Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.risk communication

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    SCENE MATTERS: STRATEGIC USE OF SIMILARITY AND FRAMING IN NARRATIVE RISK COMMUNICATION
    (2014) Kirby-Straker, Rowena Rowie Jean-Louise; Hample, Dale J.; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Human health risks and environmental risks are different and are perceived differently; health risks primarily threaten human health, whereas environmental risks threaten both human and environmental health. Nonetheless people tend to view environmental risks as impersonal, primarily threatening nonhuman elements or distant others, making it difficult for risk communicators to motivate target audiences to take risk-mitigating actions. This dissertation argues that because environmental risks threaten both health and the environment, messages about this category of risk can be framed in either a health or an environmental context as a means of altering risk perceptions. It is further asserted that, all things being equal, message features that are more or less relevant to either the health or the environmental frame will achieve different results depending on which message frame is used. As a means of investigating this claim, two types of similarity (demographic similarity and scene similarity) were manipulated in a 2 (risk frame: health, environmental) × 2 (demographic similarity: high, low) × 2 (scene similarity: high, low) between-subjects experiment (N = 568), in which participants were exposed to a message about drought framed as either a health or an environmental risk. The results show that scene similarity interacts with the two message frames (health and environmental) for narrative persuasion and behavior-related variables. Specifically, high (versus low) scene similarity resulted in better persuasive outcomes for the health frame than for the environmental frame, whereas low (versus high) scene similarity resulted in better persuasive outcomes for the environmental frame than for the health frame. Additionally, the study found that framing an environmental risk as a health risk increased behavioral intention and behavioral expectation. Furthermore, high (versus low) personal relevance improved risk perception, narrative persuasion, behavioral intention and expectation, and response efficacy. The study has implications for health and environmental risk communication, particularly for impersonal risks that people perceive to be of low personal relevance, and opens up new avenues for research and practice in areas such as climate change communication and entertainment-education. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for replications and extensions are discussed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Nuclear reactions: Testing a message-centered extension of enduring predictions about expert and lay person perceptions of and reactions to risk
    (2011) Evans, Sarah Anne; Turner, Monique M; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this dissertation was to critically examine differences in risk perceptions among experts and lay people. In particular, this project aimed to address inconsistent definitions of "expert" found in the existing literature and to test the predictions of the psychometric paradigm in the context of communication. To examine the effect of message features and expertise on risk perceptions and evaluations of risk characteristics, this dissertation employed a 2 (emotional appeal: fear, anger) x 2 (message topic: nuclear energy, traffic accidents) x 4 (expertise: general risk assessors, traffic safety experts, nuclear energy experts, lay people) between-participants design. The results replicated some findings of the existing research. First, in the main, experts reported lower risk perceptions than lay people. Second, expressed fear led to increased risk perceptions compared to expressed anger. This study also advanced theory regarding risk perception and risk communication in two critical ways. First, differences were found not only between experts and lay people but also among the various expert groups, and, even in the expert groups, these differences were influenced in meaningful ways by the messages viewed. Second, this study demonstrated the potential for messages to affect not only risk perceptions but also the evaluation of risk characteristics, a possibility not previously tested. Specifically, the findings indicated that emotional appeals and message topic can affect evaluations of risk characteristics for risks both related to the message and unrelated to the message. The messages' effects on evaluations of risk characteristics were, in fact, more pronounced than the effects of the messages on general risk perceptions. The results suggest the factors argued to be predictive of risk perception (dread risk and knowledge risk), presented previously as inherent characteristics of risks rather than as targets for influence, can be altered through strategic communication. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Toward a Theory of Risk Information Processing: The Mediating Effects of Reaction Time, Clarity, Affect, and Vividness
    (2011) Skubisz, Christine; Turner, Monique M; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This project examined the variables that mediate the relationship between the exogenous variables numerical presentation and numeracy and the endogenous variables risk perception and risk related decisions. Previous research suggested that numerical format and numeracy influence outcomes. The question that remained unanswered was why? The goal of this project was to peer into the proverbial black box to critically examine information processing at work. To examine possible mediating variables, two theoretical models that have emerged in the risk perception literature were tested. The first is an evolutionary theory proposing that over time, individuals have developed an augmented ability to process frequency information. Thus, frequency information should be clearer and people should be faster at forming risk perceptions with information in this format. According to this model, processing speed and evidence clarity mediate the relationship between evidence format and risk perception. A second framework, the affective processing theory, argues that frequency information is more vivid and people derive more affect from information in this format. Therefore, according to this model, affect and vividness mediate the relationship between presentation format and risk perception. In addition to these two perspectives, a third theory was proposed and tested. The integrated theory of risk information processing predicted that reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness would all influence risk perception. Two experiments were conducted to test the predictions of these three theories. Overall, some support for an integrated model was found. Results indicated that the mediating variables reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness had direct effects on risk perception. In addition, risk perception had a strong influence on risk related decisions. In Study 2, objective numeracy had a direct effect on reaction time, such that people with high numeracy spent more time forming risk evaluations. Furthermore, people with a preference for numerical information evaluated numerical evidence as clearer and more vivid than people who preferred to receive evidence in nonnumerical formats. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    HOW YOUNG WOMEN MAKE MEANING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CAMPAIGNS: USING A CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACH TO (RE)DEFINE PERCEPTIONS OF RISK, HEALTH, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE
    (2010) Briones, Rowena Lyn; Aldoory, Linda; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to understand how women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds make meaning of sexual assault communication. In this exploratory study, one component of the circuit of culture - consumption - was examined using the cultural studies approach to investigate how women perceived the various cultural codes, symbols, languages, and images associated with sexual assault. The study used qualitative focus groups and one-on-one interviews with African American, Hispanic, Asian American and white women from a large university. Findings revealed that women associate themselves with sexual assault based on their gender and age. In addition, women are more receptive to thematic messages that hold a personal relevance to them. This study expanded the use of cultural theory in public relations as well as supported a proposed theory of women's health communication. Practical implications include various innovations communicators can use to improve their proficiency in crafting culturally competent messages.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    THE EMPLOYEE-PUBLIC-ORGANIZATION CHAIN IN RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION
    (2004-04-30) Rhee, Yunna; Grunig, James E; Communication
    This dissertation examined the critical roles that employees play in an organization's relationship-building process with its publics. By conducting an in-depth case study of a government organization's exemplary community relations programs, the researcher explored links among three focal concepts: employee-organization relationships, employee-public relationships, and organization-public relationships. Field research was conducted over the course of seven weeks. Data were collected through long interviews, participant observations, and document analysis. Based on the findings of this study, a normative public relations theory of integrative internal and external organizational relationship management was proposed. The findings suggest that employees who have positive employee-organization relationships (i.e. employees who have high level of commitment) and those who are capable of using symmetrical cultivation strategies contribute significantly to the development of positive organization-public relationships. The study also found that when the external publics have positive interactions and develop trusting individual relationships with employees, they tend to evaluate the overall organization positively. In other words, when employees have positive employee-organization relationships and employee-public relationships, external publics who interact with those employees tended to develop positive organization-public relationships. The study also found that employee empowerment can occur through employees' participation in public relations programs for external publics. Employees in this study believed they were acting as "the ears" of the organization and that they were contributing to the betterment of the organization and the community at the same time. Employees also developed personal networks with other employees through participating in public relations programs, which contributed to the building of an internal community. The study showed that public relations programs that tap into the intersection of internal and external publics contribute to the simultaneous development of positive relationships within and between both arenas. Visible leadership, continued dialogue, listening, face-to-face communication, and educational communication were newly identified as significant strategies effecting the development of positive organization-public relationships. In conclusion, this dissertation proposes that in order for public relations to enact its role as an integrated relationship management function for both the internal and external publics, it should be organized according to the principles outlined by the excellence theory and practice symmetrical communication.