Matching Items (253)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Communication
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
Suicidality, understood as the risk of suicide with intent or the idea of suicide, has been increasingly prevalent in our country, yet the topic of suicidality is one that is often spoken in hushed tones and behind closed doors (Pam, 2013). While suicide statistics trend upwards, there is a growing need to understand representations of suicidality, particularly within media (Centers for Disease Control, 2017). This thesis looks to explore the representations of suicidality in media, specifically Netflix’s original series, Thirteen Reasons Why. Data collection for this thesis will be collected from online social media forums dedicated to the show in the form of episode discussions reflecting on each episode in the season. Through an emergent, grounded analysis, this paper will address current representations of suicidality within Thirteen Reasons Why as well as identify common themes found in online social media forums. This research established common themes of resilience-enhancing, community building, and individuals feeling at-risk or triggered by representations of suicidality in Thirteen Reasons Why as found throughout the online social media forums.
ContributorsTaylor, Katlyn (Author) / Nadesan, Majia H (Thesis advisor) / Walker, Michael (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Maintaining sexual desire as the marriage endures is a challenge, especially as it involves the interplay of seemingly opposing tensions of novelty, autonomy, and closeness. Difficulties can arise when autonomy, which requires spousal distancing, is perceived as a martial threat and therefore suppressed. This dissertation investigates whether prosocial marital distancing can nurture autonomy and promote sexual desire.
Torah-observant Jewish married couples practice family purity, a Jewish law forbidding sexual relations during menstruation and shortly thereafter. During this time couples often avoid sleeping in the same bed, physical touch, and behaviors that can instigate a sexual encounter. These distancing restrictions are lifted when the wife immerses in a ritual bath. The process repeats at the next menstruation.
This research examined the effects of family purity’s marital distancing through two studies. The first involved qualitative interviews of family purity wives (N = 10) guided by relational dialectics theory (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). Study one findings suggest that family purity wives navigate the three tensions of integration, expression, and certainty. Study one also revealed a new tension, the dialect of restraint. The dialectic of restraint appears to enhance marital communication, heighten the appreciation for the mundane, and help sustain sexual desire.
Study two, the quantitative phase of the research, applied self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986) to investigate differences between family purity and non-family purity couples. A sample of 90 married Jewish dyads (N = 180) participated in a cross-sectional online questionnaire. Findings suggest that while non-practicing couples report greater self-expansion, family purity couples report greater sexual closeness. Family purity couples also report the same closeness and sexual closeness ideals, whereas non-practicing couples reported divergent ideals. Non-practicing family purity husbands had the greatest reported discrepancy between ideal and actual sexual closeness.
The combined findings suggest that sanctioned prosocial distancing as practiced by family purity couples enables the integration of cognitive growth and mitigates the threat of autonomy. Prosocial distancing within the family purity marriage appears to provide the wife space for autonomy that in turn provokes novelty and sexual desire. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical contributions, study limitations, and future directions.
Torah-observant Jewish married couples practice family purity, a Jewish law forbidding sexual relations during menstruation and shortly thereafter. During this time couples often avoid sleeping in the same bed, physical touch, and behaviors that can instigate a sexual encounter. These distancing restrictions are lifted when the wife immerses in a ritual bath. The process repeats at the next menstruation.
This research examined the effects of family purity’s marital distancing through two studies. The first involved qualitative interviews of family purity wives (N = 10) guided by relational dialectics theory (Baxter & Montgomery, 1996). Study one findings suggest that family purity wives navigate the three tensions of integration, expression, and certainty. Study one also revealed a new tension, the dialect of restraint. The dialectic of restraint appears to enhance marital communication, heighten the appreciation for the mundane, and help sustain sexual desire.
Study two, the quantitative phase of the research, applied self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986) to investigate differences between family purity and non-family purity couples. A sample of 90 married Jewish dyads (N = 180) participated in a cross-sectional online questionnaire. Findings suggest that while non-practicing couples report greater self-expansion, family purity couples report greater sexual closeness. Family purity couples also report the same closeness and sexual closeness ideals, whereas non-practicing couples reported divergent ideals. Non-practicing family purity husbands had the greatest reported discrepancy between ideal and actual sexual closeness.
The combined findings suggest that sanctioned prosocial distancing as practiced by family purity couples enables the integration of cognitive growth and mitigates the threat of autonomy. Prosocial distancing within the family purity marriage appears to provide the wife space for autonomy that in turn provokes novelty and sexual desire. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical contributions, study limitations, and future directions.
ContributorsFramer Black, Melissa Wallace (Author) / Pettigrew, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / Roberto, Anthony J (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Marilyn S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The aim of this research was to better understand the experience of bereaved individuals following their return to work, and the ways in which they communicatively negotiate their relationships at work and at home. One of the most salient facts of life is that everyone will all experience the death of a loved one. The amount, frequency, type, and recovery response for the bereaved may be vastly different, but inevitably everyone has to cope with death. Even though it is an integral part of life, the bereavement experience often is acknowledged as one of the most traumatic and stressful processes that occurs in individuals’ lives (McHorney & Mor, 1988; Miller & McGowan, 1997). In fact, roughly 5% of the workforce is affected by the passing of a close family member each year, and this number excludes those who experience the deaths of close friends (Wojcik, 2000). Evidence suggests that bereavement affects the physical and mental health of survivors, many of whom are in the workforce (Bauer & Murray, 2018; Hazen, 2003, 2008, 2009; Wilson, Punjani, Song, & Low, 2019). In order to explore how work-life roles are integrated into the lives of bereaved individuals, this dissertation qualitatively analyzed 36 interviews with bereaved employees (12), cohabitants (12), and coworkers (12). Through the use of procedural coding (Saldaña, 2009) and emergent codes, this dissertation answered the five posited research questions and their sub-questions. The results of this analysis have numerous implications for social support, emotion at work, grief, and bereavement leave policy. The following dissertation delineates the significance of this research, the literature review providing rationale for study of bereaved employees, qualitative methodological design, analysis of the data, and conclusions about bereavement and work-life relationships.
ContributorsGiannini, Gino Anthony (Author) / de la Garza, Sarah Amira (Thesis advisor) / Alberts, Janet (Committee member) / Mingé, Jeanine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Constant false alarm rate is one of the essential algorithms in a RADAR detection system. It allows the RADAR system to dynamically set thresholds based on the data power level to distinguish targets with interfering noise and clutters.
To have a better acknowledgment of constant false alarm rate approaches performance, three clutter models, Gamma, Weibull, and Log-normal, have been introduced to evaluate the detection's capability of each constant false alarm rate algorithm.
The order statistical constant false alarm rate approach outperforms other conventional constant false alarm rate methods, especially in clutter evolved environments. However, this method requires high power consumption due to repeat sorting.
In the automotive RADAR system, the computational complexity of algorithms is essential because this system is in real-time. Therefore, the algorithms must be fast and efficient to ensure low power consumption and processing time.
The reduced computational complexity implementations of cell-averaging and order statistic constant false alarm rate were explored. Their big O and processing time has been reduced.
To have a better acknowledgment of constant false alarm rate approaches performance, three clutter models, Gamma, Weibull, and Log-normal, have been introduced to evaluate the detection's capability of each constant false alarm rate algorithm.
The order statistical constant false alarm rate approach outperforms other conventional constant false alarm rate methods, especially in clutter evolved environments. However, this method requires high power consumption due to repeat sorting.
In the automotive RADAR system, the computational complexity of algorithms is essential because this system is in real-time. Therefore, the algorithms must be fast and efficient to ensure low power consumption and processing time.
The reduced computational complexity implementations of cell-averaging and order statistic constant false alarm rate were explored. Their big O and processing time has been reduced.
ContributorsChu, Huiwen (Author) / Bliss, Daniel W. (Thesis advisor) / Alkhateeb, Ahmed (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Traveling is one of the most enriching and fulfilling activities for most people. Yet factors such as crowded airports, long waiting queues, and inaccessible features of airports and airplanes often make traveling stressful for many individuals including those with disabilities. This qualitative phenomenological research study examined the underexplored area of traveling with a vision disability. Framed around a Co-cultural theoretical perspective, the study examined the lived experiences of vision impaired individuals with regard to receiving disability assistance services during air travel. The study specifically explored the communication strategies that vision impaired individuals employed to manage their assistance-related air travel needs. The study used in-depth interviews for data collection, and a combination of thematic analysis techniques for data analysis. Findings indicated four categories of assistance-related issues that vision impaired participants frequently experienced in their travel: personnel training issues, system issues, policy issues, and physical accessibility issues. The study also identified four Co-cultural communication orientations that participants used in navigating air travel: assertive accommodation, aggressive accommodation, assertive assimilation, and nonassertive assimilation. In addition, the study identified a new Co-cultural communication practice - normalizing for self. Findings of this research conclude that despite three decades since the passage of United States legislation to protect the rights of disabled people, vision impaired travelers still frequently experience inequitable air travel practices. The study offers recommendations on pressing issues concerning policies and regulations that can inform airline executives and federal legislators in facilitating a more equitable and pleasurable air travel experience for those with vision disabilities.
ContributorsBhagchandani, Bhoomika (Author) / Kassing, Jeffrey W. (Thesis advisor) / Broome, Benjamin J. (Committee member) / Zirulnik, Michael L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Emerging adulthood represents a liminal space between adolescence and adulthood. Attachment with a romantic partner is commonly developed during this time; however, the nature of the dating relationship often remains ambiguous and/or undefined. Dating provides emerging adults the opportunity to develop their romantic competence and navigate these particular attachment relationships. Conflict, and how it is managed, is a critical variable during this time and differentiates between couples who progress in their relationship from those who terminate. What is more, partners may become stuck in destructive cycles, or patterns, of conflict (i.e., demand-withdrawal). Using the theoretical frameworks of attachment theory and emotionally focused couples therapy, this study’s goal it to examine the impact of a brief writing-intervention on relational quality, secure attachment behaviors (i.e., accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement) and attachment dimensions (i.e., anxiety, avoidance). Sixty-seven participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions for a two-wave study: (1) a treatment condition that was provided an educational presentation regarding couples’ negative cycles of interaction and attachment needs, followed by a guided writing task; (2) a comparison condition that only received the educational presentation; and (3) a control condition that received neither the educational presentation nor the writing task. Hypotheses proposed that participants in the treatment condition would experience increased relational quality, secure attachment behaviors (for both themselves and their partner), and greater secure attachment (i.e., decreased anxiety and avoidance) across time compared to the comparison and control conditions. Data did not support the hypotheses. These findings offer important implications for the development of future brief couples’ interventions and aim to generate future research.
ContributorsTruscelli, Nikki Irene (Author) / Mongeau, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Guerrero, Laura K. (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen entered Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL and shot and murdered 49 people and wounded over 50 more. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting ever to occur on U.S. soil. That particular evening, Pulse, a queer nightclub, was hosting a “Latin Night,” which resulted in over 90 percent of the victims being Latinx in descent and many that identified as Afro-Latinx or Black. Essentially, Pulse is the most lethal act of violence against queer and trans bodies of color in this country. Pulse reminds queer and trans people of color of the conditions of the world that position Brown and Black queer and trans death as mundane. That is to say, the lives of trans and queer bodies of color are lived in close proximity to death. And yet, Pulse was anything but mundane. In every practical sense, it was a fantastical event of radical violence. The tension between these and the implications found within is what this project seeks to engage. Utilizing critical/performance-based qualitative methods and data derived from the queer and trans of color communities in Phoenix, AZ, this project investigates the performative afterlife of Pulse. I apply and name the term performative afterlife to suggest that the events at Pulse are connected to material conditions and consequences that get performed by and through queer and trans bodies of color. Interlocutors share the afterlife is performed within the context of ubiquitous whiteness found in Phoenix, often manifesting as a survival mechanism. Additionally, many interlocutors express the mundane threat of violence everyday has prevented a thorough engagement of what it means to live in a world after the events at Pulse nightclub have occurred. Ultimately, the performative afterlife of Pulse gets performed by queer and trans bodies of color in Phoenix through a co-performance between one another. Much like the dancing that occurred at Pulse, the performative afterlife is a performance that moves the world towards queer or color futures not yet here.
ContributorsTristano, Michael (Author) / Brouwer, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Marlon (Committee member) / Danielson, Marivel (Committee member) / LeMaster, Benny (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
There is tremendous value in bringing fresh voices and perspectives to theory and practice, as it is through these novel lenses that research advances in rich and more equitable ways. However, the importance of first-generation college students being involved in this process has been vastly underestimated and undervalued by researchers and practitioners alike. Extrapolating from interdisciplinary research on counterstorytelling and networked counterpublics, the aim of this study was to explore how the proposed theoretical model of networked counterstorytelling—as presented through a grassroots digital storytelling campaign—could create space for first-generation student voice and leadership to help inform current theoretical understandings of social capital and community cultural wealth. Using a multimethodological approach—combining large-scale network analytics with qualitative netnographic analysis (Kozinets, 2015)—this study (1) produced novel methods for measuring and analyzing social capital within social media communities and (2) demonstrated how grassroots digital storytelling campaigns, facilitated by the affordances of social media platforms such as Instagram, can function as means for inviting the leadership, voice, and perspectives of first-generation college students into the design of higher education research and practice.
ContributorsJohns, Kristi (Author) / Bertrand, Melanie (Thesis advisor) / Dippold, Lindsey (Committee member) / Foucault Welles, Brooke (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
This thesis project explores the nature of power dynamics in the dialogue of video gamers within designated online forums of discussion. Previous scholarly work has noted the lack of diverse representation and tolerance in the gaming community, despite statistics revealing that the video game community is not as homogeneous as it is often represented. Specifically, the prominent literature analyzing gaming culture focuses on poor representations of gender within video games and the gaming community itself, including sexualized and objectified depictions of women as well as prejudice toward women as members of the gaming community. More recent entries to the field of research draws attention to the experiences of other marginalized communities in gaming. This thesis, then, begs the question – what power dynamics emerge in the dialogue of people who consider themselves to be gamers? How are concepts of social identity expressed or constructed in communication, and what reinforces and legitimizes these relationships? This project will review a foundation of literature structuring the framework of this project, propose methodology for data collection and analysis, and explore themes discovered within the data analysis, which support or negate existing research and give insight to the proposed research questions.
ContributorsFitzgerald, Karina Marie (Author) / Nadesan, Majia (Thesis advisor) / Gray, Kishonna L. (Committee member) / Walker, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Despite the prevalence of teams in complex sociotechnical systems, current approaches to understanding workload tend to focus on the individual operator. However, research suggests that team workload has emergent properties and is not necessarily equivalent to the aggregate of individual workload. Assessment of communications provides a means of examining aspects of team workload in highly interdependent teams. This thesis set out to explore how communications are associated with team workload and performance under high task demand in all-human and human–autonomy teams in a command and control task. A social network analysis approach was used to analyze the communications of 30 different teams, each with three members operating in a command and control task environment of over a series of five missions. Teams were assigned to conditions differentiated by their composition with either a naïve participant, a trained confederate, or a synthetic agent in the pilot role. Social network analysis measures of centralization and intensity were used to assess differences in communications between team types and under different levels of demand, and relationships between communication measures, performance, and workload distributions were also examined. Results indicated that indegree centralization was greater in the all-human control teams than in the other team types, but degree centrality standard deviation and intensity were greatest in teams with a highly trained experimenter pilot. In all three team types, the intensity of communications and degree centrality standard deviation appeared to decrease during the high demand mission, but indegree and outdegree centralization did not. Higher communication intensity was associated with more efficient target processing and more successful target photos per mission, but a clear relationship between measures of performance and decentralization of communications was not found.
ContributorsJohnson, Craig Jonathon (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Gutzwiller, Robert S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020