- Browse by Title
Communication Studies Department Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collection
About the Program...
The IUPUI Master's of Arts in Applied Communication focuses on the application of communication theories in various settings.
Classes are small and interactive with emphasis on application of theory. Opportunities for multidisciplinary and independent study are available. The program readies the advanced student for professional career paths and future academic pursuits. Its logistical flexibility allows students to meet their academic and career goals.
The graduate faculty has a wide range of academic expertise and applied experiences with regional and national institutions and organizations and is engaged in a variety of applied research projects in which students have the opportunity to participate.
For more information about the program visit: http://www.iupui.edu/~comstudy/gradprogram.htm
Browse
Browsing Communication Studies Department Theses and Dissertations by Title
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item "A Lot of People Want to Know, They Just Have No Idea How to Ask": A Needs Assessment of a Reproductive Health Peer Education Program(2024-07) Comer, Anna Catherine; Bute, Jennifer J.; Brann, Maria; Head, KatharineReproductive health education is an important part of having a comprehensive understanding of health as a whole and sexual health specifically; however, reproductive health is often overlooked in university health education. Peer education initiatives have long been used in sexual health to create a comfortable environment for peer learners, while teaching valuable information that impacts both peer educators and peer learners. Students and peer educators are the primary stakeholders in a university reproductive health education program and can provide insight into topics and delivery that are most salient to them. Using a needs assessment framework, I conducted focus groups with stakeholders (n=10) to understand what information participants found important and how they wanted that information to be presented to them. I analyzed the data using thematic analysis and the social ecological model (Stokols, 1996) to better understand what levels of influence where impacting participants’ access to reproductive health education. Results provided practical applications related to content and method of delivery of reproductive health education as well as theoretical applications in regard to the explicit inclusion of communication within the social ecological model.Item Arab hip-hop and politics of identity : intellectuals, identity and inquilab(2014) D'Souza, Ryan Arron; Rossing, Jonathan P.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sheeler, Kristina Horn, 1965-Opposing the culture of différance created through American cultural media, this thesis argues, Arab hip-hop artists revive the politically conscious sub-genre of hip-hop with the purpose of normalising their Arab existence. Appropriating hip-hop for a cultural protest, Arab artists create for themselves a sub-genre of conscious hip-hop – Arab-conscious hip-hop and function as Gramsci’s organic intellectuals, involved in better representation of Arabs in the mainstream. Critiquing power dynamics, Arab hip-hop artists are counter-hegemonic in challenging popular identity constructions of Arabs and revealing to audiences biases in media production and opportunities for progress towards social justice. Their identity (re)constructions maintain difference while avoiding Otherness. The intersection of Arab-consciousness through hip-hop and politics of identity necessitates a needed cultural protest, which in the case of Arabs has been severely limited. This thesis progresses by reviewing literature on politics of identity, Arabs in American cultural media, Gramsci’s organic intellectuals and conscious hip-hop. Employing criticism, this thesis presents an argument for Arab hip-hop group, The Arab Summit, as organic intellectuals involved in mainstream representation of the Arab community.Item Are We Killing the Boys Harshly? The Consumption of the Male Gaze in Queer Pages(2010-10-13) Christian, Aron Lee; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Karnick, Kristine Brunovska, 1958-This study provides a social-text analysis of advertising images in queer publications which represent the new millennium up until 2008 in order to explore gaze theory in a queer context by answering the research question, “How have queer men represented themselves to themselves in the new millennium through the queer male gaze?” Inspired by Jean Kilbourne’s study of the image of women in advertising, this research project examines queer, millennial visual advertising images to explore the creation of normative queer behavior, identity, representation and the possible effects of those images on queer male consumers. A brief examination of previous work concerning male gaze as well as visual culture studies and their connection to Kilbourne’s work is addressed within the study. Further, this study discusses the concept of a bi-textual existence for the queer consumer in which identity is constructed from both an out-group (heteronormative) and in-group (homonormative) milieu. The theoretical foundation establishes that the queer male is placed in a hostile visual position—one where he is the dominating and dominated visual signifier in queer culture. Utilizing a stratified random sampling method, 293 images were coded to explore the research objective of constructing what the millennial queer gaze consisted of within full page advertisements in the queer specific publications of Gay Times, Genre, Instinct, and The Advocate. The results of the analysis construct a toxic visual world for the queer consumer dominated by narrow representations, sexual discourse, discriminating ideologies, and a dangerous repetition of heteronormative, hierarchical social structure found in the patriarchal gaze.Item Asian American women's perspectives on donating healthy breast tissue: implications for recruitment methods and messaging(2016-12) Ridley-Merriweather, Katherine E.; Parrish-Sprowl, John; Bute, Jennifer J.; Head, Katharine J.Asian women have a lower risk than Caucasians, African Americans, and Latinas of developing breast cancer (BC). Yet, once Asians move to the U.S. their risk rates measurably increase. The Susan G. Komen® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center (KTB), the only biobank of its kind in the world, collects healthy breast tissue from women of all racial groups to use as controls in BC research. The KTB represents a critical tool in efforts to treat and prevent BC; however, Asian American (AA) women display marked reticence towards donating tissue to the KTB. The purpose of this study is to use the basic components of Grounded Practical Theory to explore potential messaging that may result in AAs’ more positive outlook on breast tissue donation. This study recruited seventeen (N=17) AA women to share their perspectives on donating breast tissue for research purposes. Participants took part in an interactive focus group exploring potential messaging for successfully recruiting AA women to the KTB study. Findings revealed that: a) participants retained a culturally-embedded discomfort with donating, and a general distrust that their donation would be handled ethically and appropriately; b) the women possessed an extraordinary need for knowledge about all facets of the donation process; c) participants perceived that they lack a personal connection to BC, making it difficult for them to generate any truly altruistic tendencies to perform the desired behavior, or to understand a need to do so; and d) they possess a strong desire to learn why it seems important to the KTB to collect their tissue, and especially about the increased BC rates and risk for Asians who move to or are born in the U.S. The findings from this study have important implications for others who work in applied clinical settings and are interested in addressing racial disparities in medical research through more effective and targeted recruitment messaging.Item Assessing Communication Effectiveness in Interprofessional Healthcare Teams(2019-07) Binion, Kelsey Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; Goering, Elizabeth; Hoffmann-Longtin, KristaInterprofessional education and practice is a collaborative approach in equipping health professional students with the skills to become effective team members to improve patient outcomes. This research study used a grounded theory approach to identify the communication characteristics and behaviors that influenced a team’s communication effectiveness. Two-hundred and twenty-two students participated in an interprofessional simulation at a Midwestern university. Ninety-two standardized patients assessed the students’ communication skills and their ability to collaborate as a team using a CARE Patient Feedback form, which served as data for the study. The study found four characteristics of effective interprofessional team experiences: aware of the patient’s situation, participate in the interaction equally, create a safe space, and nurture and strengthen a relationship. Students demonstrated an increase in communication effectiveness between encounter one and two; teams worked collaboratively rather than individually; students demonstrated five of the eight IPEC communication competencies; and negative and positive behaviors had a significant impact on patient outcomes. This study informs educators the need for repeated exposure of interprofessional practice experiences, such as simulation activities. These opportunities allow students to practice, learn, and refine their communication skills before entering their clinical practice.Item Assessing the Mental Health of Student-Athletes(2024-08) Barnes, Jordan Ann; Brann, Maria; Head, Katharine J.; Parrish-Sprowl, JohnMental health has become a major topic of discussion in recent years. Open conversations about one’s mental well-being have become a new norm. That said, there has been a rapid spike in the declining mental well-being of student-athletes at the collegiate level. Professionals urge those involved with athletes to act to improve their overall well-being. Despite the grave concern, there has still been little action taken towards bettering the mental health of athletes. Most existing studies have focused on the collegiate coach-athlete relationship and the athletic performance of athletes rather than the psychological health of athletes. One factor that may affect athletes’ relationships and mental health is how well communication is enacted. To address this gap, 77 current student athletes were surveyed to assess their communication satisfaction, coach confirmation, and mental well-being. Results from Pearson’s correlations demonstrated a relationship between communication satisfaction and reported mental health scores; however, there was no significant correlation found between confirmation and reported mental health scores. This suggests that communication satisfaction can affect student-athletes’ mental well-being, but there may also be other factors that have more of a significant effect than confirmation on the reported mental health of student-athletes. Future research should explore other potential contributing factors.Item At a Loss for Words: Using Performance to Explain How Friends Communicate About Infertility(2023-06) Binion, Kelsey Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; Beckman, Emily; Bute, Jennifer J.; Longtin, Krista J.In the United States, approximately one in five women are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying. Due to the pervasiveness of pronatalism in Western society, having a child is widely assumed to be a natural and expected part of womanhood. Society’s master narratives reinforce these ideals and stigmatize the experiences of women who have infertility. This multi-phase research study examined how women discuss their infertility journey with their friends. The study’s aims were to understand friendships within the context of infertility, how the relationship affects a woman’s identity, and the communicative behaviors used in conversations. Fifteen interviews were conducted with women who experienced or are experiencing infertility and had discussed their past or current challenges with a friend. Results of a phronetic iterative analysis suggested that women who have personal experience with infertility (a) disclose to close/best friends, (b) communicate their identity as “broken,” (c) desire emotional support, and (d) strategically navigate conversations as they encounter positive and negative messages. These results were transformed into a performance, which included six monologues and a talkback. The purpose of the arts-based methodology was to disseminate results and assess the performance’s impact. Seventy-three individuals attended one of the two performances in April 2023, and 50 attendees completed the post-performance evaluation. The quantitative results suggest that attendees felt informed about the complexities of infertility, gained a new perspective, received advice about how to have future conversations, and did not feel offended by the content. Through a thematic analysis, four themes emerged from the two talkback sessions and evaluation comments: being informed about infertility as a health condition, appreciating the theatrical format to learn, connecting to the performance to understand the illness experience, and feeling comfortable navigating conversations about infertility. Despite the variance in infertility experiences, friends are essential social support figures as women navigate infertility, and there are best practices when having a conversation, as demonstrated in the performance. This study’s implications include providing communication strategies to support women with infertility and recognizing that an arts-based methodology can highlight counterstories, inform about a stigmatized health issue, and engage the community.Item Between two worlds : an exploration of privacy management issues arising from first-year college students dealing with a mother's breast cancer diagnosis and treatment(2011-03-14) Lewis, Shannon Sweeney; Petronio, Sandra G.; Bell, Linda G.; Whitchurch, Gail G.Item Big Trouble for the Big Three: An Audience Perspective of the Appropriateness and Effectiveness of the Big Three Automakers’ Image Repair Strategies(2010-07-19T14:48:46Z) Anderson, Lindsey B.; Sandwina, Ronald M.; Sheeler, Kristina Horn; Parrish-Sprowl, JohnThe importance of image management has created the need to for organizations to continually work in order to improve their image or defend it against perceived threats. Since organizations engage in a constant struggle to preserve their reputation, it is important to understand the persuasive discourse associated with image repair strategies. In addition, a successful rhetor must also acknowledge the importance of perception of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the apologetic discourse from the perspective of an audience. Focus groups were conducted and analyzed in order to better understand the perceived appropriateness and effectiveness of the image repair strategies employed by the Big Three Automakers as perceived by the audience. The findings of this study complement the original findings of Benoit and Drew’s quantitative study assessing the appropriateness and effectiveness of image repair strategies in an interpersonal setting. However, there were observable differences between the studies in terms of the perception of both the appropriateness and effectiveness of bolstering and the effectiveness of differentiation. The implications of these differences can be important in developing a better understanding of the utilization of image repair strategies in the apologetic discourse of organizations. Specifically, the results demonstrate how the audience determines the appropriateness and effectiveness of the strategies and how rhetors are able to successfully use different strategies based in context.Item Black Women and Contemporary Media: The Struggle to Self-Define Black Womanhood(2010-02-26T18:47:24Z) Mayo, Tilicia L.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sandwina, Ronald M.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Sheeler, Kristina H.This thesis sought to understand the messages Black women receive from contemporary images and how these messages may be used to help them develop a sense of womanhood. The framework for the analysis used in this research lies within the feminist standpoint theory and Black feminist thought. The interviews conducted for this research helped to reveal that young Black women recognize patterns within the images of Black women in contemporary media. The images help them to understand the treatment of Black women and about the Black women they want to be.