Digital Commons Network^™

Tools For Collective Thought: Augmenting Collaborative Sensemaking, Jacob Zimmerman

Pomona Senior Theses

As some pioneers of personal computing argue, we have yet to reach the potential that computing offers to enhance our cognition. Some modern scholars of tools for thought give a prerogative to develop transformative tools for thought (Matuschak & Nielsen, 2019), recognizing that the tools we may use enable new thought patterns and thus new cognitive abilities. As cognition is mediated both by our tools and by the minds of others, I evaluate the current state of literature on tools built to support collaborative sensemaking, a domain of collective cognition characterized by various interdependent cognitive processes. To apply and test …

Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The perception of mental illness has often been studied in traditional face-to-face settings, but the research on its perception in an online setting has been growing recently. Social media platforms have allowed for important conversations regarding mental health to gain popularity and led to the formation of communities where users can share their personal experiences. It has also given professionals the opportunity to educate others on various mental health topics and answer specific questions their audience may have. From these posts and forums, users who are concerned with their mental health can be given the guidance to achieve proper assistance …

Examining Patient-Physician Communication As A Form Of Mutual Persuasion Using The Conversational Argument Coding Scheme, Pritam Kanthala

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Communication between the patient and the physician in clinical encounters has traditionally been considered a passive interaction on the side of the patient, whereby the healthcare provider examines the patient's condition and circumstances, evaluates the situation, and prescribes a certain treatment plan or procedural solution that will heal the patient's ailment. However, recent research and fundamental communications understanding strongly emphasizes that effective communication is a two-way endeavor that ideally should involve input and insight from both sides of the conversation. Treating all clinical interactions as a one-way didactic experience where a provider usually goes through a checklist of commonalities would …

Personality And Social Media Use, Joshua Pearson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study seeks to examine the connection between social media usage and the Enneagram personality model. This connection will aid in a better understanding of what motivates individuals to use social media. The information found in this study will be applied to understanding behavioral addiction. This understanding will allow more personalized treatment for individuals already subject to these behaviors and preventive treatment for those more susceptible to behavioral addiction to social media. In order to find the connection between social media use and the Enneagram personality model, a survey including an Enneagram personality inventory, a social media use inventory, and …

Bilingual Switch Cost Effect On Language Processing, Ancuta Rader

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent reports suggest that over half of the world's population regularly uses two or more languages (or dialects) in their daily lives. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 21.6% of the population communicates in a language other than English within their homes. Thus, it is essential to methodically investigate how language processing and learning vary between monolingual and bilingual individuals. To date, research on the effects of bilingualism on language processing has been inconsistent or conflicting. The present study was designed to empirically examine if bilingual speakers differ in language processing and comprehension compared to their monolingual counterparts. It was hypothesized …

The Study Of Crisis Narratives Over Time: Mayfield, Ky In The Aftermath Of The 2021 Tornadoes, Rebecca Freihaut

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study was a year-long longitudinal qualitative research project using the case study of Mayfield, KY after the catastrophic tornado event that impacted their community on December 10, 2021. Oral histories were collected from 18 participants who lived in or were closely connected to Mayfield at the six month and 1.5 year marks after the disaster. Later, after the oral histories were archived and made available to the public, the transcripts were used to extract the crisis narratives from the oral histories and the data was thematically analyzed using the existing theory and theoretical framework of Narratives of Crisis: Telling …

Understanding Parents’ Sense-Making Of Their Role In Adolescent Daughters’ Social Media Use Through The Lens Of Relational Dialectics Theory 2.0, Aimee Miller-Ott, Lynne Kelly, Samantha Schultz

Faculty Publications - Communications

With the development of social media, parents must figure out how to guide their children’s use or even whether to allow it. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 30 parents of daughters aged 12–18. Relational dialectics theory 2.0 was used to analyze how parents’ talk revealed their sense-making of their role in adolescent daughters’ social media use. Analysis revealed that parents voiced competing discourses pertaining to “bad” versus “good” parents and monitoring versus trusting daughters. Discourses that take place at the distal level compete with those at the proximal site of the utterance chain, challenging parents to engage in …

Portrayals Of Family Resilience In Webcomics During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis, Claire Catherine Heaney

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Families and couples were challenged with stresses unlike any other as individuals faced adversities from lockdowns, as well as fears derived from the coronavirus. During the pandemic, trends of webcomics became more popular, particularly comics that depicted characters in romantic relationships dealing with “the new normal.” In this project, I suggest that social media webcomics incorporated topics of coping. The purpose of this study was to examine webcomics that documented daily life situations during lockdowns and stress-buffering skills found in couples’ interactions when dealing with concerns. Utilizing Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, 585 romantic relationship webcomics posted from March …

Impact Of Social Media On The Mental Health Of College Student Athletes, Maria Blasco Maurici

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the influence of social media on the mental health of college student-athletes. With the adoption of social media platforms and the challenges faced by college student-athletes, understanding the implications of social media usage becomes a priority. This study examines the potential positive and negative effects of social media on the mental health of collegiate student-athletes and considers the role of social media in shaping their self-perception and identity. By comparing with existing research and conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis, this thesis aims to find answers on the relationship between social media and the mental health of college …

An Artificial Therapist (Manage Your Life Online) To Support The Mental Health Of Youth: Co-Design And Case Series, Aimee-Rose Wrightson-Hester, Georgia Anderson, Joel Dunstan, Peter M. Mcevoy, Christopher J. Sutton, Bronwyn Myers, Sarah Egan, Sara Tai, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Wai Chen, Tom Gedeon, Warren Mansell

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The prevalence of child and adolescent mental health issues is increasing faster than the number of services available, leading to a shortfall. Mental health chatbots are a highly scalable method to address this gap. Manage Your Life Online (MYLO) is an artificially intelligent chatbot that emulates the method of levels therapy. Method of levels is a therapy that uses curious questioning to support the sustained awareness and exploration of current problems. Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed interface for MYLO in young people aged 16 to 24 years with mental health problems. …

A Model For Children’S Digital Citizenship In India, Korea, And Australia: Stakeholder Engagement Principles, Emma Jayakumar, Kylie Stevenson, Harrison See, Yeonghwi Ryu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This white paper communicates research activities and findings investigating digital safety and digital citizenship through multistakeholder collaborations in three countries—India, South Korea, and Australia. Performed by an Edith Cowan University-based research team from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, supported by the LEGO Group, this research additionally responds to many recent policy and practice reviews arguing for institutional and policy engagement in the Asia Pacific (APAC) that build children’s digital safety, literacy and citizenship. These include the UNESCO data-driven report, Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP): Insights into children’s digital citizenship (UNESCO, 2019), an earlier UNESCO review of …

Assessing Transfer Student Acclimation And Help-Seeking, Dylan Haase

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

No abstract provided.

(Re)Constructing National Memory In Neoliberal Chile Through Patricio Guzman's The Cordillera Of Dreams (2019), Mica Barrett

Scripps Senior Theses

One of the most renowned Chilean exile filmmakers is Patricio Guzmán. Best known for his documentary work regarding the Allende years, Guzmán has continued to make films regarding his homeland in the decades following his initial exile.

The Cordillera of Dreams is the concluding film in a trilogy exploring the natural lands of Chile and their relationship to physical remnants of the human past. The initial and most renowned film in the series, Nostalgia for the Light, centers the Atacama Desert and Chileans’ relationship to the geography as a gateway to revealing artifacts of Chile’s recent history of genocide …

From “The Loss Of The Innocents” To “Crisis Actors”: Media Portrayal Of Rampage School Shootings From 1998-2021, Justice E. Greene

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

As rampage school shootings continue to occur in the United States, media coverage of such shootings continues to evolve. Media is a powerful force for how people form their understandings, opinions, and beliefs and, at least in part, the types of media they consume, it is important to understand how rampage school shootings are conveyed to the public. These shootings go through what is known as an “Issue-Attention Cycle” (Downs 1972) as coverage progresses. Using content analysis, this thesis examines New York Times articles covering nine rampage school shootings from 1998-2021 to see both how media coverage changes over the …

Development Of A Pronoun Usage Learning Module To Enhance Faculty Education, Evelyn Ashley

A with Honors Projects

Create slideshow presentations about the importance of proper pronoun usage in academia. In the presentations, topics such as the role academia has in educating students on proper pronoun/language usage for both education and industry, how improper pronoun usage hinders transgender students' ability to perform at their maximum capacity, and ways that instructors can foster a safe and welcoming environment in regard to proper pronoun usage will be discussed.

Common Creativity: Conversations With Artists And Nonartists, Will Nachazel

Honors Program Theses

I have always viewed myself as a creative person. Drawing, writing, and storytelling were the realms I thrived in growing up. I’m highly in tune with the part of myself that’s constantly coming up with new ideas, and I appreciate when I see creativity in others as well. But what I've noticed recently is that people often treat creativity as if it’s a trait that some have and others don’t. When you believe this, it becomes an easy way to brush off your own lack of artistic ability, but what else are you closing yourself off to? There must be …

How Social Media Influencer Collaborations Are Percieved By Consumers, Veronica L. Thomas, Kendra Fowler, Faegheh Teheran

Marketing Faculty Publications

Within the social media community, influencers engage in a variety of collaborative practices such as tagging, reposting content from, or forming partnerships with other influencers and brands. While such collaborative efforts are a known practice, less is understood about how influencer collaborations affect consumers' perceptions of the partnering influencers, specifically when a status differential exists within the collaboration. We suggest that such collaborative practices, specifically those where the focal influencer has a higher status than the collaborating partner, may help to weaken consumers' perceptions that the influencer's actions are purely self‐focused. A pilot study, analyzing both influencer–influencer collaborations and influencer–brand …

Cabin Crew Members’ Silence: A Qualitative Study With Cabin Attendants, Seda Ceken, Pinar Unsal

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Silence among flight crews has been one of the significant causes of aviation incidents and/or accidents. This study aims to explore why flight attendants remain silent during flights and/or do not report errors after the end of the flight. For this purpose, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 21 flight attendants. The data were analyzed through content analysis using the MAXQDA 22 Qualitative Analysis Program. Themes and coding related to the research question were obtained by analyzing the scripts with creative coding techniques. Nine themes were identified by the content analysis, namely "poor relationship with cabin supervisors/pilots", "the lack of …

Manifestations Of Communicative Resilience In Experiences Of Serial Arguments Among Adult Children Of Harmful Parental Alcohol Use, Brooklyn Willis

Master's Theses

This thesis investigated the ways in which adult children of harmful parental alcohol use manifest resilience through the lens of the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR). The CTR presents five communication processes by which resilience, which is the ability to overcome hardship, is demonstrated. Serial arguments, the repeated and unresolved conflicts that occur between romantic partners, were utilized as the context to study resilience. Interviews were conducted to learn about perceptions of serial argument resolvability and the ways and frequencies in which resilience manifested. A pre-interview survey gathered information pertaining to relationship satisfaction and perceptions of resilience. A thematic analysis …

Closing The Gap Between College Students: An Intergroup Dialogue Program To Reach Understanding And Reduction Of Disparities, Lilly Zhou

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The goals of the intergroup dialogue program are exploration and collective action. The goal of exploration is to spread awareness by presenting the situation. Several students are not aware that disparities between students exist, so this dialogue provided awareness of the issue. With increased understanding of each other, collective action can be taken. Actions by a small number of students are still steps taken to reduce the gap between the financially supported and not financially supported students. Action can look like spreading awareness of the issue, advocating for policy changes, and more.

The structure of the intergroup dialogue program required …

Testing The Theory Of Resilience And Relational Load In The Context Of Empty Nesters, Lauren E. Fellers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In examining the marital communication of recent empty nesters, the aim of this study was to test the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL) (Afifi et al., 2016). The postparental period that follows directly after children leave their parents’ places of residence may present unique challenges for married individuals to navigate together. The TRRL offers a potential explanation as to why some married couples demonstrate resilience and flourish through a stressful season while others do not. To test the TRRL in this context, 113 married persons who became empty nesters within the previous 18 months filled out an online …

Relational Turbulence And Identity Gaps Amongst Committed Consensually Non-Monogamous Partners, R. E. Purtell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate relational turbulence processes and test Relational Turbulence Theory’s (RTT) first five propositions in a sample of 528 committed consensually non-monogamous (CNM) partners as they are experiencing the transition of their committed partner adding a new sexual or romantic partner other than themselves. CNM relationships are those in which at least one partner has multiple sexual and/or romantic relationships with the consent of all parties involved. Generally, the first five propositions of RTT were supported. Specifically, self uncertainty and partner uncertainty positively predicted relationship uncertainty, which in turn predicted biased cognitive appraisals, and …

Epistemological Insecurity In The Anthropocene, Dustin Purvis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation analyzes how increased mainstream awareness of climate change and other complex environmental phenomena transforms some of the basic tools we use to understand the world, including notions of agency, evidence, and causality. More specifically, this project highlights numerous contemporary literary and cultural narratives that formally and thematically depict impromptu systems of action and comprehension developed by humans confronting the unique forms of information overload that result from damaged and rapidly changing environments. Following critics like Ulrich Beck, Rob Nixon, and Stacy Alaimo, I suggest our current era of ecological instability and destructive environmental practices dictate what I refer …

Organizing (Eternal) Identity And Identification: An Upward Glance Into Religious Institutions, Casey M. Stratton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation disrupts at least two religious spaces: First, scholars religiously adhering to (social) scientific norms, and second, people identifying with religious organizations (i.e., churches). First, we begin constructing a theoretical lens using poststructural ideas offered by Foucault, Derrida, and Bakhtin to read and disrupt (religious) discourse. Second, we complicate organizational identification as a concept, deeming it fixed and fluid—a paradox within religious discourses that endorse Truth and Perfection. Here, we draw from the communication constitutes organization (CCO) approach. Third, we further curate the lens by applying poststructuralism, identification, and CCO in a specific context: The Church of Jesus Christ …

Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance To Newspaper, Radio, And Television, Claudia Mellado, Nicole Blanchett, Agnieszka Stępińska, Cornelia Mothes, Sophie Lecheler, David Blanco-Herrero, Yi Ning Katherine Chen, Akiba A. Cohen, Sergey Davydov, Mariana De Maio, Filip Dingerkus, Hassam Elhamy, Miguel Garcés-Prettel, Cyriac Gousset, Daniel C. Hallin, María Luisa Humanes, Marju Himma-Kadakas, Claudia Kozman, Misook Lee, Christi I.Hsuan Lin, Mireya Márquez-Ramírez, Jorge Maza-Córdova, Kieran Mcguinness, Karen Mcintyre, Jacques Mick, Ana Milojevic, Cristina Navarro, Dasniel Olivera

All Works

The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices, especially when examining cross-national studies. Based on a content analysis of 148,474 stories produced by 365 media organizations from 37 countries, this article compares the performance of journalistic roles in online newsrooms to three other types of media—TV, radio, and print. The paper analyzes if journalistic roles present themselves …

A Neo-Aristotelian Criticism Of Trump’S “Save America Speech” Utilizing The Five Canons Of Rhetoric, Jade Ruggieri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Riddled with fake news, the 2020 election is a unique moment in history where fake news, stemming from former President Donald Trump, led to a public demonstration that quickly devolved into a violent and controversial event. Through the lens of a Neo-Aristotelian rhetorical criticism, the five canons of rhetoric will analyze Trump’s “Save America” speech he held hours prior to the rally providing insights into how the power of words can precipitate people to incite action. Through a verbatim examination of the first and last 10 minutes of the speech, with the middle portion summarized, Trump’s speech provides insights to …

Advr 3310: Branding And Strategic Media (Syllabus), Joel Nichols

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Exploration of how branding and strategic media (advertising and public relations) move members of the target audience from the point of awareness to the point of engagement. Trends in branding such as targeted, viral and interactive techniques will be explored, and branding campaigns will be created and evaluated.

Advr 3324: Creative Strategy (Syllabus), Ruoxu Wang

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Principles of advertising psychology in relation to proven techniques for understanding the creative process, including writing effective copy and designing effective advertising. One lecture hour, four laboratory hours per week.

Jrsm 3900: Visual Media (Syllabus), Ashley Perks

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to and application of principles of visual communication, including typography, color and organization for print and digital media using Adobe Creative Cloud.

Jrsm 7002: Pro Seminar (Syllabus), Thomas J. Hrach

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Self-paced, online orientation for incoming master's students, addressing skills and issues relevant to graduate studies in mass communication. Grades of S/U, I will be given.