Throughout society, many believe women are not succeeding professionally because of the institutional barriers created by men in the American workforce. However, women may be more competitive with other women than with men, especially when limited job positions are the goal. Competitiveness among women can be explained by a phenomenon...
The Disney Company is an inescapable force in American life that is often detached from the stigma of big business and instead viewed as something particularly valuable, the United States’ foremost storyteller. In addition to the stories that the Disney Company
produces through its animated and live-action productions, there is...
Employees from two different organizations, a public university and a hospital in
Oregon, were asked to take part in an interview to assess their perceptions of how
race is discussed in their workplace, if racial humor is used in their workplace, if
this humor offers an opportunity to discuss race...
This research examines women's magazine editors' perspectives of the relationship between editorial and advertising content in women's magazines. It specifically investigates how this relationship affects both general editorial content and more specifically, social topic stories. Mainstream women's beauty/fashion magazine editors—including editors-in-chief—were queried as to the nature of these relationships. Interviews...
Main Street USA in Southern California’s Disneyland theme park is often described as nostalgic. However, previous research on this subject has failed to identify what elements actually make Main Street USA nostalgic as well as determine why Disney uses this nostalgia to influence park guests. In order to respond to...
The Pacific Salmon Treaty was established by Canada and the United States
to secure sustainability of salmon harvests within the Pacific Northwest. Renewed
in June 1999, the treaty functions to legitimize and empower the Pacific Salmon
Commission as the agent of fishery sustainability. The Pacific Salmon
Commission serves as a...
Individuals in and around a small college town were asked to take part in an interview to study their perception of wilderness activities depicted on television and other forms of media and the potential impact of these depictions on an individual's willingness to participate in wilderness activities. This study linked...
In recent decades, there has been a tremendous change in the college student
experience. In many ways this change has been driven by developments in
technology, which have in turn changed the way students conduct research,
socialize, and recreate. This thesis seeks to gain an understanding as to how
Internet...
The purpose of this thesis is to aid in qualitative improvements to technical support documents on the Internet. By using a generic criticism this analysis will make substantive suggestions towards the improvement of this type of document by engaging the rhetoric employed by their authors. It will discuss the history...
This thesis investigates the reported communication experiences of married women transitioning to motherhood. The study involves a series of focus groups in which new mothers share their communicative experiences, explaining how they are navigating their new roles as mothers while also performing roles as wives, daughters, and workers. Informed primarily...
The goal of this research was (1) to identify the patterns or pattern pieces of
development for heterosexual, dyadic, romantic relationships that emerge from
mixed-sex, friendship groups and (2) to compare and contrast those patterns or
pattern pieces to patterns in existing stage theories. To address these goals, data
were...
This study seeks to show how a member of an empowered group is able to argue
on behalf of a disempowered group. Other theorists in the field of other-directed
protest have claimed that these protestors have a negative effect on the
disempowered group and only serve to raise their own...
Servers in a small college town were asked to take part in an interview to assess perceptions of their use of nonverbal communication, how they believe nonverbal communication affects tipping behavior, and whether or not they received formal training in nonverbal communication tactics. The study also links nonverbal communication with...
Educators and other individuals within the long term care continuum along
with current gerontological researchers call for consideration of quality of life
factors related to aging. Optimal aging applies to physical health, as well as
cognitive and socio-emotional health. Each is imperative to a quality of life,
specifically in long...
A memoir is variously defined as an abbreviated autobiography; a record of
events based on the writer's personal observation or knowledge; and the written
story of one's own life. I set out to do those things. But when I sat back to read the
first of many drafts, I discovered...
This study links together two very complicated, but very important subjects: media bias and metaphor. More specifically, this study investigates whether or not examining a media outlet's use of metaphor is an effective methodology for investigating media bias. Using cluster analysis, I identified the source metaphors most commonly used on...
This research addresses the perception of leadership attributes in light of evaluator and target gender. It specifically investigates whether there is a difference in language usage when the evaluator is female versus when the evaluator is male. Two studies were conducted. A pre-test used instrumental development drawing from studies conducted...
This study helps to answer the broader question of why Latino students
across the U.S. persistently drop out of school at the highest rates compared to
students of other racial groups by focusing on the institutional workings of the
various levels of the Oregon school system. Latino students have the...
Recent scientific studies show strong correlations between oral and systemic disease, creating a crucial need for increased collaboration between the medical and dental professions. Interdisciplinary collaboration between medical and dental providers is emerging as a critical component to effective patient care. The role of the dental hygienist in interdisciplinary collaboration...
Two companion pieces, a video documentary and written analysis, provide the
text for this exploration of how women's life stories and the mother-daughter narrative
are preserved through the transmission of inherited objects. The video documentary
reveals the lives of six diverse women who each discuss the politics of receiving and...
American women’s quest for equality came into focus in the early 1900s. Amidst the cultural and societal forces pushing for suffrage, some chose the mechanism of theater. This thesis is a work of rhetorical criticism. It applies Lloyd Bitzer’s situational approach to two suffrage theater artifacts: Mary Shaw's The Woman...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the rhetoric provided by New Orleans
Saints fans and residents from 2004 to 2007. During this time frame there are two
particularly significant events that influence a rhetorical change within the community
and a shift in the perception of the New Orleans...
The purpose of this study is to examine the rhetorical efforts of President George W. Bush in defending his administration's warrantless wiretapping program. Specifically, the study attempts to determine the president's underlying motives when he defended the National Security Agency in a December 2005 radio address by applying Kenneth Burke's...
Approximately $1 billion a year is spent on salmon in the Pacific
Northwest. Spending has escalated, yet the number of wild runs
placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act has
increased, creating social and political controversy. For more than 100
years, salmon management in the Pacific Northwest has...
On May 21, 1998 Kip Kinkel drove to Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Kinkel killed two students and wounded another twenty-two students. He killed his parents the day before. The shootings at Thurston High School came on the heels of a number of prominent school shootings and Kip Kinkel...
In the Spring of 2001, the short documentary Fan Geeks was filmed. Fan
Geeks explores The X-files fan community, showing the fans in context to the
friendships and activities that express television as being part of their lives.
Using film to document fans' micro-situations, Fan Geeks allows for
audience analysis...
This research mainly examines the superior-subordinate relationship between
Japanese managers and Thai subordinates working in joint ventures in Thailand,
especially the management style of the Japanese and the reactions of the Thais,
Cultural adaptation of Japanese expatriates and Thai subordinates is also explored.
Through this study, we gain better understanding...
This study examines the critical pedagogy utilized by the Center for Global
Education's study abroad program in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The Center for
Global Education (Centro de Educación Mundial en America Latina-
CEMAL) facilitates two semester long study abroad programs per year as
well as a variety of short term programs,...
In an attempt to better understand documentary theory and production, I
created Bowling Together; a documentary recounting the experiences of one bowling
team and looking at the relationship between participation in bowling leagues and civil
society. This thesis provided me a first-hand experience at producing a documentary,
allowing me to...
This exploratory study looks at communication perspectives and applies them to
the transcript of USAir Flight 427, a flight that crashed while attempting to land.
Researchers calculate that 60% to 80% of the accidents can he traced to pilot error.
Many of these errors occur through a single communication event...
This thesis consists of a collection of personal
essays with interconnecting themes. The title, Aspiration,
suggests a desire for high achievement and also reflects
the metaphor of breathing, which serves to tie the
collection together. Breathing is a physiological function
that is subject to both voluntary and involuntary control,
and...
The focus of my thesis is ethnobotany which seeks to examine
botanical resources and their context within particular cultures. My ethnographic
research identifies and interprets the cultural processes woven into Oregon's
coastal basketry through spirituality, environmental habitats, and utilized plant
species. This is augmented with botanical research addressing the question...
On August 6, 1945 the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb
on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later another atomic bomb was
dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan. The events that led up to the United
States' decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japanese...
How do digital games convey meaning? Academic studies of video games seem concerned
with creating discipline-specific new methodologies for examining the medium. From the
standpoint of the rhetorical critic, however, new forms of communication can still be
examined with traditional techniques. This paper analyzes the 2001 video game Tropico
using...
The purpose of this study was to describe the level to which a target work culture based on core organizational values was shared in one lumber manufacturing plant. The organization under study perceived that their culture was a source of competitive advantage and was key to their success in safety,...