Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

You Need This: Global Fast Fashion, Environment, And Consumption Culture, Alexandra Lamm

Student Work

In looking at how global production of clothing has increased and shifted, we see the impacts in places like workers rights, environmental issues and cultural consumption. Although vastly different, through examination we will see how all are intrinsically linked. We have reached a truly global economy, and even when threatened with negative consequences of mass consumption in our daily lives, the road to actual change in the fashion industry becomes harder in time due to our dependency on the industry as a whole.

Social Media Impact On Small Brick And Mortar Businesses, David N. Bowles

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the implementation of various strategies and goals for small to medium brick-and-mortar enterprises regarding their use of social media. Drawing from primary data collection with small brick-and-mortar businesses within the greater metro area of Portland, Oregon, the value of social media is the ability of an organization to create a sense of value for their consumers while promoting positive relations and enhancing the consumer's ability to interact with an organization on a more personal level. Focusing on the implementation of various strategies and promotional efforts to increase the success of these small businesses and align their organizational …

Respawning Jihadist: Isis Recruiting Through Online Gaming Communities, Alexander J. Ham-Kucharski

Student Work

The purpose of my research is to educate and bring awareness of ISIS’s (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) recruiting programs through social media and video games. As stated by Lakomy (2019): “Cyber jihadis nowadays rightly perceived as a rising threat to international security” (2019, p. 383). ISIS targets individuals as young as teenagers through games such as Call of Duty, Far Cry, Halo, ARMA3, and Grand Theft Auto as to recruit those from the Western world for their Jihad. ISIS Recruiters use these platforms to attract initiates via the gaming world through imagery that …

The Pacific Sentinel: Fall 2022, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Dan Chilton

Articles in this issue include:

• Letter From the Editor
• Stranged Writing
• Rock Band Help Finds Time to Breathe Through the Chaos
• Titane
• Hurray for the Riff Raff
• The Work to Resolve Houselessness
• Doctrine Urbi Serviat
• Notes from Behind the Bar
• A very Modest Proposal
• Comic

Systemic Barriers That Exclude Bipoc Authors From Literary Awards And The Proposed Solutions To Evoke Change, Devyn Yan Radke

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

This research aims to 1) provide an in-depth analysis of the National Book Award (NBA), with a focus on Lisa Lucas, her commitment to diversity, and how it has impacted the awards, 2) identify the systemic barriers BIPOC authors may experience that are setbacks from being recognized in literary awards, and 3) the importance of diversity in book publishing professional executive positions.

The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard Of 2016: Intersection Of Technology And Public Understanding Of Science In The United States, Brianne Suldovsky, William K. Hallman

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Genetically modified (GM) foods have been commercially available in the US for more than two decades, yet Americans know very little about them. With the implementation of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard of 2016, food manufacturers will be required to disclose the presence of GM ingredients in their food products. How food manufacturers communicate with consumers about GM ingredients may have consequences for public understanding of GM technology. In Study 1, we explore how food manufacturers characterize GM ingredients within their food products on SmartLabel, a digital disclosure website established by the Grocery Manufacturers Association. In Study 2, we …

Editorial: Helping Scientists To Communicate Well For All Considered: Strategic Science Communication In An Age Of Environmental And Health Crises, Brianne Suldovsky, Marcia Allison, Marina Joubert, Ingrid E. Lofgren, Scott Mcwilliams

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

From documenting evidence-based science communication training programs to examining issues of intersectionality and inclusivity in science communication, each of the 12 articles in this special issue offers a unique perspective on science communication, public engagement, and inclusivity. The case studies of training programs provide helpful lessons learned that have broad applicability. The descriptions of how social scientific and rhetorical approaches have been used to enhance inclusive science communication offer new insights into more effective science communication practices. Our hope is that, taken together, these articles will inspire improvements in our collective ability to more effectively and equitably apply scientific research …

Public History Is Now, Sarah E. Dougher

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

A walking tour of downtown Portland in August 2021 raises questions for the writer about the purpose of “memory activism,” its relation to writing-as-activism. Drawing on critiques of urbanist Jane Jacobs and interrogating the concept of “reckoning,” the essay explores ways in which the streetscape and people there can deliver meaning and pose questions about systemic racism and unsheltered existence.

Framing The Green New Deal And Climate Change: A Content Analysis Of The New York Times And The Wall Street Journal, Danielle Elizabeth Duffy

Dissertations and Theses

The importance of climate change recognition and need for action cannot be overstated. Climate change has historically been a partisan issue with an almost hyper focus on the (un)certainty of science, the need for action within a particular timeframe, and the cost of tackling the issue. With the contemporary relevance and salience of climate change, this content analysis explores emerging framing patterns in coverage of the Green New Deal and subsequent climate change references within news articles from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in 2019. Frame typology from O'Neill et al. (2015) is used to explore the …

Parent Attitudes Towards Childhood Vaccines After The Onset Of Sars-Cov-2 In The United States, Douglas J. Opel, Anna Furniss, Chuan Zhou, John D. Rice, Heather Spielvogle, Christine Spina, Cathryn Perreira, Jessica Giang, Jeffrey D. Robinson, Multiple Additional Authors

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To understand the influence of a novel infectious disease epidemic on parent general attitudes about childhood vaccines.

Methods: We conducted a natural experiment utilizing cross-sectional survey data from parents of infants in Washington and Colorado participating in a larger trial that began on September 27, 2019. At enrollment, parents completed the short version of the Parental Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV-SF), a validated survey scored from 0-4, with higher scores representing more negative attitudes. The exposure variable was onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the US, with the before-period defined as September 27, 2019 –– February 28, …

Lgbtq+ Congregants Navigating Identity In The Context Of "Welcoming But Not Affirming" Evangelical, Pentecostal, And Non-Denominational Religious Institutions: A Queer Narrative Analysis, Sarah E. Rasmussen

University Honors Theses

Welcoming but not affirming Evangelical, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches invite LGBTQ+ people to attend their church, but do not affirm their identity as a gender and/or sexual minority. Because of this, they restrict LGBTQ+ attendees from participating in leadership, paid staff positions, and ministry work. LGBTQ+ attendees are often not aware of these restrictive policies initially. The current study aims to examine how LGBTQ+ people navigate their faith and identity within welcoming but not affirming church spaces through narrative analysis. Fifteen participants engaged in an interview, where they were asked about their experience within welcoming but not affirming church spaces. …

Governmental Persuasion Strategies On Social Media During Covid-19: A Comparative Study Of The Us And China, Fan Wang

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

This study compared persuasive strategies of the governments of the U.S. and China during a public health crisis using social media messages. Collecting data with R and Python from two national public health sectors' official accounts on Twitter (N = 1,630) and Sina Weibo (N = 3,554), the researcher investigated how the organizations' messages reflected Cialdini's seven principles of persuasion and whether other emergent messaging patterns occurred. According to the different phases that the two countries had gone through during the pandemic, the researcher also conducted a pooled times series analysis to investigate the relationship between the frequency of daily …

International Cross-Media Adaptation: A Case Study Of The Witcher, Alexa Schmidt

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

As consumer media habits further diverge with the introduction of new technologies and social spaces, literature has increasingly been adapted in new mediums. Adaptations of written works have the exposure and visual appeal to draw in a larger audience than the pages of the original would.

This research question is extremely relevant to the shift the industry has made with the introduction of new technologies for cross-media storytelling through video games, film and television. Increasingly, publishers, like Level 4 Press, look for stories that will translate well into a TV series or movie, and cross-media stories and adaptations have been …

Augmentative And Alternative Communication Use, Service Delivery Experiences, And Communicative Participation For People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Betts Peters

Dissertations and Theses

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) often experience changes to their speech, and may use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices and techniques to maintain the ability to communicate. The use of AAC may facilitate the participation of people with ALS in various life situations involving communication. There is limited data in the literature about the AAC approaches currently used by people with ALS, the professional services they receive to support communication, or the effects of AAC on their communicative participation. This dissertation involved a nationwide online survey of people with ALS, and comprises three papers intended to add to …

Social Media Marketing And Insurance: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media Marketing On Small Independent Brokerages Of Property And Casualty Insurance, Kaylee B. Brucker

University Honors Theses

Property and casualty insurance is an intangible service. It is a large industry within the US that in most regard is perpetual. Marketing for insurance is not similar to marketing for most other services or products. The agent must relay the value to the consumer prior to them purchasing it. Further, when considering social media marketing, we find a separate strategy of marketing. Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular, it has shown as a successful strategy for obtaining consumers' attention and their business. This success has been seen in many industries, including insurance. However, there is a lack of …

A Protracted Developmental Trajectory For English-Learning Children's Detection Of Consonant Mispronunciations In Newly Learned Words, Carolyn M. Quam, Daniel Swingley

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Children are adept at learning their language’s speech-sound categories, but just how these categories function in their developing lexicon has not been mapped out in detail. Here, we addressed whether, in a language-guided looking procedure, 2-year-olds would respond to a mispronunciation of the voicing of the initial consonant of a newly learned word. First, to provide a baseline of mature native-speaker performance, adults were taught a new word under training conditions of low prosodic variability. In a second experiment, 24- and 30-month-olds were taught a new word under training conditions of high or low prosodic variability. Children and adults showed …

Artificial Intelligence As A Content Creator In The Publishing Industry, John Huston

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

Several methods were used in my research. A literature review was used to define artificial intelligence (AI) in general and in relation to how it’s used in literature today. I also relied heavily on Dr Leah Henrickson’s work on Natural Language Generation (NLG), which discusses authorship and roles between authors and readers.

Several case studies were used in my research. Liam Porr’s Guardian Op-ed was reviewed as his team used humans to edit GPT-3 output for a coherent article, much like I used it in a focus group. The Kimagure Artificial Intelligence Writer’s Project was also evaluated. The writing for …

The Rise Of Xr Storytelling And The Contribution Of Consumer Accessibility, Cost Efficiency, & Intrinsic Value To Feasibility, Sarah Moffatt

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

This research assesses the current state of XR (extended reality) publishing and its feasibility within an exceptionally virtual landscape. Feasibility is measured upon the challenges and opportunities posed by accessibility, cost efficiency, demand, and intrinsic value.

Through market analysis of past and ongoing XR storytelling projects, as well as qualitative methods which include industry interviews and public surveys, it has been found that publishers would do well to first adopt augmented reality storytelling methods before venturing further into virtual reality storytelling. Because augmented reality is generally more accessible and cost efficient, its adoption contributes to increased …

Book Deserts Of Litlandia: A Case Study Of Book Deserts In The Literary City Of Portland, Oregon In Relation To Book Waste From It’S Largest Independent Bookstore, Megan Jessop

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

The goal of this project was to look at book waste from a local independent bookstore, Powell’s Books, in Portland, Oregon and compare local donation and literacy programs—such as Little Free Libraries (LFL), Children’s Book Bank, and programs with the Multnomah County Library (MCL) to see if there were books or print materials that were being thrown away, recycled, and/or turned into pulp that could have been utilized in other ways towards literacy efforts. Through a process of interviews with staff at Portland’s largest local independent bookstore, MCL, a LFL steward, and Children’s Book Bank, as well as analysis of …

Keeping In Touch While Sheltering In Place: A Comparative Case Study On The Complex Emotions Experienced By Older Adults When Introduced To Icts And Video Conferencing Services, Marisa Susan Soltz

Dissertations and Theses

Currently, COVID-19 poses a threat to the US and the rest of the world, which has created the need for many people to establish physical distance from others. This need for physical distance is perhaps most important for those most vulnerable to COVID-19, which includes the older adult population. Through this time of physical isolation, most people need to keep in touch with each other while sheltering in place. Advances in digital communication have offered new avenues to help people maintain communication, and these advances have made the lives of many easier and more efficient. These new avenues for communication …

Building And Expanding Avestor’S Social Media Presence: A Capstone Review, Hope Foley

University Honors Theses

The Business capstone project involves a small team working directly with a local business to provide assistance in achieving a specific goal the company may have for their future. Through research, informational visuals, and presentations to the client, the team presents a final recommendation as to the best option to achieve the company's goal and the most effective way to implement it.

The Many Moving Parts Behind Brandon Sanderson’S Record-Breaking Kickstarter Campaign, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

The creation and fulfillment of Sanderson’s Kickstarter relies on a crack team managing massive amounts of data as well as all aspects of production. Sanderson had been running a multi-million-dollar, mid-sized publishing company well before his March 1, 2022 Kickstarter shot north of $28 million in two weeks, making it the biggest campaign—for now—in Kickstarter history.

Killer Serials: Amazon’S Kindle Vella, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Can Amazon's Kindle Vella Break Through With Younger Readers? From its inception, Amazon has pushed book publishing toward a digital future that other entertainment industries such as video games and streaming media have been quicker to embrace. Kindle Vella, one of Amazon’s most recent digital programs, is worth watching.

Kindle Vella is a serialized reading experience folded into Amazon’s Kindle app. It quietly launched in July 2021. If it can catch on, it has enormous potential to capture the attention of a new generation of readers and writers already engaging serialized stories in apps like Webtoons and Wattpad--GenZers reading serialized …

Publishing In The Pacific Northwest, Kathi Inman Berens, Rachel Noorda, Nathalie Op De Beeck

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Overview of how 11 Pacific Northwest booksellers survived Covid, and continue to thrive after pandemic lockdowns have lifted. After many consumers shifted to online book buying, what techniques are these book stores using to attract and keep customers?

Measuring Morality In The 2020 Us Presidential Election, Scott Edward Atkins

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the moral content evident in speeches by 2020 US Presidential Candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory (Haidt, 2013), I test the hypotheses that each candidate's moral content, as measured by the use of certain morally salient keywords, will fall along patterns based on their political affiliation. In testing these hypotheses, I also present a comparison of keyword analysis methods. The first uses a simple word count procedure alongside the Moral Foundations Dictionary 2.0, developed by Frimer et al. (2017), which scores a document based on the presence of words from each of …