Matching Items (26)
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- All Subjects: Communication
- All Subjects: Social Media
- Creators: School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
Long before “fake news” dominated the conversation within and about the media, media literacy advocates have championed the need for media literacy education that provides the tools for people to understand, analyze, and evaluate media messages. That the majority of U.S. adults now consume news on social media underscores the importance for students of all ages to be critical users of media. Furthermore, the affordances of social media to like, comment, and share news items within one’s network increases an individual’s responsibility to ascertain the veracity of news before using a social media megaphone to spread false information. Social media’s shareability can dictate how information spreads, increasing news consumers’ role as a gatekeeper of information and making media literacy education more important than ever.
This research examines the media literacy practices that news consumers use to inform their gatekeeping decisions. Using a constant comparative coding method, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of hundreds of discussion board posts from adult participants in a digital media literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to identify major themes and examine growth in participants’ sense of responsibility related to sharing news information, their feeling of empowerment to make informed decisions about the media messages they receive, and how the media literacy tools and techniques garnered from the MOOC have affected their daily media interactions. Findings emphasize the personal and contextual nature of media literacy, and that those factors must be addressed to ensure the success of a media literacy education program.
This research examines the media literacy practices that news consumers use to inform their gatekeeping decisions. Using a constant comparative coding method, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of hundreds of discussion board posts from adult participants in a digital media literacy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to identify major themes and examine growth in participants’ sense of responsibility related to sharing news information, their feeling of empowerment to make informed decisions about the media messages they receive, and how the media literacy tools and techniques garnered from the MOOC have affected their daily media interactions. Findings emphasize the personal and contextual nature of media literacy, and that those factors must be addressed to ensure the success of a media literacy education program.
ContributorsRoschke, Kristy (Author) / Thornton, Leslie-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Chadha, Monica (Committee member) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Silcock, Bill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This Barrett, the Honors College senior thesis connects the experiences of cosplay with public speaking confidence. “Cosplay, abbreviated from the word ‘costume play,’ is a performance art in which the participant masquerades as a character from a selected film, television, video game, or comic book” (Gn, 2011, p. 583). The ability to “cosplay” in front of other relies on performing in front of an audience much like public speaking. When students speak with confidence, students will know their ideas are being expressed with conviction and assurance. Having the ability to speak professionally and publicly, is a highly valued skill in the workforce and key to success in all types of employment. Communication skills are frequently a top factor in determining whether a college student will obtain employment (Beebe & Beebe, 2006, p. 275-276). Despite their different definitions, there are multiple connections between cosplay and public speaking. This thesis explores the connection between peer support and belief in one’s self in both cosplay and public speaking. Now those who have direct support become self-reliant and confident as a result of these connections. This projects highlights Goffman’s identity theory, the Pygmalion effect, theories of fashion and identity, role-play, narrative paradigm, dramatism, and non-verbal communication, and explores how cosplay can contribute to the formation of one’s public speaking persona. The issue of anxiety is also included in the conversation as it is central to both cosplay and public speaking. Ultimately, this thesis explores the questions: Can cosplay help students become empowered public speakers?
ContributorsGallardo Rojas, Lizette (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Wentzel, Bonnie (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This interdisciplinary thesis examines the possible relationship between the public speaking experience for women and the gender gap in political ambition. First, a historical analysis of women public speakers ranging from the 1800s to the Suffragettes to female politicians in the 1900s reveals a pattern of female public speakers in politics receiving extreme criticism for their communicative behavior. The thesis then turns to the socialization of young girls, highlighting how gameplay in children translates into gendered communicative behavior in adult women. Next, an examination of the pedagogy of public speaking showcases how the public speaking experience is different for women than it is for men, and how public speaking traditionally is taught in a masculine style. Then, through a review of the literature on the gender gap in political ambition, it is seen that not only are women severely underrepresented in political office in the United States, but women have far less political ambition than men. And a case study of the 2008 presidential primaries and elections, highlighting modern women in politics, demonstrates that the few women who are politically ambitious in the 21st century face criticism that mirrors those faced by political women decades and centuries prior. Finally, the thesis offers possible solutions to changing the experience of women as public speakers and fostering political ambition in women.
ContributorsPatton, Ashley Crystal (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Wentzel, Bonnie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
It took the coming together of a community of people and their collective efforts to bring me where I am today academically. I would first like to thank Barrett, especially Dean Ramsey who helped build my appreciation for reading primary text, and NCUIRE for awarding me the grant for this project. I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Jeffery Kassing for being more than a director for my thesis by patiently listening to me talk about my future aspiration, and Dr. Jim Reed for being a mentor and a second reader. I would also like to thank all the multitude of professors and other mentors who helped shape my perspective in seeing the bigger picture. I am mostly grateful to all those who directly and indirectly helped bring this thesis to realization. Lastly, but certainly not the least, I would like to say a big thank you to my entire family, loved ones, and friends here and back home for enthusiastically cheering me on.
ContributorsWento, Christiana Tally (Author) / Kassing, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Reed, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Abstract Communication scholars have begun to contribute to the theoretical understanding of resilience as a dynamic and collaborative process, which can be talked into being (Buzzanell, 2010). Previous research has examined the role of resilience in romantic couples, however, has focused disproportionately on heterosexual couples. This offers a limited, and singular understanding of how resilience is developed and sustained in romantic relationships. To better understand the scope and breadth of resilience, this study examined five same-sex couples through an in-depth qualitative case study analysis. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the small body of existing data, as well as, enhance our understanding of how resilience works in other contexts. Data was analyzed for thematic patterns, and compared to existing data on same-sex relationships. The findings supported that resilience is a collaborative process that is facilitated by communication. There were some discrepancies from the data collected in this study compared to previous findings; however, due to the small sample size, findings from this study cannot be generalized to the larger population.
ContributorsHartt, Cori Ann (Author) / Waldron, Vincent (Thesis director) / Kelley, Doug (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This is an exploratory study that describes the activities of the Chive community as a popular religion. Using utilize Shan Suttons' framework from The Deadhead Community (2000) and Howard Beckers Jazz Places, I use categories of Community, Cultus, Creed, and Code as ways to explore describe the Chive community's activities and how they are similar to the popular religion, the Deadheads. Chive people maintain a sense of community that operates online with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter where they began to connect with one another, offline in the form of Meet-ups, and charity drives, and in the fabric between these events of the shared consciousness that takes place among Chivers and Chivettes. Through participant observations, interviews with Chive chapter administrators, and survey responses, I set out to answer, or get closer to, what it is that leads someone to Chive On.
ContributorsHarrick, Travis Christopher (Author) / Renshaw, Scott (Thesis director) / Keahey, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Although previous research has explored the relationship between social media use and well-being, many studies are contradictory of each other and conclude varying findings relating to social media use and outspokenness. This study explores the relationship between active and passive social media use, perceived social media expertise, and outspokenness using the potentially mediating variable of perceived social acceptance. 162 participants, recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and ASU’s SONA systems, completed a survey relating to their own use of social media, perceived social acceptance, and outspokenness. Contradictory to my first hypotheses, no significant correlations were found between social media use and social media expertise. However, correlation analyses revealed that active social media use is related to an increased amount of perceived social media expertise (r = 0.23, p < .004). Perceived social media expertise was significantly positively correlated with outspokenness (r = 0.19, p < 0.015); however, it was not correlated with perceived social acceptance. When examining these relationships separately by gender, a strong association was found for males between active social media use and outspokenness, whereas passive social media use and outspokenness were negatively correlated for females. The results of this study add to previous research in the field of social media and outspokenness and lend new ideas for future research on these topics, such as exploring the gender differences that are associated with these variables. Further research in the area is needed for a more complete understanding of how one’s social media use affects his/her outspokenness and how gender modifies these effects.
ContributorsRubino, Kelli Erika (Co-author) / Rubino, Kelli (Co-author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis director) / Halavais, Alexander (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Four hundred years after the word "virtuous," came to be associated with a woman's sexuality, today's female adolescent seemingly has everything. Yet, there is a psychological civil war raging in the psyche of the 21st century young American female because her mind is divided against itself due to the conflicting instructions of who and what she should be. She has so many choices; it is easy to become overwhelmed by them. Today's female youth is threatened. She communicates more and more, but her ability to express herself is inhibited because she is unsure of how to develop an authentic sense of self. It is a hermeneutic understanding of communication and what it means to be "virtuous" that can free young women to cultivate authentic self and continue to make decisions that support such a lifestyle. It is the aim of this thesis to reclaim the word "virtuous" for the benefit of today's young women. Deeper understanding of hermeneutics and communication allow us to view this word in a different light and read the entirety of Proverbs 31 as feminists. Young women have always faced challenges in adolescence, but a return to classical wisdom and philosophy will equip them to further advance themselves and their communities, rather than forcing them into a life of speaking tongue twisters. The virtuous young woman does not know what the future holds, but armed with the lessons of tradition and the fire of hope, she may speak a virtuous magic over the world with a tongue fit for the challenge.
ContributorsNichols, Hannah May (Author) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Thesis director) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / Watrous, Lisa (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This thesis aims to enhance the academic conception of American anti-Semitism by analyzing the rhetorical visions of two distinctly American theologies: Christian Identity and Black Israelism. Using a theoretical framework that couches the rhetoric of both religious movements within their respective historical contexts, I seek to understand the persuasive appeals of the alternative histories that lead both movements to conclude that their racial group is descended from the ancient Israelites--a status both movements claim has been "usurped" by contemporary Jews. After contextualizing their rhetoric, I juxtapose the rhetorical vision of Christian Identity with that of Black Israelism, concluding that the former can be understood as a movement and narrative premised on racial hubris whose paranoid rhetoric makes meaningful contributions to the climate of anti-Semitism, while the latter constitutes a movement and narrative premised on historically-legitimated suspicion whose paranoid rhetoric, though invidious, does not constitute a comparable threat.
ContributorsRuben, Brian (Author) / Walker, Michael (Thesis director) / Mueller, Caroll (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Delegation is a very important skill for a manager to have in any organization and is of the utmost importance when it comes to tasks being executed. Often times, delegation can be seen as something that managers dread because they do not want to give up their power and they feel that they can do it better. The notion of delegation can be something that is influenced by a variety of factors. For one, gender can be a driving force in how managers talk to their employees. In this project I will be exploring sections of Genderlect theory in how men and women's communication styles are received differently. Critical theory of communication approaches will also be explored. Also, the way in which delegation is used is what needs the most attention. That is where relational and nonverbal communication also come into play. All in all, the way in which society is constructed, delegation is a skill that needs to be mastered because the job needs to get done.
ContributorsGatica, Jose Guadalupe (Author) / Waldron, Vincent (Thesis director) / Gruber, Diane (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05