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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Agenda Setting Effects Of Cnn’S Twitter In The 2016 Super Tuesday Primaries, Joy Huertas Jul 2016

The Agenda Setting Effects Of Cnn’S Twitter In The 2016 Super Tuesday Primaries, Joy Huertas

Masters Theses

Governmental fall downs, electoral outcomes, terrorism propaganda, and climate change awareness are just some of the commonly known results of the effects of news media coverage on the public opinion and society as a whole. For years, researchers have utilized the agenda setting theory as a basis for their studies on the effects of the news media coverage on the public opinion in countless of contexts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the agenda setting effects of a major broadcast news organization but from one of their most influential social media channels, Twitter. CNN’s daily Twitter mentions of …


Medium As King: Social Media & The Political Campaign, Isaac Shea Jul 2016

Medium As King: Social Media & The Political Campaign, Isaac Shea

Masters Theses

There is a growing need for a greater understanding of the intersection between great content, effective targeting and proper media usage in mediated communication and especially in American politics. As more campaigns move their efforts online in an attempt to reach a rapidly growing digital constituency, more content will continue to be less visible. The major quest for this study will be to challenge the long-standing idea that “content is king” which Bill Gates termed at the inception of the internet. A theoretical background of Marshall McLuhan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson will not only allow us to answer this question, …


Branding Faith: Do Christian Ministries Reach Millennials With Branding?, Bolashade Hanson May 2016

Branding Faith: Do Christian Ministries Reach Millennials With Branding?, Bolashade Hanson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research study is to discover what branding techniques used by Christian organizations are effective in connecting with Millennials and why, and to determine what are effective branding practices in a religious context. A convergent parallel mixed–method research design was used to gather the data. It included a content analysis of the branding components of four Christian organizations that target Millennials—The Passion Conference, The VOUS Conference, Acquire the Fire and Winterfest. A survey of 150 Millennials of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds within the age range of 18-34 was conducted to collect quantitative data on Millennials’ predispositions …


The Rhetorical Fantasies Of The Kent State Rioters: A Study Of Sds Peripheral Influence, Amanda Stanley May 2016

The Rhetorical Fantasies Of The Kent State Rioters: A Study Of Sds Peripheral Influence, Amanda Stanley

Masters Theses

In the 1960s and early 1970s, American colleges were shaken by a group whose collective view of the country was so abhorrent that they tried, through word and action, to tear the country apart. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) created and sustained a vision that was shared by thousands and fueled by stories of members who traveled the country recruiting college students to carry out the organization’s mission of war against society. The words spoken in speeches and written in publications created by the SDS demonstrate the power in a shared vision and served to create unity among …


Cultural Influence Of Storytelling: An Examination Of The Use Of Narratives In Political Campaigns, Charla Bansley Nov 2015

Cultural Influence Of Storytelling: An Examination Of The Use Of Narratives In Political Campaigns, Charla Bansley

Masters Theses

Television has changed political discourse. The thirty second commercial has replaced typography and rhetoric. After losing the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, the Republican National Committee concluded that the GOP has lost the ability to persuade. Walter Fisher's Narrative Paradigm states that meaningful communication is in the form of storytelling, which enables public discourse to observe not only differences, but commonalities. In a postmodern culture that does not believe in absolute truth, this study asked the following question: Are conservatives still using statistics and facts to communicate conservative principles? The rhetorical research conducted here examined …


Prohibit, Tolerate, Or Prefer: A Content Analysis Of Agenda-Setting And The Lgbt In Msnbc And Fox News, Ashley Elizabeth Wiktorek Jun 2015

Prohibit, Tolerate, Or Prefer: A Content Analysis Of Agenda-Setting And The Lgbt In Msnbc And Fox News, Ashley Elizabeth Wiktorek

Masters Theses

Social movements have one common theme. A common theme of change. The lesbian gay bisexual transgender [LGBT] movement is no different. With change happening all around us, the LGBT movement is slowing trying to gain a voice and make its objectives known to society and in turn demand society accept the movement's specific desire for change. The LGBT movement has an agenda; however, the media also portrays another agenda about information and issues presented on the LGBT movement. In this analysis, the LGBT movement research surrounding agenda-setting theory will be reviewed. The purpose of this study is to analyze numerous …


A Dramatistic Look At Motive And Egypt’S 2011 Revolution, Blair J. Cook Jun 2015

A Dramatistic Look At Motive And Egypt’S 2011 Revolution, Blair J. Cook

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the primary motivating factors in the protestors whose demonstrations resulted in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt’s 2011 revolution. The methodology is rooted in Kenneth Burke’s Dramatic Pentad. The elements of the pentad were observed in 29 articles from Daily News Egypt which were published between January 18 and February 18, 2011. Then the most prominent ratios were examined. Finally, the Guilt-Redemption Cycle was observed in the actions of the protesters. This methodology yielded the motivation of the protesters in Egypt’s 2011 revolution. It was discovered that the protesters had determined …


Idealism And Pragmatism In The Rhetoric Of John Boehner: A Weaverian Analysis Of Congressional Discourse, Cody Hawley Jun 2014

Idealism And Pragmatism In The Rhetoric Of John Boehner: A Weaverian Analysis Of Congressional Discourse, Cody Hawley

Masters Theses

American political rhetoric is characterized by a synthesis of contradictory idealistic and pragmatic elements, both of which are necessary if there is to be convincing persuasion. The way in which politicians rhetorically approach this dichotomy is significant, however, current studies on the topic are limited to presidential discourse. There is little research on this topic in other settings such the United States House of Representatives. This criticism analyzes John Boehner's congressional rhetoric in the idealistic-pragmatic dichotomy. The critical method utilized is Richard Weaver's four forms of argument-genus, similitude, consequence, and circumstance. Eight speeches of John Boehner, four from his position …


Quench The Thirst: A Content Analysis Of The Persuasive Techniques Of Unicef's Tap Project, Rachel Chadalavada Jan 2014

Quench The Thirst: A Content Analysis Of The Persuasive Techniques Of Unicef's Tap Project, Rachel Chadalavada

Masters Theses

This study analyzes the persuasive techniques utilized by UNICEF's Tap Project. This water related campaign began in 2007 and since then has created four themes. These themes are: Dine out, Celebrity Tap, Facebook Push and Cellphone Challenge. The study finds that the videos employed by the Tap Project portray all six Facets of Effects. However, their usage was based on the message that was being delivered. That said, not all videos utilized all of the facets. This implies that an advertisement need not necessarily use all six Facets of Effects to be successful. The facet of association however, stood out …


Lights, Camera, Vote: An Agenda-Setting Analysis Of Celebrity Endorsements And News Correlation During The 2012 Presidential Election, Amanda Jacobsen Nov 2013

Lights, Camera, Vote: An Agenda-Setting Analysis Of Celebrity Endorsements And News Correlation During The 2012 Presidential Election, Amanda Jacobsen

Masters Theses

Many studies have been done in order to prove the idea that celebrity endorsements can affect elections; however little research has exposed the ongoing correlation between entertainment and news media in America. This research investigates the strong correlation between entertainment websites and mainstream news websites during the 2012 United States presidential election by way of celebrity endorsements. The sources examined included celebrity, entertainment journalism sites such as The Huffington Post, People and E! as compared to networks; ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, CNN and CBS News. Twelve celebrities were chosen by means of their given Q Score. Their announced …


Disease, War, And Famine In The Sudan And Haiti: A Crisis Noticed And A Crisis Ignored, Melissa Whalen Apr 2013

Disease, War, And Famine In The Sudan And Haiti: A Crisis Noticed And A Crisis Ignored, Melissa Whalen

Masters Theses

The media acts as a gatekeeper and decides what material to cover and what not to cover. In order to better understand why one disaster receives media coverage and another crisis is virtually unnoticed by the media, the motives behind covering one story over another is analyzed in this study. Three major American newspaper articles concerning the Haitian earthquake and the crisis in Darfur are examined in order to discover the media's motives for covering Haiti over Darfur.


Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg Jan 2013

Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated the impact of social influence on weight loss, more specifically, the internal and external elements that effect response and success of those who are trying to lose weight. The research focused on three questions: (1) How great of an influence does self-efficacy have in weight loss success? (2) How great of an influence does social comparison have in weight loss success? (3) Which factor has the largest impact on weight loss: self-efficacy, peer efficacy, or positive social support, or negative social support? Data was collected by the researcher conducting semi-structured interviews. These interview were conducted with …


The Rancor Of Republicans, The Diatribe Of Democrats A Social Network Analysis Of Partisan Interconnectivity On Facebook, Sean Langille Dec 2012

The Rancor Of Republicans, The Diatribe Of Democrats A Social Network Analysis Of Partisan Interconnectivity On Facebook, Sean Langille

Masters Theses

The Internet has played a more active role in shaping modern American political communication. With the increased popularity of social networking through websites like Facebook, more are taking to the Internet to engage in civic dialogue. This study will explore how the exchange of socially networked images, texts, and audio between Democrats and Republicans affect beliefs, behaviors and perceptions. Utilizing qualitative methodologies, the researcher interviewed ten (10) registered democrats and ten (10) registered republicans. The participants were basked ten questions and ten follow up questions. The study applied a social network analysis to evaluate how socially networked dialogue between Republicans …


Daniel Hannan, Thomas Paine, And The Rhetoric Of Outrage, Danae Brack Aug 2012

Daniel Hannan, Thomas Paine, And The Rhetoric Of Outrage, Danae Brack

Masters Theses

The purpose of this rhetorical study is to examine the textual charisma of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Daniel Hannan's speech "The Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government" and how that charisma made these artifacts successful in spreading outrage surrounding the historical and political events of their respective eras. The author uses Weber's theory of charisma filtered through Rosenberg and Hirschberg's expanded theory identifying lexical charisma, or the charisma of messages. The author analyzes Paine's and Hannan's use of persuasiveness, believability, and powerfulness, translating each of these characteristics into specific cues that can be identified in the individual texts. …


Bears, Baby Carrots, And The Colbert Bump: An Analysis On Stephen Colbert's Use Of Humor To Set The Public's Political Agenda, Dominique Mckay Apr 2012

Bears, Baby Carrots, And The Colbert Bump: An Analysis On Stephen Colbert's Use Of Humor To Set The Public's Political Agenda, Dominique Mckay

Masters Theses

In recent years, political satire has risen in popularity and recognition as an effective means of transmitting political news to a younger generation of voters. This recent development brings forth new questions about the role of political satire in setting the public's political agenda. Using Agenda-Setting Theory as a framework, this study takes The Colbert Report, one of the most popular satire television shows of this generation, and analyzes it for a possible political agenda. In the end, what this study finds is that in the six weeks leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election The Colbert Report chose …