Current Search: activation theory (x)
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(1 - 13 of 13)
- Title
- VICTIMIZATION, RISKY BEHAVIORS, AND THE VIRTUAL WORLD.
- Creator
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Morgan, Rachel, Jasinski, Jana, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have become increasingly popular among teens and young adults because of the availability of the internet. Because these websites promote interpersonal connections and information sharing among individuals around the world, personal information to online "friends" may be shared carelessly. However, little is known about the correlation between engaging in online activities, sharing personal information online, and susceptibility to online...
Show moreSocial networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have become increasingly popular among teens and young adults because of the availability of the internet. Because these websites promote interpersonal connections and information sharing among individuals around the world, personal information to online "friends" may be shared carelessly. However, little is known about the correlation between engaging in online activities, sharing personal information online, and susceptibility to online victimization and cyberbullying. This study analyzes data from the Parents & Teens 2006 Survey to examine the applicability of Routine Activities Theory as a theoretical framework for understanding cybervictimization and cyberbullying. Online teens and teens on social networking sites (SNS) were examined separately in this study to determine if social networking (SNS) teens were at an increased risk. The results indicated that participating in online activities and sharing personal information increased the risk for receiving a threatening email, instant message or text message. Teens whose parents did not have rules regulating their online activities and behaviors were also at an increased risk for receiving a threatening email, instant message or text message. The logistic regression models show that for social networking (SNS) teens, gender and age increase the odds of receiving a threat, compared to online teens.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003048, ucf:48348
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003048
- Title
- A CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ACTIVITY THEORY ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION BY HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM FACULTY.
- Creator
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Marquez, Rolando, Gunter, Glenda, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Background: Researchers have revealed that among the reasons provided as barriers to the adoption of technology are: lack of technology resources, time, professional development and support (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1997; Parker, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; NCATE, 1997; Shelly, Gunter & Gunter, 2010, U.S. Congress, 1995). Several models used to explain the usage of technology within education such as the Technology Acceptance Model ...
Show moreBackground: Researchers have revealed that among the reasons provided as barriers to the adoption of technology are: lack of technology resources, time, professional development and support (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1997; Parker, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; NCATE, 1997; Shelly, Gunter & Gunter, 2010, U.S. Congress, 1995). Several models used to explain the usage of technology within education such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) have been somewhat ineffective in explaining or providing a holistic view of the factors that come into play when examining technology infusion and diffusion as they account for a limited percentage of variance (Legris, Ingham & Collerete, 2003; Pan, Gunter, Sivo & Cornell, 2005). Purpose: To better understand the choices that faculty members make in their use of educational technologies and media and to determine why some technologies such as blackboard have been widely adopted, but others have not. The following research question was formulated to guide the study: "Why do faculty members in higher education make the instructional choices they do with respect to educational technologies and media? Also, how can the use of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as a more robust framework, offer an increase in explanatory power to better enable the understanding of a multitude of factors that impact the adoption and use of certain media technologies? Setting: A technology rich department at a college of a large urban university in the Southeastern United States. Participants: Three faculty members who taught in the department. Research Design: Qualitative multi-site case study informed by Engeström's CHAT(Engeström, 1987). Data Collection and Analysis: Document analysis, individual interviews, and laboratory and classroom observations provided data. Qualitative data analysis that employed qualitative inquiry research was informed by Creswell's "data analysis spiral" and Engeström's CHAT. Findings: Visits at the institution presented several of the key ideas in the CHAT framework including contradictions within the media selection activity and tensions at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels. Additional themes included group work, autonomy, media as a tool to achieve learning goals, caring for students, early adopters, and relevance with current trends.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0003665, ucf:48833
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003665
- Title
- Understanding Arson Through Community Resilience.
- Creator
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South, Rhena, Corzine, Harold, Huff-Corzine, Lin, Li, Yingru, McCutcheon, James, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Over 40,000 arsons were reported in the 2014 Uniform Crime Report; however, this number is underestimated since there are no official arson trends reported by the FBI due to the lack of agencies reporting this offense. Arson is one of the most destructive and under researched crimes. This lack of research can be attributed to the dual definition of arson (-) that is, the destruction of one's own property or someone else's property (-) the opportunistic nature of arson, and the inability to...
Show moreOver 40,000 arsons were reported in the 2014 Uniform Crime Report; however, this number is underestimated since there are no official arson trends reported by the FBI due to the lack of agencies reporting this offense. Arson is one of the most destructive and under researched crimes. This lack of research can be attributed to the dual definition of arson (-) that is, the destruction of one's own property or someone else's property (-) the opportunistic nature of arson, and the inability to determine a measurable rate. The current study uses data from the Chicago Police Department's Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting (CLEAR) System and the 2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates to explore arson offending among and across neighborhoods within the framework of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory. Spatially weighted negative binomial regression is used to test correlation and significance. Analyses were run in STATA and ArcGIS 10.4.1. Results are consistent with prior arson research showing that rates of occurrence are increased by structural measures such as social disorganization, physical disorder, and public transportation. However, racial heterogeneity and accessibility to public transportation are shown to both increase or decrease rates of arson occurrence depending on the subtype of arson. These results suggest that community characteristics may play a greater role in understanding arson offending than previously thought.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006800, ucf:51816
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006800
- Title
- Seeing a Whole Life: Genre and Identity in Occupational Therapy.
- Creator
-
Johnson, Stefanie, Wardle, Elizabeth, Hall, Mark, Roozen, Kevin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
A significant body of writing and rhetoric research focuses on the literate practices that reflect or construct the professional self, particularly in disciplines that rely heavily on the use of forms to categorize or identify customers, clients, or patients. Many of these studies examine the influence of discipline-specific genres on the creation of a professional self for healthcare practitioners. Occupational therapy, a nearly 100-year-old yet little understood profession, is significantly...
Show moreA significant body of writing and rhetoric research focuses on the literate practices that reflect or construct the professional self, particularly in disciplines that rely heavily on the use of forms to categorize or identify customers, clients, or patients. Many of these studies examine the influence of discipline-specific genres on the creation of a professional self for healthcare practitioners. Occupational therapy, a nearly 100-year-old yet little understood profession, is significantly different from many other healthcare disciplines, in part, because the genres used by occupational therapists reflect the profession's careful attention to the whole life of a patient. These genres are built around an understanding of a patient's occupation as the object of the profession's activity system. (")Occupation(") (commonly defined too narrowly by those outside of the profession as (")work(")), is, quite simply, anything that meaningfully and purposefully occupies a person's time. This broadly defined object invites an expansive professional vision that includes the patient's life and history outside of a diagnosis. This study presents the narratives of four occupational therapists and the literate activities that inform their practice. Their voices, as excerpted in this case study, join a strong, ongoing conversation in writing and rhetoric studies about the relationship between genre and identity. Using the lens of activity theory, this is one account of a healthcare profession that pays unusual attention to patients' whole lives through genres that mediate shared agency between the caregiver and patient. It is also, however, the story of the ways in which this identity, as a uniquely occupation-based discipline, becomes obscured as therapists translate their work to genres created and controlled by other, more powerful activity systems.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005813, ucf:50036
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005813
- Title
- Extracurricular Activities and Substance Use Among Adolescents: A Test of Social Control and Social Learning Theory.
- Creator
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Coto, Lynnette, Ford, Jason, Corzine, Harold, Reckdenwald, Amy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The current research examines correlates of adolescent substance use with a focus on extracurricular activities. Given that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug, and binge drinking can have an early onset the examinations of these two substances were important. Many studies have researched the correlation between substance use and sports, but have not included other extracurricular activities such as academic and fine art clubs. The current research fills this gap in the literature...
Show moreThe current research examines correlates of adolescent substance use with a focus on extracurricular activities. Given that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug, and binge drinking can have an early onset the examinations of these two substances were important. Many studies have researched the correlation between substance use and sports, but have not included other extracurricular activities such as academic and fine art clubs. The current research fills this gap in the literature by using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and by testing Hirschi's (1969) Social Control Theory and Aker's (1985) Social Learning Theory. The current research identified fine art and academic clubs as protective factors for adolescent substance use. There is limited research on the link between adolescent substance use and extracurricular activities and based on my findings that academic and fine arts clubs can decrease the likelihood of substance use, continued research is needed to better identify users, causes for risk and preventative factors, short and long term ramifications, and the theoretical correlations of use.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006287, ucf:51607
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006287
- Title
- Factors Contributing to Victim Employment, Victim Income Status, and Intimate Partner Violence in Jamaica.
- Creator
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Fraser, Marsha, Wan, Thomas, Yegidis, Bonnie, Dziegielewski, Sophia, Ross, Lee, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Using 166 IPV police reports in Jamaica, this mixed-methods study (a) explored the utility of routine activities theory and control balance theory for explaining the relationship between victim employment and IPV; (b) explored risk factors for IPV; and (c) examined the relationships between victim employment and victim income status with IPV murder and IPV severity in the Jamaica. Content analysis of the narratives of the police reports supported both theories suggesting an integration of the...
Show moreUsing 166 IPV police reports in Jamaica, this mixed-methods study (a) explored the utility of routine activities theory and control balance theory for explaining the relationship between victim employment and IPV; (b) explored risk factors for IPV; and (c) examined the relationships between victim employment and victim income status with IPV murder and IPV severity in the Jamaica. Content analysis of the narratives of the police reports supported both theories suggesting an integration of the two theories may be most fitting. Estrangement and infidelity emerged as bold themes. Infidelity was identified as an additional risk factor in the Jamaican context. Quantitative analysis revealed that employed victims and victims with income were significantly older than their counterparts. Being unemployed and having no income were associated with being female. Male victims were 4.98 times more likely to be employed and 7.30 times more likely to have income than female victims. Older victims were 2.36 times more likely to have income than younger victims. Victim employment and victim income status failed to predict the odds of IPV murder or to impact the level of IPV severity. However, the offender's weapon emerged as a salient predictor. When an offender used a sharp weapon or a gun, the odds of the victim being murdered was 4.77 greater and .71 greater respectively than if no such weapon was used. Using a sharp weapon magnified the IPV severity (B = 1.20) while using a gun reduced the IPV severity (B = .78). This study is useful for informing public policies addressing IPV in Jamaica.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007632, ucf:52495
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007632
- Title
- Consequences of Skipping First Year Composition: Mapping Student Writing from High School to the Academic Disciplines.
- Creator
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Bell, Craig, Roozen, Kevin, Bryan, Matthew, Rounsaville, Angela, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Research in writing studies has focused on students who make the traditional transition from high school to first year composition, to the entry level discipline specific courses in their chosen majors (Wardle, 2007, 2009; Sommers and Saltz, 2004; Beaufort, 2007; Carroll, 2002). Very little scholarship addresses those students who (")skip(") first year composition and find themselves in entry level discipline specific courses classrooms. With three former students, I conduct a case study over...
Show moreResearch in writing studies has focused on students who make the traditional transition from high school to first year composition, to the entry level discipline specific courses in their chosen majors (Wardle, 2007, 2009; Sommers and Saltz, 2004; Beaufort, 2007; Carroll, 2002). Very little scholarship addresses those students who (")skip(") first year composition and find themselves in entry level discipline specific courses classrooms. With three former students, I conduct a case study over the course of eight months via a series of face to face, facetime, skype and email interviews. Each of these students, through earning high test scores in high school, forego first year composition and move directly to entry level discipline specific courses. Using third generation activity theory as a lens (Engestr(&)#246;m, 1996, 1999, 2001; Roth and Lee, 2007; Russell, 1995, 1997; Kain and Wardle, 2002), I examine these students' understanding of what they have experienced in high school writing(-)specifically high school English class(-)what they think college writing will demand, and finally what, in fact, they find the college writing demands to be. Not only do I find that each of the students felt very prepared for the demands they will encounter, but they remained confident. The study does, however, illuminate unforeseen challenges for both students and those who teach them: student literate lives are incredibly complex, and there is a real potential for a writing gap between formal writing instruction and when students will engage in intensive discipline writing tasks.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006933, ucf:51636
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006933
- Title
- Firearm Lethality in Drug Market Contexts.
- Creator
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McCutcheon, James, Corzine, Harold, Jasinski, Jana, Huff-Corzine, Lin, Jarvis, John, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The current study examines firearms' impact on the relationship between illegal drug markets and homicide. At the county-level, Iowa and Virginia are analyzed using crime data from the National Incident Based Reporting System. More specifically, gun availability is tested as a mediator for county drug crime rates and homicide counts. Variable selection and prediction is based on routine activity and social disorganization theories. I argue that social disorganization allows the context for...
Show moreThe current study examines firearms' impact on the relationship between illegal drug markets and homicide. At the county-level, Iowa and Virginia are analyzed using crime data from the National Incident Based Reporting System. More specifically, gun availability is tested as a mediator for county drug crime rates and homicide counts. Variable selection and prediction is based on routine activity and social disorganization theories. I argue that social disorganization allows the context for which criminal opportunity presents itself through routine activities. I posit gun availability mediates a positive relationship between illegal drug markets and homicide, with differences between urban and rural communities.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0004888, ucf:49658
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004888
- Title
- STORY LINES: MOVING THROUGH THE MULTIPLE IMAGINED COMMUNITIES OF AN ASIAN-/AMERICAN-/FEMINIST BODY.
- Creator
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Choudhury, Athia, Park, Shelley, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
We all have stories to share, to build, to pass around, to inherit, and to create. This story - the one I piece together now - is about a Thai-/Bengali-/Muslim-/American-/Feminist looking for home, looking to manage the tension and conflict of wanting to belong to her family and to her feminist community. This thesis focuses on the seemingly conflicting obligations to kinship on the one hand and to feminist practice on the other, a conflict where being a good scholar or activist is directly...
Show moreWe all have stories to share, to build, to pass around, to inherit, and to create. This story - the one I piece together now - is about a Thai-/Bengali-/Muslim-/American-/Feminist looking for home, looking to manage the tension and conflict of wanting to belong to her family and to her feminist community. This thesis focuses on the seemingly conflicting obligations to kinship on the one hand and to feminist practice on the other, a conflict where being a good scholar or activist is directly in opposition to being a good Asian daughter. In order to understand how and why these communities appear at odds with one another, I examine how the material spaces and psychological realities inhabited by specific hyphenated, fragmented subjects are represented (and misrepresented) in both popular culture and practical politics, arguing against images of the hybrid body that bracket its lived tensions. I argue that fantasies of home as an unconditional site of belonging and comfort distract us from the multiple communities to which hyphenated subjects must move between. Hyphenated Asian-/American bodies often find ourselves torn between nativism and assimilationism - having to neutralize, forsake, or discard parts of our identities. Thus, I reduce complicated, difficult ideas of being to the size of a thimble, to a question of loyalty between my Asian-/American history and my American-/feminist future, between my familial background and the issues that have become foregrounded for me during college, between the home from which I originate and the new home to which I wish to belong. To move with fluidity, I must - in collaboration with others - invent new stories of identity and belonging.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004200, ucf:44974
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004200
- Title
- A SOCIAL COGNITIVE APPROACH TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF POPULAR POKER TELEVISION SHOWS ON COLLEGE STUDENTS.
- Creator
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Londo, Marc, Shaver, Dan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Tournament poker shows have become a leading ratings draw on American television. Since ESPN and the Travel Channel began airing their innovative poker shows in 2003, the game has reached a new following, particularly among college students. There are unique and psychologically significant factors that characterize the college population that make students particularly receptive to popular characterizations in media. This study investigates the potential exacerbating effect that these widely...
Show moreTournament poker shows have become a leading ratings draw on American television. Since ESPN and the Travel Channel began airing their innovative poker shows in 2003, the game has reached a new following, particularly among college students. There are unique and psychologically significant factors that characterize the college population that make students particularly receptive to popular characterizations in media. This study investigates the potential exacerbating effect that these widely popular poker television shows have on the gambling behavior of college students. 444 college students completed a survey designed to assess gratifications sought through media along with measures of attitudes, gambling behavior, and social systems. Using Social Cognitive Theory as a framework of influence, exposure to these shows – ranging from the individual student to the overall college environment – was assessed and evaluated. Results indicated that student gambling is strongly correlated to viewership of poker shows, particularly among younger students. This was especially seen among students who utilized the online gambling option. Gambling behavior of peers wasn't shown to be a strong influence for student gambling. However, excitement was shown to be a strong variable that should be looked at closer.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001087, ucf:46781
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001087
- Title
- EVALUATING AN ONLINE PERSONALIZED FAMILY-BASED INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHANGES.
- Creator
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Hayes, Sharon, Tantleff-Dunn, Stacey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The current study evaluated the initial feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of a motivationally-tailored family-based intervention designed to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors associated with physical activity and nutrition. Parents (N=132) of children 6 to 11 years old were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition, and they completed a series of online questionnaires. Intervention participants (n=61) received a single motivationally-tailored feedback...
Show moreThe current study evaluated the initial feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of a motivationally-tailored family-based intervention designed to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors associated with physical activity and nutrition. Parents (N=132) of children 6 to 11 years old were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition, and they completed a series of online questionnaires. Intervention participants (n=61) received a single motivationally-tailored feedback report via e-mail. Control participants (n=71) completed measures and immediately received information about a free online resource that provides information about healthy lifestyle behaviors (www.mypyramid.gov). Feasibility data indicate that an online feedback program has high dissemination potential (parents from 31 states participated). However, the current methodology is not sufficient in reaching families who are at greatest risk for developing chronic health conditions associated with obesity or low activity level. In general, the intervention was acceptable to parents. Outcome data revealed that the intervention and control groups did not differ significantly on most variables at one month follow-up. Exploratory analyses provided additional evidence for the importance of including parents and targeting parent-child interactions in the context of pediatric nutrition and physical activity interventions. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003359, ucf:48438
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003359
- Title
- Instructor Response to Uncivil Behaviors in the Classroom: An Application of Politeness Theory.
- Creator
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Yrisarry, Natalie, Miller, Ann, Neuberger, Lindsay, Katt, James, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This study examines levels of politeness in real time instructor responses to classroom incivility behaviors. Student participants were randomly assigned to view a video of an instructor responding to either passive or active student incivility behaviors in various ways. The responses were based on politeness theory conceptualizations of avoidance, mid-level politeness, or bald on record responses. A 2 (i.e., passive, active student incivility) x 3 (i.e., avoidance, mid-level, or bald on...
Show moreThis study examines levels of politeness in real time instructor responses to classroom incivility behaviors. Student participants were randomly assigned to view a video of an instructor responding to either passive or active student incivility behaviors in various ways. The responses were based on politeness theory conceptualizations of avoidance, mid-level politeness, or bald on record responses. A 2 (i.e., passive, active student incivility) x 3 (i.e., avoidance, mid-level, or bald on record instructor response) experimental design formed six conditions. High quality video simulations of a classroom environment, portraying one of the six conditions, were created to specifically address these dimensions. Participants took a web based survey and evaluated the instructor with respect to effectiveness, credibility, and impact on student motivation. Results demonstrate students had most positive responses to bald on record instructor responses to active student incivility. When responding to passive student incivility, a less harsh response (i.e., avoidance, mid-level), while not significantly different from a bald on record response, indicate better outcomes. Therefore, in accordance with politeness theory, instructors should consider the level of imposition created by uncivil student behavior when calibrating responses, as student perceptions can be greatly affected. Theoretical and practical considerations as well as avenues for future research are presented.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005746, ucf:50084
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005746
- Title
- Using Hashtags to Disambiguate Aboutness in Social Media Discourse: A Case Study of #OrlandoStrong.
- Creator
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DeArmas, Nicholas, Vie, Stephanie, Salter, Anastasia, Beever, Jonathan, Dodd, Melissa, Wheeler, Stephanie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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While the field of writing studies has studied digital writing as a response to multiple calls for more research on digital forms of writing, research on hashtags has yet to build bridges between different disciplines' approaches to studying the uses and effects of hashtags. This dissertation builds that bridge in its interdisciplinary approach to the study of hashtags by focusing on how hashtags can be fully appreciated at the intersection of the fields of information research, linguistics,...
Show moreWhile the field of writing studies has studied digital writing as a response to multiple calls for more research on digital forms of writing, research on hashtags has yet to build bridges between different disciplines' approaches to studying the uses and effects of hashtags. This dissertation builds that bridge in its interdisciplinary approach to the study of hashtags by focusing on how hashtags can be fully appreciated at the intersection of the fields of information research, linguistics, rhetoric, ethics, writing studies, new media studies, and discourse studies. Hashtags are writing innovations that perform unique digital functions rhetorically while still hearkening back to functions of both print and oral rhetorical traditions. Hashtags function linguistically as indicators of semantic meaning; additionally, hashtags also perform the role of search queries on social media, retrieving texts that include the same hashtag. Information researchers refer to the relationship between a search query and its results using the term (")aboutness(") (Kehoe and Gee, 2011). By considering how hashtags have an aboutness, the humanities can call upon information research to better understand the digital aspects of the hashtag's search function. Especially when hashtags are used to organize discourse, aboutness has an effect on how a discourse community's agendas and goals are expressed, as well as framing what is relevant and irrelevant to the discourse. As digital activists increasingly use hashtags to organize and circulate the goals of their discourse communities, knowledge of ethical strategies for hashtag use will help to better preserve a relevant aboutness for their discourse while enabling them to better leverage their hashtag for circulation. In this dissertation, through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Twitter discourse that used #OrlandoStrong over the five-month period before the first anniversary of the Pulse shooting, I trace how the #OrlandoStrong discourse community used innovative rhetorical strategies to combat irrelevant content from ambiguating their discourse space. In Chapter One, I acknowledge the call from scholars to study digital tools and briefly describe the history of the Pulse shooting, reflecting on non-digital texts that employed #OrlandoStrong as memorials in the Orlando area. In Chapter Two, I focus on the literature surrounding hashtags, discourse, aboutness, intertextuality, hashtag activism, and informational compositions. In Chapter Three, I provide an overview of the stages of grounded theory methodology and the implications of critical discourse analysis before I detail how I approached the collection, coding, and analysis of the #OrlandoStrong Tweets I studied. The results of my study are reported in Chapter Four, offering examples of Tweets that were important to understanding how the discourse space became ambiguous through the use of hashtags. In Chapter Five, I reflect on ethical approaches to understanding the consequences of hashtag use, and then I offer an ethical recommendation for hashtag use by hashtag activists. I conclude Chapter Five with an example of a classroom activity that allows students to use hashtags to better understand the relationship between aboutness, (dis)ambiguation, discourse communities, and ethics. This classroom activity is provided with the hope that instructors from different disciplines will be able to provide ethical recommendations to future activists who may benefit from these rhetorical strategies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007322, ucf:52136
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007322
