Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / 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.

abstract: The division of household tasks has been studied extensively over the past fifty years, but there are unanswered questions about why partners still report imbalances. In this study, I employed a grounded theory research design to systematically collect and analyze data from newly cohabitating, dual-earner couples to generate theory. Three prominent theories (relative resources, time availability and gender ideology) served as the framework for this research. The purpose of this study was to expose the processes of meaning-making, interpretations and decision-making regarding divisions of housework and to determine if, and if so how, dissymmetry in household tasks are understood. My research questions addressed the meanings newly cohabitating couples ascribed to household tasks by and explored how they understand their allocation of these tasks. Eighteen in-depth interviews of six newly cohabitating couples were conducted. Results from the study highlight six major themes that contribute to couples’ meaning-making processes regarding housework performance: care, consistency, expectations, gender & upbringing, micromanagement, and task preference. These findings contribute to the broader body of housework literature by demonstrating how grounded theory methods may offer a unique approach to the examination of household task performance. Further, germination of the blended output theory of housework (B.O.T.H.) that emerged from this study could provide an opportunity to better understand changing family structures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2019

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Interpersonal communication practices of teachers have been recognized as having a significant impact on the relational dynamics between teachers and students; however, the specific interpersonal communication practices utilized by teachers of urban students are not well understood. Although teacher-student interactions have been studied for many years, the research has not focused on how confirmation and disconfirmation are perceived in urban classroom environments. Furthermore, minimal research exists regarding how perceived confirmation and disconfirmation impacts urban teacher-student relationships. Using a qualitative approach, this study examines the confirming and disconfirming communication practices of teachers from 4 urban charter high schools. In addition, this study examines how the 22 teacher participants and 26 student participants perceive the communication practices as impacting teacher-student relationships. A finding from the data was respect. Both teachers and students identified respect as being the single most critical factor to building teacher-student relationships. Confirming behaviors like honesty/openness, praise/positive feedback, checking for understanding, and calmly correcting behaviors were identified as having a positive impact on the relationship-building process. Disconfirming behaviors such as disrespect, putting students on the spot, sarcasm, and aggressive tone were identified as hindering the relationship-building process. Descriptions of each theme are provided as well as implications for teacher practice and future research. / Urban Education

The aim of the study is to develop knowledge about what employees in communication agencies and its customers perceive as central to the relationship. The research questions are: What do communication agencies experience as central to the relationship with customers? and What do customers experience as central in the relationship with communication agencies? Based on Social Exchange Theory (SET), supplemented with Behaviorally Driven Relationship Marketing Theory (BRM), we have investigated what is central in the communication agency– customer. As a basis for achieving our goal, we have in total conducted semi-structured interviews with nine people, six people from a communication agency and three of their customers. We have interviewed employees from both a communication agency and from customers to achieve a more nuanced view of the research problem. In our thematic analysis of our interview transcripts we found the concepts Phases in the Relationship, View of the Relationship, and Cooperation as central aspects. Through these aspects we illustrate the respondents' perceptions of what is central in the relationship. The study's results indicate that the longer the relationship is, the better the cooperation gets, which enables both parts possibilities to achieve desired product. In addition, a crucial part of this seems to be the start up phase and an equal view of the relationship. Furthermore, an ongoing relationship should be characterized with trust, commitment and two-way communication.

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Följande studie är skriven på svenska och lägger fokus på chefers kommunikation och hur den kan användas för att uppmuntra till engagemang och motivation hos anställda. Arbetet tar upp vikten av att som chef bibehålla en frekvent och öppen kommunikation samtidigt som man bör prioritera relationsbyggande kommunikation, i form av relationell kommunikation. Något som bäst görs genom att som chef upprätthålla en informell kommunikation. Studiens empiriska material består av 12 stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med chefer i olika roller på Stena Metall AB. Studiens resultat visar vikten att som chef anpassa sin kommunikation efter mottagaren samt bibehålla en tydlighet för att undvika misskommunikation. Relationell kommunikation anses spela en större roll än förväntat och ha en direkt påverkan på medarbetarnöjdheten och den informell kommunikation var mer närvarande än vad som först gavs sken av i en hierarkisk organisation. Sammantaget visar studien hur viktig kommunikation är för att inspirera till en arbetsplats med högt engagemang och motivation hos de anställda. Det är genom de intervjuer som genomförts det blivit tydligt att chefer anser att det är dem som bär ett ansvar i att tillföra och skapa en miljö där anställda är motiverade och engagerade i sitt arbete. / The following study is written in Swedish and focuses on managers' communication and how it can be used to encourage employee engagement and motivation. The work addresses the importance of maintaining frequent and open communication as a manager, while at the same time prioritizing relationship-building communication, in the form of relational communication. Something that is best done by maintaining informal communication as a manager. The study's empirical material consists of 12 semi-structured interviews with managers in various roles at Stena Metall AB. The results of the study show the importance of adapting one's communication to the recipient as a manager and maintaining clarity to avoid miscommunication. Relational communication is considered to play a greater role than expected and to have a direct impact on employee satisfaction and informal communication was more present than first appeared in a hierarchical organization. Overall, the study shows how important communication is to inspire a workplace with high commitment and motivation among the employees. It is through the interviews that have been carried out that it has become clear that managers believe that it is they who bear the responsibility in adding and creating an environment where employees are motivated and engaged in their work.

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