This study examined graduate students' experiences with social support in relation to stress and uncertainty during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Graduate students as a population have significant levels of stress and uncertainty which may have negative effects on their lives and academic experiences. Graduate students often utilize social support as a way to cope with or mitigate the effects of stress and uncertainty. This qualitative study consisted of six focus groups, ranging from three to six participants, total of 22 participants, who were found using a purposeful snowball sampling method. The participants were masters and doctoral level students in communication graduate programs. Findings were made using thematic analysis which identified main themes of; stress, uncertainty, social support, the program, and feelings words. Findings were also examined through the lens of Relational Dialectics and found evidence of openness-closedness, autonomy-connection, and novelty-predictability. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research were discussed in chapter five.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd2020-1564 |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| Creators | Staser, Teanna |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020- |
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