Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Exploring The Web And Language Accessibility Of Medical Tourism Providers’ Websites: Implications For Online Marketing And Patient Recruitment Practices, Alicia Mason, Elizabeth Spencer, Kristen Livingston, Treyton Meyers

Faculty Submissions

Background: Web accessibility as an attribute of the digital presence of organizations has been studied across domains and contexts. Our study aims to add to existing lines of research inquiry by examining the web and language accessibility of medical tourism provider (MTP) websites commonly used to market and promote international medical tourism treatments and services globally.

Objective: This study aims to (1) systematically analyze the web and language accessibility of MTP online health messages and (2) discuss challenges and implications for medical tourists’ user experiences when seeking health information online.

Method: We conducted an exploratory quantitative content analysis of web …

Research On The Influencing Factors Of Dropout Behavior Among Users Of Ancient Language Models From The Perspective Of Resilience Theory, Hai Zhang, Jiping Fang, Dongbo Wang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]The deep integration of ancient book digitization and large language models is the future development trend. In order to clarify the influence factors and formation mechanisms of dropout behavior among users of domain ancient book large language models, mobilize the willingness of users to use large language models, achieve high-quality user retention, and promote the non-human high-quality development of domain large language models. [Method/process]This study takes users in the field of ancient books as an example, based on resilience theory, and draws on grounded theory research methods to code and deconstruct first-hand data obtained from in-depth interviews with 30 users …

The "Green Gals" Podcast And Website, Courtney Perkins

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

This is a series of three podcast episodes under the series name "Green Gals" with a companion website of the same name. Each episode focuses on a different aspect of sustainable living with the goal of providing valuable tools, tips and information that everyday people can use to integrate sustainability into their everyday lives. The episodes ("Reduce, Reuse... Recycle?"; "Food Waste" and "Composting 101") are hosted by myself and a co-host, discussing the topic along with pre-recorded interviews which I conducted with experts in the field. The material is presented in a casual, engaging manner, employing music intros, transitions and …

On The Provenance Of Software Systems: Automating Software Traceability With Knowledge Graph And Large Language Model Synergy, Tyler Procko

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The present dissertation delineates a system that enables those engaged in software development to automatically generate and maintain project life cycle provenance. All projects are implemented and made manifest with the development of artifacts, e.g., papers, code files, etc. Tools exist to accelerate artifact creation, but little focus is paid to the processes that produce them. In terms of Ontology, or, from Ancient Greek, the study of being, the two most basic entities in reality are Continuant and Occurrent, or, roughly, “Artifact” and “Process”. This dissertation posits that for any created artifact, its process of creation, i.e., its life …

Development Of A Reporting Guideline For Trochim’S Concept Mapping, Sandesh Pantha, Martin Jones, Richard Gray

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Reporting guidelines are created with the intention to enhance the quality and transparency of reporting different research methods. Trochim’s concept mapping (often referred to as group concept mapping) is a six-phase, participatory mixed-method approach to understanding complex constructs. Currently, there is no reporting guideline for concept mapping. Developing a reporting guideline typically follows a three-step process: 1. a systematic review to establish the need for a reporting guideline, 2. a Delphi study to identify candidate items, and 3. consolidation process to inform a draft guideline. We have previously reported our step 1, a systematic review of health-related concept mapping studies. …

Who Has The Leash On The Watchdogs? An Analysis Of Public Records Laws In The State Of Nebraska, Madelyn Ames

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In this research paper, I examined the effectiveness and history of public records laws in Nebraska. The focus is on how these laws provide government transparency and accountability. This is done by looking at the historical context, doing a comparative analysis to another state and looking at recent events. Nebraska appears to do well in comparison to other states for complying with public records requests but there is room to grow. In this paper, I argue that there is more work to be done regarding the public's right to know. Based on my case studies regarding two public records request …

The Effects Of Disclosure Of Genai Use In The Production Of Advertising In High And Low Involvement Settings, Shawn Griffin

LSU Master's Theses

This study explores the effects of GenAI disclosure on advertising effectiveness and how these influences interact with consumers’ involvement in advertised products using a 2×2 experimental design with 83 participants, manipulating AI disclosure (disclosed vs. not disclosed) and involvement level (high vs. low). Findings indicate that disclosure negatively impacts brand attitude but has no significant effect on ad attitude, purchase intention, or sharing intention. An interaction effect was also found that in high-involvement conditions, disclosure increased the intention to share the ad. These results, framed through the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), offer insights into the …

Lindenwood Digest, March 26, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

The Psychological And Clinical Implications Of Digital Media Consumption, Julianna Carpenetti M.Ed.

Great Lakes Regional Counseling Psychology Conference

With digital media, technology, and the Internet becoming staples of daily life, it is critical for counseling psychologists to better understand problematic digital media usage and “Internet addiction.” I investigated the psychological implications of digital media usage, provided recommendations for clinical practice, and identified future directions for empirical study.

Lindenwood Digest, March 19, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Lindenwood Digest, March 12, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Do Universities Choose The Right Strategies For X Engagement? The Case Of Six Universities In Thailand, Mathupayas Thongmak

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objective: The purpose of this study is to understand how Thai public universities engage their stakeholders on X (the social media platform previously known as Twitter). This article answers the following research questions: 1) What are the X message strategies of six public universities? 2) Do they choose the most effective strategies to drive X engagement in terms of favorites and reposts?

Method: Data was automatically collected using anX analytic tool, and the potential variables were extracted semi-automatically using tools appropriate to text mining, sentiment analysis, word cloud, and so on. Posts from six universities in Thailand were investigated.

Results: …

La Intensificación En Los Comentarios De Noticias: La Prensa Deportiva Digital, David Sanchez-Jimenez

Publications and Research

Las plataformas digitales de los periódicos permiten una comunicación más fluida y dinámica con y entre la audiencia, que refleja algunos patrones de la comunicación oral (Briz, 1997, 1998; Yus, 2001, 2010; Albelda, 2004; Albelda y Estellés, 2021). Entre ellos, se encuentran los recursos lingüísticos de intensificación que refuerzan la fuerza ilocutiva de los comentarios emitidos, en una clara apuesta por dotar al texto de una mayor interactividad con sus potenciales receptores. El objetivo de esta investigación consiste en conocer cómo se relacionan entre sí los participantes de estas plataformas en la prensa deportiva. En particular, se prestó especial atención …

Transmedia Edutainment For Sustainable Advocacy: How Narrative Engagement And Counterarguments Influence Generation Z’S Response To Sustainable Development Messages, Aya Shata, Michelle Seelig, Nick Carcioppolo

Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies Faculty Research

Media convergence has created new forms of storytelling, such as transmedia edutainment (TE-E), which can serve as an innovative communication strategy for promoting pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Because of the limited evidence about the persuasive outcomes of narrative TE-E, this research investigates the role of TE-E as a novel communication approach that advocates for sustainable development among Generation Z. Drawing on narrative persuasion theories, we conducted an experiment (N = 441) that examined the narrative mechanisms of TE-E, focusing on narrative engagement and counterargument, and assessed the narrative outcomes of different single formats—including video, game, and comic—compared with TE-E. Findings …

How Insider-Led Processes Lead To Localization: The Case Of Digital Technology And Humanitarian Protection, Oliver Kaplan, Emily Paddon Rhoads

Global and Public Affairs: Faculty Scholarship

The humanitarian sector has been increasingly concerned with localizing its activities—devolving capacity, power, and decision-making authority to the local communities and organizations that are the frequent recipients of its assistance. However, the mere “outsider-led” provision of assistance to local actors is not itself sufficient to empower them. In- stead, we argue that “insider-led,” locally initiated processes can be an effective approach to localization. We identify how such shifts can occur and distinguish three different configurations of “insider-led” processes: Autonomous Adopters, Balanced Partners, and Exporting Entrepreneurs. We examine “insider-led” localization in the context of the use of Information and Communication Technologies …

Lindenwood Digest, March 5, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Digital Inequalities And U.S. Undergraduate Outcomes Over The First Two Years Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Vikki Katz, Amy B. Jordan, Katherine Ognyanova

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated major and rapid changes to undergraduate student learning conditions, but the longer-term consequences of those changes have yet to be fully understood. We assess how digital inequality—defined as challenges in accessing or maintaining a broadband internet connection and functional digital devices—affected undergraduates’ advancement toward on-time graduation over the first two years of the pandemic (2020-2022). We utilize survey data from a representative sample of 1,106 undergraduates at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, a public, 4-year university located in New Jersey, USA. Respondents were undergraduates who had been enrolled in full-time student status throughout the first two years …

Ethics In Digital Marketing: A Gen-Z’S Perspective, Suruchi Bhatt

School of Business

Almost 72% of Americans report they have a sense of being tracked online through their cellphones, by their advertisers or companies they follow, around 20% think their activities across their days are tracked, with almost 47% reporting the government tracks their cellphones, behaviors, and everything they do online. (Atske, 2019) It is no secret that when people say privacy is a myth, it is upon the behaviors of the companies to inform the customers of what, where, and why their activity is being tracked. Answering how the activity is tracked and when it will be tracked are key factors that …

Accessibility Disclosure Statements: Best Practices For Documenting Inclusive And Accessible Web-Based Research Design, Alicia Mason, Elizabeth Spencer, Pan Liu, Kristen Livingston, Sakshi Bhati, Angela Ashmore, Tristan A. Spencer, Lauren Shepard

Faculty Submissions

Accessibility disclosure is a core principle of the Project IRIS Best Practice Framework. This instructional resource-- Accessibility Disclosure Statements: Best Practices for Documenting Inclusive Web-Based Research Design-introduces options for reporting accessible web-based research design efforts in scholarly and professional publications. The three forms of accessibility disclosure statements are introduced: summary statements, reports of analysis--both general and specific-, and detailed process descriptions. Each of these strategies including terms, conceptual definitions, and examples are provided. The instructional resource may be of interest to undergraduate and graduate course instructors teaching research methods courses in a variety of social science disciplines.

Are Emojis The New Words? A Sentiment Analysis Of Social Media Brand Conversations, Yashodhan Karulkar, Dev T. Vora, Siddharth Vaddepalli, Yash Thakur

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Emojis have become an increasingly important aspect of consumer-brand interactions in the Indian subcontinent. However, the impact of emoji use on brand image and mental health remains underexplored, particularly in emerging economies like India, where structured research on this topic is limited. To address this gap, the present study analyzes over 4,600 consumer tweets related to 19 prominent brands across eleven industries. Using VADER sentiment analysis, the research develops a metric to assess consumer sentiment and brand engagement in relation to emoji usage. The findings indicate that effective integration of emojis contributes to positive consumer sentiment and enhanced brand engagement. …