Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

The Comparison Of Effectiveness Between Print Media & Electronic Media In Terms Of Promotion And Recruitment, Katherine Dayton

Honors Theses

This research project’s objective was to determine whether print media such as brochures and booklets are more or less effective than electronic media such as e-mails and webpage advertisements in attracting consumers. A special interest was taken in higher education recruitment and the research was completed by advertising to high school students who are in the process of choosing a school for their higher education experience. The research featured an advertising campaign launched through both print and electronic platforms, directing the consumers to an online survey they were able to take to provide feedback about the experience. This project led …

He Used The Internet - I Used The Encyclopedia, Rebekah Mccloud

UCF Forum

I was talking recently with one of my students who will graduate in May. He told me about his first year in college and began his reminiscence with: “Back in the day…”

2nd Place Contest Entry: From A Chat In The Parlor To Viral Music Videos: An Analysis Of Music As A Social Occasion, Emma F. Plotnik

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Emma Plotnik's submission for the 2016 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won second place. She wrote about the impact of salons on the musical world in past centuries, and created a modern virtual salon of her own.

Emma is a senior at Chapman University, majoring in Music with a minor in Law, Justice, and Social Control. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Jessica Sternfeld.

Implementation Of Software Community Radio Using Low Cost Resources, Amean Shareaf Ghazi Al-Safi

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Community radio is the third third model model of radio broadcasting besides besides the commercial and public systems systems. It aims to provide individuals with local news and information that are important to a small community. This poster presented a new method of implementing community community radio using low cost hardware and free software.The transmitter system consists of PC, USRP, and antenna while the receiver side consists of Raspberry Pi, RTL –SDR, and antenna .The main goal is to define and demonstrate a low, cost, flexible transmitter consisting of the USRP N210 and and commodity PC and a receiver consisting …

The Growth Of The Broadband Internet Access Market In California: Deployment, Competition, Adoption, And Challenges For Policy, James E. Prieger

School of Public Policy Working Papers

This report examines the great progress made in availability and adoption in the broadband market over the past few decades and shows how Californian residents and businesses have come to use broadband widely. The policy issues involved with continuing the tremendous strides already made are discussed, along with recommendations for policy-makers.

The report begins by documenting the rapid growth of Internet usage in the U.S. and California. There is a review of the current state of competition in voice and broadband markets, discussing the decline of traditional telephone service, which is rapidly approaching irrelevance, and the rise of wireless and …

Do We Really Need More 'Stuff'?, Michael Bass

UCF Forum

Since most people are busy acquiring more and more things, it may be past time to start thinking about the question: Do we really need more “stuff”? However, it can’t be too late if “stuff” is defined properly.

Craft Publishing: A Proposal For A Programmatic Paradigm Shift In Academic Libraries, Sue Ann Gardner, Paul Royster, Linnea Fredrickson, Brian Rosenblum, L. Ada Emmett

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

This presentation will include the parameters by which an effective, at-cost publishing program may be structured in academic libraries. With advances in technology, electronic storage, and connectivity, and contrary to the claim that such activities may result in a “race to the bottom,” libraries have proven to be natural entities within which to effect a paradigm change in scholarly publishing. Activities to date, however, have been more often than not underfunded and understaffed. Even among those that have been well supported, efforts across the community have been ad hoc. Within the context of recent initiatives and discussions, the authors will …

Technical Communication In Place-Making Professions: Exploring The Network Pictures Of Urban Designers, Fernando Sanchez

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation addresses how professional writing as a field can pay attention to broader definitions of design in order to help further conversations of spatial justice (the act of helping to promote equity in matters of development in urban spaces). I begin by noting the conversations that have circulated regarding the relationship between urban design and rhetoric, noting that professional writing can help add a unique lens to the conversation. The second chapter provides an overview of how design is discussed in technical communication scholarship. Here, I showcase how most of these discussions regarding research in design have centered on …

From Consumers To Creators: Wikistoriograhy And The Consensus Of Collaborative Learning In The Landscape Of Web 2.0, Curran Mcquade

Selected Honors Theses

This thesis reviews the significance of Wikipedia in an approach to internet historiography. Wikipedia incorporates Web 2.0 methods to create a new way to study and revise history through a consensus of multiple users and editors. The argument of the thesis is structured to address some of the qualms many academics have about Wikipedia, examine how historiography functions in an internet driven world, and finally how Wikipedia fits into the puzzle of internet historiography. It concludes that Wikipedia, the largest user-based information site in the world, must be at the forefront of discussion surrounding internet historiography.

Effects Of Data Collection Mode And Response Entry Device On Survey Response Quality, Louisa Ha, Chenjie Zhang, Weiwei Jiang

School of Media and Communication Faculty Publications

Survey has been widely used as a data collection method for both academic andadministrative research. Different modes of conducting surveys have been created andcontinuously developed (Groves, 2011). With the fast-growing penetration of smartphones andother mobile media, survey researchers are faced with the challenge of how to make use of themin surveys while ensuring high data quality and minimizing bias in the coverage (Watson,Zamith, Cavanah & Lewis, 2015). It is especially important to note that Web surveys are nowdisplayed on different devices with different screen sizes and entry methods. So how responseentry devices affect response quality is another important question for …

Chinese To English Translation: Identifying Problems And Providing Solutions, Shihua Brazill

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify problems and provide solutions for improving Chinese to English translation quality, including ways to avoid Chinglish. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used, including interviews of 20 faculty members and a survey of over 300 students at 7 universities in China. The study researched four problem areas: Chinglish, cultural awareness, machine translation (MT), and translation profession. The results indicated that causes for Chinglish stem from different levels including vocabulary, syntax, and cultural levels. Cultural awareness was found to be a key factor for improving translation quality, especially when it comes to …

Social Media & Political Engagement: Environmental Organizations, Social Media And Political Engagement, Tyler Cate

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Social media is becoming more important in today’s digital society, but how effective is the use of social media when it comes to political engagement? How do environmental organizations use social media and is it effective in encouraging their “followers” to engage in online and/or offline political activity? I collected Facebook and Twitter data from ten environmental organizations to assess the effectiveness of each posting. I hypothesize that the groups making direct calls for action via social media receive a greater response – beyond “clicktivism” or “slacktivism” – than the groups that do not. The data includes the number of …

Wet Grain Delivery Advice: A Previously Impossible Extension Challenge Solved Through App Technology, Joseph S. Dvorak, Sam Mcneill, Clint Hardy

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The delivery of wet grain during harvest is a complex and constantly changing problem about which Extension professionals have been unable to offer more than general advice. By capitalizing on important characteristics of mobile devices, a new app enables producers to fully benefit from detailed information universities have generated on grain drying and costs associated with delivery of grain to different locales. Development of such an app demonstrates the power of apps and mobile devices in allowing Extension to deliver previously unattainable services to its clientele.

Personal Communication Networks And Their Positive Effects On Online Collaboration And Outcome Quality On Wikipedia, Michail Tsikerdekis

Information Science Faculty Publications

Online collaborative projects have been utilized in a variety of ways over the past decade, such as bringing people together to build open source software or developing the world's largest free encyclopedia. Personal communication networks as a feature do not exist in all collaborative projects. It is currently unclear if a designer's decision to include a personal communication network in a collaborative project's structure affects outcome quality. In this study, I investigated Wikipedia's personal communication network and analyzed which Wikipedia editors are utilizing it and how they are connected to outcome quality. Evidence suggests that people who utilize these networks …

"We Can't Do It Without You!" Crowdfunding As Cultural And Economic Negotiations Within Neoliberal Culture, David Zachary Gehring

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This thesis is a qualitative study that critically examines crowdfunding campaigns established to fund music projects. It argues that these campaigns are instantiations of neoliberalism, influenced by and reflective of cultural commitments operative within music communities and a shifting industrial context. For this study, neoliberalism represents a particular mode of free market capitalism characterized by discourses emphasizing individual agency free from regulatory constraints, and the rearticulation of cultural values rhetorically prioritized over market interests. Emerging within this cultural and industrial ecology informed and motivated by neoliberalism, and shaped through the dynamic flux of fan/artist relationships and industrial uncertainty, the crowdfunding …

Media Literacy Definitions, R. M. Wenner

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis conducts a critical discourse analysis on definitions of the term “media literacy” used by researchers in media literacy educational interventions. These definitions are compared to the skills developed in participants of media literacy interventions. This comparison reveals if and how researchers are operationalizing their stated definition of media literacy. Over half of researchers are using the definition proffered by the National Association for Media Literacy Education. However the disagreement in the field around a definition of the term “media literacy” has created confusion. This confusion has left educators falling back on practices scaffolded by the previous educational paradigm. …

The Strength Of Weak Social Ties: Social Activism And Facebook, Nichole Akai Giraldi

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The use of Social Networking Sites, Facebook in particular, has become a major avenue of communication; Facebook has become a platform where people can discuss any topic of their choice to include social issues within society. While some argue Facebook is only a disseminator of information, others argue that in addition to being a disseminator of information it is also a motivator of social activism. Facebook profiles consist of one’s social ties, both strong and weak, which have the potential to expose users to different information daily. Using Mark Granovetter’s strength of weak social ties theory as a framework, the …

Your Face Betrays You: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of Lie To Me, Caroline Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research concerning the consequences of edutainment has revealed that television shows have the capability to influence audience members. As the lines between education and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred, viewers may not be aware of how watching such shows impacts them. Lie to Me is a popular edutainment television series that educates viewers about the power of micro expressions. Ekman has dedicated a large part of his life to the development of research related to micro expressions. The show’s main character, Cal Lightman, portrayed Paul Ekman’s special talents and knowledge through his ability to detect micro expressions. The first three …

Differential Media Portrayal Of The Pope, Keara King, James Morris

Undergraduate Research Conference

This project presented the media portrayals of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. It examined theories of media impact on media consumers, and applied these to media coverage of the Popes and perceptions of Catholicism in America.

The Growth Of The Broadband Internet Access Market In California: Deployment, Competition, Adoption, And Challenges For Policy (Research Brief), James E. Prieger

School of Public Policy Working Papers

This report is a brief version of a longer study of the California broadband market (Paper 63). Readers interested in more background information, more empirical analysis, and more complete documentation of sources and methodology can refer to the longer report, which is available at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/sppworkingpapers/63/.