This study examines opening and closing segments in instant messaging (IM) and demonstrates how openings and closings differ between oral conversation and instant messaging as well as the factors that account for the difference. Many researchers have discussed the differences and similarities between spoken and written languages. Tannen (1980) claims that spoken and written languages are not distinct categories and there is a continuum between them. She also holds that interpersonal involvement is one of the factors that determine if a particular communication is closer to spoken communication or written communication. I will analyze IM, which is best thought of as a communication mode that resides in the middle of the continuum between spoken and written language. Beißwenger (2008) studied the turn-taking of IM and argued that contributions to instant message dialogues are achieved as individual tasks rather than through interactions between participants. He holds that the nature of the individual tasks provides the most important characteristic which distinguishes IM from oral conversation. Closings in IM were studied by Raclaw (2008), who found two patterns of closing: one is an expanded archetype closing which is similar to oral conversation, and the other is a partially automated closing which is totally different from oral conversation because an automated message terminates the conversation. He did not discuss the characteristics underlying the two patterns of closing in instant messaging. I reanalyzed the argument by Raclaw utilizing a segment of instant messaging from my data, and discovered that what characterize the two patterns of closing in instant messaging are the nature of interpersonal involvement and the nature of the individual tasks. These reflect the characteristics of spoken and written communication respectively. In this study it was found that characteristics of IM communication fluctuate between spoken and written communication. Instant messaging resides in the middle of the spoken and written continuum, but whether it exhibits characteristics of spoken or written communications can vary depending on the way participants contribute to the conversation.

The purpose of this study was to make a comparative investigation of the voice quality of black and white women. A review of the literature revealed considerable research has been conducted in the area of black-white language differences in the United States, but very little research has been conducted regarding comparisons of voice quality of Blacks and Whites. The suggestion that certain voice qualities are more characteristic of Blacks or Whites when compared as groups led the writer to pursue the present investigation.

This study examines how professional storytellers negotiated a new storytelling stage—the videoconference platform—as they pivoted their careers during mandated shutdowns due to COVID-19. An examination of the literature reveals extremely limited research involving either professional storytellers or live virtual storytelling. After interviewing five professional storytellers, I analyzed their stories through narrative inquiry. Analysis revealed that the storytellers negotiated the limitations and affordances of Zoom and adapted their storytelling to successfully connect with their audiences. Through crafting a narrative of their stories, I was able to represent their emotions, unique experiences, and abilities to adapt to the online environment. Their stories document significant changes in the art of storytelling during a historic era. This research reveals how storytellers can master the techniques of online storytelling and effectively tell stories to synchronous virtual audiences.

As an environment, the modern university setting is diverse and subject students to numerous challenges and opportunities that prepare them to enter careers, build families, and grow as an individual. Yet what a student experiences in college differs greatly and is shaped by internal and external factors in their environment, including campus participation, college self-efficacy, depression and stress. Prior research indicates the impact of family on how a student expresses each of these variables (Schmidtgall, King, Zarski & Cooper, 2000; Bradbury & Mather, 2009; Hannum & Dvorak, 2004; Kenny & Donaldson, 1991; Lopez et al, 2001; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2006). However, there is one area of the family that has been scarcely studied in terms of campus experience influence: family communication patterns (FCPs). The present study sought to investigate this connection. Utilizing a survey-based design, 253 student participants were asked questions to identify the amount of conversation and conformity orientation present in their family unit, as well as levels of campus participation, college self-efficacy, depression and stress. Results indicated that conversation and conformity orientation in families were positively correlated with campus participation. Conversation orientation led to higher feelings of college self-efficacy and lower feelings of stress and depression. Conformity orientation had no correlation with experiencing stress or depression. The current study suggests that family communication does indeed influence multiple areas of a student's college experience, though conversation-oriented communication has a greater positive influence. Having a positive and communicative family environment allows students to get involved, lowers their risk of experiencing mental issues, and equips them to feel confident in their environment. However, the obedience and uniformity found in conformity orientation families instills structure in a student, which may help them avoid distractions and stay focused on schoolwork (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 1997).

The problem addressed in this study was to understand the knowledge gap between project management competencies available and those needed for successful implementation of technology projects at a community college. The purpose of the qualitative study was to evaluate, compare, and analyze the performance of project managers of 2 large technology projects in a specific community college with respect to each other and what was known about achieving project success at a public institution of higher education (IHE). The research questions for this study examined the competencies exhibited by the project leaders, the success parameters established for the projects, and how the individual project leaders were selected. The conceptual frameworks that supported this study were enterprise wide technology implementation, project management, success assessment, and public IHE operational structures. A comparative case study approach using responsive interviewing techniques with 10 stakeholders from each of the projects yielded dialog that was coded in combination with documentation and observation evidence using recognized competency standards. The relationships and significance of patterns found in this data were analyzed against the proposition that the level of project success is a function of the application of project management competencies of the project leader. The results identified 9 elements that characterized competencies specific to effective project outcome success within the context of the community college. The results contribute to positive social change include implementation of organizational project management initiatives that will enable community colleges to continue to serve a vital role in providing an affordable college education.

The Nature and Perceived Influence of Lifestyle Discussions with Older Adults in Primary Care Rationale: A healthy diet and physical activity help with disease prevention and disease management and can promote quality of life regardless of the age at which an individual begins engaging in these behaviors. Despite the value of these health behaviors, many older adults do not follow lifestyle recommendations. Given that older adults frequently interact with the healthcare system, primary care providers are well situated to counsel older adults to improve their health behaviors. Unfortunately, we do not know how to most effectively engage in this counseling. The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand whether and how providers discuss diet and physical activity with their older patients and how patients perceive their providers’ communication regarding diet and physical activity. Method: One hundred and four older adults, ranging in age from 65 to 95, consented to have their routine primary care visits recorded and immediately following their visits engaged in semi-structured interviews regarding current health behaviors and perceptions of their providers’ diet and physical activity recommendations. Clinical visits were selectively transcribed and analyzed using qualitative description. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed through a process of constant comparison. Findings: Discussions of diet and physical activity occurred in over two thirds of visits; recommendations for diet and physical activity occurred in less than half of these discussions. The majority of patients correctly recalled whether or not discussions of diet or physical activity had taken place. Patients reported that the likelihood of engaging in healthy diet and physical activity related to personal motivation and perceived confidence in the ability to make effective changes, both of which could be influenced by providers’ recommendations. When providers did not discuss diet or physical activity, or mentioned these topics only briefly, patients often perceived the message that they should continue with their current behaviors. Implications: These findings support an integrated theoretical framework, highlighting the role of autonomy and confidence, for understanding how providers can promote patients’ health behaviors. Implications for providers’ training and the healthcare system are discussed.

This work theorizes the contemporary attraction to three-dimensional media. In doing so, it reframes ongoing debates surrounding digital three-dimensional media in order to critique the neoliberal social relations such media engender. I argue that the contemporary interest in dimensionality, especially regarding digital media, is symptomatic of a broad cultural shift, wherein millions of lives are now essentially being lived through two-dimensional, "flat" media, which have consequently generated a lack of spatial relationships and a craving or desire for "depth." This "desire for depth" has arisen in contemporary society because people are being "spread too thin" through a combination of the radical connectivity afforded by digital technology and the demand for limitless flexibility imposed by the market: a condition I call hyper-extensionality. My work examines how neoliberal capitalism necessitates the individualized, radical connectivity now experienced by millions of people, and subsequently generates our attraction to three-dimensionality in digital media. Through analyses of select, prominent forms of three-dimensional media, I show that commercial three-dimensional media largely functions to maintain the status quo by helping alleviate the feeling of "depthlessness" in the social unconscious.

Communication across the curriculum (CXC) programs are becoming increasingly common as institutions of higher learning recognize the need for improving communication skills in college students. Consequently, the University of Kentucky (UK) is piloting Presentation U, a multimodal communication across the curriculum (MCXC) program. This study examines the degree to which the Faculty Fellows program succeeds in helping faculty across the university integrate effective communication instruction and assignments into their courses. For this study, all faculty members participating in cohort #2 of the program responded to surveys and wrote reflection papers regarding their experiences. Their responses were analyzed and conclusions drawn. The study, grounded in the adult theory of transformative learning, found evidence of worldview transformation among faculty fellows as a result of their participation in the program.

The creation of a hybrid/blended basic course aligns with university goals and may increase viable curricular options for student success. If universities offer hybrid courses, they ought to do so based on data-driven evidence confirming that face-to-face (F2F) and hybrid courses are comparable. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the learning outcome achievement of students enrolled in a blended (hybrid) version of the basic course. More specifically, a comparative analysis of student affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning outcome achievement in face-to-face sections and hybrid sections was conducted. This study also examined affect for course delivery format for students enrolled in traditional F2F compared to hybrid sections. Ultimately, two important conclusions were drawn from this analysis. First, hybrid courses are a viable instructional modality for delivering the basic communication course. Second, students are satisfied with aspects of both F2F and blended course modalities. More specifically, each course delivery format has strengths and weaknesses and instructors, students, and university administrators share responsibility for course and student success.

In 2011 the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) published the Regulations on Hyperandrogenism, a health policy banning female athletes from track and field competition if their natural levels of testosterone were found to be higher than those of most female athletes. In 2014, Dutee Chand, a sprinter from India, was banned from competition based on these regulations. She appealed her ban in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and as a result the 2011 IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations were suspended for two years. The issues at stake in the suspension of these regulations are, at their core, rhetorical issues related to health and medical technical communication: how information about health and medicine is communicated to stakeholders, the ethics of such communication, and the implications of such communication. They are also issues related to the medical regulation of sex and gender: Chand’s case is the latest in a history of sex verification testing of elite female athletes that began well before 2011. In this study I use feminist critical discourse analysis methods within the computer assisted qualitative analysis software program NVivo to analyze the 2011 IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations and the transcript of the CAS Award that suspended them. I argue that the 2011 IAAF Regulations and the CAS Award are an example of what I describe as a closed, Foucauldian system, which is not open to outside voices, stakeholders, expertise, or evidence. I also argue for the use of a heuristic alongside a feminist technical communication perspective on health and medical rhetorics that technical communicators might use to insert themselves into closed Foucauldian systems such as this one in order to enact positive change.