institutions, Megan Lee Moses

LSU Master's Theses

The concept of stewardship within fund raising literature stems from the public relations theories of relationship management, which involve maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics. With the current economic crisis, non-profit organizations see the need to focus more time and attention on maintaining and fostering relationships with existing donors, and therefore, the idea of stewardship stands an area of great interest to scholars and fund-raising practitioners alike. This study seeks to evaluate the role and formalization of stewardship in the fund-raising process, the current tactics practitioners use to practice stewardship, and better understand the limitations to …

The Experience And Expression Of Emotion Within Stepsibling Relationships: Politeness Of Expression And Stepfamily Functioning, Emily Lamb Normand

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While scholars agree there are emotional challenges associated with the divorce and remarriage process, little is known about how stepsiblings interact and manage the experience and expression of emotion within their stepfamily. The current investigation examined the frequency of experience, intensity, and expression of positive, strong negative, and weak negative emotion within stepsibling relationships over time. Using Politeness Theory as a framework, the study also investigated if an association existed between stepsiblings’ use of politeness strategies during the expression of emotion and stepsiblings’ perception of the quality of their relationship and their perception of the entire stepfamily. Participants were 187 …

Chinese Culture In Western Shadow: Sichuan Shadow Puppetry, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cycling As A Political Act: The Framing And Culture That Create A New Social Movement, Mitchael Lee Schwartz

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This study analyzes the bicycling community of Lexington, Kentucky. Interviews and participant observation were conducted in order to better understand the structure of Lexington’s cycling community, revealing three prominent groups/types of cyclists: (1) road cyclists, (2) underground/urban cyclists, and (3) commuters. The characteristics of each group are discussed, with particular attention devoted to the underground/urban cyclists, due to their politically-minded culture. Building from prior social movement literature, the unique framing processes of the underground/urban cycling group are analyzed in order to explore the group as a new social movement. Finally, the potential for a broader cycling movement based upon interests …

Save Gas Using Your Office Computer From Home, Steve Duckworth, Damon Armour, Jeff Heck

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article discusses the protocols used to establish remote computer connections from home. The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) used in Windows 7 connecting to a Windows 2008 server reportedly allows the playing of high-definition video using Media Player. It is stated that commercial product connections which may bypass security infrastructure are risky because of the home computer's possible insecurity and that home devices used for business purposes may be legally searched by the state.

Perang Melawan Kemiskinan, Paulus Wirutomo

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

The Burger King Revolution: How Las Vegas Bounced Back, 1983-1989, David G. Schwartz

Library Faculty Publications

Most who have considered Las Vegas history have concluded that not much happened in Las Vegas gaming between the openings of the original MGM Grand (1973) and Mirage (1989). In fact, several structural changes during the 1980s had already reversed a declining appeal. Responding to three crises—competition from Atlantic City, a national economic downturn, and the MGM Grand fire—Las Vegas casino operators began to draw more extensively on a middle-class mass market. Capitalizing on the “Burger King Revolution,” Strip casinos drew more gamblers who, on average, played less, and slot machines displaced table games as the industry’s leading revenue producer. …

Ready, Set, Grow!: Planting The Seeds For A Targeted Networking Approach For Rural Businesses In Clark County, Illinois, Nora L. Swalls

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Short-Term Influence Of Free Digital Versions Of Books On Print Sales, John Hilton Iii, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

Increasingly, authors and publishers are freely distributing their books electronically to increase the visibility of their work. A vital question for those with a commercial stake in selling books is, “What happens to book sales if digital versions are given away?” We used BookScan sales data for four categories of books (a total of 41 books) for which we could identify the date when the free digital versions of the books were made available to determine whether the free version affected print sales. We analyzed the data on book sales for the eight weeks before and after the free versions …

Ngo Politics And Insurgency: Examining Institutional Structures And Change Processes Of Ngo Influence, Harry T. Hall, James E. Mattingly, Hue Trong Duong

Communication Faculty Publications

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have evolved from simpler organizational forms providing focused relief and services to complex organizations in contemporary times. Making sense of this new complexity requires an analytical framework equal to the complex environments and difficult challenges facing NGOs. In this chapter, we advocate a model of stakeholder politics and insurgency developed from institutional theorizing in organization analysis, extensive studies of social movements in political sociology, and grid-group cultural theory in social anthropology. The framework we advance includes a multi-layered model of institutional structure, includiI!g a persistent configuration of institutional logics underlying all social formations, and specific mechanisms for …

Chronotope And Regional Chinese Independent Films, Jingya Liu

Theses & Dissertations

This thesis aims to re-categorize Chinese independent films from a region-based perspective as a critical response to existing literature on Chinese independent films. This thesis analyzes three independent films made in three different regions of China in order to investigate regional Chinese independent cinema as a recently rising phenomenon: respectively, Jia Zhangke’s Xiaowu (1997) made in Shanxi Province, Ying Liang’s Taking Father Home (Bei yazi de nanhai, 2006) in Sichuan Province, and Robin Weng’s Fujian Blue (Jinbi huihuang, 2007) in Fujian Province.

By using Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope (literally time-space) as the fundamental framework and exploring the many aspects of …

當代中國文化明星的製造 : 變動的文化生產場, Weizi Huang

Theses & Dissertations

本文借助並修訂了布爾迪厄（Pierre Bourdieu）的理論框架，透過對中國大陸二十世紀九十年代以來文化明星的製造進行研究來理解變動中的文化生產場 (field of cultural production)，並探討在其間知識分子作為的新可能。文化明星問題之所以值得特別研究，首先是由於它處於當代中國文化生產的中心，涉及到電視、圖書、平面媒體、互聯網等不同的文化生產次場域（sub-field），以及製作人、 出版人、文化明星本人、“粉絲” (fans) 和批評者所代表的不同力量。考察圍繞著製造文化明星的複雜的關係網絡，正可以勾勒出當代中國變動的文化生產場域的概貌。其次，文化明星的產生和生產是對九十年代以來知識分子危機的一種回應，是知識分子問題的變奏。理解了文化明星的製造機制，有助於尋找在當下的文化生產場中知識分子作為的新可能。

本文選取余秋雨、易中天、于丹和韓寒四個個案進行深入分析。余秋雨是公認的第一個最成功的文化明星，對其案例進行研究揭示了文化明星產生的歷史轉變。易中天和于丹的案例則代表著著一種可以複製的成熟的文化明星製造模式的出現。韓寒的形象及製造是一種有別于以上主流文化明星的另類模式。

本文綜合運用多種研究方法，包括對十幾名相關的文化生產者進行訪問，組織了一個針對粉絲的焦點小組（focus group），並且到電視節目錄製現場、出版 社和大型書店進行參與式觀察。此外亦有歷史檔案梳理和文本、話語分析。 最終，本文繪製出了不同的文化明星在當代中國文化生產場中的位置，反思了現有文化明星生產模式的後果，並對知識分子/文化生產者參與文化生產提出有針對性的建議。

The Immigrant, The Native Son, And The Ambassador: The Transnational Travels Of "Godzilla", "Speed Racer", And "Akira", Amber Shandling Cohen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Implications Of Skinner's Verbal Behavior For Studying Dementia, Jeffrey Buchanan, Daniel Houlihan, Peter J.N. Linnerooth

Psychology Department Publications

Persons with dementia experience continual declines in a number of abilities. Language abilities are particularly hard hit and become increasingly impaired as the underlying disease progresses. These language impairments make verbal communication very challenging for family and professional caregivers. As a result, caregivers may inadvertently punish verbal behavior, thereby exacerbating the deterioration of verbal repertoires. Although the topography of language impairments associated with dementia have been well described, less empirical work has been conducted concerning how to minimize these impairments and their deleterious effects. In 1957 B.F. Skinner outlined his conceptualization of language and cognition in his book Verbal Behavior. …

Expanding Leader Capability: An Exploratory Study Of The Effect Of Daily Practices For Leader Development, Simon Rakoff

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Leadership is, at its essence, an influence relationship between people. Leaders are often thought of as those who are able to influence people to take actions oriented toward achieving specific goals and objectives. While many books have been written, and myriad scholarly research studies conducted enumerating countless personal characteristics, qualities, and skills of the exemplary leader, little has been done to understand and convey the ways in which an individual might go about cultivating these virtues; which are often said to include charisma, empathy, communication skills, and others. Through a multiple single-subject design, this research examines the individual-level effect of …

Participatory Planning For A Promised Land: Citizen-Led, Comprehensive Land Use Planning In New York’S Adirondack Park, Ann Hope Ruzow Holland

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

New York’s Adirondack Park is internationally recognized for its biological diversity. Greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined, the Adirondacks are the largest protected area within the Northern Appalachian/Acadian Eco-Region and within the contiguous United States. Ecologists, residents of the Park, and others are concerned about rapid land use change occurring within the borders of the Park. Almost half of the six million acres encompassed by the Park boundary is privately-owned, where 80% of land use decisions fall within the jurisdiction of local governments. The comprehensive planning process of one such local government, the …

Moustachioed Men And Marathon Moms: The Marketing Of Cancer Philanthropy, Jenna Leigh Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is a theoretically based feminist critical analysis of the politics, problems, and differences around the philanthropy related to breast cancer in comparison to prostate cancer with a focus on the Canadian reality. It is an analysis of the leading national volunteer-based organization dedicated to breast cancer philanthropy: The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and the only national foundation dedicated to the fight against prostate cancer: Prostate Cancer Canada. The concrete grounding is an in-depth analysis of the primary fundraising event for each charity: the CIBC Run for the Cure and Movember Canada. Breast cancer and prostate cancer attack a …