Leadership Studies Commons^™

Paralinguistic Cues And Their Effect On Leader Credibility, Monte Brian Reid

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Paralinguistic cues are powerful non-verbal communication elements that have the ability to make even good news sound horrible or bad news more palatable. Drawing upon the hermeneutical phenomenology communication theory of Dilthey (1961) and Shannon’s (1949) communication channel model, this thesis targeted the six primary paralinguistic cues of fluidity, articulation, sonority, tempo, emotion, and dynamic intensity to discover how these cues interact and affect the credibility and palatability of a leader’s message. To facilitate remembrance of these cues, the acronym F.A.S.T.E.D. was coined and used. Three different groups consisting of managers, non-managers, and media and public relations professionals were surveyed …

Information Overload: The Effects Of Advertising Avoidance On Brand Awareness In An Online Environment, Gregory David Salyer

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

When information overload occurs, an individual consumes information at the expense of other information. Advertising avoidance, or banner blindness, is a protective mechanism that can be triggered when an individual receives too high an informational load. This study uses methods developed from information overload theory, selective attention studies, information entropy and information redundancy to seek the connection between information overload and banner blindness. In aiming to measure the overall effect that these two phenomena have on brand awareness and individual’s ability to recall an ad from a web browsing session, this study relies on prior work in the area of …

The Influence Of Communication Strategies On Charitable Races, Vicky Jean Daniels

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Charitable races are happening all over the United States. These races are a competitive way for charities to receive funds to help support their causes. However, not all charity athletic events and races are promoted equally. This success or lack thereof is in part due to how the events’ messages are communicated and perceived by potential attendees. This study interviewed experts in the field of marketing charitable events, and surveyed participants of charitable events to see what communication strategies most influenced their decisions to attend. The study highlighted the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series, which has been very successful for …

Analyzing Reader Response To The Plotlines Of Secondary Characters In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice And Northanger Abbey Through Walter Fisher's Narrative Paradigm, Kendal Mcdermott Sasso

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Humans communicate lessons and messages through multiple mediums; including the written word. Classic novels transcend time and continue to reach out to generations of people to offer insight into human nature. The best stories can maintain relevance years after they have been created. This has been true for Jane Austen’s novels. Her works have received much criticism and research over the last 200 years with screen and book adaptations, as well as fan clubs and societies. Where much of the research emphasis is on the main characters or themes, there is a lack of information about the effect of secondary …

Communication In A Traditional Organization, Nidia Haydee Marichalar

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study examines if a mismatch exists between the traditional structure of communication, and the communication needs and expectations of teachers and staff in a rapidly growing and changing charter school system, which in turn contributes to the burgeoning turn-¬‐over and the perceived plummeting morale amongst teachers and staff at the school. Anonymous surveys were administered, and interviews and focus groups were conducted at one school, seeking to gauge teacher and staff perceptions of 1) How well leaders communicated about the school’s and teachers’ mission, strategy, and goals; 2) How well were these ideas and expectations matched to the experiences …

Are Individuals Better Able To Acquire And Retain News Information That Is Consonant Or Dissonant With Their Ideological Beliefs?, James Lee Jenkins

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to find out whether people can better recall news information that is consonant or dissonant with their personal ideological beliefs. This study is a follow-on study to Joel Turner’s study (2007) that found that people’s perceived biases in the news are often triggered prior to the people reading the actual news information. The scope of this research was to determine the type of news information people are better able to recall. The two main research questions this study was attempting to find answers for were:

• RQ1: Are conservatives better able to recall news information …

Diplomatic Communication In Response To Religious Conflict, Kim Alba

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a strategy for diplomatic dialogue in response to religious conflict. Kenneth Burke’s theory of dramatism provides a means of rhetorical evaluation on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s response to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that were widely seen as caused in some way by an anti-Islam video published online on YouTube. The study discusses how Clinton’s use of identification and division is used in diplomatic dialogue in order to resolve the differences caused by religious conflict, specifically in a speech at the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue on September 13, …

Global Journeys: Exploring The Communication Strategies Successful Longterm Sojourners Use For Cultural, Language, Identity And Family Adjustment, Lynne H. Green

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

With a growing number of multinational corporations sending workers into new locations, the need for knowledge about how individuals and families successfully integrate and connect to their host country is paramount. This study focuses on the phenomenological communication strategies used for cross cultural adjustment and adaptation of longterm sojourners in a new culture. Longterm sojourners who have lived for three years or longer in two host countries were interviewed to explore their communication strategies of adaptation for meaning making for themselves and for their families. Specifically, perspectives around the experience of cross culture adjustment, language acquisition, and identity shift were …

Intergenerational Farm Family Communication And Succession Planning, Cayla M. Waters

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis studies intergenerational communication in farm families during the succession planning process. The research focuses on intergenerational relationships between fathers and sons. Due to the lack of research on intergenerational communication in farm families, this thesis examines the role communication plays in this relationship, and how communication affects the succession planning process of passing down the family farm. Communication accommodation theory is used to understand the communication processes taking place within the father-son relationship. The research methods used to gather information for this study are focus groups. The focus groups are made up of 3 father/son pairs who are …

Female Pop Singers On Twitter: Use For Branding And Implications For Publicists, Jessica Sincavage

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

A celebrity’s success depends upon building and maintaining their ‘well-knownness.’ The increase in usage of and access to social media platforms like the micro-blogging platform Twitter have led celebrities and their publicity teams to incorporate social media into their branding and communication strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to examine celebrity presence on and usage of Twitter and its implications for the role of celebrity publicists. The study is based in the narrative paradigm, which recognizes and honors each individual’s story telling abilities. A case study including three influential female pop singers was conducted, and the results were analyzed …

Women For Obama: A Metaphor Criticism Of Political Facebook Use, Natasha Merkle

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The political rhetoric of U.S. Presidential Elections has been studied for years, but not significantly through the lens of social media. While the statistical relevance of social media as a political communication tool is not yet widespread, the numbers have grown drastically since 2008. This increase in usage prompted the author to determine how rhetoric is most effectively communicated over social media to key audiences. This study is a metaphor criticism of the Women for Obama Facebook page as it appeared during the final 90 days prior to the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election. Four metaphors are used to describe the …

The Effects Of Sibling Relationships On The Social Development Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Barbara J. Higgins

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Relationships among siblings are the longest lasting and most consistent in the life of an individual. Relationships among siblings are no different when one of the siblings has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Among the various obstacles children with ASD encounter, social developmental delays are the most prominent and treatment plans are often established for the social education of children with ASD. This study reviews the impact of the incorporation of typically developing children into the treatment plans of their siblings with ASD. The literature reviews relationship status between siblings when one child has ASD and how the presence of ASD …

Virtualization Of Teams And Group Sustainability, Valerian Eshelman

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Corporations today are looking for ways to cut costs as well as generate additional revenue. One of the most popular methods is to virtualize your employees. Computer mediated communication (CMC), which is propagated through information and communication technology (ICT), enables virtual interaction through email, instant messaging, teleconferences. But what is the impact on team cohesion and individual citizenship in an organization when members never interact face-to-face? This thesis leverages the results of five previous studies which reached the collective conclusion that when team members simply exchange information using CMC it has a corrosive effect on cohesion and team member's job …

Promoting Information Literacy Through Media Literacy, Greg Pond

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Mass media messages have overwhelmed modern culture. Many of these messages are not created with the best interest of the recipient in mind (Potter, 2008). The Mass media does not operate as a public service. It’s big business. Good daily decision making has become increasingly dependent on the ability to be “information literate” – to effectively evaluate the accuracy, currency, and completeness of media messages. But these critical information literacy skills are surprisingly lacking today (Asher & Duke, 2012). One recent study suggests that information literacy skills can be effectively developed through training in media literacy (Van De Vord, 2010). …

Establishing The Need For Cross-Cultural Communication Training For Pre-Hospital Medical Providers, Brenda Lee Tappan

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

It is apparent by the supporting research that the actual front-line providers have not been given a place at the table in an attempt to identify cross-cultural communication training needs for prehospital medical personnel. This lack of dialogue, in addition to a homogenous industry, has resulted in inconsistencies and inadequate care of diverse patients. This work examined both knowledge of how ethnicity impacts the pre-hospital medical encounter as well as attitudes toward cross-cultural nuances held by current pre-hospital medical providers. Specifically, this study analyzed survey responses designed to identify current knowledge and attitudes. The data was obtained using a quantitative …

Rhetoric And Framing: Influence On Public Opinion In The Martin/Zimmerman Case, Milagros Figueredo Sowers

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study seeks to analyze the importance of framing on public opinion. This analysis looks at the characteristics of communication and how they are conveyed. It also seeks to examine underlying themes in cases where public opinion was radically shifted and perceptions changed. This style of qualitative measurement is able to provide suggestions on why a media source would present a specific topic one way and then slant a similar topic in a different manner or format . Mass media is looked at in a critical manner with an attempt to hypothesize as to its purpose in use of framing. …

Part One: An Instructional Module Template For Orientation To The Situated Practice Of Oral Communication Online In The Community College, Martha A. Lane

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

The community college serves a diverse student population with numerous programs and degrees designed to complete general education requirements and prepare students for job placement. As these students enter their anticipated occupation, most are unprepared for the oral skill requirements of their new job. They lack confidence to navigate any number of scenarios demanding interpersonal poise, teamwork, conflict resolution, presentation skills, and other occupation-specific speaking tasks. Since many of these degrees and certificates are offered partially or completely online, this Project presents a practical means of introducing speaking skills into the coursework of the growing online learning environment. The research …

Football Coach Training Curriculum For Parents, James Nicholas Knight

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Football is an extremely passionate game and has created interest from many different age groups in the United States. In particular, youth football is especially popular with children in the fifth and sixth grade age group and their parents. With injuries such as concussions becoming a massive concern nationally across all playing levels (youth, high school, college, and professional), the popularity of football is not diminishing with parents continuing to register their children to play youth football. In many youth football leagues across the country, parents are often used as coaches. Some parents, who have limited to no experience coaching …

Empathy During Times Of Crisis And Corporate Reputation, Ann T. Gallagher

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

How an organization responds to victims is central to crisis communication management and protecting organizational reputation. While there is significant literature about best practices for crisis response, one area which has not been explored is the relationship of empathic communication and corporate reputation during times of conflict. This study examined this relationship through a study of the British Petroleum Gulf Oil crisis of 2010. The qualitative study used focus groups with working professionals and personal interviews with communication experts. The research is grounded in Coombs’ (1998) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), and Benoit’s (1977) image restoration theory, which is used …

The Effects Of Hierarchal Structures And Complex Policies On Organizational Communication, Linda Youssouf

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study analyzed the hierarchal structures and complex policies within a for-profit organization that contributed to creating a work environment with poor communication, specifically the effects on employees. Adaptive Structuration Theory provides a theoretical foundation for this study and discusses the creation of social systems through using rules and resources in interactions. The study did not intend to devise a clear solution to these pre-existing issues but rather shed light on the effects this type of problem has on communication between employees within an organization. A Likert Scale survey with 20 questions was distributed to 30 out of 50 employees …