NDSU Theses & Dissertations

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Research performed to achieve a formal degree from NDSU. Includes theses, dissertations, master's papers, and videos. The Libraries are currently undertaking a scanning project to include all bound student theses, dissertations, and masters papers.

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The A3 Report as Knowledge-Accomplishing Activity: A Practice-Oriented Analysis of Situated Organizational Problem Solving
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Hatton, Angela Yvonne
The A3 report is a lean practice innovated by Toyota motor company. The A3 report, a growing trend in organizations, is promoted as a communication tool, but it has not been studied from a communication perspective. In this study I interview twelve professionals who use A3 reports in their work and identify the ways in which A3 reports enable and constrain organizational communication. This study illustrates the communicative enactment of knowing and identifies how the A3 report structures organizational problem solving and creates knowledge-accomplishing activity. The A3 report constrains information through its concise 11 by 1 7 inch paper size and enables knowledge production through discussion and the Japanese consensus-building concept of nemawashi. I submit that organizational use of the A3 process creates bridges between communities of practice and allows organizational actors to span traditional boundaries and engage in knowledgecreating conversations, thus furthering understanding of the communicative constitution of the organization.
Activism Challenges Faced by Black Student-Athletes at Predominantly White Institutions
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Pitchford, Alexis
For decades, black athletes have used sports as a stage to spread awareness of the injustices that are overlooked in our country. Black student-athletes are treated as ambassadors of the predominantly white universities they represent in their sports. However, they still endure prejudice from students, faculty, and local community members who are supposed to be their supporters. In this study, I investigated the factors influencing black student-athletes’ willingness to speak out on social issues. Through interviews with ten black student-athletes at NDSU, I found the concerning factors, identity issues, and levels of comfortability that black student athletes experience at this predominantly white institution. I argue that inconsistencies of support from the athletic department and fan base make it harder for black student-athletes to engage in activism. I recommend that student-athletes collaborate with athletic departments and local organizations in their activism to improve their communities.
Adapt or Perish: How Long-Term Unemployment Impacts Vocational Socialization and Professional Identification
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Freed, Tara
The present study examined 84 online narratives authored by 11 Suits--college-educated, middle-aged, white men--to examine how involuntary exit and long-term unemployment impacted their vocational socialization and professional identification. Closed-coding found Suits used Jablin's (2001) and Kramer's (2010) five sources of vocational socialization. Differences occurred, however, in source definitions, sub-categories, and prevalence of use. Additionally, Suits reported "recruiters" as a sixth source. Analysis went beyond Jablin's original definition of socialization to include support and encouragement as a form of vocational socialization. Results of thematic analysis showed Suits communicated four forms of professional identification (job seeker, stable, adaptable, and broken), each with seven defining characteristics. Suits communicated multiple forms of professional identification simultaneously, and identifications that shifted throughout their unemployment process. Practical implications for unemployed Suits and the professionals who serve them are discussed.
Adult Silbing Communication: Attachment Style and Strategy
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Stack Bruflodt, Erin Melissa
In an effort to further understand communication within sibling relationships, this study examined adult sibling relationships and the connection between attachment styles and the strategies or relational maintenance behaviors used to maintain such relationships. The study will employ the theoretical framework of attachment theory originally presented by Bowlby (1973). Scholars agree that the basic principle of attachment theory is that attachment relationships continue to be an important factor throughout the life span. Current research has used this theory to link attachment style with the use of relational maintenance behaviors in voluntary relationships. Having developed this framework, the next logical application of the theory is to discuss the use of attachment style and relational maintenance behaviors in non-voluntary relations. Of particular interest to this study is the connection between siblings in middle adulthood and the maintenance strategies used with their sibling.
Adults’ Perceptions of their Childhood Media Role Models
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Erlandson, Kayley Karen
The media’s effects on children have been frequently discussed, but the effects that childhood media has when individuals reach adulthood is not fully understood. Current research in this area has mostly focused on present day media figures, not past role models. Studying media role models retroactively shows the power of messages that people receive when they are children. This study used data collected from 18 undergraduate students through interviews (6 males, 12 females) to investigate three research questions regarding gender’s role in choosing a media role model, the articulation of gender identity during discussion of media role models, and how assessments of childhood media role models change over time. Findings that could lead to potential future research include the underlying hegemonic masculinity, where men are accessing their power in society through fictional characters’ masculine traits, and the influence of shared experience of media when choosing a childhood media role model.
All is Fair in Love and War, but Work is a Different Story: Communicative Responses to Perceptions of Organizational Injustice
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Breen, Amanda
Organizational injustice has been a long feared and long dissected topic by many in the business world. However, there is no clear idea of what employees expect from their superior, nor how communication is impacted separately from behavior in times of injustice. Interviews with 21 employees were used to study the expectations employees have of their superiors and how fulfillment of those expectations impacts communication in the workplace. Interview data indicate that employees expect open communication, performance assistance and professional behavior. Interview data also indicates that employee communication is impacted immediately, in the midst of situations and long term, both passively and directly. Several relational and communication management techniques are suggested to assist fulfillment of psychological contracts and decrease negative impacts of organizational behavior.
An Analysis of the Arguments Used in the Home School Issue
(North Dakota State University, 1988) Meyer, Jaime Paul
"An Analysis of the Arguments Used in the Home School Issue," by Jaime P. Meyer is a study employing a twelve point method of analysis taken from the work of Ch. Perselman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca. This study sought to answer the question: Are the values in the arguments of those for or against conditional home schooling in North Dakota consistent with the values underlying the laws of the state? Chapter I established the nature of the study. Chapter II provided a review of the literature concerning home schooling in North Dakota. Chapter III identified the similarities of the values in the arguments stated by those for conditional home schooling and the laws of the state. Chapter IV noted the dissimilarities of the values in the arguments stated by those against conditional home schooling and the laws of the state. Chapter V concluded that the values in the arguments of those for conditional home schooling are more consistent with the values underlying the laws of North Dakota than the values in the arguments of those against conditional home schooling.
Anonymity, Social Identification, and Online Social Influence
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Rabby, Mir Md Fazla
This experiment investigated the primacy of social identification in the online social influence process with anonymity as a contextual variable. Other key variables were perceived argument strength and attitude toward abortion. Participants (N = 229) were randomly exposed to four conditions, in which they read three pro-life or pro-choice arguments from either three identifiable people (known) or three unidentifiable people (unknown). Based on the social identity model of deindividuation (SIDE), the study tested if social identification had a greater effect on attitude in unknown conditions through depersonalization. Results demonstrated that social identification predicted attitude, but anonymity did not affect the process. In other words, depersonalization was not triggered by anonymity. Social identification also affected attitude indirectly (via argument strength). The study also found presence of both group membership-based influence (driven by social identification) and informational influence (driven by argument strength). Implications of the study, especially involving anonymity, were discussed.
Are Public American High Schools Void of Values? The Teacher Perspective of Moral Education in Public School
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Plummer, Emily Bullen
The American public school system's immense influence on culture and politics makes its critical inquiry vital for social awareness and prosperity. There is a wide body of literature that speculates on the presence of moral education in American public high schools. This study addresses the research need for information on the real-life "moral education" situation. The use of the literature term "moral education" was confirmed by research participants. A qualitative study was formed to explore the situation. Two American public high schools with different population sizes and ethnic demographics were used to recruit 18 participants. The study determined that moral education is present in American public high schools, because the topic is "organic" or naturally inseparable from the teaching process. A number of methods were used to teach the topic and subjects ranged from controversial to non-controversial in nature.
Are You Buying What They're Selling?: Ethnographically Exploring Organizational Identification through Employees' Everyday Talk
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Western, Kai Janovsky
The purpose of this study was to explore how employees' reflect organizational identification strategies in their everyday talk at a big-box retailer. Previous studies on organizational identification have mostly been organization-centric, focusing on the strategies organizations employ to induce employee identification. This study fills this gap by exploring the employee side of the identification process. Using ethnographic methods, the researcher conducted complete participant observation and textual analysis to understand how employees reflect, mock, and/or rebel against the organization's identification strategies in their narratives and rites. This study used a three phase approach to gain a deeper understanding of how employees used everyday discourse to reflect their connection with an organization. In Phase I, complete participant observation and informant interviews were conducted during the 2011-2012 holiday season at a big-box retailer, Big Alpha. Data were coded using thematic analysis. The second phase consisted of textually analyzing organizational artifacts to determine how Big Alpha employed organizational identification strategies. In the last phase, participant observation and informant interview data were compared to the strategies found in Phase II to determine what identification strategies employees reflected in their everyday talk. Findings indicate that employees enact specific identification strategies that reflect identification and disidentification. Additionally, employees utilized the tactic of espoused shared values, indicating their identification with their work group more than with Big Alpha. This study extends organizational identification theory by revealing specific five new tactics and one new strategy that employees use that connect them or disconnect them from the organization. This study also extends research on temporary workers as findings indicated that seasonal, part-time, and college student workers may not perceive themselves as having "real jobs." Finally, this study found that there may be a worker class system that influences the extent to which employees may or may not identify with the organization. These findings suggest practical implications and areas of future research.
Athletic Fundraising and University Development Offices: A Structurational Relationship
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Dickhudt, Keith Michael
This case study examines the working relationship between an athletic department and a central development office within a university. This study focuses primarily on the coordination of fundraising efforts between the two offices. A qualitative approach, using a structuration theoretical framework, presents the working relationship at Midwestern State University (MWSU) through in-depth interviews. Results suggest the two offices could improve the coordination of fundraising efforts. Recommendations, based on the results and theoretical framework, are given.
Attributions Online: An Examination of Time Stamps, Read Receipts, and Ellipses in Text-Based Communication
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Earle, Kelsey Kathleen
According to social information processing theory (SIPT), humans are actively encoding and decoding information when communicating through technology (Walther, 1992). This study uses SIPT as a theoretical guideline and examines the type of attributions formed when elements such as time stamps, read receipts, and ellipses are present in text-based communication. Malle’s (2006) categorization of attribution types was used to analyze attributions from a free response section of an online experiment. Various chi-square tests were used to determine if attributions differed when various chronemic cues were present. Only one hypothesis was supported, but results provide opportunities for future research in this area.
Branding, Communication, and Millennials: A Look at the Communication Habits of the Largest Generation in History
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Mattix, Christopher James
Millennials are the largest generation in history and are frequently the targets of major marketing campaigns. However, no current research exists that focuses on Millennials' brand related communication habits. Focus groups with 50 college students were used to study the brand related communication habits of Millennials. Focus group data indicate that face-to-face communication is preferred by Millennials when communicating about brands and products; however, participants noted an increased use of digital communication (text messages, instant messages, social networks) when communicating a negative brand experience. Price, family tradition, and product type were found to have the biggest influence over what types of messages were communicated and with whom they were communicated.
Breaking Bad: Breaking Television's Limited Representations of Addiction
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Jones, Michael Allan
As a communication device, television helps cultivate a culture’s social reality. Yet, television sometimes advances flawed concepts in a social reality, particularly concerning addiction. Television appears to have cultivated limiting stereotypical concepts regarding the attitudes, thoughts, and action patterns characteristic of addicts. These stereotypes may hinder a person’s recovery. This analysis, therefore, examines narratives in AMC’s Breaking Bad to learn how the television series conceptualizes addiction. Combing Walter Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm with William Kirkwood’s Rhetoric of Possibility, it delineates an alternative narrative representation of addiction. It reveals limitations in stereotypically conceived representations of addiction, and shows coherent narratives supporting a more comprehensive concept of the term. Through the Fisher-Kirkwood lens, Breaking Bad may be seen as cultivating an enlightened conceptualization of addiction. In so doing, the television show’s cultural importance is established.
Carl Bildt's Assertive Sweden: Rhetorical Exigence, New Identity, and Prominence
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Carlson, Chris John
This study examined the text of a speech by Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister, Kingdom of Sweden, in Stockholm on December 19, 2006. Analyzed through the prism of Lloyd Bitzer's (1968) "rhetorical situation" theory, a discourse of re-identification appears as a means to re-establish Swedish relevance and influence in the continent. The elements of exigence, audience, and constraints were analyzed in relation to the text, and emergent discursive themes discussed. A discussion of the inherent limitations and implications was also offered.
Case Study: Implementation of the Top Five Freedom of Information Act Cases into Media Law of the Republic of Tajikistan
(North Dakota State University, 2009) Yakubova, Muhabbat
The purpose of this study is to explore and study the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in five cases. The study will analyze the importance of FOIA for the growth of media for developing countries like Tajikistan. The study conducts a comparative analysis of the FOIA cases. The study will examine FOIA adoption history in the United States of America's legislative system; the reasons, purposes, and the implementation of FOIA by media personnel; and current media law of the Republic of Tajikistan. Also the study will discuss where certain aspects of FOIA could fit in Media Law of Tajikistan that would lead to the development of media field's and journalists' access to information for a Tajik audience.
"Cause You Don't Really Need a Teacher to Learn Stuff": Theorizing a ‘Lanes of Learning' Model of Informal, Self-Directed Learning
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Vareberg, Kyle Robert
The goal of this dissertation was to explore how self-directed learners assess their learning in informal contexts. Self-directed learners experience high intrinsic motivation and learner control, so studying these learners’ experiences provides valuable insights into learning. I pose four questions: 1) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts satisfy their need for a) autonomy, b) relatedness, c) competence, and d) prioritize the satisfaction of these needs? 2) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts self-regulate their learning? 3) What affordances are perceived by informal learners during self-directed learning? 4) What relationships exist between the satisfaction of learners’ basic needs, self-regulation, and perceived affordances during self-directed, informal learning? I employ multiple methodologies, including interviews (N = 19) and an open-ended survey (N = 154), and based on this evidence, theorize a Lanes of Learning model to explain how learners regulate learning, assess competence, involve others, and use tools to meet their needs. Participants’ needs also influenced which learning tools they integrated and, from those, what they perceived as possible, including accessibility, personalizability, and adaptability. Evidence shows learners in 1) Lane A prefer efficiency, collect confirming cues, involve others to meet a goal, and use tools that provide a set of correct steps; 2) Lane B prefer structure, collect confirming cues and add affirming cues, involve others for functional purposes, and used tool that resemble the real thing; 3) Lane C prefer depth and chase information as it becomes relevant, collect affirming cues, involve others for emotional reasons, and use tools that provides more information to chase; and, 4) Lane D prefer innovation, collect affirming cues and add confirming cues, involve others to build a network, and use tools that are inspirational, not educational. I argue people are motivated to learn when that learning is on their terms, and this motivation manifests in the strategies and processes taken by individuals during learning.
Chevron's Power of Human Energy: A Case for Corporate Social Responsibility as Identification Inducement
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Roers, Michelle Marie
With corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerging as an inescapable business priority around the world, organizations are developing elaborate CSR campaigns to highlight their good deeds and influence important stakeholders. Despite its potentially powerful persuasive influence, however, we know surprisingly little about the actual messaging used in contemporary CSR campaigns. Accordingly, this study investigates a major multinational-and controversial-company's CSR campaign to examine CSR messages' propensity for inducing positive organizational identification. A case study applying Cheney's (1983b) organizational identification inducements reveals that Chevron's Power of Human Energy CSR campaign extensively and strategically uses CSR messaging to induce identification. This study thus suggests that organizations are using complex, versatile, and wide-ranging identification inducements in contemporary CSR campaigns-including eliciting identification via employee and outsider voices. Results are discussed in terms of practical and ethical implications for researchers, communication practitioners, and society.
Cloudy with a Chance of Endorsements: Analyzing Vaping Communities through Taylor’s Strategy Wheel and Parasocial Interactions
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Daniel, Emory Stephen Jr.
The purpose of this dissertation is to launch a greater understanding of Taylor's Six-Segment Strategy Wheel (SSSW) and how it might pair with purchasing intentions with the use of parasocial interactions and celebrity endorsements. Recent research findings have concluded that younger viewers often consider their parasocial interactions/ relationships to be highly similar to their social interactions/relationships. Moreover, the dissertation presented addresses the question: since friends and family can influence our purchasing intentions; can parasocial influences have the same effect? What is it about parasocial interactions that make them useful to those viewing content? Also, within these interactions, what stands out the most? The present study uses research from the SSSW and other relevant theoretical frameworks to determine what were the most persuasive cues while watching an advertisement. This dissertation conducted two studies to help resolve these problems in more precise detail. First, a content analysis of YouTube comments for the channel Vape Capital's profile videos provided an insight of the visual sensory appeal of vape tricks and clouds. Also, the social component was also present with micro-celebrities on screen and the vaping community as a whole. Both sensory and social segments were the most used segments that influenced purchasing cues. The second study used focus group as a continuation of the research done in study one. Across the three focus groups conducted, the findings were similar to the content analysis. Focus group participants noted currently and retrospectively that they enjoyed the visuals, and were a separate collective group that disassociates themselves from traditional cigarette smokers. Lastly, although participants mostly liked the vapers on screen, they could not influence purchasing intentions exclusively. However, the micro-celebrities and videos conducted sparked purchasing inquiry. Participants were intrigued by the video and the positive interaction and stated that they would want to research the specific products listed in the video. Although this study is not a representation of all celebrity parasocial relationships with links to purchasing intentions, the study can spearhead a line of research to connect interpersonal communication and strategic communication.
Communicating CSR: A Longitudinal Examination of the Petroleum Industry's Social Issue Adoption
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Tulibaski, Katherine Lynn
The purpose of this study was to examine the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR communication, and social issue adoption of the world’s largest petroleum companies over time. Previous research on CSR and institutional theory have established that CSR is institutionalized; the current study builds on that knowledge to examine whether the social issues companies adopt as CSR may also be institutionalized and it does so from a longitudinal perspective in relation to a complete industry. Specifically, this study engaged in a textual analysis of 75 CSR reports using MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis software, to understand how 15 of the world’s largest petroleum companies communicate about their CSR within voluntary, yet formal CSR reports from 2007-2011. Analysis of the reports consisted of three phases. First, a working schema of social issues was developed from past research and the content of the reports; this phase identified social issues that were present and prevalent in the reports. Second, data were analyzed to examine, in detail, what companies were communicating about the social issues, as well as how they were communicating about them over time. Finally, the CSR reports were coded for the institutional and/or competitive language that was used to describe the social issues within the reports. Findings indicate that social issues adopted as CSR are also institutionalized, and there are seven key and consistent social issues the companies discussed: society and community development, stakeholder engagement, environmental performance and stewardship, workplace safety and health, corporate governance, low carbon growth and technological development, and energy security, supply, and demand. Additionally, the CSR communicated by an industry over time is largely consistent with very little variation in content or format both within the same company over time and between companies over time. Further, companies utilize both iv institutional language and competitive advantage language to discuss their CSR efforts. This study extends our knowledge about CSR communication by suggesting that social issues are also institutionalized, and highlighting consistency in content and reporting over time, thereby indicating that institutionalization occurs at the macro, meso, and micro-levels of organizing.

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