Thesis--Johns Hopkins University. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Large organizations continue to outsource information technology services as a method of cost-savings rather than knowledge acquisition. This prioritization leads to failed sourcing projects and increases in overhead expenses. The purpose of the study was to achieve a consensus in regard to an effective staffing balance and collaboration in information services outsourcing. The study canvassed an expert panel of 49 IT professionals in a 3-round Delphi study. This study provided understanding of the internal IT professionals&rsquo; relationship with domestic contractors and offshore resources. Information was gathered from IT professionals with experience working with external partners. The study explored procedures to enhance outsourcing models. This was completed by answering the research questions: (R1) what do IT professionals perceive is an appropriate balance of internal staff, domestic contractors, and offshore resources in a global organization? In addition, (R2) when collaborating with external support, what communication and collaboration techniques should be integrated into a sourcing strategy? A qualitative Delphi method was followed, and participant&rsquo;s responses were analyzed to achieve research findings. </p><p> Recommendations were to maintain a 50% to 70% staff of internal employees, have the domestic contract labor equal to offshore labor, and maintain open, frequent communication with external partners. Over-outsourcing passes too much knowledge to the external partner, reduces internal knowledge, and creates a dependency on the external firm. These issues can be overcome by increasing collaboration across firms. Project managers should closely monitor the performance of external teams. IT organizations should acquire external resources based upon skills first, and costs second. Management should integrate firms to ensure the parent organization retains critical knowledge.</p>

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<p> This study examines the rhetoric used by Republican politicians regarding voter ID laws. Using Kenneth Burke's theory of cluster analysis, key words and clustering terms are analyzed to identify the speaker's worldview. The main sections include: philosophical assumptions about political rhetoric, the theoretical basis derived from Burke's <i>identification</i> and <i>victimage</i> theories, a review of literature on the history of voting in the United States, results and discussion from the analysis of selected rhetoric from Republican politicians, and areas of further study. Statements from Republican politicians in Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania were selected for the analysis. The results of the study revealed worldviews of those analyzed filled with fear and violence. There is a long history of voter discrimination in the United States and the push for voter ID laws coincide with the election of the first black President. The purpose of the proposed Republican voter ID legislation is oriented toward retaining political power, not protecting the integrity of US elections.</p>

<p> This dissertation studies historical and contemporary conservative rhetoric to argue that the political right's variant of American populism defines the rhetorical figure of "the people" as ontologically opposed to the state. This state-phobic rhetoric poses a threat to democratic deliberation, I argue, because it presumptively cancels the very appeals to shared space that tend to make democracy thrive. By turns examining the new right, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2008 presidential campaign, and the rise of the Tea Party, this dissertation suggests American democracy is trapped in a populist feedback loop that creates tragic modes of melancholic democratic politics. This democratic melancholia contributes directly to contemporary political trends of hyper-partisanship. </p>

Thesis--Johns Hopkins University. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 17, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p.150-155). Also issued in print.

<p> Dissemination of news and information is often challenging in small, rural communities, where sprawling geography and limited resources can limit the effectiveness of communication systems. While traditional media and local organizations attempt to inform the public through newspapers, flyers, radio, social media, and word of mouth, no one means of communication is entirely successful in reaching the masses. Rural institutions and organizations often lack a means of communicating current news to members of small towns due to the void of an integrated information infrastructure, or <i>infostructure </i>. </p><p> Borrowing from the framework of Communication Infrastructure Theory and previously suggested models for community infrastructure, this study was an effort to better understand how people in this small town communicate&mdash;how they create, disseminate and prefer to receive information about the community. This exploratory, qualitative, case study examined communications in one small, rural town to determine whether or not the library might be able to partner with local media, resident networks, and other organizations in the community, to maximize available resources, eliminate duplication, and increase overall effectiveness in the communication infrastructure. This new model would place the public library, or anchor institution, at the center of the storytelling network, as the hub for local news and information. </p><p> Through interviews and focus groups with 32 members of the community under study, I identified ways in which people communicate, connections between storytelling agents within the local storytelling network, and voids that, if addressed might improve the community&rsquo;s ability to communicate in general. This study suggested ways that libraries might serve a role as the anchor of anchors for communication in rural communities.</p><p>

<p> Set against the backdrop of the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial election between Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner, this study utilizes content analysis to measure object and attribute salience of newspaper endorsements and campaign news releases. Although newspaper editorial boards used similar frames to describe the candidates, the study identified key differences in object salience, the frequency with which each candidate was referenced (Subject), as well as in the attribute salience, or tone of the assertions used to describe Rauner and Quinn (Valence). Rauner was the subject of the endorsements 60% of the time, versus 39% for Quinn. Coverage for Rauner was also significantly more positive in valence, with 64% positive assertions. Quinn, by contrast, received primarily negative-neutral coverage, with 49% negative, 28% positive, and 22% neutral coverage. The findings suggest endorsements contributed to positive associations of Rauner and negative associations of Quinn on frames that were given a high priority by the media agenda, and thus the public agenda. </p><p>

This study examines deliberative democracy in Amherst, Massachusetts' town meeting. I use ethnography of communication to examine the rhetorical practices that constitute this communication event and legislative body. I briefly examine the history of town meeting and develop a thorough description and analytic interpretation of a key term for talk, “speaking to the issue,” focusing on “questioning” and “arguing.” Conflict was present as an early feature of town meeting talk. Town meeting is a communication event that can also take on agent status. While democracy is often conceived as a messy process, this research shows how participants in a democratic body organize their talk and use self-imposed rules and self-regulate and order their communication, using the same general set of rules across issues. This order protects those in the minority on an issue. “Speaking to the issue” emerges as a vital feature of structuring talk and allowing political access. Town meeting participants in Amherst employ rhetorical strategies I term “weaving,” “scene-changing,” and “active-listening” as they communicate during the event. Many Amherst town meeting members used a “trustee” style of representation, and speak for those who could not participate in electing them.