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  • ItemOpen Access
    The failure effect: why you think she can't win
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Brandon, Melissa R., author; Martey, Rosa Mikeal, advisor; Kodrich, Kris, committee member; Wolfgang, David, committee member; Vasby Anderson, Karrin, committee member; Khrebtan-Horhager, Julia, committee member
    This dissertation analyzes how modern media coverage and framing of women political candidates reinforces and sustains what I term the Failure Effect. The Failure Effect is a complex combination of gender-based expectancies and cognitive processes including cultural cognition, motivated reasoning, and pragmatic bias, which are amplified and reinforced by media framing techniques that ultimately disadvantage women candidates. I argue the Failure Effect causes voters to doubt a woman candidate's electability even when she is an otherwise qualified candidate, resulting in voters choosing a man candidate at the ballot box because they believe She Can't Win. Despite progress toward gender parity in politics, women continue to hold a significantly smaller portion of political offices than men, particularly at the executive level. Investigating this issue, I examine the history of women candidates in the U.S., gender-based social role expectations, journalistic norms, the attention cycle model, and symbolic annihilation in connection with women political candidates. The study conducted considers the impact of commonly used media framing techniques, specifically strategic game frames, on political outcomes and the notions voters may hold about the electability of a woman candidate. This dissertation argues that despite progress, gender parity in politics remains a distant goal. The research question posed in this study yielded results that both supported the argument of the dissertation as well as surprising results that are ripe for future investigation and potentially the future success of women political candidates. This study asks: How do media frame ideas about executive-level women candidates' electability? To investigate this question, I examined the framing of news stories in four major national newspapers in the United States and the coverage generated about the six women presidential candidates who ran during the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary. This qualitative thematic analysis found eight primary strategic game frames and several additional sub-frames that were applied to the women candidates. The results of this analysis provide support for the primary argument of this dissertation – the Failure Effect, and how media framing of these candidates causes voters to believe that She Can't Win.
  • ItemOpen Access
    There's something in the air: studying the behavioral intention of outdoor workers to protect their health during air quality events
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Giesenhagen, Erica Therese, author; Anderson, Ashley, advisor; Abrams, Katie, committee member; Magzamen, Sheryl, committee member
    Poor air quality has been an issue in the United States for decades and has been made more prevalent due to the world's changing environment. Exposure to poor air quality can lead to both short- and long-term health effects that can range in severity. There are a number of health-protective measures an individual can take in order to reduce the effects of poor air quality. The purpose of this study is to research what motivates outdoor workers to take health-protective measures during periods of poor air quality. This study utilizes the Health Belief Model (HBM) and a qualitative approach. Through focus groups with outdoor workers from the City of Fort Collins (n = 18), this study aimed to find out what motivates outdoor workers to take health-protective measures during air quality events. Main findings were that outdoor workers at the City of Fort Collins have experienced air quality events and have the knowledge of what health-protective measures they can take to limit their exposure. It was evident that there is limited action in taking health-protective action during periods of poor air quality. The study concludes with suggestions for ways that current functions of the City of Fort Collins can be improved to further support the outdoor workers for taking health-protective action from poor air quality.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The paradox of cellphones: a media dependency study on college-aged teens and their cellphone use
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Cooper, Carson Kane, author; Martey, Rosa, advisor; Wolfgang, David, committee member; Scolere, Leah, committee member
    The cellphone has become a common tool for entertainment, communication, and information in everyday American life. However, with increased dependency on the cellphone, users are also seeing negative repercussions of their relationships with them. Research has found that cellphones are associated with feeling social and job pressures, anxiety, and depression. The media available through cellphones are intentionally crafted to hold users' extended attention and keep them engaged and active for long periods of time. Those who find themselves fighting against their own habits of cellphone use may be struggling against the software designers who make it difficult for users to disconnect themselves from their smartphones. This thesis studies the relationships between college-aged teens and their cellphones to understand the potential tensions between depending on this technology and feeling it is too demanding and distracting. It uses a series of in-depth interviews to address the research question: How do young adults view and feel about their relationship with their cellphones, and to what extent do they believe they are in control over their cellphone use? The theoretical framework of media dependency theory guides this project's approach by integrating considerations of how society plays a role in relationships with media technology. It also introduces key aspects of why users feel they want to escape their cellphones while examining the factors that make it so difficult for individuals to be without their cellphones. As a social level theory, media dependency theory aids in examining the role of the cellphone in society as a whole, and how individuals' relationships with their phones influence their broader social world.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Shades of risk: a mixed-methods approach to designing and testing a new hurricane map graphic
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Rosen, Zoey, author; Long, Marilee, advisor; Abrams, Katie, committee member; Sivakumar, Gayathri, committee member; Magzamen, Sheryl, committee member; Most, David, committee member
    Map graphics are a popular tool for hazard risk communication, layered with numerical, verbal, and visual information to describe an uncertain threat. In the hurricane context, graphics are used to communicate the probability of different threats over a forecasting period. While hurricane graphics have been studied in the past, they have not been analyzed from the design phase through to the intended audience. Additionally, hurricane graphics have not been designed with colorblind-friendly accessibility in mind. This dissertation presents the results of a three-phase, mixed methods study: (a) graphic development, (b) testing with expert user groups, and (c) testing with a public sample. In the development phase (a), I used the best practices for using probability language, color schemes, and localization into map graphics from literature in forecasting, communication, universal design, and emergency management. Additionally, I held informal interviews with professionals from the National Hurricane Center to develop the prototype with their recommendations for the design. In the first testing phase b, I interviewed 19 expert users (emergency managers and meteorologists) from Florida and Louisiana about their preferences for and feedback on the design elements of a new hurricane graphic, as well as if there were individual characteristics that influenced how accurate they were in interpreting wind exceedance data, such as risk perception, confidence, experience, spatial cognition, and numeracy levels. In phase c, I tested the wind exceedance graphic prototypes using a public sample (n = 624) from Louisiana and Florida to gather data on the accuracy of their interpretations for the graphic, again measuring confidence, experience, spatial cognition, and numeracy levels, as well as their design preferences and risk perceptions. The results of the two testing phases (b and c) center around how accurate experts and the public were with interpreting the graphic, as well as if there were other factors that influenced this accuracy, such as spatial cognition or numeracy. Additionally, the results describe both groups' design preferences, risk perceptions of the color schemes and overlays, and how experts think about vulnerability when using the graphic. In both groups, numeracy and spatial cognition were found to predict accuracy of interpretation for a wind exceedance graphic prototype. Likewise, both confidence and experience were found to have a positive relationship with accuracy. Regarding the design choices, both experts and the public preferred a yellow-to-red scheme, though experts thought the yellow-to-red scheme presented the hazard as riskier and the public thought the reds-only was riskier. Adding overlays to the graphic, such as interstates or city landmarks, helped the participants to orient themselves on the map. Experts and the public preferred that there were overlays added to the graphic and scored this version of the graphic as risker than a version without any overlays. The addition of the overlays prompted expert users to think more about the risk and vulnerability of the people in those areas on the map. Vulnerability was conceptualized from both a physical and social standpoint by the experts and applied to how they would use the wind exceedance graphic in a briefing to communicate to their community partners. Overall, this research provides a model for how hazard risk map graphics can be studied from design through implementation. Additionally, I captured how experts think about vulnerability in their communities when shown a forecast map graphic. The conclusion of this dissertation also provides practical recommendations for experts who want to apply the universal design aspects into new hurricane graphics.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Cis-male perspectives on advertising and marketing design for farm-to-table restaurants
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Jensen, Maya Faye, author; Abrams, Katie, advisor; Goar, Allison, committee member; Tham, Samuel, committee member
    Sustainable green marketing emerged in the 1990's in response to consumer demands for greater access to sustainable options in an effort to protect future generations ahead. These changes would soon be incorporated into the self-regulation practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as it expanded businesses' concern for the environment through operations. Greenwashing emerged as some corporations took advantage of green marketing and were found guilty for misleading consumers about how environmentally responsible they were. Overtime, research has found environmental messaging in this context to be more traditionally feminine based on design elements like font, color, and imagery. This led the researcher to explore farm-to-table advertising, as there is limited research in this area regarding advertising and gender. Farm-to-tables reduce their carbon footprint by designing their menus to be seasonal and sourcing ingredients from local farms. An exploratory, qualitative study was conducted to understand cis-male college students' perceptions of and experiences with ads for farm-to-table restaurants as this perspective is often left out in marketing for this business. This study and its supplementary materials were guided by social role theory, theory of green purchase behavior and source credibility theory. A thematic analysis of participants' responses led to the emergence of four themes. Results from interviews with Colorado State University cis-male college students provided deeper insights into how design elements, previous experiences, relationships and perceptions impacted their attitudes and perceived credibility towards farm-to-table restaurants.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Affective attunement and counter-power affordances of Twitter to the 2020 #EndSARS protests in Nigeria
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Enyinnaya, Virtue Chibuike, author; Tham, Samuel M., advisor; Arthur, Tori, committee member; Faw, Meara, committee member
    Using the Network theory of Power, and Affective Public, this study employs a Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) to examine the affective attunement and counter-power affordances of Twitter during the 2020 #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. Drawing on qualitative data collected from Twitter during the protests, the study examined the ways in which Twitter facilitated affective attunement - the ability of Twitter users to attune to each other's emotions - in amplifying activist voices and mobilizing publics for collective action. It also analyzed the counter-power affordances of Twitter, which enabled protesters to challenge dominant discourses and power structures in Nigeria. Through a CTDA lens, the study explored the ways in which power, cultural ideologies, users' online experiences, and technology intersected in the #EndSARS protests, and how these dynamics shaped the outcomes of the protests in addressing police brutality in Nigeria. The findings suggest that Twitter played a significant role in the mobilization and organization of the protests, and that affective attunement and counter-power affordances were key factors in the success of the movement. This study contributes to our understanding of the complex relationships between power, technology, and social change, and provides insights for future research on the role of social media in protest movements within regimented democracies. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
  • ItemOpen Access
    "Symbol of pride": subjugation of journalism under power
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Muhammad, Huzaifa, author; Wolfgang, David, advisor; Kodrich, Kris, committee member; Stecula, Dominik, committee member
    This study explores the influences journalists encountered in Bangladesh, a developing country under an "authoritarian" regime while covering the opening of 6.15 kilometers long Padma Bridge. Using Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchy of influence model, Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model, and Bourdieu's field theory, it seeks to answer the question: How does the Bangladeshi media's coverage of the Padma Bridge opening reflect forms of government influence on journalists? Drawing on 12 in-depth interviews with reporters and news managers working from four media outlets, the findings suggest that, in the case of the coverage of the Padma Bridge opening in the Bangladeshi media, the government used several tools to influence. This reflected the authoritarian nature of the government, the censorship, and the self-censorship of the media, which ultimately resulted in the media's inability to provide any critical or even objective coverage of the Padma Bridge and its inauguration.
  • ItemOpen Access
    I want you to panic: a discourse analysis on the ways memes express affective responses when shared to protest climate change
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Sakas, Michael Elizabeth, author; Humphrey, Michael, advisor; Badia, Lynn, committee member; Champ, Joseph, committee member
    This study analyzes how memes express affect when used to protest inaction on climate change. The climate movement is youth-led and young people use Instagram to create and share climate memes. These memes are hashtagged with #ClimateStrike and other similar words that then add these memes to the climate protest conversation. This study on how climate memes express affective responses increases our understanding of what is driving students to join this youth climate strike movement. This study conducted a critical discourse analysis to identify what important themes emerged when protestors used climate change memes to communicate affective responses. In total 400 memes were collected for this research. Half of them are graphic-based climate memes and the other half are protest-based climate memes. The content of these memes were then analyzed to find what affective responses were most often present. Negative emotions dominated the affective sentiment of both the graphic-based climate memes and the protest-based climate memes. The majority of the 400 memes shared negative emotions associated with feelings like frustration, criticism, fear and helplessness. Positive affective responses were associated with climate solutions, individual action and joining the youth climate movement. When memes share feelings of suffering, fear and despair, those memes call out groups in power who are doing little to halt climate change. If these protestors feel that nothing is being done to save the planet and their future, these negative emotions could be playing a role in their motivation to join the youth climate movement.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Gender performance and the hyper-feminized cowgirl: a CTDA analysis of the @wprarodeo Tik Tok
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Esposito, Cassidy L., author; Arthur, Tori Omega, advisor; Abrams, Katie, committee member; Aronis, Carolin, committee member
    This study evaluates the Women's Professional Rodeo Association TikTok as a social media platform that uses video to represent rodeo culture and portrays the cowgirl identity. This representation is centered within a male-dominant sport that falls under the agriculture industry and is rooted in other agriculture practices and history. It is important to understand how this androcentric experience in professional rodeo functions on social media through the @wprarodeo TikTok because social media representation in different forms is used to construct and reconstruct culturally situated identities. Using CTDA (Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis) this study found three cultural ideologies including: the cowgirl appearance, athletic performance, and women empowerment through collective identity, which are present on the @wprarodeo TikTok as a representation of female narratives in professional rodeo, which are bolstered through Tik Tok's affordances. Tik Tok in an increasingly integrated digital space with highly intuitive user-based content and interaction.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Impact of the identifiable victim effect on audience willingness to donate to healthcare organizations via Instagram
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Konkel, Abby Nicole, author; Tham, Samuel, advisor; Sivakumar, Gaya, committee member; Williams, Elizabeth, committee member
    The landscape of healthcare fundraising has changed dramatically in recent years due to a rise in online and social media fundraising. As fundraising itself adapts to advancing technology, this study examined how a tried and true traditional fundraising strategy known as the Identifiable Victim Effect impacts audience willingness to donate to healthcare organizations on Instagram. By conducting a 2 x 2 factorial design experimental survey in which photos and captions of Instagram posts were manipulated, the emotional response elicited from different IVE conditions, demographics that may play a role in donating on social media and the ways in which IVE impacts willingness to donate were all examined. This study found that emotional response, measured through Distress and Sympathy positively impacts willingness to donate. This research adds to the existing literature on IVE and starts to bridge the gap that exists at the intersection of healthcare and IVE in social media contexts.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Effects of goal-framed and dynamic norm messages on national park campers' intentions to comply with wildlife attractant storage guidelines
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Gorostiza, Jordan Matthew, author; Abrams, Katie M., advisor; Anderson, Ashley A., committee member; Niemiec, Rebecca, committee member
    Wildlife habituation and conditioning have posed persistent issues for managers of U.S. national parks and protected areas. The tendency for park campers to unintentionally feed wildlife by improperly storing known attractants contributes to these issues. There are park regulations requiring campers to properly store wildlife attractants that often go unfollowed. There is a noted management preference for addressing this noncompliance through communication. Previous research suggests that goal-framed and dynamic norm message frames may be effective at fostering behavioral antecedents and intentions to engage in pro-environmental behaviors such as proper attractant storage. This study examined if goal-framed and dynamic norm messages were effective at encouraging compliance. Results demonstrate no statistically significant impact on antecedents or intentions to store attractants from either goal-framed messages, dynamic norm messages, or goal-framed messages paired with dynamic norm messages. However, these statistically nonsignificant findings are aligned with a growing body of literature that have highlighted the complexities of accurately measuring the effects of goal-framed messages and the potential limited effectiveness of dynamic norm messages. Future research should focus on exploring these complexities in order to better understand how goal-framed and dynamic norm messages might be useful tools to park managers in mitigating the effects of negative human-wildlife interactions.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Mind over machine? The clash of agency in social media environments
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) McConnell, Stephen J., author; Kodrich, Kris, advisor; Wolfgang, David, committee member; Champ, Joe, committee member; Williams, Elizabeth A., committee member; Opsal, Tara, committee member
    Underlying many social media platforms are choice recommendation "nudging" architectures designed to give users instant content and social recommendations to keep them engaged. Powered by complex algorithms, these architectures flush people's feeds and an array of other features with fresh content and create a highly individualized experience tailored to their interests. In a critical realist qualitative study, this research examines how individual agency manifests when users encounter these tools and the suggestions they provide. In interviews and focus groups, 45 participants offered their experiences where they reflected on how they perceived the engines, e.g., their Facebook feed, influenced their actions and behaviors, as well as how the participants felt they controlled it to achieve personal aims. Based on these and other experiences, this study posits the Social Cognitive Machine Agency Dynamic (SCMAD) model, which provides an empirically supported explanatory framework to explain how individual agency can manifest and progress in response to these tools. The model integrates Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory concepts and emergent findings. It demonstrates how users react to the engines through agentic expressions not dissimilar to the real-world, including enacting self-regulatory, self-reflective and intentionality processes, as well as other acts not captured by Bandura's theory. Ultimately, the research and model propose a psycho-environmental explanation of the swerves of agency experienced by users in reaction to the unique conditions and affordances of these algorithmically driven environments. The study is the first known extension of social cognitive theory to this technology context. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations for future research provided. The study recommends that future research and media discourse aim for an individual-level psychological evaluation of these powerful technologies. This stance will afford a greater understanding of the technology's impacts and implications on individuals, particularly as it is anticipated to significantly evolve in the coming years.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Tailored for the gram: a technocultural analysis of Nigerian Igbo women fashion designers' self-presentation on Instagram
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Enyinnaya, Joy, author; Arthur, Tori, advisor; Humphrey, Mike, committee member; Wolfgang, David, committee member; Souza, Caridad, committee member; Scolere, Leah, committee member
    Using African Technocultural Feminist Theory, this study uncovered the ways Nigerian Igbo women fashion designers use Instagram and its affordances to perform digital identities online as well as examined their negotiation of patriarchal ideologies within Igbo culture. The Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) of Instagram posts and interview data revealed Nigerian Igbo women fashion designers employed self-promotion and cultural digitization of Igbo-centric fashion in their self-presentation online. Instagram's affordance of photos allowed them post visually appealing pictures which showcased the intricacies of their designs as well as facilitated the designers' cultural digitalization of Igbo-centric fashion while creating space to challenge patriarchal structures within Igbo culture. The analysis also showed Nigerian Igbo women fashion designers value building and maintaining professional relationships with their clients as they embodied visual aesthetics, relatability, and authenticity in their self-presentation online. Implications, recommendations, and limitations were discussed.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Building beautiful bridges: Indigenous womxn artists using social networking sites to address violence
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Folsom, Jennifer J., author; Wolfgang, J. David, advisor; Arthur, Tori Omega, committee member; Champ, Joseph G., committee member; Jacobs, Peter, committee member; Moore, Emily L., committee member
    Using Indigenous aesthetics, critical technocultural discourse analysis, and Indigenous storyworks, this study explores how Indigenous womxn's art practices challenge settler-colonizing visual and media representations of Indigenous peoples that feed violence against womxn, girls and two-spirits; and in the digital realm, how sharing their art-stories is testimony to the unique voices of Indigenous womxn's leadership. A critical technocultural discourse analysis of in-depth interviews and social networking site (SNS) posts reveals underlying settler-colonial discourses. Through their art-storytelling, artist-participants use technocultural discourses of generosity, collaboration/reciprocity, calling in/calling out, creating and respecting boundaries and fierceness to shift dominating discourses. In a real sense they are building bridges between on and offline realms, strengthening community networks, and bringing together past, present and future to prevent violence.
  • ItemOpen Access
    When we're backed into a corner, we learn how to fly: two ways local journalism can grow, thrive, & evolve to fit the needs of a new kind of local information ecosystem
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Scaccia, Jesse, author; Humphrey, Michael, advisor; Kodrich, Kris, committee member; Carcasson, Martin, committee member; Stecula, Dominik, committee member; Luft, Gregory, committee member
    The local news industry and local information ecosystems face dual threats: collapsing business models that have taken with them traditional pipelines of community dialogue, and an often broken, divisive, still-top-down dialogue when conversation within our communities do happen. This dissertation proposes to address partial solutions for each concern in turn. First, by looking at how journalism teaching hospitals, long a steady source of news in the communities they call home, are formed and what makes them thrive. Then, in the interest of not recreating a broken system, by exploring the intersection of journalism and deliberative democracy, and proposing a method for local deliberative journalists to uncover the issues a community itself would most like to address.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Human-wildlife interactions and Instagram credibility
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Nankey, Paige, author; Abrams, Katie, advisor; Park, Young Eun, committee member; Burkhardt, Jesse, committee member
    Wildlife selfies are becoming a more common occurrence on social media platforms today. However, approaching wildlife with the intent to use them as a photo prop can be detrimental to both the humans and the wildlife involved. By utilizing source credibility and familiarity, this study works to identify an effective method that dissuades individuals from taking wildlife selfies and posting them on Instagram, mainly by analyzing the self-reported behavioral beliefs and intentions of participants. This study varied source credibility on three levels in terms of trust and authority while also varying how familiar different wildlife species are to Colorado university students. Results determined comment author source credibility and wildlife species familiarity did not significantly affect the behavioral intent or beliefs of respondents when it comes to wildlife selfies. However, the interaction between comment source credibility and wildlife species familiarity did significantly affect the behavioral intentions and beliefs of respondents. The mixed findings of this study as thus able to contribute to and expand upon existing literature, while also providing evidence of a need for more research in this area in order to better understand social media credibility and best practices for advocating for individuals keeping their distance from wildlife, especially when it comes to posting these close encounters online.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Does modality make a difference? A comparative study of mobile augmented reality for education and training
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Kelley, Brendan, author; Humphrey, Michael, advisor; Martey, Rosa, committee member; Ortega, Francisco, committee member; Tornatzky, Cyane, committee member
    As augmented reality (AR) technologies progress they have begun to impact the field of education and training. Many prior studies have explored the potential benefits and challenges to integrating emerging technologies into educational practices. Both internal and external factors may impact the overall adoption of the technology, however there are key benefits identified for the schema building process, which is important for knowledge acquisition. This study aims to elaborate and expand upon prior studies to explore the question does mobile augmented reality provide for stronger knowledge retention compared to other training and education modalities? To address this question this study takes a comparative experimental approach by exposing participants to one of three training modalities (AR, paper manual, or online video) and evaluating their knowledge retention and other educational outcomes.
  • ItemOpen Access
    A critical analysis of participatory research in the social sciences
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Russell, Gregory, author; Champ, Joseph, advisor; Arthur, Tori, committee member; Carcasson, Martin, committee member; Flores, David, committee member; Humphrey, Michael, committee member
    In this dissertation, I put forward ethical, methodological, and epistemological reasons that warrant the presence of participants in the appraisal of social scientific research products. I discuss the nature of appraisal through Wittgenstein's linguistic philosophy and use it to support the claim that participatory research holds the capacity to improve formalized appraisal processes in cultural research. Extending the critique into a consideration of Western and Indigenous epistemologies, I attempt to deconstruct the ways in which Western academic research, specifically social scientific research, perpetrates colonialism and how, through participatory research, social scientific research practices might begin the process of decolonization. I then discuss how descriptive analytic techniques can make participant appraisal viable in academic contexts by showing how participatory strategies can license non-immersive data-collection methods, e.g., general interview-based research, in ways that are typically associated with those that are immersive, e.g., participant-observation.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Gatekeeping in agriculture publications: agriculture editors' uses of information sources and channels
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Talley, Rebecca Suzanne, author; O'Keefe, Garrett, advisor; Zimmerman, Don, committee member; Irlbeck, Nancy, committee member
    Agriculture producers have had a long-standing relationship with trade publications, turning to these sources for information that is used to make decisions in their production management, in turn affecting the entire multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Editors of these trade publications act as gatekeepers of the information that is published, allowing information into the publication or excluding it. Ultimately, this has an impact on the information that reaches agriculture producers and has an overall affect on the agriculture industry. This study examined the criteria agriculture editors value in sources, those sources that are most used and most preferred and why, those channels that are most used and most preferred and why, and if a source' s channel use affects the use of that source' s information. Results indicated that agriculture editors put a high value on sources that provided accurate, unbiased information and were easily accessed. Due in part to these criteria, editors rated sources that are publicly funded higher than most of those that are privately funded as most used and most preferred sources. Editors also indicated that e-mail was the most used and preferred information channel due to ease and efficiency, with the majority feeling that the information channel a source delivered information through influenced the use of that source' s information. Findings from this study indicate that sources may be able to push information to agriculture editors, and ultimately to publication, by conforming to those criteria that editors value and by delivering information through their preferred information channels.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The power of art for communicating complex health technologies
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Scott, Stephanie Marie, author; Martey, Rosa Mikeal, advisor; Anderson, Charles, committee member; Abrams, Katherine, committee member
    This project examines whether art can influence audience perceptions of complex health technologies, specifically, brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. This study used an experiment to test hypotheses about differences between those who see text about the technology, text and a scientific illustration of the technology, and text with an artistic representation of the technology (compared to a control), to determine whether an artistic representation of a new health technology can serve as an effective tool for increasing trust, comprehension, and interest of N=86 students from Colorado State University. This project used text and visual representations of brain-computer interface technologies to assess whether artistic representations of BCI influence trust, interest, and comprehension of the technology. Hypotheses 3 was supported, finding that that there were some significant effects for artistic visual and textual information on participants' levels of understanding. The findings of this study help us to better understand the role of visuals in communicating science and technology in health, especially in order to improve trust in complex new technologies. It also contributes to our understanding of the role of more abstract forms of representation, such as artistic works, in perceptions of technology. Additionally, this research can help practitioners improve and broaden their communication efforts in cultivating more positive perceptions among various publics of new health technologies. Future work could focus on exploratory efforts designed to gain greater insight and further understanding towards the impact that art and images within medical spaces and communities generates. This work provides a step towards better understanding art and its persuasive goals within communicating complex information and moves research efforts closer towards recognizing how artistic content may change perceptions. Visual representations in media have the ability to transport a viewer through an abstract narrative, and considerable research has shown that visual information contributes powerfully to people's understanding of facts, ideas, and stories. However, that research almost always examines realistic or highly representative imagery such as diagrams, photographs, or sketches. In contrast, little is known about the role that more artistic and abstract visual messages might play in people's perceptions of health and health-related technologies. This study measures the impact of viewing art related to a new health technology, brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. It asks, can abstract art representations of a complex health technology increase trust in and improve individuals' understanding of that technology?