Millennials are growing within the workforce, but they are becoming difficult to attract and retain for longer than two years at a time. In addition, Millennials have generational-specific values that are different than their predecessors. Identifying and applying these workplace expectations to organizational policies have made it challenging for leaders to appeal to this generation. Millennials desire five aspects from their workplace: work with a purpose, to be their own boss or work for a boss that is a mentor, a collaborative work environment, flexible work schedules, and work-life integration and/or work-life balance. Using a survey research method, this thesis outlines how Millennials appreciate these values in a workplace and, because of this appreciation, employers and recruiters should consider them for attrition and recruitment purposes. This thesis also examines why the assumption that Millennials are job hoppers who would rather work for themselves than an established corporation is unfounded. Finally, this thesis finds that the risk aversion trait Millennials possess affects their potential for decision making regarding their career that this trait can be used by organizations to market communication positions to this generation.

Academic engagement has been found to significantly predict students' future achievement. Among adolescents, the peer context becomes an increasingly important point of socialization and influence on beliefs and behavior, including academic engagement. Previous research suggests that those peers with whom an adolescent spends much of their time significantly predict change in engagement over time (Kindermann, 2007). Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) postulates that exosystem effects (those influencing factors that are not directly connected to individuals) play an important role in development, and social network theorists have suggested that the position one occupies within the greater network is a key factor that determines one's power of influence (Borgatti, 2005). An individual's own position in a network emerges from his or her own connections, as well as from the structures formed by the connections of his or her affiliates (the exosystem). Utilizing an existing dataset, social networks analysis techniques were used to examine how three different forms of centrality (degree, closeness and eigenvector), which are markers for micro- and exo-system effects, relate to classroom engagement and its change over time. Results showed that although centrality in a network is positively related to academic characteristics at one point in time, students who have large numbers of immediate connections (degree centrality) tend to decrease in engagement over time. In contrast, eigenvector centrality showed a positive interaction with peer group influence on change in engagement over time. For those students who had highly interconnected peers the positive effect of peer group engagement was increased.

The purpose of this study was to understand how early adolescents talk about cross-racial and cross-ethnic friendships. Gordon Allport's intergroup contact theory provided the framework for studying the elements needed for inter-racial and inter-ethnic friendship formation. Qualitative data were drawn from four separately recorded peer group conversations. Participants (n=18) were recruited from Parrish Middle School in Salem, Oregon. Patterns that emerged from the data were sorted, categorized and identified according to the tenets of intergroup contact theory or extensions of intergroup contact theory. Analysis also looked at the use of metaphors and storytelling among adolescents. Results showed that while intergroup contact theory tenets of interdependence and common goals can foster cross-ethnic and cross-racial friendships, most students form these friendships through friendship chaining and common interests. Dual racial identity and peer group influence can also be positive factors in cross-racial and cross-ethnic friendship development. Further, storytelling examples by adolescents showed similar techniques to those used by adults. Overall the results from this study support intergroup contact theory as continuing to be a useful conceptual framework for encouraging cross-group relations.

This study focuses on confrontational behavior patterns exhibited by Japanese and U.S. college students in the Portland Metropolitan area. Four questions are addressed: 1) is there a difference Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? 2) do Japanese use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? 3) do U.S. individuals use differing confrontation styles depending upon whom they are interacting with? and 4) is there a significant gender difference between Japanese and U.S. confrontation styles? In addition, correlations between the Japanese and U.S. reported confrontation styles and their demographic data are examined.

Social networking sites (SNSs) are an increasingly popular channel for communication among college students. Often students disclose more freely via social networking sites than they would in other situations. These disclosures commonly include information about engaging in risky health behaviors (e.g., binge drinking). Study 1 examined students’ impression management goals and self-presentation tactics specifically related to self-disclosures of drinking behavior on SNSs. Findings suggest that students use differing self-presentation tactics across various SNSs in order to achieve their impression management goals and to avoid consequences associated with disclosing about risky health behaviors to certain audiences. Study 2 sought to develop and measure SNS communication about alcohol related activities (SNCAA). It used the theory of normative social behavior as framework for investigating and predicting SNCAA. Additional variables that predict SNCAA were also identified. Findings demonstrate partial fit of the TNSB as a framework for explaining SNCAA. The overarching results of this project suggest a need for interventions aimed at reducing students’ SNCAA as well as increasing their overall knowledge about privacy and safety online.

No description available.

Abstract The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) is driven by advancements of the Internet with the interconnection of heterogeneous smart objects using different networking and communication technologies. Among many underlying networking technologies for the IoT, Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology has become an integral building block. IoT enabled sensor networks provide a wide range of application areas such as smart homes, connected healthcare, smart cities and various solutions for the manufacturing industry. The integration of WSNs in IoT will also create new security challenges for establishing secure channels between low power sensor nodes and Internet hosts. This will lead to many challenges in designing new key establishment and authentication protocols and redefining the existing ones. This dissertation addresses how to integrate lightweight key management and authentication solutions in the resource constrained sensor networks deployed in IoT domains. Firstly, this thesis elaborates how to exploit the implicit certificates to initiate secure End-to-End (E2E) communication channels between the resource constrained sensor nodes in IoT networks. Implicit certificates are used for authentication and key establishment purposes. The compliance of the security schemes is proven through performance evaluations and by discussing the security properties. Secondly, this dissertation presents the design of two lightweight group key establishment protocols for securing group communications between resource-constrained IoT devices. Finally, the thesis explores promising approaches on how to tailor the existing security protocols in accordance with IoT device and network characteristics. In particular, variants of Host Identity Protocol (HIP) are adopted for constructing dynamic and secure E2E connections between the heterogeneous network devices with imbalanced resource profiles and less or no previous knowledge about each other. A solutions called Collaborative HIP (CHIP) is proposed with an efficient key establishment component for the high resource-constrained devices on the IoT. The applicability of the keying mechanism is demonstrated with the implementation and the performance measurements results. / Tiivistelmä Esineiden internet (IoT) on viime aikoina yleistynyt konsepti älykkäiden objektien (smart objects) liittämiseksi internetiin käyttämällä erilaisia verkko- ja kommunikaatioteknologioita. Olennaisimpia esineiden internetin pohjalla toimivia teknologioita ovat langattomat sensoriverkot (WSN), jotka ovat esineiden internetin perusrakennuspalikoita. Esineiden internetiin kytketyt langattomat sensoriverkot mahdollistavat laajan joukon erilaisia sovelluksia, kuten älykodit, etäterveydenhuollon, älykkäät kaupungit sekä älykkäät teollisuuden sovellukset. Langattomien sensoriverkkojen ja esineiden internetin yhdistäminen tuo mukanaan myös tietoturvaan liittyviä haasteita, sillä laskentateholtaan yleensä heikot anturit ja toimilaitteet eivät kykene kovin vaativiin tietoturvaoperaatioihin, joihin lukeutuvat mm. tietoturva-avaimen muodostus ja käyttäjäntunnistus. Tässä väitöskirjassa pyritään vastaamaan haasteeseen käyttämällä kevyitä avaimenmuodostus- ja käyttäjäntunnistusratkaisuja esineiden internetiin kytketyissä resurssirajoitetuissa sensoriverkoissa. Väitöstutkimuksessa keskitytään aluksi implisiittisten sertifikaattien käyttöön tietoturvallisten end-to-end-kommunikaatiokanavien alustamisessa resurssirajoitettujen sensori- ja muiden IoT-laitteiden välillä. Implisiittisiä sertifikaatteja käytetään käyttäjäntunnistuksessa sekä avaimenmuodostuksessa. Kehitettyjen ratkaisujen soveltuvuus tarkoitukseen osoitetaan suorituskykymittauksilla sekä vertaamalla niiden tietoturvaomi- naisuuksia. Seuraavaksi väitöskirjassa esitellään kaksi kevyttä ryhmäavaimenmuodostus- protokollaa tietoturvalliseen ryhmäkommunikaatioon resurssirajoitettujen IoT-laitteiden välillä. Lopuksi väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan lupaavia lähestymistapoja olemassa olevien tietoturvaprotokollien räätäläintiin IoT-laitteiden ja -verkkojen ominaisuuksille sopiviksi. Erityistä huomiota kiinnitetään Host Identity -protokollan (HIP) eri versioiden käyttöön dynaamisten ja tietoturvallisten end-to-end-yhteyksien luomiseen toisilleen ennestään tuntemattomien erityyppisten IoT-laitteiden välillä, joiden laitteistoresurssiprofiilit voivat olla hyvin erilaiset. Väitöskirjan keskeinen tulos on väitöskirjatyössä kehitetty Colla- borative HIP (CHIP) -protokolla, joka on resurssitehokas avaimenmuodostusteknologia resurssirajoitetuille IoT-laitteille. Kehitetyn teknologian soveltuvuutta tarkoitukseensa demonstroidaan prototyyppitoteutuksella tehtyjen suorituskykymittausten avulla.

Professional User Experience (UX) practitioners have an inherent need for effective group communication practices. If they work as external consultants, the need is arguably even greater. Enterprise Social Media (ESM) technologies have affordances that make them seem promising for this domain. The aim of this thesis is thus to identify the domain-specific communicative needs of UX consultants, and discuss how these might be supported using ESM. A case study was conducted, examining how the ESM system Yammer was used by a group of UX consultants at a major Swedish IT firm. Through interviews with members of the group, together with content analysis of Yammer messages, three categories of communicative needs were identified: Solving design problems, Supporting “guerilla activities” and Making knowledge and relationships visible. The results further showed that the Yammer tool had failed to support these needs and consequently fallen into disuse. Finally, implications for future use of ESM technologies in the UX domain are discussed, and some practical recommendations are given. / Yrkesaktiva inom User Experience (UX)-området har ett stort behov av effektiv kommunikation–både externt gentemot intressenter och användare, och internt inom gruppen. Det senare gäller I allra högsta grad de som arbetar som externa UX-konsulter, då dessa inte alltid har möjlighet att träffa sina kollegor på daglig basis, men ändå kan behöva råd, hjälp och stöd. Att använda sociala teknologier speciellt skapade för organisationer, så kallade Enterprise Social Media (ESM), som medium för denna internkommunikation är en möjlighet som framstår som särskilt lovande, och som idag redan testats av företag i UX-branschen. Målet med denna studie var därför att identifiera de domän-specifika kommunikativa behov som finns bland UX-konsulter, och diskutera hur väl ESM-lösningar lyckas stödja dessa. Under våren 2015 genomfördes en fallstudie bland en grupp UX-konsulter på ett ledande svenskt IT-företag som under en tid använt ESM-verktyget Yammer. Bland gruppmedlemmarna fans interaktionsdesigners, utvecklare, kravanalytiker och UX-strateger. Genom intervjuer och kontextuella observationer av gruppmedlemmarna, samt textuell analys av meddelandena i deras Yammer-kanal identifierades tre kategorier av kommunikativa behov inom gruppen. Dessa var 1) Att bistå lösandet av designproblem, 2) Att stödja “gerillaaktiviteter”, och 3) Att göra kunskap och sociala relationer synliga. Studiens resultat visade vidare att verktyget Yammer inte hade lyckats uppfylla dessa behov på ett tillfredsställande sätt, vilket lett till att det inte längre användes I någon större utsträckning av gruppen.  Slutligen diskuteras resultatets implikationer för hur ESM kan komma att användas för UX-arbete i framtiden, och ett par konkreta rekommendationer lämnas.

Adjusting one’s communication is a fundamental requirement for human interaction (Gasiorek, 2016a). Individuals adapt communication behavior according to the circumstances surrounding the situation, resulting in different patterns and forms of speech relative to spouses, family members, coworkers, or friends. Yet, researchers in instructional communication have not yet substantially applied adjustment as a theoretical lens for understanding instructor-student classroom interactions (Gasiorek & Giles, 2012; Soliz & Giles, 2014; Soliz & Bergquist, 2016). Apart from overlooking this useful theoretical approach, instructional communication scholarship can also be improved by accounting for 1) shifting group identities in higher education that change how instructors and students communicate, 2) incomplete conceptualizations of student perceptions in existing research, and 3) a consistent lack of concern for the hierarchical structure of educational data. This dissertation seeks to resolve these limitations through an application of one of the most prominent theories of adjustment: communication accommodation theory (CAT; Giles, 1973; Giles, Willemyns, Gallois, & Anderson, 2007a). The research specifically extends the CAT framework to an instructional setting by investigating how student perceptions of instructor nonaccommodation across several modes of communication (i.e., nonverbal, linguistic/verbal, content, support) influence information processing ability, relationships with instructors, and beliefs about instructors. Data were collected from 573 undergraduate students across 38 sections of a basic communication course (BCC). Students completed an online questionnaire assessing perceptions of the appropriateness of their instructor’s behavior (i.e., nonaccommodation), extraneous load, communication satisfaction, instructor-student rapport, instructor credibility, and instructor communication competence. The results first forward a nuanced measure for assessing nonaccommodation in a manner consistent with the theoretical propositions of CAT. Second, a series of analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) showed significant associations between perceptions of nonaccommodation across modes and students’ reported classroom outcomes. Interestingly, several of the individual, direct relationships disappeared when multiple modes of nonaccommodation were considered simultaneously, introducing the possibility that individuals may prioritize the appropriateness of certain behaviors within context. The data hierarchy (i.e., students enrolled in course sections) did exert some influence on the relationships between variables, yet the majority of variance accounted for across models occurred at the student level. Implications of the results related to both theory and practice within the basic communication course are presented in the discussion.

This arts-based intervention program was designed to reduce anxiety and aggressive behavior in adolescent girls who were being reared without their fathers during the period of 2010–2015. The research questions were designed to investigate the scope, frequency, and severity of the problem of increased aggressive behavior and anxiety by girls being reared without their fathers; to evaluate the effectiveness of an arts-based intervention in reducing aggressive behavior and anxiety in girls being reared without their fathers; to investigate the ways that the use of an arts-based intervention might improve feelings about family relationships for single mothers and girls being reared without their fathers; and to gather observations and perceptions of all participants of the arts-based intervention regarding its impact on aggressive girls being reared without their fathers. Eight children between the ages of 8 and 17 completed the study. Data collection consisted of administering the following surveys: the Adolescent Anger Rating Scale, the Children’s Aggression Scale, the Parent Adolescent Relationship Questionnaire, and a confirmation interview with parents. An anger-management intervention utilizing the arts as an outlet for self-expression was implemented during the winter 2013 semester. Results showed the implementation fostered peer collaboration and resulted in reduced anger and aggression as well as increased communication and family cohesion. Expression through the arts, coupled with anger-management training, enabled girls to cope with their anger rather than acting out.