Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Communication

The present study attempts to stimulate a new program of communication-effects investigations needed to catch up with the significant recent technological transformations in the communication environment. Eveland's (2003) mix-of-attributes (MOA) approach is argued to represent a needed adjustment to how communication field investigates media effects in today's communication environment. The MOA approach is used to explicate political user-generated content (UGC) and its five technological attributes. In this study, the most popular political UGC and traditional media Web sites are content analyzed to obtain a detailed description of the attribute presence across prominent groups of UGC Web sites, and to compare presence of attributes on UGC versus traditional news Web sites. Cluster analysis is used to develop a theoretically- and empirically-grounded classification of political UGC. Despite relatively low presence of attributes across different UGC Web sites, the study confirms usefulness of the MOA framework. Presence of attributes on traditional news Web sites suggests that the theoretical importance of the attributes might increase over time. This study advances communication-effects theory by: (1) examining the nature and potential effects of political UGC; and by (2) illustrating how MOA approach can be applied, given its strengths and weaknesses. Additional implications of results, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

By thoroughly analyzing 910 U.S. House immigration bills from the 113th, 114th, 115th, and 116th Congressional sessions, my Ph.D. research delves into the impact of health crises on introduced U.S. House immigration bills in the United States. My research fills a crucial gap in the literature by examining the influence of legislative policy entrepreneurs (LPEs) on agenda-setting and socio-political discourse in health crises. By using Kingdon's policy entrepreneur theory and the inductive qualitative method of relational content analysis, I explore the general theme, underlying tone, rhetoric, and proposed measures of House immigration bills during health crisis versus non-health crisis periods. The findings reveal that elected House representatives are more likely to introduce restrictive immigration bills during health crises and that geographical location and political affiliation play a significant role in shaping these bills' rhetoric and proposed measures. Using the cumulative ANES dataset from 1948 to 2020, I demonstrate that the general population tends to be less welcoming towards immigrants and favors more restrictive immigration policies during health crises. Political ideology, education, income scale, and gender significantly determine public attitudes toward immigration policies and immigrants. My research sheds light on economic conditions, political environment, and legal frameworks that influence the legislative activity of elected House representatives and the public's attitudes toward immigration policy. The findings provide valuable insights and directions for future research, policy, and practice efforts toward a more equitable and just society.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, EDU Teaching and Learning

This dissertation is a conglomerate of three distinct, yet related, studies each exploring the question: How do the gendered experiences of a man elementary school teacher as well as portrayals of fictional men teachers in middle-grade novels contribute to the conceptualization of the gendered identities and masculinities of men who teach in the predominantly female environment of an elementary school? The first study is a content analysis of 85 middle-grade school stories using gender theory to analyze the gendered identities of 357 fictional teachers across the text set. In this analysis, I found that 40.34% of these 357 fictional teachers were constructed as men, with no transgender or nonbinary teachers in the text set. Over 90% of the teachers were constructed as White, and when they had an identified sexuality, they were most likely to be heterosexual, with only four teachers constructed as homosexual. Men teachers were most likely to be portrayed teaching P.E. or after-school classes. The teaching roles they were most likely to be shown performing included the delivery of content, the disciplining of students, and the daily management of the classroom. They were more likely than women teachers to be portrayed as fun and to give their students life advice. The second study in the dissertation is another content analysis with a much smaller text set, this time comprised of 10 middle-grade books. In this second analysis, I employ masculinity theory to examine various patterns of masculinity in the portrayals of 10 fictional teachers, each constructed as a man. In this analysis, I found that most of the fictional men teachers were constructed as successfully navigating between hegemonic and subordinate masculinities. At the same time, half of the teachers also operate to an extent within marginalized masculinities, two as gay men, two as Latinx men, and one as a Black man. These portrayals promote some gendered stereotypes of men teachers, specifically portra (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Environment and Natural Resources

The ongoing shale energy revolution has transformed global energy markets and positioned the United States as a leader in oil and natural gas production and exports for the first time in generations. However, little scholarly attention has been directed toward the downstream impacts of these developments on the people and places which experience energy export activity or host related infrastructure, particularly those in rail export corridors. This research presents a first-of-its kind, cross-regional comparative analysis of community risks, risk perceptions, energy and environmental attitudes, and related discourses in oil train export corridor communities. The mixed-methods design uses household-level survey data (N=571), interview data (N=58), and news media content analysis data (N=149), to address three key knowledge gaps regarding impacts of and attitudes toward crude oil by rail in examining: 1) the influences and distributions of support, opposition, and increased concern to oil by rail; 2) views toward hydrocarbon exports as well as broader energy preferences; and 3) dominant news media and stakeholder discourses and discursive channels concerning oil train activity. Results and related recommendations include the identification of community risk perceptions, vulnerabilities, and broader energy and export attitudes as well as predictors of their variation; discussion of implications for related community energy siting and planning, news media reporting, and communications; and the contribution of novel baseline data vis-a-vis predictors of risk perception and opposition concerning oil train activity and infrastructure to the risk perception and energy impacts fields.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, EDU Teaching and Learning

This three-fold dissertation examines the semiotic and textual ways that childrens literature is mediated by fifth-grade student conceptualizations of normal childhoods. Through a nested case study, I examined the discourses of a small group of fifth-grade girls, narrowed to the specific interactions of three focal students who have a personal connection to disability, to answer the following question: How does critical literacy mediate the reception of texts/covers that include characters with disabilities? Critical literacy theory provided a platform for conversations with students about the representation of childhood on the covers of books and in the books themselves. Students were encouraged to critique texts and participate in redesigning them in favor of a more accurate depiction of disability. Across the course of a year, I collected information about student interactions with the literature using ethnographic methods through audio/video recordings, semi-structured interviews, field notes and artifact collection (i.e. drawings and writings in student sketchbooks). Using discourse analysis, I analyzed this data to uncover the indexical methods that students utilized to index normal childhoods in relation to their discussions of middle grade novels. These findings were partnered with a content analysis and visual social semiotic/visual rhetoric analysis of book covers of the inclusion of disability in three middle grade novels (Rules, Waiting for Normal, and Short) read by the girls across the course of the year-long study. I found that the book covers consistently portray either a normal childhood or an overemphasized abnormal representation that both hide the reality of disability. In conversation with students, images were often rejected in favor of personal understandings of the disability. They did this by redesigning the covers to use semiotic resources that they connected to personally. Additionally, these students used their own experiences to aid in t (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2019, Journalism (Communication)

Throughout the relatively nascent course of games media scholarship, representation of video games within popular mainstream media tends to suggest an antagonistic relationship between those familiar and unfamiliar with video games respectively. Yet, this outlook fails to acknowledge the content of popular gaming media that can be equally critical of the representation of games in reporting. For instance, within the past two years, reports pertaining to video game “loot boxes” have not only shown that reward systems in certain games can structurally mimic online gambling, but games and mainstream media can cohabitate in this reporting arena. Given our nascent understanding of gaming media from a mainstream perspective, this study examines how gaming and mainstream news outlets comparatively frame this “loot box” rewards practice. A content analysis of 274 articles containing the term “loot box(es)” revealed similarities wherein both types of media outlets framed “loot boxes” with political messages, references to gambling and cast some form of normative judgment. Traditional news writing provided fewer overall frames than more opinionated types of writing. Political intervention was the greatest predictor of frames assigned by both media. Overall, the internal regulation of “loot boxes” and games industry's opposition to government-assisted regulation are the strongest implications that warrant future study of this controversy.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, Organizational Behavior

Social Inclusion is an emerging term, used most prominently by the United Nations to encompass ideas of equity, social, economic and civic participation, and the proactive protection of human rights. Posited as an antidote to the global phenomena of social exclusion, social inclusion is also increasingly understood as a process and outcome, rather than just an outcome. In the United States, one potential vehicle for the process of social inclusion is the development of mixed-income communities. Using a process perspective, this study explores the design and practice of social inclusion in the context of mixed income communities, by conducting a qualitative analysis of the federal Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, which funds mixed-income community development across the United States. Utilizing a combined content analysis and grounded theory analysis of archival grant reports and conducted interviews, this study aims to answer the question: How do mixed-income communities design and practice social inclusion? Within that question, what are the conditions for the practice of social inclusion? How do organizational structures, programs, and processes, enable the individual and collective practice of social inclusion? How is social inclusion designed and practiced at the structural, social, and individual levels? The content analysis focused on 55 Choice Neighborhoods planning grant Transformation Plans and 18 implementation grant narratives. This study also conducted and analyzed through grounded theory an additional 60 semi-structured interviews. The study generated an integrated process theory of social inclusion, through this analysis that identified 545 first order codes, 123 second order codes, and 24 aggregate dimensions. This study also presents the underlying dynamics that enable and limit social inclusion. In addition to this contribution to theory, this study will also contribute toward those working in the mixed-inco (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Public Policy and Management

Medical diagnoses constitute the basic problem definitions around which many health-related policies are built. Among other things, they inform disease prevention efforts, help direct funding of biomedical research, and can determine who is and is not eligible for disability benefits. In recent years, a number of medical scientists have cast a critical light on “fibromyalgia,” “chronic fatigue syndrome,” and certain other diagnoses, arguing that they medicalize what are really psychosocial problems and have led to counterproductive policy interventions. Unfortunately, our capacity to evaluate this argument is limited. Policymakers tend to defer to medical scientists in interpreting illness. However, because medical scientists generally operate in the biomedical paradigm, they do not necessarily have the resources needed to fully evaluate or act on the critics' arguments. In the first part of this dissertation, I argue that we can approach this problem from a different angle. Instead of asking what kind of problem “fibromyalgia” itself really is, we can ask whether our adoption of that problem definition was appropriate in the first place. As I demonstrate, there are standards endogenous to medico-political discourse that are supposed to govern how individual diagnostic labels are used. By formalizing these standards, and examining health policy practices in light of them, we can modulate our commitment to “fibromyalgia” and other illness definitions. This basic approach, I argue, is one that policy analysts might use in other situations involving highly unstructured problems. In the second part of this dissertation, I use this framework to evaluate the medical and policy uses of “chronic fatigue syndrome” (CFS), an illness construct originally defined by the CDC in 1988. Drawing on a multi-layered content analysis of about 300 medical and policy documents, and using AIDS as a comparison case, I examine whether the ways in which CFS has been used in policy disc (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, EDU Teaching and Learning

Temptation is replete in literature, both in fiction and non-fiction. Even though it may jeopardize a long-term goal, temptation is the underlying desire to partake in short term yearning for enjoyment. It is manifested in the forms of money, sex, fame, and even ambition. The cause of temptation can be something as simple as envy or craving. This study examined the select fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and Snow White, and how their impoverished protagonists (abandoned, shunned, or dealt with depressed times) responded to various lures, leading them to temptations which ultimately shape their futures. Using qualitative approaches of close reading and content analysis, the texts were coded based on character descriptions, settings, lures, and ultimately identifying the temptations that the protagonist faced. Each of these elements gave the reader a glimpse into the feelings and rationales of the characters and provided a foundation for the tales to be further scrutinized using the theoretical lenses of Marxism and Psychoanalysis. This research designated some fascinating, deeper meanings and subconscious motivations of these protagonists. Curiosity and longing for a better life for these characters, was a natural impulse. It was the temptation of nourishment (physical and emotional), wealth, sex, marriage, and motherhood. The most important outcomes of this study are the implications for educators, parents, and caregivers. The issue of temptation and its consequences is an important value to be reinforced. If children were exposed to the earlier versions of these fairy tales that have more examples of temptation and lures – and if they were instructed as to how to properly channel those “wants,” they would be better equipped to deal with these attractions.

Doctor of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, 2017, Monte Ahuja College of Business

Signaling theory has improved our understanding of how the release of new private information signals by a firm insider can influence the decision-making processes of outsiders. While much research has focused on the influences of hard information signals (easy to codify unambiguous information; e.g., a new patent approval), we still know relatively little about soft information signals (hard to codify ambiguous information; e.g., a market orientation). This dissertation explores this gap in the literature by studying the soft signals of normative and economic orientations sent by top managers to the market in the context of quarterly earnings conference calls—a routine corporate practice wherein top managers inform shareholders about the firm's current and future strategy. The present dissertation makes an important distinction between normatively oriented soft signals (concerned with the creation of normative value) and economically oriented soft signals (concerned with the creation of economic value). The antecedents and consequences of these signals are studied, and the following research questions are asked: How do earnings for the quarter (met or missed) influence normative and economic signaling in a conference call? How does the market react to normative and economic signals, under different earnings conditions? These research questions are investigated through computer-assisted-text-analysis (CATA) methodology and event-study methodology with a multi-quarter longitudinal sample of 1,920 observations. Analysis of variance and fixed-effects regression analyses were performed to test this dissertation's hypotheses. Firms that missed their earnings were found to use more economic language than firms that met/beat their earnings, while normative language was not found to differ based on earnings conditions. When earnings were met/beat, both normative and economic orientation signals were found to positively influence market performance, but the latter had a grea (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Media and Communication

Since the Islamic State's formation its prominence has soared, particularly in the area of communication where it has garnered a reputation for great skill with propaganda and social media. ISIS propaganda is an integral part of the narrative; however, the focus on propaganda and communication also reveals biases on the part of the United States. This study examines 50 Washington Post articles as a case study research questions dealing with war reporting and propaganda. In addition, it analyzes via both content and text the frequency of propaganda-related messages in the Post, while exploring the line between "pure information" and propaganda. The current events are informed by historical events from World War II through the two Gulf Wars. Ultimately, the results, which reveal some biases on the part of the Post in regards to the ISIS communication-related content, emphasize the need for awareness and active readership in an always political world, full of information.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2016, Management

A review of financial system stress measures reveals not only the absence of theory on financial stress, but also the absence of search for theory. To remedy this gap, this study conducts a rigorous investigation of the empirical validity and dynamic properties of financial stress measurement in the context of financial system complexity. We provide and validate four contributions to literature. First, we establish the relevance and comparative quality of macro-level stress measurement for the financial system relative to alternative measures of system conditions. Second, we establish theoretical foundations for measuring financial stress across multiple units of analysis. This measure builds on the understanding of stress origins and drivers and incorporates price, quantity, and behavioral variables to explain the pattern of apparently irrational choices of financial agents. At the macro-level, stress is supported empirically by hypotheses of association between behavioral aspects of heterogeneous financial agents and overall financial system stress. At the micro-level, we apply abductive inference to the empirical results to propose a new theoretical stress measure for heterogeneous agents and instruments. Defining financial stress theoretically allows continual measurement of financial stress at the level of the various heterogeneous partitions of the financial system (e.g. agents and instruments) as these partitions evolve through structural changes and financial innovations. Third, we build a theory of stress transmission across micro-level of sectoral agents to the macro-level of the financial system. This theory describes a process of stress transmission across financial intermediaries and the process by which its agent stress escalates to the financial system. Fourth, we examine the process by which unusual conditions in the financial markets manifest as critical states of financial system stress.

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2015, Communication and Development Studies (International Studies)

Products have been placed in films since the appearance of Sunlight soap in a 1896 film. However, in-film placement has started to gain much traction in recent decades due to technological advances, such as the internet, Digital Video Recorders, and over-the-top providers that have been lessening the impact of traditional marketing. Product placement expenses in the American media have risen from $190 million in 1974 to around $3.5 billion in 2004 (Lehu, 2007). The practice is also existent in major regional film centers such as Bollywood, Korea, and Egypt. This study examined the in-film placement trends in Hollywood and Egypt through a quantitative content analysis of the top earning films between 2010 and 2013. Results show that the average number of placements was 35.30 and 27.65 per Hollywood and Egyptian films respectively. The practice was aligned in both in terms of modality, product category, scene setting, and character association.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2014, Journalism (Communication)

This content analysis of ABC Network Nightly News stories from 1968 through 2012 of the Christmas holiday shopping season documents specific social, cultural, and economic indicators. A critical studies approach to this research allows the examination of the social ecology where journalistic norms, news sources, business imperatives and cultural phenomena converge. Overall, the results show a 300 percent increase in the number of Christmas-related stories that aired during the first year and the final year of the study. This work contributes to the critical taxonomy of television journalism's relationship with America's commercial culture.

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

Social movement scholars studying environmental organizations find that an organization's goals, tactics, and other factors are partially determined by how the organization interprets the natural world and the place of humans within it. Other scholars note that the concept of nature is expressed through metaphor, which often has consequences for how we act toward the natural world. In this project, I suggest that differences in tactics within the environmental movement may be explained by how an organization makes use of nature metaphors. Drawing from framing theory, I conduct a qualitative discourse analysis of documents made available on the websites of two environmental movement organizations: Earth First! and the Sierra Club. These organizations were selected to reflect differences in tactics. Findings indicate that the use of nature metaphors influences how an organization defines environmental problems, but does not determine the organization's tactical decisions. These results indicate that ideas about nature are less influential in shaping the tactical decisions of environmental organizations and that other factors must be considered as well.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2013, Journalism (Communication)

This study builds on research that has documented the persistence of negative stereotypes of Arabs and the Arab world in the U.S. media during more than a century. The specific focus is Time magazine's portrayal of Arabs and their societies between 2001 and 2011, a period that includes the September 11, 2001, attacks; the ensuing U.S.-led "war on terror" and the mass "Arab Spring" uprisings that spread across the Arab world beginning in late 2010. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explores whether and to what extent Time's coverage employs what Said (1978) called Orientalism, a powerful binary between the West and the Orient characterized by a consistent portrayal of the West as superior--rational, ordered, cultured--and the Orient as its opposite--irrational, chaotic, depraved. A quantitative content analysis of 271 Time feature stories and photographs revealed that Time's coverage focused predominately on conflict, violence, and dysfunction. Nations that received the most frequent coverage were those where the United States was involved militarily, such as Iraq, as well as those that receive the most U.S. foreign aid or are strategically important to U.S. interests. These findings coalesce with the study's qualitative portion, a critical discourse analysis of approximately 20 percent of the data set that employs metaphor and framing theory. This thread of the study reveals an overarching Orientalist binary where Arabs are portrayed either as "atavistic"; or "modern." As "atavistic," they are backward and irrationally violent, possessing corrupt and failed leaders and terrified, preyed-upon women; as "modern," they strive to look, dress, act, and think like Westerners. Arab moderns oftentimes apologize for their societies'; atavistic ways. Media scholars have noted an apparent shift in coverage of Arabs after the events of September 11, with more favorable or complex portrayals found in journalism, television, and film. However, this study revealed no such (open full item for complete abstract)

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Education : Educational Foundations

This study examines the portrayal of Africa and its people in world history textbooks for junior high school students. As part of this examination, this study will review distorted and omitted information pertaining to African history and culture, the socio-political agendas promoted within these textbooks, as well as neglected African perspectives. A review of the various techniques used to conduct textbook analysis studies is also provided. One of the early textbook analysis studies on African American history, conducted by Marie E. Carpenter, revealed that stereotypes portraying Africans as inferior, backwards, traitorous, bloodthirsty savages have largely declined since the 1800's. The findings of the current study suggests that in world history textbooks published and used during the late 1980's and the 1990's, there is a serious problem of omitting pertinent information and a failure to include African perspectives on history and culture.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, ED Physical Activities and Educational Services

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among perceived effectiveness of NBTAs, extent of advice networks, and perceived job outcomes in a semiconductor manufacturing company in Korea, using a mixed method. The data for the quantitative study were collected from an online survey questionnaire. The population consisted of all employees (N=15,000) who were working in production facilities of the company or branch offices in Korea. The total number of respondents was 188 out of 375 employees randomly selected, with an overall response rate of 50.13%. The data for the qualitative study were gathered from semi-structured interviews with eight employees who responded to the online survey. Canonical correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were utilized to analyze the survey data. Additionally, content analysis was employed to analyzed and interpret the interview data. The results showed that on-the-job training approaches and training approaches within a business unit were perceived to be more helpful than common training approaches to develop advice relations. Yet, no relationships were found between advice networks and the perceived effectiveness of NBTAs. The results also indicated that no mediation occurred between the perceived effectiveness of NBTAs and perceived job outcomes. Although the study failed to reveal the mediation between the perceived effectiveness of NBTAs and perceived job outcomes, the findings from the quantitative and qualitative studies provided evidences that NBTAs helped individuals develop advice networks, and the development of advice networks through NBTAs had an impact on individual job performance and job satisfaction. In addition, the results of this study identified four processes which create advice networks through training approaches: 1) developing advice networks based on job-relatedness, 2) sharing a common interest among others, 3) spending time doing group activities with others, and 4) spending (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, Business Administration

The main objective of this dissertation is to study the role of continuous improvement as a mechanism to build dynamic capabilities. Through three related essays we address how continuous improvement projects are related to performance. The first essay illustrates a configuration research method, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Based on its descriptions in the literature, QCA appears to be an appropriate method for examining multiple paths to performance using set theory. The main benefit of QCA in contrast to traditional statistical methods is the assumption of complex causality and nonlinear relationships.In the second essay we employ the lens of the problem solving to derive a list of learning activities related to continuous improvement. Further, we analyze how organizations that have deployed continuous improvement conduct projects leading to success. We use content analysis to code 111 projects from five organizations that have deployed continuous improvement programs. We investigate universal causes and complementary causes that lead to project success to examine the equifinality. The QCA analysis identified multiple configurations that achieved project success inferring that multiple paths lead to project success. The commonality of dynamic capability functionsin the configurations establishes that continuous improvement is a mechanism for building dynamic capabilities. The third essay empirically addresses the question of how continuous improvement contributes to growth performance. Adapting existing scales for growth performance constructs, data on 78 improvement projects is collected and analyzed using qualitative comparative analysis. Dynamic capability functions and project success enables growth performance. These causes are always present when growth performance occurs but does not guarantee growth performance. In addition, we examine how improvement projects combine implementation and identification or formulation to achieve growth performanc (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2011, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines the coverage over time of organic farming in Farm Journal, Successful Farming, and Progressive Farmer, three magazines devoted to professional farming. The purpose is to better understand how industry-specific publications, such as farming magazines, adapt to industry issues that begin with controversy but eventually are adopted into culture as acceptable practices. The study first uses quantitative content analysis to determine what, if any, changes have occurred over time in how much the issue of “organic farming” has been covered in the mainstream agricultural press. Then, a qualitative textual analysis of selected articles from the sample was conducted to further consider the ways mainstream agriculture magazines may influence attitudes and understanding of changes within the industry. This thesis concluded that over time the three magazines under study portrayed organic farming differently and also differed in the amount of coverage they devoted to the topic.