Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Turning From Fear To Hope, Brooke Zimny, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

I had a front-row seat to Ouachita’s approach to pandemic planning as a member of several administrative groups on campus. I remember feeling fear, anxiety and discouragement starting in March 2020 at the challenge ahead of and all around us. Perseverance, optimism and grit were displayed in abundance, but still a strange cloud hung over the year for me, knowing how it compared to typical years not only on campus but also personally. We were adapting as well as we could, but everything was different about how we were experiencing the world.

One of my roles this academic year was …

Hope By Way Of Lament, Doug Nykolaishen

Press Releases

“Back to normal.” Since the middle of last March, those words have felt like an impossible dream. As illness disrupted life for many and restrictions disrupted life for all, we longed for things to just be the way they used to be.

Now the widespread distribution of effective vaccines has encouraged many to hope that life may indeed be on its way back to something much closer to what we previously knew. Our natural desire is to get on with what’s good as quickly as we can. But in our haste to get to “a better world,” it’s worthwhile noticing …

Leading And Learning In A Pandemic Year--And Beyond, Anna Roussel

Press Releases

Navigating college always has its unique challenges, but doing so in the midst of a global pandemic is a feat that seemed nearly impossible a year ago. When we left campus suddenly in March of 2020, the uncertainty surrounding my college career was enough to literally move me to tears. I had spent my entire life hearing family members and friends tell stories of their time at Ouachita and longing for the day I was on campus, and I did not want to come to terms with my time being cut short. However, in the middle of the chaos, I …

Ouachita Launches Graduate Dietetic Internship During Pandemic, Rachel Gaddis, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

To say you started anything new in 2020 would, well, raise eyebrows – especially launching something as involved and hands-on as an academic program including clinical healthcare. But that’s exactly what Ouachita did during the 2020-2021 academic year, launching its first graduate programs in more than 20 years. The new programs are producing quick fruit, with seven students earning Ouachita’s first-ever post-baccalaureate certificate for dietetic internships in May 2021. (The first cohort of applied behavior analysis master’s degree students will graduate in August 2021.)

“Ten years ago, the placement rate for nutrition & dietetics students in a post-graduate internship was …

Does Precise Case Disclosure Limit Precautionary Behavior? Evidence From Covid-19 In Singapore, Aljoscha Janssen, Matthew H. Shapiro

Research Collection School Of Economics

Limiting the spread of contagious diseases can involve both government-managed and voluntary efforts. Governments have a number of policy options beyond direct intervention that can shape individuals’ responses to a pandemic and its associated costs. During its first wave of COVID-19 cases, Singapore was among a few countries that attempted to adjust behavior through the announcement of detailed case information. Singapore's Ministry of Health maintained and shared precise, daily information detailing local travel behavior and residences of COVID-19 cases. We use this policy along with device-level cellphone data to quantify how local and national COVID-19 case announcements trigger differential behavioral …

News Media Trust And Mistrust During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaitlyn Seiter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the uncertainty and growing information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, news media consumption has increased drastically compared to pre-pandemic consumption. At the start of the pandemic, 94% of Americans reported closely following COVID-19 news, with more than half of Americans spending more than two hours consuming COVID-19 news everyday (SSRS, 2020). With the news media serving as a critical source of information through this public health crisis, the public’s reactions, behaviors, and attitudes to the pandemic stem from the level of trust they have in the news media to share COVID-19 information. Because of this, this study examines trust in …

Examining Public Health Risk Communication Via Social Media By Provincial And Local Health Authorities In Ontario During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Marc Resendes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Risk communication campaigns are essential during public health crises to inform the public about ways to mitigate, alleviate and manage potential risks. The purpose of this study was to describe risk communication on social media by Ontarian health authorities amid COVID-19, in addition to examining the strategies that guided their social media use. This was completed through (a) a narrative review of risk communication literature; (b) a qualitative content analysis of select health authority Twitter messaging following three major COVID-19 milestones; and (c) key informant interviews with those coordinating social media responses to COVID-19. Information giving and news updates were …

Examining Media Dependency And Parasocial Relationship On Protective Action Behaviors During Covid-19, Amy Hyman

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the significant role that mass media plays in disseminating messages to the public during disasters and public health crises. Information disseminated during a disaster influences individuals’ decision-making process regarding protective actions, or mitigation behaviors. This study examined the relationship between media dependency theory, parasocial relationship, and media effects (cognitive, affective and behavioral) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was used with a convenience sample. The sample focused on residents in the state of Arkansas and specific generational cohorts. The results found that the generational cohorts had different media preferences during the height of …

Social Media Behaviors And Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Associations With Anxiety, Depression, And Stress, J. Mitchell Vaterlaus, Lori A. Spruance, Emily V. Patten

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The majority of research concerning public health crises and social media platforms has focused on analyzing the accuracy of information within social media posts. The current exploratory study explored social media users’ specific social media behaviors and experiences during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these behaviors and experiences related to anxiety, depression, and stress. Data were collected March 21–31, 2020 from adults in the United States (N = 564) through snowball sampling on social media sites and Prime Panels. Online surveys included questions regarding social media use during the pandemic and the Depression Anxiety and …

It Is. It Isn't. It Is., Chad Kuyper

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This piece was written in late July 2020. Stay-at-home orders had been lifted a couple months prior in Minnesota, but both the state and the country were seeing a steep rise in COVID-19 infections. No viable vaccine was on the horizon.

I wanted to play with chronology in this piece. Spending fourteen months inside the same set of walls makes both time – and memory – slippery. Hard to wrestle into a recognizable shape. So the events of these two days are told in a chronological jumble that more closely resembles how I recall events of the last year. And …

Reflections On Writer's Block, Hilary Rasmussen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

When I finished the MA program at Northern Illinois University in 2010, I initially had no intention of returning for a PhD. I felt burned out on academics and was itching to get into my own classroom to teach. Despite the intense pressures of a tightening job market, I was fortunate. I found a permanent, full-time faculty position at a small, rural university in the southwest corner of Minnesota. Deciding to leave that wonderful and supportive community was difficult, but after three years there, I realized that I had more to say (and more to learn) and I wanted to …

Public Health Agencies Outreach Through Instagram During Covid-19 Pandemic: Crisis And Emergency Risk Communication Perspective, Aqdas Malik, Laeeq M. Khan, Anabel Quan-Haase

FIMS Publications

Background: Governmental and non-governmental institutions increasingly use social media as a strategic tool for public outreach. Global spread, promptness, and dialogic potentials make these platforms ideal for public health monitoring and emergency communication in crises such as COVID-19.

Objective: Drawing on the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication framework, we sought to examine how leading health organizations use Instagram for communicating and engaging during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We manually retrieved Instagram posts together with relevant metadata of four health organizations (WHO, CDC, IFRC, and NHS) shared between January 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020. Two coders manually coded the analytical …

The Reset: Connecting Internal Crisis Communication Strategy With Post-Pandemic Remote Worker Populations Through An Employee Engagement Framework, Erin Leigh Black

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In the post-pandemic workforce, unprecedented events are the new normal. Although the remote worker revolution has been rumored for decades, in early 2020, the idea became an instant reality when global governments closed their borders, instituted lockdown, and ordered citizens to shelter-in-place (Weideman & Hofmeyr, 2020). Given the global shift in work, organizations have an immediate need to communicate with the crisis-ladened, post-pandemic, remote workforce; however, there is a sizable gap in research between internal crisis communication and the post-pandemic remote worker population. Through a phenomenologically based, interpretive analysis of current strategic and crisis communication research and frameworks, this project …

Elysium As A Social Allegory: At The Nexus Of Dystopia, Cyberpunk, And Plutocracy, Emre Ulusoy

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Michael Kwet, People’S Tech For People’S Power: A Guide To Digital Self Defense And Empowerment (2020), Gokcen Y. Karanfil

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Disease And Disaster: Navigating Food Insecurity In A Community Affected By Crises During Covid-19, Andrew S. Pyle, Michelle Eichinger, Barry A. Garst, Catherine Mobley, Sarah F. Griffin, Leslie H. Hossfeld, Mike Mcgirr, Helen R. Saunders

Publications

This exploratory study examines how a community experiencing food insecurity while navigating multiple crises can be a model to inform resources, processes, and systems supporting communities facing similar circumstances. Data for this study were collected from residents of a community in Oconee County, a rural county in the northwest corner of South Carolina experiencing pervasive food insecurity. The community was severely impacted by the onset of COVID-19 and further devastated by a tornado in mid-April. The area of the county that sustained the greatest damage from the tornado was the Utica Mill Hill community, home to the county’s most vulnerable …

A Content Analysis Of The Coverage Of Covid-19 In The First Seven Days, Chrystal Celestine Kerubo Onkeo Ms

Theses & Dissertations

This study explored how the Kenyan print media covered Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the first seven days after the first infection was confirmed in Kenya. The was guided by the following research objectives: - (i) To find out the prominence the Kenyan media gave COVID-19 stories in the first seven days following the announcement of patient zero, (ii)To identify the frames that were predominantly used by the media in the coverage of COVID-19 following the announcement of patient zero, and (iii)To examine the extent to which COVID-19 stories published in the first seven days following the announcement of patient …

Place Of Solutions Journalism In Coverage Of A Crisis: Examining Reporting Of Covid-19 Pandemic In Kenyan Newspapers, Rebecca Mutheu Mutiso Ms

Theses & Dissertations

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya in March 2020 created an unprecedented challenge to media houses. Media coverage of the disease raised questions on the best approach that can be used for reporting the Covid-19 crisis and whether journalists should only report the reality of the social and economic impact of the pandemic or they have a duty to also tell stories on the responses to the crisis, an approach referred to as solutions journalism. The study’s objectives were: - (i) examine the major themes in the coverage of Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya’s media, (ii) to explore the …

The “New Normal”: A Virtual Insight From Industry Professionals On Pivoting Within The Digital Ecosystem During A Global Pandemic., Delina Corcione

Theses

This project is over industry professionals within a relative field of Digital Content Strategy, and their professional experiences as it relates to the global pandemic that hit the United States in 2020. This virus (COVID-19) has boosted us into a predominantly digital world, with little analysis on how society is to handle or adapt. The final deliverable is short documentary offering insight on industry professionals within the field of study. The “New Normal” takes a unique approach on analyzing the state of the field as it relates to the pandemic, focusing on the personal experiences these industry professionals went through …

“We’Re Sinking And We’Re Sinking Quick”: Family And Feeding Work During The Covid-19 Pandemic For Single, White, Middle-Class Mothers, Debora Garrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the work of single, white, middle-class women feeding and caring for their families during the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020. The study draws from qualitative analyses of one-on-one interviews conducted with seven single mothers. After situating single mothers and family food provision in the academic literature, as well as and current knowledge about the pandemic in the U.S., the author explores ways that the pandemic disrupted family life. Findings indicated that the single mothers were keenly impacted by being cut off from child care, schools, and other social connections they needed to maintain employment. Further, their …

Us Political Leadership And Crisis Communication During Covid-19, Daryl V. Watkins, Aaron D. Clevenger

Publications

The research explored the role of political leadership in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The researchers conducted a political discourse analysis on 239 transcripts from the press briefings of President Trump and seven U. S. governors to determine the extent to which the research subjects used effective crisis leadership and communication. These results suggest that President Trump and Governors DeSantis, DeWine, Ducey, and Ivey are particularly vulnerable to political fallout for their handling of COVID-19 because stakeholders might view them as inattentive to the crisis and ineffective in their policy responses. Governors Cuomo, Newsom, and Whitmer may be in …

Texting To Maintain Relationships During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Madeline Jupina

Undergraduate Research

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many college students saw shifts in their relationships. As a result, many turned to texting to maintain these relationships even in a stressful time. Sixty-nine participants responded to a survey about texting family members, friends, and romantic partners during the coronavirus pandemic. They responded to survey items based on the five relational maintenance strategies created by Stafford & Canary (1991). College students used texting somewhat more than before the pandemic to maintain relationships across every relationship type. Depending on the type of relationship, different relational maintenance strategies were emphasized. Although this study examines texted relational …

Progress In A Pandemic (Closing Thoughts), Ben Sells

Press Releases

In the midst of a pandemic, Ouachita’s progress makes us an encouraging outlier in higher education. While total university enrollment in the country continues to decrease, Ouachita increases – our highest in 20 years. We’re also graduating students at our highest level in history plus a placement rate of 97%.

We’re preparing students to serve in additional ways, including in health professions that are all the more important in today’s world. Our new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program seeks to meet the national shortage, and our M.S. degree in applied behavior analysis – the first option of its kind …

Navigating Unprecedented Times And Other Clichés (Editor's Notes From The Winter 2021 "Ouachita Circle"), Brooke Zimny, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Due to the pandemic ... canceled until further notice … we will navigate these uncertain times ... with resilience, optimism and creativity.

These and other phrases became all too familiar in 2020. As a communicator writing on behalf of Ouachita, they have become even more top of mind for me this year. As we chose the theme for this issue of the Ouachita Circle, no words seemed sufficient. Even words that were accurate and appropriate had lost their meaning, becoming clichés in our collective consciousness. And now, in 2021, which brings its own challenges, we are weary of the pandemic, …

Art And Internet Infrastructure, Liat Berdugo

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

In her essay Art and Internet Infrastructure, multimedia artist, curator, and professor Liat Berdugo contemplates and complicates our overreliance and relationship with networks and technology especially during shelter-in-place.

Coming Together While Standing Apart Encouraging Community Ownership During The Isolating Days Of A Pandemic, Cora Scott

eJournal of Public Affairs

Because of the pandemic, the future feels difficult and uncertain, and few of us have much control over it, beyond doing our best to keep ourselves informed and those around us safe. The result is a lot of unhappy people. Gallup survey data show that pessimism about the future of the pandemic in the U.S. is rising. This is infecting our general outlook. This article explains on how one local government and health department successfully communicated during the pandemic and even increased community engagement. This was done through encouraging a sense of community ownership.

Recovering From A Tornado During A Pandemic, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

Most will remember 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic, but for Laini Bergthold, a junior communication major from Chattanooga, Tennessee, the year brought a different kind of trauma in the form of a tornado that destroyed her family’s home.

What Does A Pandemic Sound Like? The Emergence Of Covid Verbal Art, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

In times of social upheaval, people create and engage with verbal art for entertainment and a feeling of connection. While millions of people were forced to stay home to reduce the spread of COVID‑19 from March to July 2020, verbal artists posted recorded performances online and viewers had more time than usual to watch and share them. COVID verbal art refers to songs, poems, and comedy skits that mention social and physical distancing, quarantine and isolation, hygiene and cleaning practices, everyday experiences during the pandemic, as well as social and political critiques of policies and practices that explicitly mention COVID‑19 …

Twentieth Century Pandemic Narratives And Mental Health Discourse, Kristy R. Barraza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper utilizes René Girard’s theories concerning plague literature to examine twentieth century pandemic novels’ engagement with mental health discourses surrounding anxiety and melancholia. Girard argues that plague literature consists of four main elements: contamination, dissipation of differences, doubles, and sacrifice; he also argues that the plague represents violence. In 1918, a plague of influenza killed more people in the United States than all the wars from the twentieth century combined. William Maxwell’s They Came Like Swallows and Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider depict the trauma caused by the 1918 pandemic; Maxwell shows how the 1918 influenza disrupted …

Social Media Self-Regulation And The Rise Of Vaccine Misinformation, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines the main characteristics and shortcomings of mainstream social media responses to vaccine misinformation and disinformation. Parts I and II contextualize the recent expansion of vaccine information and disinformation in the online environment. Part III provides a survey and taxonomy of ongoing responses to vaccine misinformation adopted by mainstream social media. It further notes the limitations of current self-regulatory modes and illustrates these limitations by presenting a short case study on Facebook—the largest social media vehicle for vaccine-specific misinformation, currently estimated to harbor approximately half of the social media accounts linked to vaccine misinformation. Part IV examines potential …