This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' utilization of academic course blogs and student achievement. Simultaneously, the study examined the participating teachers' perceptions on the use of course blogs and other social media as supplemental learning resources. The study further explored a possible moderating effect of the social studies subject on student achievement and a possible moderating effect of students' previous academic blog usage on student achievement within the study. Quantitative data were collected from students' pre-tests and unit tests scores and analyzed for statistical significance. Qualitative data were collected through teacher-generated notes during the blogs, individual interviews, and a follow-up focus group interview. The results of this study indicated that there was no overall significant difference in student achievement between the blogging and non-blogging groups. On the contrary , a significant interaction between the social studies subject area and the use of academic course blogs was found when examining student achievement. However, this practical interaction was revealed to be a weak one. Further findings indicated that there was no significant interaction between students' previous blog usage and academic achievement during the study. From the qualitative data, participating teachers perceived the course blogs to be potentially advantageous for students and themselves, yet expressed frustration when implementing the course blogs with their students. Instead, they endorsed the academic use of Facebook, a resource that some students from two participating courses separately utilized instead of (or in addition to) the course blogs during the study. Teachers further expressed concern about relinquishing their subject knowledge and AP expertise to readily available course content on the Internet. Implications and suggestions for future f or AP social studi / teachers' promising use of Facebook and for researchers investigating the use of socail media at the high school level. / by Seth Alper. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The Internet has revolutionized the way in which people are entertained, communicate and collect information. As people increase their ability to connect with the outside world from inside their homes, they hold the power to become their own gatekeepers filtering information as they see fit. Many question whether this will weaken the power of the traditional media sources that are often seen as elitist and potentially biased. This researcher hypothesized that people who cite high credibility ratings of news media channels are more likely to use traditional media channels such as television and newspapers and people who cite low credibility ratings of news media channels are more likely to use alternate media channels such as the Internet. While the researcher was unable to reject the null hypothesis, a pattern of general mistrust of traditional news media was revealed when nearly three-fourths of respondents gave traditional media channels a "not-credible" rating. / by Katrina Herring. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This study identifies, tests and modifies factors for effective corporate online communication using a marketing public relations (MPR) perspective. An MPR perspective entails an integrated cross-disciplinary approach with a strong product and/or service focus. The need for the study is underscored by the fact that there is undoubtedly a lack of a theoretical framework in which to practise corporate online communication in the context of selling the organisation's products or services. In order to test the identified factors for effective corporate online communication, namely credibility, trust and long-term relationships, this study uses Q methodology as a research method and applies Q sorting as a means of data collection. Participants are asked to sort statements about corporate online communication in their preferred order of importance on a large board in the presence of the researcher. This is known as the Q sorting process. The identified factors are tested among 20 communicators and 20 receivers of corporate online communication. The participants' sortings of statements are compared by means of Q factor analysis and then analysed. The results of the study indicate that only one factor is perceived as an absolute significant factor for effective corporate online communication and that two of the factors necessitate modification. Consequently, based on the results, four factors are identified for effective corporate online communication, using an MPR perspective. These four factors are derived from the perspectives of both the communicators and receivers of corporate online communication and are included in a proposed theoretical framework of corporate online communication using an MPR perspective. / Communication / D. Litt et Phil.

This study identifies, tests and modifies factors for effective corporate online communication using a marketing public relations (MPR) perspective. An MPR perspective entails an integrated cross-disciplinary approach with a strong product and/or service focus. The need for the study is underscored by the fact that there is undoubtedly a lack of a theoretical framework in which to practise corporate online communication in the context of selling the organisation's products or services. In order to test the identified factors for effective corporate online communication, namely credibility, trust and long-term relationships, this study uses Q methodology as a research method and applies Q sorting as a means of data collection. Participants are asked to sort statements about corporate online communication in their preferred order of importance on a large board in the presence of the researcher. This is known as the Q sorting process. The identified factors are tested among 20 communicators and 20 receivers of corporate online communication. The participants' sortings of statements are compared by means of Q factor analysis and then analysed. The results of the study indicate that only one factor is perceived as an absolute significant factor for effective corporate online communication and that two of the factors necessitate modification. Consequently, based on the results, four factors are identified for effective corporate online communication, using an MPR perspective. These four factors are derived from the perspectives of both the communicators and receivers of corporate online communication and are included in a proposed theoretical framework of corporate online communication using an MPR perspective. / Communication / D. Litt et Phil.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In today's fast paced world, people have become increasingly interested in online communication to facilitate their lives and make it faster. This goes on from simple social interactions to more advanced actions like shopping on the internet. The presence of such activities makes it crucial for people to use their common sense and judgment to process all this information and evaluate what/who they trust and what/whom they do not. This process would have been much easier if the number of people in such networks is really small and manageable. However, there are millions of users who are hooked online every day. This makes the person very overwhelmed with his trusting decision, especially when it comes to interacting with strangers over the internet, and/or buying personal items, especially expensive ones. Therefore, many trust models have been proposed by computer scientists trying to evaluate and manage the trust between users using different techniques and combining many factors. What these computer scientists basically do is coming up with mathematical formulas and models to express trust in online networks and capture its parameters. However, social scientists are the people better trained to deal with concepts related to human behaviors and their cognitive thinking such as trust. Thus, in order for computer scientists to support their ideas and get a better insight about how to direct their research, people like social scientists should contribute. With this in mind, we realized in our group work the importance of such contribution, so we came up with the idea of my research work. In my search, I tried to find how these social scientists think and tackle a dynamic notion like trust, so we can use their findings in order to enhance our work and trust model. Through the chapters, I will discuss an already developed trust model that uses measurement theory in modeling trust. I will refer back to this model and see how other social scientists dealt with some of the issues encountered by the model and its functionality. Some small experiments have been done to show and compare our results with social scientists results for the same matter. One of the most important and controversial points to be discussed from social scientists' point of view is whether trust is transitive or not. Other points to be discussed and supported by social scientists' research include aggregation, reputation, timing effects on trust, reciprocity, and experience effects on trust. Some of these points are classified into trust mapping categories and others are related to trust management or decision making stages. In sum, this work is a multidisciplinary study of trust whose overall goal is to enhance our work and results, as computer scientists.