Organizations are beginning to realize the importance of consistent communication with their constituencies. Several organizations have experienced negative consequences for producing inconsistent messages to their publics. This dissertation provides an investigation of the effects of message consistency on perceptions of organizational legitimacy. Legitimacy is the perception that an organization is good and has a right to continue operations. Legitimacy is viewed as an important variable in the study of organizations, since organizations that are not perceived as being legitimate face internal and external threats that could lead to the demise of the organization. Image management theory, crisis management theory, and niche-width theory are relied on in this investigation to examine the effects of message consistency on organizational legitimacy. Image management theory holds that organizations have images in much the same way that people do, and it is therefore incumbent on organizations to engage in strategic communication behaviors designed to influence perceptions of their image. The end goal of image management is the production and maintenance of legitimate organizational status. During crisis events organizational image is threatened, and therefore at no time is the legitimacy of the organization more salient. Crisis management theory provides the explanatory calculus and the context in which to study consistent discourse and perceptions of legitimacy. Finally, niche-width theory argues that different organizational forms are developed in response to different environmental conditions. Two particular types of organizations, generalists and specialists, are found in most organizational fields. Generalist organizations are ones that have many resources and are equipped to deal with much variety in their environment. Specialist organizations, on the other hand, have few resources, and are better equipped to deal with particular aspects of their environment. Niche-width theory is incorporated into the dissertation to determine whether the type of organization (specialist vs. generalist) affects perceptions of organizational legitimacy. These theories provide the foundation for the empirical investigation in this dissertation. Several hypotheses were generated from these theories. Support was found for all but one hypothesis. Results suggest that organizations experiencing crisis should produce consistent messages to both internal and external publics to be perceived as being legitimate.

Politicians are notorious for finding themselves in the middle of scandals that endanger their reputations and careers. How do they get out of it? This study tested four account strategies politicians could use: denials, excuses, justifications, and apologies. Language expectancy theory was applied to test several hypotheses. Results partially supported the concept of apologies as positive expectancy violations, but did not reveal differences among account types in terms of voters' positive impressions, blame attributions, and intent to vote for the politician. Situation, which was not expected to be a relevant factor, did result in large variability. The implications of this study for future research were also explored.

<p> This study reports the findings of a systematic visual content analysis of 356 randomly sampled images published about the Iraq War in <i>Time, Newsweek,</i> and <i>U.S. News and World Report</i> from 2003-2009. In comparison to a 1995 Gulf War study, published images in all three newsmagazines continued to be U.S.-centric, with the highest content frequencies reflected in the categories U.S. troops on combat patrol, Iraqi civilians, and U.S. political leaders respectively. These content categories do not resemble the results of the Gulf War study in which armaments garnered the largest share of the images with 23%. </p><p> This study concludes that embedding photojournalists, in addition to media economics, governance, and the media-organizational culture, restricted an accurate representation of the Iraq War and its consequences. Embedding allowed more access to both troops and civilians than the journalistic pool system of the Gulf War, which stationed the majority of journalists in Saudi Arabia and allowed only a few journalists into Iraq with the understanding they would share information. However, the perceived opportunity by journalists to more thoroughly cover the war through the policy of embedding was not realized to the extent they had hoped for. The embed protocols acted more as an indirect form of censorship.</p>

<p> This dissertation describes the process by which community messaging obligates members to perform work behaviors in order to achieve full membership status&mdash;labeled here the <i>Obligation-based Culturing of Work</i> (<i>OCW</i>). The investigation supports and extends theory regarding the sources and influences of adult meaning attributions about work, and how those meaning attributions can function as a mechanism of cultural maintenance. Constant comparative analysis of 31, face-to-face interviews with members of a Lebanese-American community revealed how anticipatory work socialization emanates from sources other than organizations and is an interpretive process through which influential community members inculcate new generations with memorable messaging. Participants' reported that their community's messaging encouraged them to make sense of work in ways that invited shared mental models about the meaning of work behaviors; then, the community's messaging connected those meanings to the idealized performance of authentic cultural membership. Therefore, memorable community messages constructed cultural identity as at least partially performed in work behaviors. Analysis revealed how the seemingly mundane communication of everyday community and family life is linked to enduring patterns of meaning attributions and work behaviors. OCW supports and extends organizational communication theories like anticipatory organizational socialization, work socialization, and the meaning of work (MOW) as well as intercultural communication theories like cross-cultural adaptation, intercultural fusion, hybridity, and critical cultural transculturation. The dissertation discusses how these findings contribute to knowledge about the interrelationships among messaging about work, cultural maintenance, and community identity.</p>

<p> For over four decades, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia has promoted environmentalist ideologies though essays and photographs published in their print media. This strategy offers an eco-friendly narrative that resonates with many brand consumers, but the art of constructing and publicizing a corporate narrative with social purpose (i.e. <i>corporate social narrative</i>) has yet to be explored. In this thesis, Patagonia's corporate social narrative is reviewed in light of Fisher's narrative paradigm theory, the principals of corporate social marketing, social exchange theories, and the idea that visual imagery holds significant power in consumer markets. Major themes in Patagonia's environmental narrative are identified and explored via narrative analysis of promotional material published by the company between the years of 1972-2013, with a focus on product catalogs published after 1991. The narrative research delves into how the themes of journey, calculated risk, minimalist struggle, and a connectedness to nature help Patagonia create a self-proclaimed <i> uncommon culture</i> and explores how this culture is used to promote behavioral change in outdoor enthusiasts who purchase from the company. Lastly, lessons from Patagonia's social narrative are detailed along with recommendations on how corporate social narrative can be used effectively in other consumer markets.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to develop the Rapport Scales for Investigative Interviews and Interrogations (RS3i), a measure of rapport for use in the context of investigative interviews and interrogations. Eighty "source" participants were interviewed by 80 "interview" participants. Each source rated the interview using the Prototype RS3i-Source Version. Observer participants each viewed and rated two interviews. Exploratory analyses were done on 374 observer ratings of 20 interviews to explore the factor structure of the items and develop the final scales. The final version of the RS3i contained 32 items comprising 8 rapport scales and one Commitment to Communication scale. The internal reliability of these scales was determined to be adequate. The validity of the scales was examined using 80 source ratings and a second sample of 246 observer ratings. Limited evidence of validity was found. The scales are recommended as a starting point for future research and training in building rapport during investigative interviews.</p>

<p> People hunger for God's word. With that in mind, this thesis helps to educate and encourage those entrusted with the ministry of preaching toward a better understanding of how their bodies are integrally involved in the production and delivery of the preaching event, as well as in the proclamation of the Word. To show endorsement from the hierarchy, ecclesial documents (as well as scripture) that demonstrate support for using embodied communication in the ministry of the Word are discussed. </p><p> To set the scene for studying embodied communication in preaching, relevant physiological factors and a cooperative model of communication are seen as providing the infrastructure that gives rise to our ability to communicate so adeptly. </p><p> A historical survey demonstrates how gesture studies have benefitted the church and secular society through the ages. </p><p> Gesture, a subsection of the much larger category of embodied communication, is analyzed from different perspectives: defining, describing, and attributing specific benefits for speakers and receivers alike. Gestures are universal among humans, drawn from our experiences of the world, a co-production of thought, and synchronous with speech. Gestures can share characteristics and form families with a semantic theme or they can be classified in elastic categories. Beyond gesture, the categories of embodied communication of proxemics, oculesics, and physical display also further homiletic understanding. The discovery of mirror neurons and their application to object lessons in preaching will be introduced. </p><p> Preaching excerpts are used to showcase academic findings. The interrogatory investigative method is used with a test group and could be easily adopted for a homiletic classroom.</p>

<p> This study is a rhetorical analysis of 911 active shooter calls. Working from frame theory it examines the types of communication that occur during crisis situations. This study reviews the actual audio tapes of the Columbine Colorado School shooting, the Trolley Square Salt Lake City UT shooting and the Arizona shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Gifford. This study provides a method for investigating the communication between caller to 911 and the telecommunicators that answer 911calls. It provides a baseline of the communication activities that are occurring and this method of communication is rapidly changing with pending text-mediated communication scheduled to take effect in 911 centers in 2014.</p>

<p> Nativist language, expressed as opposition to foreigners, has been a part of American history since the country's founding. At various times, often during periods of recession and economic pressure, nativist movements have arisen with remarkable fervor, at times affecting the course of the nation's history. Most recently, the twenty years from 1990-2010 saw a significant increase both in the number and power of anti-immigration organizations. During this period, the contemporary minutemen, organizations of nativists focused on border security, came to prominence. Anti-immigrant pressure groups, whose purpose was to focus on specific aspects of immigration, became powerful. Nativist politicians found that rhetoric could successfully elevated their cause to prominence on the national stage. </p><p> This study uses principles of generic criticism to analyze the rhetoric of two contemporary Minutemen organizations and their founders, as well as three prominent nativist leaders. It seeks to determine whether there are common characteristics in the chosen examples of nativist rhetoric. Under such circumstances, the rhetoric would be classified as belonging to a particular genre, or type. The analysis reports that there are five common characteristics shared by the five rhetors: Appeals to rationality and positioning within the mainstream; predictions of threats to economic security and political stability; paranoid language; patriotic and constitutional imagery and alignment with law enforcement; and appeals for sympathy for victims. It continues by comparing the five commonalities with common rhetorical forms and concludes that all five align with the rhetorical type known as the jeremiad. Named for the biblical prophet Jeremiah, this type of rhetoric is marked by a call for a return to traditional values, predictions of disasters to come if the audience does not heed the warnings, and reassurance that the audience and the nation will be rewarded for their righteous behavior. The study also finds that contemporary nativist rhetoric can be classified as exhibiting the paranoid style of rhetoric. The study concludes with an enumeration of issues relating to rhetorical studies of nativism that arose during the research. These issues would be useful avenues of inquiry for other researchers intrigued by the subject.</p>

<p> This thesis examines the utilization of improvisational music techniques as a form of communication to address bullying in the Pitt County Community Schools and Recreation after -school program at Wintergreen Intermediate School in Greenville, NC. The study is based on a three week performance workshop conducted by the researcher with 17 students. The goal of the workshop was to teach children ages seven through eleven strategies to prevent, resolve and cope with bullying using improvisational music. Chapter 1 discusses previous literature on bullying, and improvisational music and performance. It lays the theoretical groundwork and provides the research methodology, while discussing the project's assumptions and limitations. Chapter 2 chronologically discusses the events of the workshop by week, highlighting and analyzing key moments. Chapter 3 discusses the follow up interviews, findings of the study, and recommendations for future projects.</p>