This dissertation explores the interdependent relationships of the United States government, media, and American public with regard to the stories and "realities" generated by the downing of Korean Airlines 007. The study primarily involves a rhetorically oriented content analysis of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, the Congressional Record, and the ABC Evening News, and is conducted from a rhetorical/organizational perspective which is developed in Chapter Two. Basically this dissertation asks, "What is the nature of the various 'realities' generated by the downing of Korean Air Lines 007, and what rhetorical implications stem from them?" The following conclusions are reached: (1) The rhetoric of President Ronald Reagan and the House of Representatives suggests that both were operating under at least one false assumption in the last months of 1983. Differences between the President's conception of 007 and the House's are few. The President offered a fairly uncomplicated and axiomatic view of the downing. The act was bad, the Soviets worse, the victims innocent, the purpose "inexplicable," and the responses clear. The majority of Representatives corroborated this view. (2) ABC news presented two realities of the downing of 007, and these realities were based on two superpowers speaking with certitude about things which they could not be certain. Reporters called little into question. ABC's reports contained the gaps and inconsistences inherent in both the U.S. and U.S.S.R.'s version of events but these gaps and inconsistencies were never resolved. (3) The language of the President and House of Representatives indicated lack of restraint and deliberation. It also precluded dissent from the "official" version. (4) The President was able to use 007 to muster support for his arms programs. (5) Because of financial concerns and timidity arising from them, the "Fourth Estate" does not always function as it should. What is required in contemporary American society is an active "Fifth Estate," consisting of critical consumers of symbolic goods; the public needs to play more active a role in the forces that shape the future.

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This study was aimed at examining the relationships between culture and brand loyalty across culturally diverse groups in America. Two cultural dimensions were examined: Individualism vs. Collectivism and Masculinity vs. Femininity. The relationships between these two dimensions and brand loyalty were examined across five ethnic groups: Caucasians, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic English and Hispanic Spanish. It was hypothesized that 1) ethnic groups that were more collectivist would display higher brand loyalty; and 2) ethnic groups that were more masculine would display higher brand loyalty. It was found that cultural dimensions are predictors of brand loyalty and that African Americans were the most brand loyal ethnic group. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 21, 2011. / brand loyalty, culture, ethnicity, marketing, multicultural / Includes bibliographical references. / Felipe Korzenny, Professor Directing Thesis; Gary Heald, Committee Member; Brian Parker, Committee Member.

Children are not born with knowing what beauty is. Instead, children learn about beauty through their experiences. This study will examine the messages of beauty children receive from illustrated books and the beauty messages parents are advised to instill in their children in parenting books. This study will also evaluate the messages of race and gender that underlie these messages of beauty. The analysis will take place through a qualitative analysis of five illustrated children`s books dealing with ethnic hair, five illustrated children`s books dealing with body image, and four parenting books that focus on body image. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 14, 2012. / Beauty, Body image, Children's literature, Ethnic hair, Performance of gender, Performance of race / Includes bibliographical references. / Donna Marie Nudd, Professor Directing Thesis; Davis Houck, Committee Member; Jeanette Castillo, Committee Member.

This study examines women's online dating profiles at different age ranges and answers the primary question: is there a correlation between women's self-descriptions in the popular online dating website, Jiayuan.com, and their age? In recent years, Chinese females are under great pressure to get married between the ages of 25 and 30. If a female does not have a stable relationship that is working towards long-term commitment, she starts to feel like a "leftover woman." And, there are different levels of "leftover-ness" between the ages of 25 and 40. In 2007, "sheng nv" or "leftover woman" was added to the Chinese lexicon by China's Ministry of Education. A leftover woman was defined as a "highly educated, highly paid and highly independent modern woman who has high standards towards their life partner and therefore did not get married at a relevant younger age." With this background, this study examines how social pressures associated with the "leftover" identity influences the Chinese female's attitude towards self. To do so, I analyze personal profiles on the most popular Chinese online dating website. Based on the Concept of Possible Selves (Markus and Nurius, 1986), and Uncertainty Reduction Theory (Berger and Calabrese, 1975), this study suggests the cultural perceptions of "leftover woman" are both right and wrong. Women do not show significant differences in breadth and depth of self-disclosure among age groups, from young to old. But comparing younger women with women in older age groups, older women do reveal more motivation in their profiles. Moreover, women's requirements for potential partners are also different among age groups. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2012. / October 31, 2012. / leftover women, online dating, self-disclosure / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephen McDowell, Professor Directing Thesis; Jeanette Castillo, Committee Member; Ulla Bunz, Committee Member.

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have played a significant role in development and have contributed to radical changes in some parts of the world in the past three decades or longer. At the same time, there are parts of the world where ICTs have not reached and there has been little or no development arising from the applications of these technologies. In some countries, women are not provided equal opportunities to access and use ICTs to improve their lives. This study reviews the literature in the field of ICTs for economic empowerment for women and will analyze some of the projects designed to use ICTs for women. The study uses a capabilities approach as the conceptual framework and employs qualitative techniques to collect data. Focus groups, interviews and document reviews are conducted with participants, staff members and development experts to evaluate the role of SEWA's ICT activities in changing capabilities. Nussbaum's list of capabilities based on the capabilities approach by Amartya Sen is used to provide indicators, based on which the questionnaire is designed. The social processes that affect women's ability to use ICTs also influence the analysis of the effectiveness of ICTs and capabilities. Most of the staff members reported a change in capabilities as compared to the participants of the ICT programs. However, some women did not report any change in capabilities as they refused to break social and family barriers. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2012. / November 2, 2012. / capabilities, Development, economic empowerment, Empowerment, Information Communication Technology, social change / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephen McDowell, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Heald, Committee Member; Ulla Bunz, Committee Member; John Mayo, Committee Member; Kathleen Burnett, Outside Committee Member.

The goal of the current research was to understand smartphone game consumption through examining gamer's characteristics and motivations. Drawing from the uses and gratifications perspective, this study investigated how motivations for playing smartphone games related to psychological antecedents (gamers' personality traits) and outcomes of smartphone gaming (the amount time spent playing smartphone games and game genre preference). First, findings suggested that each motivation for playing smartphone games was predicted by a different subset of personality traits. Competition motivation for playing smartphone games was predicted by openness and instability. Challenge motivation was predicted by openness and extroversion. Social interaction was predicted by instability. Diversion motivation was predicted by conscientiousness, instability, openness. Fantasy motivation was predicted by instability and agreeableness. Arousal was predicted by instability. Second, the amount of time spent playing smartphone games related to such motivations as challenge and diversion. And smartphone game genre (i.e., traditional, physical, and imagination games) preference was predicted by challenge, arousal, and fantasy motivations. Finally, the amount of time spent playing smartphone games and genre preference for imagination games (movies/TV, and simulation/strategy games) were predicted by instability traits. These findings demonstrated that 1) individual personalities are associated with motivations for playing smartphone games, 2) motivations for smartphone gaming are related to genre preference for smartphone games and game playing time, and 3) personality traits are associated with genre preference and game playing time. This research contributes to recent game studies by supporting the notion that personality traits influence gamers' motivations and specific game consumption, and could provide further research directions. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2012. / July 18, 2012. / Five Factor Model, Genre Preference, Motivation, Personality, Smartphone Games, Uses & Gratifications / Includes bibliographical references. / Juliann Cortese, Professor Directing Thesis; Arthur A. Raney, Committee Member; Jay Rayburn, Committee Member.

This dissertation uses a political economic analysis (Bettig & Hall, 2003; Bagdikian, 2004; McChesney, 2000; 2004; 2008; Mosco, 2009; Wasko, 2005) combined with a cultural studies lens to study the website associated with the government-produced video game America's Army. America's Army is a first-person shooter video game available for free online that has military recruitment as its core mission. The U.S. Army launched America's Army on July 4, 2002, and since that time the game has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for its popularity. The game has been downloaded more than 42 million times, has more than 8 million registered users, and a virtual Army comprised of 519,472 "soldiers." This dissertation examines the online website of the video game America's Army--its last version was updated in July 2010--and the consequences of government-created media through a three-part analysis (Kellner, 1995) that focuses on its production, the text itself, and audience's ideological engagement with the text through an analysis of comments posted to the official gaming website. Such a three-pronged approach analyzing America's Army allows for the criticism of the political-economic environment that has cultivated the game's expansion; provides further understanding of key game features and narratives presented on the game's website by the government; and simultaneously helps to develop an understanding of how users are ideologically responding to the text as an arm of government propaganda. The game simultaneously whitewashes the real problems of violence just as it sanitizes the horrors of war. Its primary purpose is military recruitment although in recent years the game has also sought to commodify its adolescent audience. As the volume of qualitative data available on the game's website, its related social media sites, and the game itself is extensive, this dissertation proposes to unite this three-part analysis by further limiting the data that will be the subject of study. This analysis studies the production, the text, and the audience of the video game and its corresponding website with one overarching theme. The theme that both unites and narrows this analysis is looking at adolescents as the targets of the government-created media messages. By sufficiently narrowing the subject of data collection and analysis to fully explore how and why adolescents are the targets of the media message, the dissertation can better add to the existing literature on militarized entertainment, state-created video games, youth identity in digital spaces, and the political economy of video games. The dissertation's major contribution is the development of the government-gaming nexus--an extension of militainment (Stahl, 2006; 2010) and the military-entertainment complex (Andersen, 2006; Lenoir, 2003; Lenoir & Lowood, 2003; Leonard, 2004)--that specifically focuses on adolescents as the target of militarized entertainment. Praxis strategies to fight these messages inherent in the government-gaming nexus focus on existing ratings systems, media literacy, and advertising regulation. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / February 29, 2012. / Adolescents, Commodification, Government-Gaming Nexus, Military Recruitment, Political Economy, Violent Video Games / Includes bibliographical references. / Jennifer M. Proffitt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ronald L. Mullis, University Representative; Stephen D. McDowell, Committee Member; Arthur A. Raney, Committee Member.

This project investigated the development of Chinese masculinity by examining the representations of males in the Chinese reality dating show If You Are the One. It looked at traditional Chinese masculinity, and its development in modern times. It used the Chinese reality dating program If You are the One as a means to analyze how male participants represent their appearance, personality, educational level, and financial condition on television. It also analyzed whether Chinese masculinities' values, wen, wu, and soft masculinity are represented on If You Are the One, and when and how financial condition, as an important aspect of contemporary Chinese masculinity, was represented on this reality dating program. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Fall Semester, 2012. / October 28, 2012. / Chinese Culture, Masculinity, Reality program / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephen McDowell, Professor Directing Thesis; Donna Marie Nudd, Committee Member; Felecia F. Jordan, Committee Member.