Communication Commons^™

External Funding Bulletin, January - June 2024, Uno Office Of Research And Creative Activity

Sponsored Programs Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Trust Relationships: Tales From The Web, Magdoleen Ierlan

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Trust is an important component of any purchasing situation. In an online setting, trust becomes even more important as buyer and seller are not able to directly interact with one another. Compounding the situation is the fact that the consumer cannot directly experience the product under consideration. Organizations have attempted to address this shortcoming by allowing third parties to offer reviews of the product in question. This paper addresses how consumers process these product reviews.

By rooting this paper in trust and uncertainty reduction theory, a testable model was developed. The model was tested, and in general, more helpful reviews, …

The Impact Of Demographics And Cause Related Marketing Participation In The Black Lives Matter Movement On Company Image, Jerome Christia, Joseph Njuki

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Cause Related Marketing is an impactful marketing strategy for companies concerned about improving or maintaining their company image. This study examines the effect of cause related marketing participation Black Lives Matter movement and demographics of supporters on company image. Questionnaires from 106 respondents were collected, analyzed, and results presented. The paper reviews cause related marketing, the Black Lives Matter movement, and company image. In addition, demographic characteristics are investigated for respondent perspectives on company image. Our research indicates that there is a positive and significant relationship between cause related marketing participation in the Black Lives Matter movement on company image. …

Nbc Peacock North Winter 2024 Newsletter, Peacock North Staff

NBC Peacock North Newsletter

Highlights include: Marilyn's Page -- History of the National Association of Black Journalists -- Al Roker Returns to the Macy's Parade -- Joe Klimovitz Hosts Photo Exhibition -- Martin Fletcher at Sacred Heart University -- Silent Microphones

Mental Health Challenges And Resilience Among International Graduate Students In The United States, Md Rejaul Haque

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research examines the experiences of international graduate students in the United States. It focuses on the challenges they face that can lead to mental health issues. I conducted in-depth focus group interviews through Zoom. Participants shared their stories, highlighting the stigma around mental health. I transcribed the interviews and analyzed them for themes. The findings show that international students deal with various difficulties, such as cultural differences and homesickness. They often find better support from informal peer networks rather than from institutional resources. The study highlights the importance of community engagement and cultural exchange in helping these students build …

Improving Spiritual Care Competency Among Intensive Care Unit Nurses: Promoting Holistic Patient Care Towards End-Of-Life, Joanne Nguyen, Dana Bagis

Nursing | Senior Theses

Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses play a crucial role in providing physiological stabilizing care in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, often marked by constant changes and variability in complex patients. Despite their specialization, the aspect of spiritual care tends to be overlooked, particularly in the context of end-of-life care. This is significant because previous studies have shown that a lack of spiritual care leads to poorer health outcomes, decreased coping, increased depression, and diminished quality of life for patients. This research proposal aims to investigate the spiritual care competency among ICU nurses who partake in spiritual care-based training, with the …

Nlp Analysis Of Environmental Themes In Phish Lyrics Across Concert Locations And Years, Anna Farzindar, Jason L. Jarvis

Communication Studies Faculty Works

This work studies the application of advanced AI and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, to analyze the lyrics of Phish, a renowned American jam band known for their groundbreaking improvisational live shows and eclectic lyrics. Focusing on environmental themes within their extensive repertoire, this paper aims to uncover latent topics pertaining to environmental discourse, by using the topic modeling and environmental classifier to filter out the list of topics present within their songs. Through meticulous preprocessing, modeling, and interpretation, our findings shed light on the multifaceted portrayal of environmental issues in Phish’s lyrics. In this study, our primary contribution lies …

Caring Cloth Praxis: Ethics Of Loss, Practices Of Remembering, Suzanna James

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This research, in continual development as a part of early PhD study, is currently entitled ‘Ethics of Loss, Practices of Remembering’ and locates itself within the field of cultural sustainability. It is foregrounded by my MA thesis entitled ‘Caring Cloth’ and works in response to the words of Louise Bourgeois: ‘the needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness.’ My own socially and environmentally regenerative textiles practice considers the way in which personal practices of remembering can be developed in response to cultural sustainability.

This textiles practice develops explorative visual textile art and social textile practice research which …

Textile As Cultural Technology: The Evolution Of Robert Rauschenberg’S Jammers, 1975–6, Katya Oicherman

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Robert Rauschenberg suggested that any material has a “humanitarian reportage” or a history built into it, that opens art to the “strange and unpredictable” experience only comparable to everyday reality. Developing this idea, I will focus on the Jammers, a series of works with significant textile presence produced in 1975–76, and discuss how Rauschenberg’s relationship to textiles evolved from treating them as “materials” to recognizing them as cultural technologies. In 1975 he was on a fellowship in Ahmedabad, India, a period of intense experimentation.

Textiles were already a significant presence in his art, playing a subservient role of materials …

A Symbolic Interactionism’S Perspective Of The Attack On The U.S. Capitol., Odeli Hernandez

Undergraduate Scholarship

This paper aims to draw the line between Symbolic Interactionism and how it ties into the political world. Symbolic Interactionism states that humans interpret and assign meanings to symbols through social interaction, thus influencing their behaviors and shaping their realities. It is said that symbolic interactionism could only be applied to micro levels of social interactions, and not to something as big and intricate as politics. This paper will focus on a stand-alone event, the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Numerous symbols were displayed before, during, and after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, each of …

Knowledge Is Power…To Misinform: Examining How Knowledge Gaps Affect Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications

This study examined how the knowledge gap hypothesis (KGH), the belief gap hypothesis (BGH), partisan media use, and interpersonal discussion affected COVID-19 knowledge and social media engagement (SME) with related misinformation. The KGH partially affected knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation regarding income. The BGH increased knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation among Liberals. Right-leaning media use and interpersonal discussion increased SME with misinformation respectively. Overall, knowledge was inversely associated with SME with misinformation.

Public Perceptions Of Peripheral Nerve Surgery On Social Media: A Narrative Review, Nicholas Obias, James Hughes

School of Podiatric Medicine - Student Research

Objective: The intent of this study is to conduct a Narrative review of the Public Perceptions of Peripheral Nerve Surgery on Social Media.

Introduction: Peripheral nerve surgery is an effective therapeutic modality for difficult diagnoses such as peripheral neuropathy, neuromas, and complex regional pain syndrome. This study aims to explore public perceptions of peripheral nerve surgery on Instagram, a popular social media site. Information on posts such as authorship, relevance, accuracy, and purpose were collected. Conclusions from this study may direct efforts to enhance medical advice and improve patient education for extremity nerve surgeons.

Methods: Searches were conducted in September …

Differentiation Versus Denial: Impact Of Messaging About Player Transactions On Team Reputation, Ticket Sales, And Sports Channel Subscriptions, Joseph R. Blaney, Stephen K. Hunt

Faculty Publications - Communications

Part of a concerted effort to quantitatively test claims made throughout image repair research, this study provides a greater understanding of the effectiveness of the differentiation strategy over simple denial and provides further clarification for related claims made in image repair research. Sports teams who differentiate major roster changes from a team rebuild score higher on measures of reputation, intent to purchase tickets, and intent to subscribe to premium sports channels. On behalf of practitioners, scholars should consider the conditions under which the ability to claim differentiation is plausible with a loyal clientele or customer base.

Prophetic Dissent In Dark Times: The New Poor People’S Campaign And The Rhetoric Of National Redemption, Stephen E. Rahko, Byron B. Craig

Faculty Publications - Communications

In this paper, we offer an analysis of an important social movement challenging the fantasy of Christian nationalism: the new Poor People’s Campaign, and specifically the rhetoric of the Bishop Dr. William J. Barber II. We argue that Barber’s rhetoric represents a source of dissent against Christian nationalism through his strategic use of the jeremiad. Barber’s progressive jeremiad offers a distinctively moral narrative that recovers the radical Christian legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ultimately, we argue that Barber’s jeremiad advances a distinctive narrative of American national redemption through democratic renewal and reconstruction.

We’Re Going Streaking!: Associations Between The Gamification Of Mediated Communication And Relational Closeness, Caleb T. Carr, Sarah F. Rosaen

Faculty Publications - Communications

Communication technologies have long been used to develop and maintain relationships; but recently, channels have increasingly sought to gamify interactions among users. The present study explored if individuals’ interpersonal and entertainment use motives were associated with interpersonal interactions and message composition, as well as subsequent relational outcomes (i.e., closeness). A survey of 156 collegiate Snapchat users revealed that interpersonal and entertainment motives were significantly related to Snapchat behavior (Streak count and Streak Snaps, respectively) and relational closeness. However, those using Streaks for entertainment motives sent impersonal Snaps more frequently and reported lower relational closeness with their partner.

Proximal Discourses In Residential Facility Care Providers’ Sense-Making Of Their Communication With Family Members Of A Loved One With Alzheimer’S Disease, Aimee E. Miller-Ott, Tristin Evans

Faculty Publications - Communications

Families often stay involved in the care of a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease even after relocation to a residential care facility, and through this transition, communication between the residential care providers and families becomes integral to keeping family informed and providing good care to the patient. However, care providers of people with Alzheimer’s living in residential facilities find themselves overwhelmed by expectations related to their caregiving role and struggle with making sense of their experiences. Fifteen care providers of people with Alzheimer’s disease living in a residential facility participated in qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Using relational dialectics theory as the …

Remembering Redlining: Trauma, Anti-Blackness, And Afro-Pessimistic Affect In Them, Byron B. Craig, Stephen E. Rahko

Faculty Publications - Communications

Scholars of public memory have long recognized the importance of popular culture as a site in America’s memory infrastructure. In this paper we seek to contribute to this bourgeoning scholarship by advancing an analysis of the way the Amazon Prime series Them strategically remembers the traumatic violence of America’s racial past. Through its skillful use of allegory and the Black horror genre, Them offers an Afro-pessimistic rebuke of America’s post-racial fantasy. Ultimately, we argue that popular culture remains a crucial site for the politics of memory, especially given the growing threat of censorship of America’s racial history in education as …

Words, Words, Words: Participants Do Not Read Consent Forms In Communication Research, Daria Parfenova, Alina Niftulaeva, Caleb T. Carr

Faculty Publications - Communications

Informed consent is an essential part of conducting human subjects research; but its utility is dependent on participants actually reading the consent forms provided. This research conducted secondary analysis of data (N = 1,283) to assess how long participants spent on the consent forms. Participants spent an average of 35.4 seconds on consent documents: not a nonsignficant amount of time (i.e., different from 0 seconds), but insufficient to read or even skim consent forms. Women spent slightly less time on consent forms. Neither the length nor readability of a consent form predicted time spent reading, and neither readability nor gender …

“Share The Fear”: Communication Concerns Of Parents With Cancer With Dependents And Coparents: A Qualitative Needs Assessment Study, Cinzia Caparso, Zoe Bowen, Sung Won Choi

Nursing Faculty Research Publications

Background: The estimated 1.6 million adults in the United States with cancer who also have dependents face unique challenges given the profound impact of cancer on their families, such as increased psychological distress, decreased quality of life, and altered family functioning. Unfortunately, little is known about the mutual cancer-related communication concerns for the perspectives of the parents with cancer or the coparents. Coparents care for the patient and dependents until they reach adulthood (e.g., unmarried, divorced, stepparent, and/or same-sex partnerships).

Objective: To understand the mutual cancer-related communication concerns from the perspectives of parents with cancer and the coparents and intervention …

Aligning Eye Care Provider Beliefs With Behaviors: Exploring And Improving Ocular Surface Disease Decision-Making In A Cataract Surgery Clinic, Amy Hellem

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

Millions of cataract surgeries are performed every year in the United States, yet both surgeon reports and patient reports indicate that practices are not utilizing the diagnostic tests and treatments that are advocated in the medical literature to identify and manage ocular surface disease prior to surgery. As a result, patients risk suffering several significant consequences with regard to their vision, comfort and safety. Personal observations from my 25 years of experience working with ophthalmologists and optometrists led to curiosity regarding the root cause of undertreatment of ocular surface disease. Specifically, I had the impression that eye care providers held …

The Study Of Baby Boomers And Generation Z’S Attitudes Towards Generational Mental Health Dynamics, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Hunter Harpin, Emma Grace Reville, Yunxiang Yu, Abagail Sweeney

Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab

The purpose of this research is to compare and contrast how different historical events have impacted Generation Z members’ and the Baby Boomers’ attitudes towards mental health and how those attitudes have guided members of these generations to feel about medical experts and the technology that they use to deliver their services in the post-COVID era. Studying these topics allows our group to make recommendations as to how medical experts should go about interacting with members of the Generation Z and Baby Boomer generations respectively, based on how historical events have influenced their attitudes towards mental health topics, their perceived …

Examining Connectivity And Mental Health Amongst Generation Z And Millennials, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Alexandra Hosilyk, Nyah Jones, Grace Kos-Dondlinger, Runchu Lang, Katerina Miller

Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab

The Real Chemistry Emerging Insights Lab tasked our research team to develop findings based on two generational cohorts and mental health. Our team decided to research Millennials and Generation Z in relation to their mental health and connectivity habits. In addition to these general topics, we analyzed how remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. political turmoil have played a role in the mental health status of these two generational cohorts.

The Millennial generational cohort is defined as individuals born from 1981 to 1996. The Generation Z generational cohort is defined as individuals born from 1997 to 2012. In order …

Women In White Christian Nationalism, Danielle M. Urton

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This paper analyzes the appeals of White Christian Nationalism (WCN) to the “subordinate” demographic of white women, with specific attention to the use of rhetoric across the movement to attract women as allies, supporters, and promoters of the ideology.

Newhouse Impact Magazine 2024, Newhouse School

Newhouse Impact Magazine

Showcasing the research and creative work of faculty, staff and students at the Newhouse School

Relationship Between Fentanyl Misinformation And College Students' Intentions To Administer Naloxone, Zoe Ryon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: The news media has spread misinformation about the toxicity and potency of fentanyl, exaggerating the extent to which bystanders could be harmed by fentanyl when responding to overdose situations. College students are increasingly among the victims of opioid overdose, and their peers may be the nearest person capable of administering naloxone – an overdose reversal medication. However, college students who fear incidental exposure to fentanyl may be worried about administering naloxone.

Objective: I sought to understand the relationship between undergraduate college students’ perceptions of the risks of fentanyl and their intentions to administer naloxone in an overdose situation.

Methods: …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 25 2024, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Featured Faculty Mentor/Student Team, Austin Jones, Ashley Dowling, Baylie Day

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Efficiency And Accuracy Of Three Texture Analysis Methods For Blackberry Fruit, Rhys M. Brock, Carmen Johns, Katelyn Lust-Moore, Margaret Worthington

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A major objective of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (UADA) Fruit Breeding program is to improve the texture of blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson). Blackberry varieties with improved fruit firmness transport and store well and may maintain superior quality under challenging postharvest conditions than softer varieties. Increased firmness may also make cultivars less susceptible to red drupelet reversion (RDR), a postharvest disorder of blackberries in which fully black drupelets revert to red after harvest. This research project aims to assess the efficiency and accuracy of three methods applied in evaluating blackberry firmness. The study compares instrumental analysis …

Stream Restoration Effectiveness In Mullins Creek In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Amadeo Scott, Shannon Speir

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Lotic waterways are vital for habitat, food, water, and flood protection, but urbanization poses a major threat to their integrity. Runoff from urban surfaces leads to pollution, flashiness, loss of biodiversity, and other symptoms, also known as Urban Stream Syndrome (USS). Streams can be restored in order to combat USS, but most restorations are not monitored, so their long-term effectiveness is unknown. This study quantitatively evaluated a decade-old stream restoration in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to assess its effectiveness in combating USS and achieving set restoration goals, and to gain insights for future restoration projects. Restoration goals included decreasing erosion and sedimentation, …