Matching Items (15)
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- All Subjects: Communication
- Genre: Academic theses
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Waldron, Vincent
Description
Belief affects behavior and rhetoric has the potential to bring about action. This paper is a critical content analysis of the ideology and rhetoric of key Islamist intellectuals and the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, as stated on the website http://english.hizbuttahrir.org. The responses of specific Muslim Reformers are also analyzed. The central argument underlying this analysis centers on the notion that such Islamist ideology and its rhetorical delivery could be a significant trigger for the use of violence; interacting with, yet existing independently of, other factors that contribute to violent actions. In this case, a significant aspect of any solution to Islamist rhetoric would require that Muslim Reformers present a compelling counter-narrative to political Islam (Islamism), one that has an imperative to reduce the amount of violence in the region. Rhetoric alone cannot solve the many complicated issues in the region but we must begin somewhere and countering the explicit and implicit calls to violence of political Islamist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir seems a constructive step.
ContributorsBoyer, Paul Daniel (Author) / Mean, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Carter, Heather (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
In order to adapt to a new culture and new language, children of immigrant families are faced daily with the responsibility of being the intermediaries between the family and the host culture through their language proficiency (Weisskirch & Alva, 2002). This thesis looks into the experiences of English-Spanish bilingual children as they bridge the gap between the family and the non-Spanish speaking community through their interpreting/translating skills. With an emphasis on children of Mexican-origin, the goal is to further understand and illuminate how these children manage this communication in an adult society, their feelings and thoughts about their experiences, and the child's perceptions about the influence that this experience may or may not have on their future. A sample of seventeen children agreed to participate in a semi-structured face-to-face interview to share their experiences. The data from these interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). A priori themes of circumstantial bilingual and adaptive parentification were the initial focus of the research while being open to emerging themes. The children's accounts of their experiences indicated primarily that the Mexican-origin values of familism and respeto (respect) were a significant influence on them when they interpreted/translated for their family. With these traditional cultural values and norms as the groundwork, the sub-themes of normalcy and stress emerged as supportive elements of the circumstantial bilingual experience. Furthermore, the theme of adaptive parentification and the sub-themes of choice, expectation/responsibility to assist, and equality to parents offered further insight on how adaptive parentification can result as the roles of these children change. There was an emergent theme, identity negotiation, which increases our understanding of what the circumstantial bilingual child encounters as the attempt is made to negotiate his identity as an individual who has to mediate language between two opposing cultures. Due to the language brokering responsibility that are bestowed upon these children, it is concluded that communicative support by the parents is a necessary component of the parent-child relationship in order to nurture and develop these children as they negotiate and create their identity to become the successful leaders of tomorrow.
ContributorsCayetano, Catalina (Author) / Mean, Lindsey (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a Compassionate Communication Scale (CCS) by conducting a series of studies. The first study used qualitative data to identify and develop initial scale items. A series of follow-up studies used exploratory factor analysis to investigate the underlying structure of the CCS. A three-factor structure emerged, which included: Compassionate conversation, such as listening, letting the distressed person disclose feelings, and making empathetic remarks; compassionate touch, such as holding someone's hand or patting someone's back; and compassionate messaging, such as posting an encouraging message on a social networking site or sending a sympathetic email. The next study tested convergent and divergent validity by determining how the three forms of compassionate communication associate with various traits. Compassionate conversation was positively related to compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity and benevolence, and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. Compassionate touch was positively correlated with compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and benevolence, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and benevolence. Finally, compassionate messaging was positively correlated with social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. The next study focused on cross-validation and criterion-related validity. Correlations showing that self-reports of a person's compassionate communication were positively related to a friend or romantic partner's report of that person's compassionate communication provided cross-validation. The test for criterion-related validity examined whether compassionate communication predicts relational satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed that people were more relationally satisfied when they perceived themselves to use compassionate conversation, when they perceived their partner to use compassionate conversation, and when their partner reported using compassionate conversation. This finding did not extend to compassionate touch or compassionate messaging. In fact, in one regression analysis, people reported more relational satisfaction when they perceived that their partners used high levels of compassionate conversation and low levels of compassionate touch. Overall, the analyses suggest that of the three forms of compassionate communication, compassionate conversation is most strongly related to relational satisfaction. Taken together, this series of studies provides initial evidence for the validity of the CCS.
ContributorsRamos Salazar, Leslie (Author) / Guerrero, Laura (Thesis advisor) / Roberto, Anthony (Committee member) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Municipal courtrooms are brimming with a variety of positive and negative emotions from defendants who are primarily encountering the criminal justice system for the first time. Municipal court judges and bailiffs must work together and find ways to communicate important information about courtroom processes to up to 70-120 defendants a day. This dissertation investigates how municipal court judges and bailiffs from two municipal courthouses respond to three organizational challenges associated with emotion--defendant confusion about courtroom processes, handling high caseloads while treating defendants as customers of the court, and managing the serious and tedious emotional moods of the courtroom environment. Using qualitative methods of observation and informal and formal interviews, this dissertation analyzes how emotion cycles between judges and bailiffs help give sense to and break sense of defendants while simultaneously helping them navigate the challenges of their work. Findings detail the nature of work in municipal court--explaining the challenges associated with emotion that judges and bailiffs face on a daily basis. The data also describes the emotional roles that judges and bailiffs employ in the courtroom. The judges' emotional roles include tension relievers, order enforcers, and care takers. Bailiffs' emotional roles comprise rule enforcers, toxin handlers, and do gooders. The heart of the analysis explores how judges and bailiffs give sense to defendants when unexpected situations manifest in the courtroom and break sense of defendants who hold incorrect or less favored beliefs about courtroom procedures. The emotional displays and responses of judges, bailiffs, primary defendants (defendants before the judge), and third party defendants (those watching in the audience) enable sensegiving and sensebreaking to occur. The emotion cycles allow courtroom staff to impact the sensemaking process of defendants in a fast and efficient manner. Theoretical implications include extensions of emotion cycle research through a consideration of the displays and responses of primary agents, intermediate agents, and primary recipients of emotional displays. Practical implications describe how specific training practices and space for employee discussion could enhance the workplace wellness of judges and bailiffs.
ContributorsScarduzio, Jennifer A (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Corley, Kevin G. (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The discussion board is a facet of online education that continues to confound students, educators, and researchers alike. Currently, the majority of research insists that instructors should structure and control online discussions as well as evaluate such discussions. However, the existing literature has yet to compare the various strategies that instructors have identified and employed to facilitate discussion board participation. How should instructors communicate their expectations online? Should instructors create detailed instructions that outline and model exactly how students should participate, or should generalized instructions be communicated? An experiment was conducted in an online course for undergraduate students at Arizona State University. Three variations of instructional conditions were developed for use in the experiment: (1) detailed, (2) general, and (3) limited. The results of the experiment indentified a pedagogically valuable finding that should positively influence the design of future online courses that utilize discussion boards.
ContributorsButler, Nicholas Dale (Author) / Waldron, Vincent (Thesis advisor) / Kassing, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Wise, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Emerging adulthood--a developmental point in the life span (usually between the ages of 18-25) during which children no longer see themselves as adolescents but would not yet consider themselves adults--is marked by identity exploration and discovering new life directions. When emerging adults find themselves serving as caregivers for their parent during a time when they would normally be establishing autonomy and exploring new directions, they may feel conflicted by their desire to both care for their parent and maintain a sense of independence. Thus, using a multiple-method research design that includes both an autoethnography and a qualitative content analysis of young adult caregivers' online posts, this study intends to uncover the dialectical tensions (the interplay of communicative tensions within a relationship) an emerging adult daughter experiences in her relationship with her mother as she serves as her caregiver, experiences her death, and grieves her passing by analyzing the author's personal narrative. To provide a deeper understanding of the dialectical nature of the emerging adult caregiver experience, the study was extended with an examination of other young caregivers' experiences, drawn from online forums, to explore how they encounter tensions within their own relationships with their parents. An analysis of the personal narrative revealed one primary dialectical tension, separation-connection, and three interrelated tensions--predictability-change, openness-closedness, and holding on-letting go--that seemed to influence this primary tension. Results of the qualitative content analysis revealed that other caregivers experienced one primary dialectical tension, sacrifice-reward, and two additional, interrelated tensions: independence-dependence and presence-absence. A comparison of the findings from each methodological approach revealed both similarities and differences in experiences of emerging adult caregivers.
ContributorsPiemonte, Nicole Marie (Author) / Fisher, Carla (Thesis advisor) / Kelley, Douglas (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Wolf, Bianca (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
For most people, sexual activity is a normal and healthy part of intimate romantic relationships. However, for some, sexual behaviors can become problematic to the extent their behaviors begin to impair or disrupt critical aspects of effective functioning. The inability to control problematic sexual behavior is among the most prominent traits for diagnosing compulsive sexual behavior or what is commonly referred to as sex addiction. Sex addicts in committed romantic relationships routinely engage in secrecy and deception as a maladaptive means to cope with the shame and guilt associated with such severe relational transgressions. Although ongoing disclosures with one’s dyadic partner regarding addiction-related struggles may be a healthy exercise in transparency and accountability, such honest disclosures risk re-injuring the transgressed partner while simultaneously upending the recovering addict’s attempt to restore face. Hence, recovering sex addicts who wish to repair their blighted dyadic relationships must carefully navigate self-disclosure and privacy implications as they attempt to restore themselves and their intimate relationships. Accordingly, this dissertation utilizes thematic analysis to explore the face and privacy implications surrounding addiction-related disclosures (ARD) in committed dyadic relationships. This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 recovering sex addicts attending 12-step Sex Addicts Anonymous groups. Key findings from this study suggest a relationship between recovery progress and how ARD are comprised, articulated, and interpreted by dyadic partners. Additionally, this study found that ARD, although damaging, largely did not result in relationship termination. Rather, relationships impacted by such disclosures simultaneously experienced two disparate relationship stages of bonding and stagnating. Finally, this study suggests that the reverberation of salacious ARD across the romantic dyad fundamentally upends the transgressor’s positive face. Such severe face damage was found to attenuate participants’ ability to regulate privacy boundaries with their partners.
ContributorsMims, Christopher W. (Author) / Pettigrew, Jonathan (Thesis advisor) / Sharabi, Liesel (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
It is common for Evangelical Christian churches to encourage young adult congregants to volunteer within their organization. However, when a volunteer applies for a position, and they do not receive it, they risk experiencing emotional hurt. There is a gap in the literature regarding responses of church attenders who have experienced rejection within the Evangelical church, specifically from a volunteer leadership position. In light of this, the present research conducted a qualitative study to identify how relationships between church staff and aspiring volunteers influence acquiring a leadership position and how young adults respond when they have been hurt by perceived rejection messages regarding volunteer leadership requests. This study gathered data through in-depth, one-on-one interviews of young adults, pastors, and church consultants. Pastors and church consultants provided context for young adults’ responses to rejection from volunteering. Analysis of raw data followed Braun and Clarke’s reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify patterns and themes seen throughout the data set. The depth of a relationship between a pastor and an aspiring volunteer is the primary evaluative process for pastors to acquire responsible leaders. However, aspiring volunteers who do not maintain a deep relationship with the pastor perceived behaviors demonstrating favoritism and were inclined to experience emotional hurt caused by feelings of exclusion and feelings of being morally or socially less than others. Young adult aspiring volunteers responded to perceived rejection through negative self-talk, avoidance, and continued participation in the ministry. Over time, young adults learned to understand and accept what had happened. Ultimately, the research found that the common leadership approach of developing leaders based on personal relationships between church staff and aspiring volunteers increases young adults’ hurt when they are not accepted into a leadership position.
ContributorsKatayama, Keara (Author) / Kelley, Douglas (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Taylor, Jameien (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Employee voicing facilitates positive changes and experiences for organizations and employees. However, despite a plethora of research on voice in different disciplines, our understanding of the process of employee voicing is still limited. This study seeks to (a) identify the phases that characterize the voicing process and (b) uncover the communicative strategies that characterize the different phases of the voicing process in the renewable energy industry in Kenya. The study utilized a qualitative approach. Namely, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-three renewable energy workers in Kenya who reported to have engaged in voicing. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The findings revealed five core phases that characterize voicing: idea formation, planning, initial enactment, reflexive enactment, and outcome. Further, the findings uncovered a variety of communicative strategies that are used in the different phases of voicing. These strategies emerged from the perspectives of different actors such as voicers, voicers’ peers, and recipients and their peers who are involved in the voicing process. The findings of this study advance voice theory by reconceptualizing voicing as a process that is highly interactive. Additionally, the findings extend voice theory in three other ways. First, the results demonstrate that power and status disparities in organizations produce hierarchies that inhibit voicing, especially among low power and status employees. Participants discussed how they communicatively navigate these disparities. Second, the results shed light on the ways voicers navigate different risks associated with voicing such as idea stealing and retributions. Third, the findings illustrate the specific ways that positive communicative relationships between peers, and between supervisors and subordinates facilitate voicing. Both supervisors and peers are highly involved in all phases of the voicing process and thus, contribute to the development and enactment of the ideas. Finally, the findings offer practical ways for cultivating and fostering voicing to voicers, voicers’ peers, voice recipients, and organizations in the renewable energy industry.
ContributorsKiura, Mary (Author) / Kim, Heewon (Thesis advisor) / Mongeau, Paul (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Bisel, Ryan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Previous literature suggests that engineers are known for lacking communication skill and training, despite an illustrated need for it established by accredited engineering organizations. Limited research has been done to effectively include communication competencies in engineering education. The current study sought to identify what communication competencies research engineers need to function at a research and development center, and to develop recommendations for training for both university and workplace setting. This qualitative case study included semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 10 employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s premier research center: Engineer Research Development Center (ERDC). The sample consisted of six research engineers and four other allied professionals. The analysis indicated that engineers valued the three main competencies of collaboration, audience adaptation, and interpersonal understanding. These are built upon foundational skills, including oral and visual communication skills, written skills, and active listening skills. Results also showed that engineers preferred an integrated approach to engineer communication training and identified university courses and workplace trainings as two different sources of communication learning. Findings were consistent with two theories of communication learning: communication across the curriculum (CXC) and communication in the disciplines (CID). Practical applications are offered for educators in communication and engineering fields, as well as career development professionals.
ContributorsWallace, Kaylynne (Author) / Waldron, Vincent (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Nicole (Committee member) / Kassing, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023