Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

Support Beyond Services: Examining The Role Of Neighbor Relationships, Housing Staff, And Place In Mental Health Recovery, Kenna Estell Dickard

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores the role of non-clinical support for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Through three interconnected manuscripts, this dissertation highlights the importance of housing staff support, places in the community, and neighbor relationships in fostering recovery for individuals with SMI. The first manuscript analyzes how housing staff support influences residents' well-being through an ecological lens. This study found that staff support is associated with reduced loneliness, higher residential satisfaction, and increased sense of community. This study also considers the role of self-determination as a moderator, demonstrating the importance of resident agency in maximizing well-being outcomes. The second manuscript …

Cognitive Engagement During Group Learning Activities In Chemistry Courses: An Analysis Of Student Discourse, Safaa Youssef El-Mansy

Dissertations and Theses

As educators, our goal is to help our students be successful, but in order to accomplish this, we need to understand what factors contribute to student success. One factor, small-group active learning, has been correlated to improved academic outcomes; however, the magnitude of this improvement can vary across different courses, different types of group work, and even across courses that use the same group work structure. Therefore, it is important to understand what aspects of group work contribute to its effectiveness. The work presented in this dissertation investigated one specific aspect: students’ cognitive engagement. This was done by analyzing the …

Pandemic Collaborative Governance Facilitation: A First Look At Covid-19'S Impact On Collaborative Governance, Amelia Webb

University Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on Collaborative Governance Facilitation, prompting a need to examine continuing impacts and repercussions. This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on Collaborative Governance Facilitation by exploring the perspectives of facilitators who worked through this period. Using a qualitative approach, and incorporating elements of Grounded Theory and Phenomenology, a focus group was conducted with facilitators operating in the greater Pacific Northwest that identified several emerging themes and patterns in the facilitators' pandemic experiences. The analysis revealed significant insights in several key areas: the assessment phase, pace and productivity, equity and demographic differences, building …

Player Character Conflict In Dungeons & Dragons 5e, Makenzie Kellar

University Honors Theses

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) that has become increasingly popular in recent years due to cameos in shows such as Stranger Things, the success of actual play shows like Critical Role, and the release of the D&D movie Honor Among Thieves. D&D and other TTRPGs set themselves apart from other games by allowing for a massive amount of freedom both in character creation and in-game choices, both of which are a massive appeal for the player base. However, this also allows for conflict not only between the players, but also between the …

Collective Proving Activity In A Synchronous Online Environment, Tenchita Alzaga Elizondo

Dissertations and Theses

Given the well documented fact students often struggle with proof and proof-related activity for various reasons, more educators have shifted to incorporating pedagogies involving collaborative learning given their benefits to student learning. However, there is still surprisingly little research focused on the nature of students' collaborative proving activity. Moreover, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent shift to remote learning, forced educators and students to adapt and learn how to work within a new learning environment. In this dissertation project, I investigate how students engage in collaborative proving activity in a synchronous online introduction to proofs course. In the first paper, …

The Impact Of Cultural Communication On Team Performance, Bret Hunley, Smarajit Chakraborty, Stephen Macdonald

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The trend in today’s corporate workforce continues to move towards becoming more culturally diverse; while beneficial, to maintain competitive edge this element also increases functional challenges between working group members. In order to achieve a high performing team, it is imperative management understands the cultural and lingual differences among the individual members, and develop practices that diminish these challenges. Workforce diversity has been identified as being able to add value to the overall outcome; however, success ultimately depends on the team’s ability to interact culturally, communicate effectively, and understand the mannerisms unique to each team member’s individual culture.

Examining Geert …

Impact Of Leadership On Team’S Performance, Harshitha Gadirajurrett, Raj Srinivasan, Jake Stevens, Nihal Jeena

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The concept of leadership is a widely discussed concept, with numerous articles and books being dedicated to the exploration and evaluation of leadership and its impact on team building, team performance and team dynamics. In this paper, we will be looking at the impact of leadership on team performance, and evaluating it through the lens of different leadership styles, focusing on the idea of Transformational Leadership. Through numerous article and journal reviews, we will seek to identify characteristics and strengths of these leadership styles as they pertain to the performance of teams within an organization.

A Relevance Rule Organizing Responsive Behavior During Projectably Multi-Unit Tellings, Anri Zama

Dissertations and Theses

Research on projectably multi-unit tellings (e.g., stories) has largely focused on their contexts of emergence, beginnings, endings, and uptakes (or lack thereof), rather than on their ‘middles.’ The relatively small literature on such ‘middles’ has focused on different types of responsive behaviors when they do occur (e.g., continuers). However, there is virtually no research on relevance rules that might systematically organize these ‘middles,’ including the production of responsive behaviors (or lack thereof) and the management of intersubjectivity. This thesis describes and defends one such relevance rule: Advisors are strongly accountable for responding – either vocally and/or nonvocally – at each …

Style Shifting In First-Encounter Conversations Between Japanese Speakers, Kenichi Shinkuma

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines style shift between formal and informal styles in first- encounter conversations between Japanese native speakers and demonstrates how the speakers shifted the speech style in the context. Many researchers have studied this type of style shift and demonstrated that style shifts occur within a single speech context where social factors, such as differences in age, status, and formalness remain constant (e.g., Cook, 2008; Geyer, 2008; Ikuta, 1983; Maynard, 1991; Okamoto, 1999). This study contributed support to these previous studies. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative analyses focusing on Japanese native speakers' use of style shifting in …

Dialogue In Identity-Based Conflict (Study Of Intergroup-Dialogue With University Students), Lisha Shrestha

Dissertations and Theses

An individual's struggle with "self," which consists of personal identity and social identity, can create both intra- and interpersonal conflict. In this study, I explored how such struggles inform identity-based conflict and how such conflicts are addressed by intergroup dialogue. A dialogue was conducted with University students, consisting of discussions about participants' struggles with "self" and social identity. These conversations were analyzed using a mixed methods and content analysis approach. The study revealed that identities such as gender play significant roles in creating conflict within "self" and with others. National origin, race, and ethnicity also affect personal identity; however, these …

The Role Of Network Position For Peer Influences On Adolescents' Academic Engagement, Price Mccloud Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Academic engagement has been found to significantly predict students' future achievement. Among adolescents, the peer context becomes an increasingly important point of socialization and influence on beliefs and behavior, including academic engagement. Previous research suggests that those peers with whom an adolescent spends much of their time significantly predict change in engagement over time (Kindermann, 2007). Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) postulates that exosystem effects (those influencing factors that are not directly connected to individuals) play an important role in development, and social network theorists have suggested that the position one occupies within the greater network is …

Characteristics Of Spoken And Written Communication In The Opening And Closing Sections Of Instant Messaging, Kenta Nishimaki

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines opening and closing segments in instant messaging (IM) and demonstrates how openings and closings differ between oral conversation and instant messaging as well as the factors that account for the difference. Many researchers have discussed the differences and similarities between spoken and written languages. Tannen (1980) claims that spoken and written languages are not distinct categories and there is a continuum between them. She also holds that interpersonal involvement is one of the factors that determine if a particular communication is closer to spoken communication or written communication.

I will analyze IM, which is best thought of …

Peer Conversations About Inter-Racial And Inter-Ethnic Friendships, Lana Lee Buckholz

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand how early adolescents talk about cross-racial and cross-ethnic friendships. Gordon Allport's intergroup contact theory provided the framework for studying the elements needed for inter-racial and inter-ethnic friendship formation. Qualitative data were drawn from four separately recorded peer group conversations. Participants (n=18) were recruited from Parrish Middle School in Salem, Oregon. Patterns that emerged from the data were sorted, categorized and identified according to the tenets of intergroup contact theory or extensions of intergroup contact theory. Analysis also looked at the use of metaphors and storytelling among adolescents. Results showed that while intergroup …

Grouped To Achieve: Are There Benefits To Assigning Students To Heterogeneous Cooperative Learning Groups Based On Pre-Test Scores?, Arman Karl Werth

Dissertations and Theses

Cooperative learning has been one of the most widely used instructional practices around the world since the early 1980's. Small learning groups have been in existence since the beginning of the human race. These groups have grown in their variance and complexity overtime. Classrooms are getting more diverse every year and instructors need a way to take advantage of this diversity to improve learning. The purpose of this study was to see if heterogeneous cooperative learning groups based on student achievement can be used as a differentiated instructional strategy to increase students' ability to demonstrate knowledge of science concepts and …

Self-Disclosure And Self-Efficacy In Online Dating, Andrew Christopher España

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores online dating by studying the relationship between self-disclosure and self-efficacy in an online dating environment. This research study examines the way self-disclosure, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and gender interrelate in an online dating environment. This study includes, but is not limited to, discussion of the type of correlation between self-efficacy and self-esteem, the relationship between self-disclosure and self-efficacy, and the differences between men's and women's self-disclosure in an online dating environment. From conducting this study, the researcher was able to determine that there is a statistically significant relationship between gender and how it relates to self-disclosure and self-efficacy. With …

Combating Violence Against Women Through C4d: The “Use Your Voice” Campaign And Its Implications On Audience-Citizens In Papua New Guinea, Vipul Khosla, Akina Mikami, Lauren B. Frank, Isabel Popal, Klara Debeljak, Amelia Shaw

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Violence against women (VAW) is universally identified as a barrier to legal, social, political, and economic equality for women, violating their rights and fundamental freedoms. This article brings together existing literature and empirical research on addressing such violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG), providing results that can inform future work in this area. The literature review examines the causes of violence against women and the role that communication for development (C4D) can play in addressing these issues. The Use Your Voice campaign was implemented in PNG in late 2011 in an effort to promote speaking out against violence and displace …

'You're Lying To Jesus!': Humor And Play In A Discussion About Homelessness, L. David Ritchie

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study applies recent theories about humor to a sample of talk among a group of young adults about the issues and problems associated with homelessness. In this conversation, participants demonstrate a pattern of joking and language play that expresses a complex and ambivalent set of attitudes and feelings toward homelessness and toward the homeless as both outcasts and refugees from conventional society. Humor is used both to express complex responses to homelessness and as a tool for managing the tone and direction of the conversation. The results demonstrate how the identification of patterns of joking and wordplay can provide …

"Everybody Goes Down": Metaphors, Stories, And Simulations In Conversations, L. David Ritchie

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent work has shown that many problematic aspects of metaphor use and comprehension can be resolved through an account that includes both relevance and perceptual simulation. It has also been shown that metaphors often imply stories, and that stories are often metaphorical. Previous research on narratives has focused primarily on stories that appear either in formal literature or in structured interviews; this essay focuses on stories that occur as an integral part of conversation. It extends recent work on metaphor comprehension to show how use and comprehension of stories in natural, informal conversations can be usefully analyzed in terms of …

International Students' Experiences In Higher Education: A Case Study Examining Uncertainty Reduction Theory In Communication Classrooms, Susan Kuhn

Dissertations and Theses

This was an exploratory case study which focused on international students' experiences in higher education. In particular, this study investigated the efficacy of uncertainty reduction theory in communication classrooms. The research asked four exploratory questions: (a) What are the students’ perceptions of the teacher/student relationship? (b) Do international students experience uncertainty in communication classrooms? (c) If uncertainty is experienced, what is its source(s)? (d) If uncertainty is experienced, do students seek to reduce it, and if so, how?

A phenomenological perspective was utilized in this study as the organizing, theoretical framework. Relevant literature on uncertainty reduction theory was reviewed as …

A Lay Theory Of Relational Satisfaction With Best Friends In Japan, Eriko Maeda

Dissertations and Theses

Using a total of 529 Japanese college students (275 females, 254 males) living in Japan, the present study employed five sequential stages. First, it explored Japanese people's beliefs about relational satisfaction with best friends and the organization of these beliefs. In order to explore these beliefs and their organization, this study replicated Cole and Bradac's (1994) study of a lay theory of relational satisfaction with best friends, which focused on people from the United States. The study then examined similarities and differences of Japanese beliefs and organization of the beliefs with those of the U.S. Lastly, the study investigated Japanese …

The Concept Of "Communication Skills" In The Discipline Of Speech Communication, Lynn Bales

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation explored the dialectic of communication competence from an historical prospective and successfully identified seven common threads in competence theory. Communication skills and skills classifications were linked to competency issues. A content analysis of the 452 page leading national skills level communication text identified 185 skills behaviors along with their associated communication competencies. Skills were described in twelve categories; however, no consistent definition or treatment of communication skills was in evidence. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Gender Differences In Conversational Style: An Experiment In Interpersonal Communication, Constance M. Cooper

Dissertations and Theses

Communication problems and conflict may occur between partners in intimate dyads when systematic gender differences in language contribute to misinterpretations.

This research investigated effects of gender on interpretations of hypothetical conversations between dyads, and also on judgments of likelihood of conflict.

Following research by Fishman (1983), it was hypothesized that male and female subjects' interpretations of male speakers would be more similar than would male and female subjects' interpretations of female speakers. Based on Tannen's (1990) work, it was hypothesized that male subjects' ratings of likelihood of conflict would relate to their interpretations of speakers as "controlling;" female subjects' ratings …

Intercultural Confrontation Styles Of Culturally Homophilous And Culturally Heterophilous Japanese And U.S. College Students, Toyoko Hattori

Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses on confrontational behavior patterns exhibited by Japanese and U.S. college students in the Portland Metropolitan area. Four questions are addressed: 1) is there a difference Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? 2) do Japanese use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? 3) do U.S. individuals use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? and 4) is there a significant gender difference between Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? In addition, correlations between the Japanese and U.S. reported confrontation styles and their demographic data are examined.

Communication And Socialization Skills Of Three Year Olds With A History Of Language Delay, Pamela Susan Dahm

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare receptive language, expressive language, and socialization skills of preschool children who have a history of expressive language delay (ELD) with age mates who have a history of normal language development.

Communication And Socialization Profiles In Toddlers With Expressive Language Delay, Shawn Spangle-Looney

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare expressive communication, receptive communication, and socialization achievement in 18- to 34-month-old ELD toddlers to the same skills in normally-speaking children. The questions this study sought to answer were, how do the three skill areas in ELD toddlers compare with the same skills in normal toddlers?, will ELD subjects evidence specific profiles of deficits involving not only expressive but receptive and social skills as well? and, within the ELD subjects will two subgroups emerge, one group having poor expressive skills only, and a second group having deficits in addition to expression.

Care, Need, And Conceptions Of Love: A Reexamination, Janet Gruwell Morris

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examines the roles need and care play in such positive interpersonal attitudes as love, liking, attraction, and friendship, by both replicating and extending a 1982 study by Steck, Levitan, McLane, and Kelley. Subjects were presented with slightly revised Rubin Love Scales which were filled out as if by persons involved in relationships, and were asked to judge how much each hypothetical person loved, liked, was attracted to, and felt friendly toward their partner. In fact, the love scales had been divided into three components, i.e. need, care, and trust, and were filled out with each component at …

A Contextual Analysis Of Selected Communication Strategies Associated With Dyadic And Situation Characteristics: A Field Study, Gisele Marie Tierney

Dissertations and Theses

A contextual analysis investigation of related communication acts is concerned with the multidimensional nature of human interdependence. The communication strategy is a category of relational communication acts that can be viewed as one of the ways in which interactants promote or maintain a working consensus and enhance interpersonal discovery. Strategy use is motivated by the nature of the relationship rather than by the speaker's conscious attempts to direct outcomes.

Comparative Self-Monitoring Behavior And Recall Of Verbal And Nonverbal Interactional Information About Partner In Conversations With Ablebodied And Disabled Partners, Doris L. Werkman

Dissertations and Theses

When strangers meet, there is a high level of uncertainty due to the infinite number of possible alternatives in behavior between the two people. Previous research indicates that communicators will attempt to reduce the level of uncertainty by using available verbal and nonverbal information of the other, by seeking similarities with the other, and by observing the situation itself. This information is used to predict attitudes and beliefs, as well as to attribute characteristics of the other. Other studies indicate that a person will increase her level of self-monitoring activity when the level of uncertainty is increased.

A Multidimensional Analysis Of Physical Attractiveness In The Formation Of First Impressions, Jewel Marianna Smith Hunter

Dissertations and Theses

Before any words are spoken, an individual's appearance is his or her first line of nonverbal communication with the rest of the world. Prior research conducted on physical attractiveness has been vague and contradictory and has not assessed its many components. Rather, past investigators have perceived physical attractiveness as a "unidimensional" concept.

Several phases were involved in the task of proving or disproving the hypotheses of the study. The first general phase began with the selection of photographic subjects, progressed into the creation of a set of photographs which were to become the stimuli, and proceeded to the selection of …

Satisfaction And Quality : Patient Perspectives In Medical Care, Marguerite L. Foeller

Dissertations and Theses

Patient dissatisfaction with the physician/patient relationship and medical care is well documented in both the lay press and the medical literature. This problem appears to stem from communication between physician and patient and is drawing increased attention from the communication discipline. Research conducted in interpersonal communication satisfaction theory provides a basis for this study of patient satisfaction with physician/patient communication and its relationship to the perceived quality of medical care.

This paper reports two sets of interviews with a total of 108 respondents on the topic of physician/patient communication which resulted in the identification of nine salient issues which appeared …