Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

Exploring The Relationship Between Facebook, Face-To-Face And Intercultural Communication, Rebecca Schaefer

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My Capstone Experience/Thesis project seeks to explore and examine the effects of Facebook on communication between American and international students. The use of social media as a means to communicate with others is increasing at an amazing rate. Facebook has become my generation’s favorite way to communicate with friends and family and “to Facebook” has unofficially become a verb that many college students will use. While social media, such as Facebook and Linked-In, may encourage American college students to communicate with international students beyond the classroom and campus, it seems that Facebook is on the way to becoming a substitute …

Experiential Interior Design: Branding Entertainment And Nightlife For The Postmodern Young Urban Professional, Niccole S. Skomal

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Past study on Interior Design has been primarily looked at through the lenses of aesthetics and functionality. Only recently have scholars begun to see the influence marketing, in the form of branding, can have on the Interior Design process in targeting specific lifestyle groups. The purpose of this research is to understand the fabric of the postmodern Young Urban Professional lifestyle as a marketing tool for branding and designing services in the form of entertainment and nightlife. With an increasing lack of community and social connectedness in today’s postmodern society, Young Urban Professionals tend to consume entertainment and nightlife as …

Workplace Harassment: The Social Costs Of Bullying, Andra Gumbus, Bridget M. Lyons

WCBT Faculty Publications

Most research on workplace bullying uses survey results to understand working conditions, target and bully characteristics, and results of bullying situations. This study uses content analysis to determine themes emerging from a writing assignment that asks students to respond to questions about workplace bullying. The intent of the research is to enable bullying targets to better understand the situation, to help managers to learn how to mitigate possible bullying situations, and to assist witnesses to better react to workplace incidents.

Improving Flavor Of Slo: Volunteer Engagement, Motivation, And Goal Setting In Event Planning, Kendall Ann Young

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Establishing A Gifted & Talented Center Within The Uri Honors Program, Joseph A. Santiago

Student Affairs Digital Community Development

Objective: To establish a Gifted and Talented Program that is linked with the Honors Department at URI to attract, support, and challenge individuals on the Kingston Campus. This program would work as Living Learning Community with students who elect to be live on campus together and give an opportunity for students living off campus to work collaboratively in a creative and supportive environment beyond the classroom. The targeted population for this program would be those individuals coming in from high schools and/or from other University programs.

Re-Imagining The Digitalcommons Collections At The University Of Rhode Island: Innovative Approaches Using Technology To Advance The Student Experience, Joseph A. Santiago

Student Affairs Digital Community Development

Proposal Application for 2012 Innovative Approaches Using Technology to Advance the Student Experience. This proposal outlines a plan to utilize the DigitalCommons Collection as a unifying platform that can be the vehicle for community scholarship, creativity, and outreach. This article communicates a strategy to connect the URI community through multiple points of access and create a blended environment in which all people may share and learn from each other.

A rough draft of the proposal has been included demonstrating a slightly different interface and the beginnings of the writing process.

Leading A Multi-Generational Workforce: Understanding Generational Differences For Effective Communication, Barbara J. Smyrl

Professional Projects

Today’s workforce consists of individuals from four generations each bringing different perspectives and values to the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the generational differences to gain an understanding which may help managers communicate effectively with each generational cohort. This study uses the narrative research method. Following a review of the literature on the subject of multi-generational work teams, the study tells the story of four individuals, one person from each of the four generational cohorts. Each of the individuals has experienced the phenomenon of working on a multi-generational work team. The stories shared reveal the …

'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 …

Competition And Interpersonal Conflict In Same-Sex Platonic Friendships, Ewa Urban

The Hilltop Review

This research explores the connection between competition and distributive and integrative conflict messages in same-sex platonic friendships. The study is a partial replication of Messman and Mikesell’s (2000) examination of competition and interpersonal conflict in dating relationships. The competitive behaviors of same-sex friends examined here are compared with those of dating couples as explored by Messman and Mikesell. Findings of the current research indicate that increased competition between same-sex friends is linked to a rise in distributive conflict tactics as well as to a reduction in integrative messages, which is consistent with Messman and Mikesell’s results. The current study also …

Conversation Strategies: Preparing Learners For Real-World Interaction, Angela Richardson

Sandanona

Workshop/Demonstration

Conversation strategies play an important role in successful communication and socialization, yet they are not often explicitly taught in language classrooms. In this workshop/demonstration we will explore how to use conversation strategies as a means for building both confidence and fluency, while also preparing students for real-world interactions.

Advanced Meeting Facilitation Techniques, Carol A. Watson, Wendy Moore

Presentations

As many librarians learned in last year's AALL presentation on facilitation, a well-facilitated meeting can transform a regular work session into an extraordinarily productive event. Participants learned that a well-crafted agenda, thoughtful ground rules, optimal meeting space, and detailed minutes can all set the stage for a successful meeting.

However, meetings can still go awry. A poorly facilitated meeting can make everyone dread meetings even if the meeting has been well-planned. Managing or facilitating behaviors is the final essential ingredient for success. Have you ever been in a meeting that is monopolized by one individual? Or someone offers a suggestion …

The Dimensions Of Source Credibility And Salesperson Persuasion, Eric Jaso

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Flavor Of Slo, Kendra Noel Jorde

Communication Studies

This paper summarizes what goes into planning the event called Flavor of SLO. Flavor of SLO is an event held in San Luis Obispo that offers tastings of beer, wine, and food vendors. This paper specifically talks about the major duties that the food liaison handles and what went into this years work looked at through a communication studies perspective.

Norcal Vs. Socal: Culture As Communication, Jillian J. Smith

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

A Day With The Mustangs, Gracie Elise Flint, Christina Beverly Fromson

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Faking Altruism: The True Nature Of Giving, Kristina L. Barker

Communication Studies

I want to see if students are capable of donating to charities. I have picked the American Red Cross to donate to and in support of helping the disaster in Japan. This is a huge effort publicly and students have seen the destruction on a daily basis. I want to see how much students are willing to donate and if different selling strategies make a difference on donations. I will be promoting sunglasses as a gift incentive for donations, with each pair raising $3.60 towards relief efforts. I will be selling the incentives in-group settings and to individual students on …

Social Media: The Use Of Facebook And Twitter To Impact Political Unrest In The Middle East Through The Power Of Collaboration, Sarah Danielle Goodman

Journalism

The power of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are often overlooked and unaccounted for.  The revolutionary and unprecedented political changes in the Middle East have changed the way the world uses and now views these platforms.   This study addresses the transformation of both the Middle East and social media, alongside each other.  In addition, it discusses how young activists utilized these tools in order to unite and therefore produce radical alteration of Middle Eastern governments, what these governments did in an attempt to preserve control and how the United States got involved.

Language Contact Between Korean And English In Online Communication, Jiyoung L. Daniel

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Over the past decade, the use of the Internet has become an indispensable part of life in the new millennium. One of the most popular activities in the era of the Internet is online communication. Net-Lingo, which is a product of online communication, is a new language variety that differs from both writing and speech as traditionally understood (Crystal, 2001). Given that Net-Lingo is considered a language variety, I describe the salient linguistic characteristics of Korean Net-Lingo (KNL) and investigate the specific mechanisms that govern the observable linguistic characteristics. The globalization of the Internet is prompting different languages to come …

Engaging Your Campus In Utilizing Institutional Repositories, Marianne A. Buehler

Library Faculty Presentations

Essentials of IR Success
- Institutional repository (IR) best practices: engagement with administrators, faculty, staff, and students
- Acquisition of research scholarship, publications, theses/dissertations, and other research objects
- Successful marketing strategies, best practices for garnering IR content, and developing open access mandates

The Creative Coach: Exploring The Synergies Between Creative Problem Solving: Thinking Skills Model And Non-Directive Coaching, Trevor J. Mcalpine

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project looks at the similarities and differences between the most recent version of Creative Problem Solving called Creative Problem Solving: Thinking Skills Model and the approach to coaching known as Non-Directive Coaching. Creativity practitioners are challenged to find opportunities of engaging in formal full-blown, group-based Creative Problem Solving sessions. There is a need to find other, less formal ways of helping people use their creativity. The Thinking Skills Model’s design allows it to mesh with the creative process in other content areas by making the basic concepts of Creative Problem Solving transferable to those other contexts. Non-Directive Coaching …

Communicatively Forming Developed Adoptive Identity: Explicating The Association Between Parental Communication, Developed Adoptive Identity, And Adoptee Adjustment, Colleen Colaner

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adoptive families are inherently discursive, with communication acting as the lifeblood connecting the child to his or her adoptive parents.  Adoptive families rely upon communication to create and maintain their relational bond.  Communication is also the basis of our understanding of self as our identities are rooted in social interaction.  Identity development for the adoptees is a unique process in which adoptees construct both a cohesive definition of the self and an understanding of what it means to be an adopted person.  In the current study, I examined the communicative pathways through which adoptive identities are formed.  I specifically focused …

Factors Of Adoption: Initiating Relationships Using Online Dating Sites, Rachel Lee Toyer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study used the Diffusion of Innovations Model to explore the circumstances that lead graduate and professional students enrolled at the a university in southern Nevada to adopt online dating services with the intent of initiating a serious commitment with a potential partner. The diffusion model was used to frame online dating as a process that people go through in acquiring knowledge about the service, forming an opinion about it, testing the service, and finally adopting the service into their daily life. Factors such as time afforded to relationships, apprehension in social situations, safety, and opinions of online dating …

Gatekeeping In A Tv News Editorial Conference: Shift Of Force, Other Media, Personal Experience And Pack Mentality, Kyril Daniel Plaskon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study uses Gatekeeping Theory and Conversational Analysis to describe how four factors influence news gatekeepers in a small group at one TV station. The four factors include shifting forces, other media, personal experience and pack mentality. They were identified through conversational analysis of pilot data and the research questions are supported in the literature as common influences in news gatekeeping. This study describes how those four elements occur during group conversation.

Analysis of the recorded data collected in five editorial conferences describes how the four factors are expressed by the gatekeepers as they consider events that may become news. …

Imagined Interactions As A Link To Political Talk, Megan Lambertz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

According to the imagined interaction theory (IIT), IIs are the cognitive processes where individuals indirectly experience past or future interactions through the process of imagination (Honeycutt, 2003). Retroactive IIs occur after a conversation takes place, whereas proactive IIs occur when individuals imagine a conversation before the interaction (Honeycutt, 2010). The current study examined individuals‟ imagined interactions (IIs) regarding conversations about politics with family members. Participants completed an online survey where they recorded retroactive and proactive IIs, and completed a set of measures regarding their family and political affiliation. Both proactive and retroactive IIs fell into eleven categories for content. Proactive …

A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Principal Communication And School Climate, Reece Oswalt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mixed methods triangulation research design was used in order to explore the relationship between principal communication and school climate. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) and interview protocols on principal communication were administered to principals and teachers at three elementary schools each having between 700-1000 students in an urban school district consisting of approximately 300,000 students. Each school had between 80-100% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL), was designated Adequate according to No Child Left Behind Act (2001) as published in the 2009-2010 School Accountability Reports, and had a principal that had been assigned to that school for …

Exploring Dialectics In Grandparent Grief: Communication With Family And Friends Following The Death Of A Grandchild, Ashley Nicole Duchow-Moore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A relational dialectics perspective was adopted for this study in order to better understand the tensions and contradictions bereaved grandparents experience following the death of a grandchild. The interviews of eleven grandmothers and five grandfathers were analyzed using a qualitative/interpretive method, leading to implications regarding the nature of grandparent grief. Grandparents experienced tensions in their own grief and in their multiple roles within the family structure after a grandchild died. Grandparents expressed contradictions in their role as a stable supporter versus griever, as well as balancing the need for protection and privacy. Grandparents negotiated these tensions through conscious communicative choices …

A Change Of Heart: A Phenomenographic Study Of Conversation, Marjorie Kay Meckes Conner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated the use of a school-level leadership model intended to explore the institutionalization of principal-teacher conversations as a tool in leading and learning. An elementary principal and two teachers at five elementary schools were selected for the study. Over an eight-week time, the principal and each teacher held a series of at least four conversations. The investigator interviewed each of the fifteen participants prior to any conversations, at the mid-point of the conversations and at the conclusion of all conversations. The purposes of this exploratory study were to document participant perceptions of the usefulness and importance of principal-teacher …

Cultural Brokering And Bicultural Identity: An Exploratory Study, Jorida Cila, Richard Lalonde, Zohrah Haqanee

Western Migration Conference Series

Abstract: Cultural brokering refers to a process where individuals mediate between two parties that are experiencing some type of cultural misunderstanding. Our exploratory study indicates that cultural brokering is a diverse experience that spans the boundaries of one’s family and includes various norms, values and traditions.

Imagined Interactions As A Link To Political Talk, Megan Lambertz

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

The current study examined individuals' imagined interactions (IIs) regarding conversations about politics with family members. Researchers wanted to know the content and forms of IIs about politics with a family member and if participants of different family types differered on their use of II functions and II characteristics.

Staying Genuine And Creating Connections: Networking And Involvement For Introverts, Kiyomi D. Deards

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Introversion, often thought of as a negative attribute, can be a tool to build strong personal connections. How can introverts create and maintain professional networks without feeling fake or insincere? How can introverts balance solitude with interpersonal interactions? What are myths about introverts and how can we combat them?