Recent media scholars have taken, as their focus, relationships between qualitative research methods and examinations of contemporary media texts (e.g., Fox, 2013; Manning, Dunn, & Stern, 2012; Meyer, 2012). The purpose of this panel is to further examine these relationships. Participants will demonstrate how a qualitative research method (e.g., ethnography, autoethnography, narrative analysis, textual or discourse analysis, audience studies) can be used to study contemporary television and film texts (e.g. Coronation Street, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Orange is the New Black, Mad Men, Cabin in the Woods, The Butler). Participants will first discuss their particular method and then provide an exemplar of that method as they examine their chosen media text(s). To assist with the audience discussion of these methods and texts, participants will also include a brief clip/excerpt of their chosen texts.

Backchanneling – maintaining real-time online conversations alongside the primary group activity or live spoken remarks – is a growing part of our mobile-enhanced, networked world. Backchanneling is now prominent in many contexts, including presidential debates, conferences, and classrooms. As such, backchanneling offers possibilities and challenges for communication scholars, including carnival, collaboration, bricolage, and performance. This panel will present various theories and practices of backchanneling and encourages backchanneling from audience members through the Twitter hashtag #csca14bc.

Each panelist has chosen an artifact (or type, genre, etc.) from the recent past and interrogated its role as an influence on contemporary popular culture, working to show the linkage between then and now. This type of work is underappreciated and we would like to attempt to show how informing ourselves on popular culture past can make us better critics in the present. Our hope is to inspire others to take up that cause as well. In that spirit, we would like to encourage people to come prepared to discuss ideas and share their own work in a workshop type environment.

With the 2012 releases of The Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers, writer/director Joss Whedon moved beyond his cult status and into the mainstream. His cult television work, however, remains admired in both the popular imagination and in the academic world of popular culture studies. This year’s CSCA13 corresponds with the ten-year anniversary of the cancellation of Whedon’s first successful cult television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whedon’s other work, including Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, Dollhouse, Angel, etc., are not only cult fan favorites, but favorites in popular culture academia. The participants on this panel will explore various aspects of Whedon and the Whedonverse, including: Whedon’s rhetorical framing regarding his transformation from cult director to mainstream phenom; his genre-bending frameworks across his various projects; his examination of gender roles; exploring and exploding Whedon’s use of mythology; and how Whedon’s characters manage to out-organize formal organizations.

The aim of this dissertation is to expand upon current understandings of the emergent global phenomenon that is private authority. Private authority is a process wherein private actors create, implement, and enforce rules aimed at managing global problems. As private authority is becoming increasingly important in the conduct of global governance, broadening our understanding of it will serve the field of International Relations. In this dissertation I argue that private actors are not simply outgrowths of structures or certain material conditions, rather they are purposive actors strategically pursuing an agenda. As such, explaining private authority requires an examination of the constitutive elements that underlie this social phenomenon––to which I apply an innovative conceptual and analytical framework that combines social network theory with discourse analysis. I applied these tools to two cases taken from the environmental sector––forests and fisheries. I found that as a result of the development of a greater networked character to environmental politics, the actors that were best able to generate and wield private authority were those that were able to construct discursive nodal points around which other competing actors could converge––at the level of identity. The construction of nodal points placed these private actors in privileged positions in-between competing networks––making them network connectors. In this position they are able to facilitate the flow of power across networks and convert such into private authority, at a rate greater than that of their competitors. As related to the cases, I found that in forests and fisheries sectors it was the Forest Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council that emerged as the most prominent and expansive private authorities. They did so as a result of their ability to construct a nodal point around their tailored definition of what sustainable development meant, and looked like in practice. This placed them in-between two powerful networks (the environmental NGO network and the industrial network), facilitating the flow of power between them, and leveraging such to expand their programs beyond that of competing programs. Thus, social position plays a crucial role in determining the success of private authority programs.

Acculturation research has gained interest due to the increasing levels of immigration to the United States. The population of interest for this study was the Latino immigrant population in the United States, as they represent the largest and fastest growing minority in the country. One challenge Latino immigrants can face during the acculturation process is a phenomenon described as nonreciprocal language. This phenomenon is present when first generation parents speak in their native language of Spanish and their children, who are second-generation immigrants, speak in the host culture language of English. The purpose of this study was to focus on the role of nonreciprocal language in the mother-child relationship between first generation Latino immigrant mothers and their second-generation children. A qualitative, ethnographic study was used to investigate 10 participants, including first generation Latino immigrant mothers and their second-generation children in Charlotte, North Carolina. Findings from this content analysis study include mothers' and children's experiences with nonreciprocal language and their acculturation categories, which led to recommendations for new strategies for ESL education and the need to develop programs to help parents raise bilingual children. This information can benefit advocates, policymakers, and other stakeholders involved in programs that are focused on helping children be more proficient in their parents' language or helping parents become more proficient in English. Information from this study can also allow immigrant parents to make informed decisions about their language use and the possible impact on their relationships.

For over 3 decades, the federal government has attempted to introduce pay-for-performance into the federal workforce. It is important for federal agencies to understand the impact of pay-for-performance, specifically pay banding, on job satisfaction and retention of frontline managers as agencies face the exodus of the retiring Baby Boomer generation. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of pay banding on job satisfaction and intention of frontline managers to leave the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The theoretical foundation for this study was Adams's equity theory as viewed through the lens of Mannheim's generational theory. The overarching research question was concerned with whether pay banding effects generational perceptions of job satisfaction and predicts turnover intention. This quantitative study used ANOVA, hierarchical multiple regression, mediation analysis, moderation analysis, and logistic regression to analyze the impact of pay banding on generational perceptions of job satisfaction and turnover intention among IRS frontline managers. The sample was limited to frontline managers of the Department of the Treasury (n = 2,525). Key findings indicated that pay banding was negatively associated with job satisfaction and that pay banded managers were 1.36 times more likely to leave the agency than managers who were not pay banded. Pay banding mediated the relationship between gender and job satisfaction. Positive social changes that may result from governmental policymakers applying the findings of this study are improved retention of highly skilled frontline managers, improved the efficiency and effectiveness of government services, and reduced cost of retraining managers due to attrition. These changes may improve the work environment for employees and improve governmental services provided to the citizenry.

Beginning in 2015 a major demographic shift in the majority income producers in the United States has moved from Baby Boomers to Millennials. At the same time, many nonprofits are not equipped to engage with Millennials and lack the knowledge and resources to tap into their philanthropic preferences. Using the theories of planned behavior, reciprocal altruism, social status, and warm glow theory, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore opportunities for U.S. based nonprofit organizations to interact more effectively with members of the Millennial generation in terms of philanthropic behavior. Data were collected and analyzed using Q Methodology and included 36 Millennials attending the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Overall the researcher found that Millennials embrace the idea of using gamification to further fundraising. Five factors or profiles of potential donors were extracted from the Q-sort results: (a) the nongaming, knowledge seeker; (b) the high engagement, needs recognition donor; (c) the philanthropist gamer; (d) the gamer, let's play but not compete; and, (e) the transparent gamer. The findings of this study have the potential to create positive social change by providing information to nonprofits who may use it to cultivate, educate, and solicit individual charitable donations from members of Gen Y. The positive social change implications of this study include advice to nonprofit organizations on ways to increase revenue streams through donations from Millennials that could enable nonprofit organizations to better fulfill their mission and serve their constituents

The performance of public agency employees and their management teams have long been subject to critical comments and public doubt. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of police leaders and staff with regard to skillful recognition of excellent performance within the profession. Twenty law enforcement employees, including leaders, sworn officers, and nonuniformed civilian employees in southwestern North Carolina, consented to in-depth, semistructured interviews concerning their lived experiences. Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory was the conceptual framework for this study. A modified van Kaam analysis resulted in the identification of 5 significant, but broad, themes. The themes were: motivation, leadership, leader-employee communication, recognition, and leader-employee relationship. The responses of the participants that clustered within the themes provided unique insight based on the participants' experiences concerning the environment of an effective recognition program in law enforcement and the skills leaders use to encourage excellent performance. The emergent themes align with expectations in LMX theory and most of existing literature and current thought concerning employee recognition and the skills leaders need to master to be effective encouragers of excellent performance. Thus the findings support much of the existing body of research while adding insight into the unique environment of law enforcement. This study has the potential of contributing to positive social change because researchers and law enforcement leaders could gain valuable insights about how to encourage and recognize excellent performance. This in turn could contribute to more effective and courteous policing and, thus, better service to the community and the general public. Other types of public agency researchers and management teams could also learn from these insights, resulting in potentially broad benefits to society.

Work-life balance is a dilemma for both men and women. However, the perspective of men on this issue has not been previous addressed. Work intensification and societal pressures cause men to work longer, harder, and cope with the stressors of multiple role conflicts and work-life imbalance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore men's lived experience in managing multiple roles regarding work-life conflicts, and identify coping strategies they used to achieve a work-life balance. The research questions were related to the lived experiences, perceived causes, and coping strategies of work-life imbalance for men in the aerospace industry. The study was based on the theoretical construct of Maslow's and Herzberg's motivation theory. The modified Van Kaam method was used to analyze data from interviews with 20 men. The findings of the study revealed 6 themes: recreation, regain composure, set priorities and goals, good stewardship, time management, take chances, and utilize resources. These 20 men desired more out of life than just a career and more out of their career than just compensation; they wanted the ability to balance the demands of life and high expectations set for themselves that caused them stress and drained them of their energy. Unless accommodations are made, these men may continue to experience challenges balancing multiple life roles. Organizations should develop or modify policies and programs to ameliorate conditions that exacerbate work-life conflicts for employees, especially men. The implications for positive social change include the potential to educate managers, business leaders, and policy makers on the importance and mutual benefit of supporting the work-life needs of all employees regardless of gender.