Communication Commons^™

Innovative Approaches For Investigating How Children Understand Risk In New Media: Dealing With Methodological And Ethical Challenges, Monica Barbovschi, Lelia Green, Sofie Vandoninck

Research outputs 2013

This report has been produced by drawing on examples of (self-assessed) innovative qualitative studies (or studies with a qualitative component) provided by researchers in the EU Kids Online network (see Annex 3). Its purpose is to offer an approach to qualitative research that balances methodological innovation with responsible, ethically sensitive attitudes towards research with and about children, and their online experiences. The anticipated audience of this report is an academic one, with at least some experience in qualitative social research. The report is intended to be useful to researchers with an inclination towards qualitative methodologies, to experienced qualitative researchers new …

Masculinity, Mass Consumerism And Subversive Sex: A Case Study Of Second Life's 'Zeus' Gay Club, Judith A. Elund

Research outputs 2013

This article is a case study of a Second Life region in reference to the prevailing attitudes of sexual conservatism and the growing acceptance of homosexual coupling. The site of Zeus is a contested site of legitimacy in view of tensions regarding masculinity as it applies to sex, sexuality, gender conformity and consumption practices. Furthermore, it is representative of the tensions between an acceptable, albeit conservative gay male identity, and the subversive hyper-sexual and hyper-masculine subject of desire.

New Orleans: A Disaster Waiting To Happen?, Rodney J. Giblett

Research outputs 2013

New Orleans is one of a number of infamous swamp cities—cities built in swamps, near them or on land “reclaimed” from them, such as London, Paris, Venice, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Petersburg, and Perth. New Orleans seemed to be winning the battle against the swamps until Hurricane Katrina of 2005, or at least participating in an uneasy truce between its unviable location and the forces of the weather to the point that the former was forgotten until the latter intruded as a stark reminder of its history and geography. Around the name “Katrina” a whole series of events and images congregate, …

What Bothers Australian Kids Online? Children Comment On Bullies, Porn And Violence, Lelia Green, Danielle Brady, Donell Holloway, Elisabeth Staksrud, Kjartan Ólafsson

Research outputs 2013

This briefing on what bothers Australian kids online builds upon a short report from the EU Kids Online network: In their own words: What bothers children online? Based upon research across 25 European nations, with 25,142 children (aged 9-16) and the parent or caregiver most involved in supporting the child’s internet use, the In their own words report addresses children’s answers to the question: ‘What things on the internet would bother people about your age?’ Children had not been asked about troubling content at this stage in the research, so their open-ended answers to this question represent the issues and …

Exploring Ways To Improve Online Health News Stories, Trevor A. Cullen

Research outputs 2013

For a long time, reporting health consisted largely of statistics on the number of deaths and cases of disease, or reporting on epidemiological data that affects people we do not know. While this is important for health officials, it is of little interest to audiences who are increasingly demanding information that is useful to their daily lives. And conserving one’s health is perhaps the most useful of all topics. Many have now added the internet to their personal health toolbox, helping them to gain a better understanding of an illness or medical condition. But how accurate and balanced is the …

0-8: Young Children's Internet Use, Donell J. Holloway, Lelia R. Green, Danielle J. Brady

Research outputs 2013

Internet participation, by young children (0-8) is increasing world-wide. Tweens (9-12 year olds) usage patterns now resemble of those of teenagers 5 to 6 years ago, and younger schoolaged children’s usage is increasing to the equivalent of tweens. Pre-schoolers are also going online at ever-increasing rates. This paper reports on evidence assembled in an international network of Internet researchers about young children under 9 and their increasing engagement with the Internet. The increase in children’s (0-8) Internet participation indicates certain trends and usage patterns that warrant further attention by researchers, educators and policy makers. Primary school aged children under the …

"Your Neighbours Are Your Friends": An Investigation Into Microgeographical Exchanges In The Remote Northwest Of Australia Between 1987-2012, Donell J. Holloway, Lelia R. Green, David Holloway

Research outputs 2013

This paper addresses intersections of communication, technology and geography in remote areas of Western Australia. It uses verbatim accounts from fieldwork bracketing decades of communication development to explore changes and constants in the micro-geographical exchange strategies of people living in the remote northwest of Australia. It articulates the continuing irony that the Australians who most need reliable and effective communications are those who experience the greatest difficulty in accessing them. We contend that geographical isolation and continuing problems with the reliability and reach of communication technologies in remote Western Australia have cultivated a robust community in which flexibility, resilience and …

Nutritional Narratives: Cultural And Communications Perspectives On Plant-Based Diets, Julie S. Dare, Leesa N. Costello, Lelia R. Green

Research outputs 2013

This paper responds to a range of popular materials circulating in the public sphere asserting a plant-based (PB) diet is of benefit to humans and a protection against many chronic diseases. Although directed at a lay audience, books such as The China Study (Campbell & Campbell) are based upon extensive academic research, and highlight multiple health, environmental and social advantages of PB diets over traditional western diets. Arguments advocating PB nutrition, however, generally struggle to achieve traction in the public sphere. Narratives around PB food choices, and difficulties in shifting mainstream eating patterns, reflect the cultural symbolism attached to food, …

Towards A Natural History Of Internet Use? Working To Overcome The Implications For Research Of The Child-Adult Divide, Lelia R. Green, Donell J. Holloway, David Holloway

Research outputs 2013

Using a metaphor borrowed from the biological sciences, this paper discusses a ‘natural history’ of Internet use. As ‘digital natives’ many of today’s teenagers and young people have grown up and matured interacting with the Internet from an early age. Research about young people’s Internet use tends, however, to focus on the protection of minors. Young people, 16 years or older, are often excluded from noncommercial research about how young people grow into more mature patterns of Internet use. This paper highlights how parents with teenagers are building dynamic models of their children’s engagement with the Internet as they mature. …

Strategic Messaging In A Political Crisis: Testing The Integrated Model For Explaining The Communication Behavior Of Publics, Tiffany Lynn Schweickart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crisis response message strategies were examined using a post test-only randomized experiment (N=252) to determine their influence on perceptual, cognitive, and motivational antecedents to communication behavior in a political context. Results indicate that: (1) strategy type influences perceived strategy effectiveness; (2) situational beliefs influence situational motivation, subjective norm, and attitudes; (3) subjective norm and attitudes influence behavioral intention; and (4) referent criterion, situational motivation, and behavioral intention influence communicative action in publics during a political crisis.

Cause-Related Controversy: An Analysis Of Corporate Sponsor Response To The Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood Crisis, Christina Maria Cameron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study advances crisis communication and relationship management application and theory by examining the crisis response strategies used by corporations during a time of crisis involving a nonprofit partner. A qualitative content analysis was performed on the Facebook pages of 57 companies that were corporate partners of Susan G. Komen in early 2012. Nineteen companies responded using their Facebook accounts during two crisis periods studied. The researcher argues that consideration must be given to additional contingent factors beyond those proposed by situational crisis communication theory. Contingent variables related to the corporations' relationship with the charity, including level of …

The Effect Of Stealth Advertising In Newscasts On Viewers' Recall, Fany Georgieva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Product placement, also referred to as stealth advertising, raises important questions when it comes to television because a far larger audience views television than movies. Product placement in newscasts is even more controversial. Television news is expected to be free of persuasive attempts and provide citizens with basic information that is of public importance. Yet, product placement blurs the line between journalism and commercial promotion, thus destroying the integrity of the news.

Product placement in newscasts raises ethical questions about the effect it has on viewers, provided that they do not realize that they are presented with commercials, framed as …

Knowledge, Involvement And Emergency Preparedness, Season Groves

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research formed a descriptive frame of the current levels of emergency preparedness and applied Hallahan's Issues Processes Model to examine the relationship between knowledge, involvement, and emergency preparedness among the participants. The variables were measured in the context of self-perception. The research method involved a survey of students who are just becoming responsible for their personal emergency preparedness. The results suggest that students lack overall emergency preparedness measures and show that self-perceived knowledge is positively related to self-perceived emergency preparedness. Yet, higher self-perceived knowledge is negatively related to actual emergency preparedness actions. Thus, the more knowledgeable the participants believed …

Hispanic Acculturation And Social Media Engagement: A Uses And Gratifications Perspective, Roland Rahe Massa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Uses and gratifications theory posits that media use is an intentional and selective process by individuals in order to satisfy emotional needs. Basis this theory, the author conducted an exploratory study to compare social media engagement with four factors of acculturation among Hispanic Americans. These variables were also compared to the variables of education level and generation in order to test for a relationship. An online questionnaire captured data from a sample of Hispanic American participants (N = 85). Correlation analysis was performed, and results indicated that generation had a significant relationship with social media engagement and three out of …

Dead Man's Switch: Disaster Rhetorics In A Posthuman Age, Daniel Patrick Richards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When a disaster the magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill takes place, is it natural for the news media stories, investigative reports, and public deliberation to focus almost exclusively on finding the person or group responsible for such a horrendous scene. Rhetorically speaking, the discourse surrounding the event can be characterized as a reductive form of praise and blame rhetoric (epideixis). However, these efforts, while well-intentioned, are troublesome because searches for the one technical cause and the sole personal culpability are thwarted by the sheer complexity of the ecological, technological, scientific, institutional, and communicative network required for …

A Women's Talking Circle: A Narrative Study Of Positive Intergenerational Communication, Pamela Ferris-Olson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Narrative inquiry was used to understand how women’s experiences with their mothers, grandmothers, and daughters and as mothers, grandmothers, and daughters contribute to their meaning making of communication and connectedness with unrelated women. A purposeful sample of nine women aged 31-69 from a small Midwestern city was studied. Six African American and three white women were chosen for their membership in a group that has regularly engaged in positive intergenerational communication for nearly two years. The women’s narratives of personal communicative experiences within their families and with the other women were recorded and interpreted to gain a deeper understanding of …

Bereaved Mothers Seek Support Online: Ethnography & Autoethnography In A Virtual Community, Catherine Holestine

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Promises And Challenges Of Teaching Statistical Reasoning To Journalism Undergraduates: Twin Surveys Of Department Heads, 1997 And 2008, Robert J. Griffin, Sharon Dunwoody

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This research is dedicated to the memory of Victor Cohn, former science reporter for the Washington Post and often considered the dean of science writers, who collaborated on the first wave of the survey. The 1997 survey was supported by a grant from the American Statistical Association and the 2008 survey by a grant from the Communication graduate program at Marquette University. Special thanks to research assistants Kathryn Zabriskie and Gongke Li for their valuable help in the survey. The analyses and conclusions are solely those of the authors.

The Personal, Political, And The Virtual? Redefining Female Success And Empowerment In A Post-Feminist Landscape, Linda Elizabeth Chardon

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Print To Pixel: How Can The Cultural Implications Of Mediated Images And Text Be Examined Using Creative Practice?, Patricia Adele Thomas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Information in the twenty-first century is at our fingertips in an instant. Through the technology of the mobile phone, computer, and television, we are alerted to information of international, national, local, and personal significance. The aim of this research is to establish that creative practice can provide a cogent forum with which to interrogate the cultural implications of mediated images and text in the twenty first Century. This exegesis Print to pixel explores the interrelationship between the political and cultural values as identified in the various codes within western mainstream news media. The cultural implications of the shift from print …

A Comparison Of Australian And German Literary Journalism, Christine Boven

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and compare the traditions shaping the development of literary journalism in Australia and Germany. Tracing the different historical developments of the form in the two countries provides the contextual basis for an in-depth comparative analysis, which concentrates on the concepts of credibility and authenticity. The thesis explores whether different attitudes to news and opinion in journalism in the two countries influence these notions that are central to literary journalism. However, in the comparative analysis other significant factors become apparent. In four case studies, two from each country, consisting of book-length examples of …

The Development Of Community Cable Television In Taizhou And The Rise Of The Chinese Middle Class, Shangling Lin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis looks at the development of community cable television in the eastern coastal town of Taizhou in China from its beginnings in the 1990s to 2007. The establishment of community cable television can be seen as a new form of media production in China, by which changes in economic and political power and social identity can be traced. My hometown of Taizhou serves as a good example of this societal development. Taizhou is famous for private economy. Its average income is ranked in the top six among more than three hundred cities in China, making the middle class the …

Who Cares?:Practical Ethics And The Problem Of Underage Users On Social Networking Sites, Brian O'Neill

Articles

Internet companies place a high priority on the safety of their services and on their corporate responsibility towards protection of all users, especially younger ones. However, such efforts are undermined by the large numbers of children who circumvent age restrictions and lie about their age to gain access to such platforms. This paper deals with the ethical issues that arise in this not-so-hypothetical situation. Who, for instance, bears responsibility for children’s welfare in this context? Are parents/carers ethically culpable in failing to be sufficiently vigilant or even facilitating their children’s social media use? Do industry providers do enough to enforce …

E-Society And Children's Participation: Risks, Opportunities And Barriers, Brian O'Neill

Books/Book chapters

Children are important subjects of information society policy, particularly in the context of digital learning opportunities and e-inclusion. However, their participation is also a cause of concern and anxiety for policy makers. With ever-earlier adoption of new internet technologies and services by children, concerns arise as to how to ensure adequate protection whilst seeking to encourage and foster online opportunities. A delicate balancing act is required to manage risks while promoting better participation in e-society. To better inform this policy field, EU Kids Online conducted a pan-European survey of children’s use of the internet, resulting in the first fully comparable …

Manual Evaluation Of Synthesised Sign Language Avatars, Robert G. Smith Mr, Brian Nolan Dr.

Conference Papers

The evaluation discussed in this paper explores the role that underlying facial expressions might have regarding understandability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish Sign Language (ISL), we examine the Deaf community’s appetite for sign language avatars. The work presented explores the following hypothesis: Augmenting an existing avatar with various combinations of the 7 widely accepted universal emotions identified by Ekman [1] to achieve underlying facial expressions, will make that avatar more human-like and consequently improve usability and understandability for the ISL user. Using human evaluation methods [2] we compare an augmented set of avatar utterances against a baseline …

A Study Of The Effect Of Organizational Communication Cultures On Interorganizational Collaboration Of Crisis Response, Laura Pechta

Wayne State University Dissertations

Recent history has indicated that crises are becoming more frequent rather than exceptional events. Dozens of organizations, often with very different missions, methods, technologies and cultures, are called upon to coordinate activities in order to mitigate the crisis and assist in recovery efforts. Although several interorganizational coordination perspectives and strategies have been proposed, they have neglected to examine how different organizational communication cultures of crisis response organizations involved in an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) may affect crisis collaboration efforts. Previous studies have also disregarded the important distinction between crisis coordination and crisis collaboration and the challenges and benefits of each …

Masada Performances : The Contested Indentities Of Touristic Spaces, Ariel Gratch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Masada, a Herodian fortress and the site of an ancient struggle between Jews and Romans that culminated in a mass suicide by 960 Jews, is a symbolically important site for the country of Israel and for the Jewish people. Previous research on Masada has focused on how the story about the site, told through popular culture, in history books, and at the site, has been used to create and maintain a national Israeli and, more broadly, Jewish identity. Masada is the second most visited site in Israel, attracting over 800,000 people each year, and the number of visitors to the …

Impact Of Multimedia In Sina Weibo, Xun Zhao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Multimedia contents such as images and videos are widely used in social network sites nowadays. Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging service, is one of the first microblog platforms to incorporate multimedia content sharing features. This thesis provides statistical analysis on how multimedia contents are produced, consumed, and propagated in Sina Weibo. Based on 230 million tweets and 1.8 million user profiles in Sina Weibo, we study the impact of multimedia contents on the popularity of both users and tweets as well as tweet life span. In addition to consider the multimedia impact on popularity, we also compare the user influence …

Attachment And Delayed Gratification In The Technological Age, Susan G. Pomerantz

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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English-Only Legislation: The Iowa Story, Kari Lien

Honors Program Theses

This project will discuss the recent history of English-Only legislation in Iowa. Common opinions about English-Only legislation will be shared, including quotations from individuals on both sides of the English-Only debate. Finally, this project will examine the way Iowa's story of English-Only legislation raises questions about the future of this legislation in Iowa as well as the nation.