Communication Masters Theses

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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.
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.
Automated Approaches for the Early-Stage Distinguishing of Palmer Amaranth from Waterhemp
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Venkataraju, Akhil
Palmer amaranth is an invasive pigweed species, possessing rapid growth, posing a threat to the economy of crops including corn. Its early detection and mitigation are of utmost importance; however, it is visually similar to waterhemp in the early growth stages. In this study, automated approaches are employed to distinguish palmer amaranth from waterhemp, within two weeks after emergence, from their RGB images. Morphological characteristics of these weeds are estimated and fed to several Machine Learning (ML) models. To improve classification accuracy, RGB images are augmented, and a Convolutional neural network is trained on 16000 images. Validated on images embedded with gaussian noise, it produced a better accuracy compared to ML approaches. Finally, YOLOv5, an object detection algorithm based on transfer learning, is successfully prepared. Tested on synthetic images consisting of both weeds, YOLOv5 successfully detected a significantly high number of palmer amaranth objects while also distinguishing it from waterhemp.
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.
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.
Comparative Advertising: A Factual Claim or an Evaluative Claim
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Kodagoda Peiris, Ishan Chalindha
Comparative advertising is widely used in the U.S and much remains to be learnt about when comparative advertising is used with the two forms of verbal claim; factual and evaluative claim. An experimental design with the 2 forms of verbal content (factual vs evaluative) and the two forms of comparative advertisements (direct vs indirect) were examined to identify the form of verbal content and comparison that would be most persuasive. In measuring the persuasiveness, attitude towards the brand and purchase intention were included as dependable variables. Results show that there was no significant difference between the two types of verbal content and the two types of comparisons which indicate that any forms of verbal content under any form of comparative advertisements is equally persuasive.
Connecting with Instructors on Facebook: Why and Why Not
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Wang, Ruoxu
The following thesis examined the student-instructor connection on social network sites (SNS). Facebook is the most popular SNS and it covers a range of users include both students and instructors. On Facebook, some students are willing to connect with their instructors whereas others are not. This study sought to accomplish two major goals: 1) to explore students' decisions of connecting with instructors on Facebook from various school experiences; 2) to examine if college students' self-disclosure, frequency of updates, information sensitivity, and privacy concern would predict their decisions of connecting with instructors on Facebook. The study found that college students rarely connect with instructors on Facebook. If they connected with instructors on Facebook, they prefer to connect with past instructors rather than current instructors. The study also found that both self-disclosure and frequency of updates have significant impacts students' decisions of connection.
Corporate Communication on Facebook: A Multi-Method Approach to Corporate Use and Stakeholder Perceptions of Social Media
(North Dakota State University, 2010) Hedberg, Kathryn Marie
This study looked at how corporations are currently using Facebook and what stakeholders' perceptions are of current corporate Facebook usage. A content analysis of nine corporate profile pages was conducted. Pages were coded for the presence or absence of relational development strategies under the categories of information dissemination, disclosure and involvement. A survey was also distributed to the fans of the nine corporate profiles in order to gain the fan perspective. Results showed that while corporations include disclosure and information dissemination strategies, they rarely use involvement strategies. This lack of interactivity is inconsistent with the fan perspective of corporate profiles, where fans called for more interaction and use of all relational development strategies on the corporate profile.
Crisis at the Finish Line: A Thematic Analysis of Instructing Information via Twitter
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Rudolph, Sadie Rae
This study expands current crisis communication research by exploring the communication of instructing information via Twitter. Drawing from the internalization, explanation, and action components of Sellnow & Sellnow's (2013) IDEA Model, this study analyzes live tweets posted by the Boston Police Department during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing crisis. Examining Tweets posted during a crisis allows us to better understand what constitutes useful, valuable instructing information that can be communicated via social media in real time. Further, scholars have just begun exploring social media's implications for crisis communication. This study extends the IDEA Model to reach crisis communication and social media. Findings also indicate the three components of the IDEA Model are valuable topics to consider when communicating instructing information via Twitter. Finally, we learn that Twitter's 140 character limit does not impede the social media platform as a vehicle to communicate instructing information during a crisis.
The Dangers of International Awards: A Lesson from Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize
(North Dakota State University, 2019) McMillin, Taylor Rae
Having spent over 20 years under house arrest fighting for democracy in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi has been a bastion for peace for decades. She has received many international awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, which she accepted in person in 2012. The plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, has marred Suu Kyi’s reputation as a bastion of peace, leading to calls for her to lose her Peace Prize. Why is it that Suu Kyi’s image as the future of peace so different from reality? That question is what this research attempts to answer. Through a rhetorical analysis of Suu Kyi’s Nobel lecture and the media coverage that followed it, the impact of the use of tropes becomes evident. Metonymy, synecdoche, and narrative emerge in both the lecture and media coverage. Suu Kyi’s use of tropes heavily influences public perception of her.
(De)constructed Gender and Romance in Steven Universe: A Queer Analysis
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Vogt, Olivia
As LGBTQ issues come to the forefront of discussion, the acceptance of queer television is becoming more common. However, research has shown that seemingly progressive shows often reinforce dominant ideologies, despite the presence of queer characters or themes. This analysis seeks to understand whether the children's animated series, Steven Universe, is as progressive as reviews would make it seem. Two open-ended research questions are used to explore the constructions of gender and romance in the series. Through the use of queer analysis, this study reveals that the series is indeed queer. The series narrative subverts gender through the deconstruction of societal binaries. Likewise, love is treated inclusively, and is not limited to heterosexual romances. Steven Universe, though not perfect, is an amicable example of how children's cartoons can educate upcoming generations in what it means to defy expectations and go beyond labels.

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