This thesis takes a conversation-analytic approach examining the pragmatic functions of the linguistic marker "first (off/of all)" in second-pair-part (i.e., responsive) position relative to questions. Using data from question-answer sequences in the 2015-2016 U.S. Presidential Republican primary debates, I propose six claims regarding the composition, position, and action of what is referred to as the practice of "First"-prefacing. Analysis reveals that "First"-prefacing projects the displacement of a response (conforming or non-conforming) to a question. In projecting the displacement of a response, "First"-prefacing does two things: (1) it projects that the unit(s) of talk to come immediately next will be something other than a response, and thus this "first" matter should not be heard as being designedly "responsive" to the question; and (2) it claims that a conditionally relevant response to the question is forthcoming after the "first" matter is resolved. Debaters largely used "First"-prefacing to temporarily "get out from under" a question's conditional relevancies in order to "reach back" beyond the question and perform actions more properly sequentially fitted to earlier portions of the debate (e.g., defend themselves, make additional comments, counter-criticize other debaters). The more general function of "First"-prefacing as a misplacement marker is discussed, and its existence in ordinary conversation is briefly demonstrated.

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政治傳播具有高度的不可確定性，傳播過程裡的訊息無時無刻地產生發出，且經常讓人感到不可捉摸，而政治則是為調和成員之間的歧異所達成約束集體決策的活動的過程。中央民意代表對於這種人與人之間的相互傳播過程尤其重視，因為這是他的日常生活與工作的情境，中央民意代表與微觀民意之關係，即是於政治傳播情境中探索人民意義認知與再現的過程，屬於政治社會化歷程。 人民除了以投票的行為表達民意之外，微觀民意，將如何成為政府治理與決策的依據呢？就本文之研究發現，微觀民意不僅具有反映公共政策且具有影響政府決策的能力，但必須仰賴訊息能有效地傳播的基礎。微觀民意如何透過政治傳播歷程形成影響公共的結果？微觀民意與中央民意代表中介者之關係？是本研究的問題意識。中央民意代表接收民意的管道來源包括大眾傳播媒體、本身與民意的互動及週遭人士所提供的訊息等，其中以公共服務所接收的民意訊息最為直接且豐沛，尤其在2008年我國中央民意代表選舉制度改為小選區制後，中央民意代表對於選區內的民意更為重視採用。 公共服務是中央民意代表與微觀民意間重要的中介工具之一，因此使用者體驗之品質評價及其關係管理，成為公共服務流程中重要的品質設計概念，敏銳的生產設計者也可能因此發現使用者的潛在需求，而發揮創新的動能，本研究在中央民意代表的公共服務中，藉由10,000小時以上傳播互動、超過2,000組個案，統計分析微觀民意樣態，以了解使用者實證經驗與評價，以實證質性研究歸納出民意需求的實質內容，整合量化之研究，提出本文之論述：中央民意代表與微觀民意之意義建構在公共服務歷程中共構，形成影響公共的政治傳播。 從微觀民意觀點，探討中央民意代表公共服務之品質，其變項由公共服務品質、信任（滿意度）、政治效能感、忠誠度及形象五個構面加以檢證，公共服務品質之因子包括便利度、可靠度、溝通度、專業度及關懷力五個子構面。研究結果與假設吻合，公共服務品質自變項與應變項各構面間具有相關性及關聯度，且信任(滿意度)為公共服務品質與政治效能感之中介變項。 此外，本研究之重要發現為，在公共服務品質中影響「政治效能感」的評價主要因素為「信任」，而「信任」的建立又奠基於公共服務之「專業度」與「關懷力」，微觀民意因此必須在具有理解的「情感認知」對話情境中，公共服務者提供具有「法理專業」素養對現行公共政策缺陷與潛在需求的「意義建構」澄題與諮商歷程，公共服務品質流程中之「關懷力」評價，對於中央民意代表之「忠誠度」具有重要影響力。 微觀民意鑲嵌公共服務與中央民意代表之政治傳播歷程將因此有新的意義建構，連結並影響巨觀體制的公共的能力，公共服務品質之管理方法論，必須建置以公共利益為軸心之流程設計概念中，注入細緻的創新元素「關懷力」及「專業度」，使人際與語意傳播之意義建構在具政治信任及政治效能感成份之公共服務流程中，微觀民意得以發揮對於巨觀的社會體制產生影響與改變的能力，使百姓與國家治理者產生有效對話機制。

<p>The purpose of this essay has been to describe and compare the personal qualities that the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) tried to associate Barack Obama and John McCain with during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The main question to be answered is: What social and physical characters as well as what personal experiences, interest and resources did DN tried to emphasize regarding John McCain and Barack Obama during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The theoretical starting-point has been John B Thompson’s theory of the mediated publicity and John Corner´s theory of political persona and spheres of action. Various DN news texts, in all 38 articles, have been examined by content analysis from 25th of august to the 4th of November. The main results show that the most frequent mentioned qualities about Barack Obamas was his skin colour, ethnicity and speech talents. The most frequent mentioned qualities about John McCain was his age and his military experiences from the Vietnam War. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the qualities described in DN created a picture of two different politicians. Many of the qualities that was mentioned have no connection to politics and even if they was just mentioned one time can they play a significant role in trying to build confidence. Many of the qualities that was mentioned are qualities that necessary not have to be seen as positive.</p>

<p><strong>Purpose </strong>The purpose is to analyze the parliamentary parties political communication in the social media channels before the election 2010.</p><p><strong>Methodology </strong>This essay is a descriptive study from nine interviews of the responsible people in the parliamentary parties. In addition to that two more interviews were done with social media experts</p><p><strong>Theoretical perspective </strong>This essay is based on two-way communication and communication strategies</p><p><strong>Conclusions </strong>The parliamentary parties use social media as a complement to traditional media. The purpose is to create dialog and to minimize the gap to the voters, but in many ways it is being used as a one-way communication channel.  The parliamentary parties are trying to use the social media channels in Swedish conditions, but in many ways they try to imitate an American used strategy.</p>

Purpose The purpose is to analyze the parliamentary parties political communication in the social media channels before the election 2010. Methodology This essay is a descriptive study from nine interviews of the responsible people in the parliamentary parties. In addition to that two more interviews were done with social media experts Theoretical perspective This essay is based on two-way communication and communication strategies Conclusions The parliamentary parties use social media as a complement to traditional media. The purpose is to create dialog and to minimize the gap to the voters, but in many ways it is being used as a one-way communication channel.  The parliamentary parties are trying to use the social media channels in Swedish conditions, but in many ways they try to imitate an American used strategy.

This research explored how mission trip volunteers assume various roles throughout their volunteer experience. By seeing the various roles that emerge in mission volunteer work, the identities that they construct based upon these roles are revealed. Discovering the ways in which these roles and constructed identities affect the way that mission trip volunteers could potentially help colleges improve their recruitment messages and distinguish themselves from other institutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants, and the data were analyzed through a thematic, constant comparative method. Findings revealed the types of stories heard from other mission trip volunteers prior to serving, the impact of those stories on decisions to volunteer, the various identities that emerge while serving on a mission trip, and how mission trip volunteers make sense of their experiences after serving. This study applies several well-known aspects of organizational communication to the context of mission trip volunteers, offering new and interesting data. This study also provides practical implications for mission trip coordinators and individuals who might be interested in being a mission trip volunteer.

The study examines the European coverage in four leading Nordic newspapers during two periods in 1993 and in 1996. During the first period, three countries were negotiating for membership in the European Union. During the second period, work on a new European Constitution was ongoing, to be negotiated by the Intergovernmental Conference at the end of the period. Two of the applicant countries, Finland and Sweden, were then members of the union since Jan 1, 1995. Voters in the third country, Norway, opted to stay outside the union. Norway is, however closely linked to the union by the previous EEA agreement. Finally, the fourth country, Denmark, had limited its longstanding membership in four important areas. Results of the main study in 1993 indicate a great difference in the degree of Europeanness of the coverage of European affairs, as indicated by the share of European issues, sources, players, institutions etc. The Danish paper, the Politiken, was on all counts genuinely European in its coverage. This could, to begin with, be understood in terms of a relational context - Denmark was a member of the European Community, the other countries were not. In 1996, as could be expected, the Norwegian paper, the Aftenposten, reduced its coverage of European affairs to about half the previous volume, the Finnish and Swedish papers, the Hufvudstadsbladet and the Dagens Nyheter, increased their volumes to new highs. The Danish paper maintained its previously comparatively high volume of European coverage, and was still distinctly more European in its outlook on transnational politics. This could be understood in terms of a new Maturity proposition - it may take a long time for the national media to come to terms with a new political environment. The study also puts forward the proposition that Danish political culture requires a different coverage of European affairs, and also requires an opportunity to discuss and evaluate European politics. On a theoretical level, the study supports the idea that national experience, historical and relational contexts influence media content. National agendas powerfully determine the orientation of transnational political communication . Three in-depth studies by and large confirm results from the content analysis. A separate exercise inspired by Grounded Theory gives rise to three theoretical concepts that seem to be fundamental dimensions of European political communication: Legitimacy (media coverage contributes to status conferral and encourages deliberation of cooperation as an idea), Participation (media coverage as expressions of intrinsical and instrumental motives for joining and taking responsibility towards European cooperation), and Mondialization/Universalism (media coverage of Europe's efforts in the global arena) / digitalisering@umu

Presidentvalet i USA baseras på personval istället för partival och detta personval inkluderar även presidentkandidatens partner. Presidentkandidaternas fruar diskuteras och analyseras idag lika mycket som presidentkandidaterna själva samtidigt som medierna diskuterar vilken av de tidigare presidentfruarna de kommer att efterlikna. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka och analysera vilken retorik Michelle Obama och Ann Romney använder sig av i talen de ger på The Democratic National Convention respektive The Republican National Convention i ett försök att övertyga de amerikanska väljarna att deras man borde bli deras nästa president. Eftersom det visuella framträdandet bidrar till talets helhet ska även det undersökas och analyseras. Då Michelle Obama och Ann Romney har jämförts under hela valet görs det även här en komparativ analys av deras retorik samt deras visuella framträdande. En kvalitativ metod har valts för uppsatsen i form av en retorisk analys. Denna retoriska analys görs med hjälp av Karlbergs och Mrals (1998) retoriska modell. Resultatet visar att både Michelle Obama och Ann Romney använder sig mest av ethos och pathos i sina tal för att bygga tillit till publiken samt visa känslor. Undersökningens resultat visar även att de båda blir presidentkandidaternas surrogat till målgrupper som de inte når ut till vilket visar att presidentskapet är en två- persons- karriär där presidentfrun får stå för den feminina sidan medan presidentposten förbli maskulin. Resultatet visar även att den politiska kommunikationen inte behöver vara strikt politisk och att medierna spelar en stor roll i den politiska kommunikationen idag. / The presidential election in The United States is based on voting for an individual candidates rather than voting for a party and this vote includes the wife of the presidential candidate. The wives of presidential candidates are today equally discussed and analyzed, while the media also discusses which one of the previous presidential wives they are going to take after. The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze the rhetoric that Michelle Obama and Ann Romney uses in the speeches they give at The Democratic National Convention and The Republican National Convention in an effort to convince the American voters that their husband should be their next president. Since the visual appearance contributes to the speech as a whole this will also be examined and analyzed. Michelle Obama and Ann Romney have been compared throughout the whole election so a comparative analysis of their rhetoric and their visual appearance will also be made here. A qualitative approach has been chosen for this thesis in the form of a rhetorical analysis. This rhetorical analysis is done by using Karlberg and Mrals (1998) rhetorical model.. The results show that both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney used ethos and pathos the most in their speeches to build trust with the audience and to show emotions. The thesis results also show that they are surrogates to the presidential candidates in the way that they can reach target groups that the candidates cannot and with this showing that the presidency is a two-person career where the presidential wife to stands for the feminine side while the presidential post remains masculine. The results also show that political communication doesn’t have to be purely political, and that the media plays a major role in political communication today.

The purpose of this essay has been to describe and compare the personal qualities that the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) tried to associate Barack Obama and John McCain with during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The main question to be answered is: What social and physical characters as well as what personal experiences, interest and resources did DN tried to emphasize regarding John McCain and Barack Obama during the American presidential election campaign 2008. The theoretical starting-point has been John B Thompson’s theory of the mediated publicity and John Corner´s theory of political persona and spheres of action. Various DN news texts, in all 38 articles, have been examined by content analysis from 25th of august to the 4th of November. The main results show that the most frequent mentioned qualities about Barack Obamas was his skin colour, ethnicity and speech talents. The most frequent mentioned qualities about John McCain was his age and his military experiences from the Vietnam War. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the qualities described in DN created a picture of two different politicians. Many of the qualities that was mentioned have no connection to politics and even if they was just mentioned one time can they play a significant role in trying to build confidence. Many of the qualities that was mentioned are qualities that necessary not have to be seen as positive.