Theses/Dissertations - Communication Studies

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2104/4478

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Browsing Theses/Dissertations - Communication Studies by Author "Barrett, Ashley K."

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    Mommy needs her chardonnay in a sippy cup : how mothers make sense of 'wine mom' messages and the effects mothers experience through these messages.
    (2023-12) Cefaratti-Bertin, Shelby, 1969-; Barrett, Ashley K.
    “Wine Mom” culture has recently been popularized through social media, entertainment, and household products. Although numerous popular editorials and blogs scrutinize the behaviors associated with wine mom culture, academic research has yet to systemically investigate the topic. Thus, the current study uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach incorporating semi-structured interviews (N=22) and quantitative survey with qualitative response options (N=223) to explore how cis-gendered mothers—the targeted population of these messages—make sense of sarcastic 'wine mom' messages, which can potentially trivialize or glamourize alcohol use and misuse. Sensemaking theory broadly informs how mothers interpret and are influenced by wine mom messaging (WMM) found on artifacts in stores or homes, such as signs, dish towels, or clothing. A defined taxonomy outlining the range with which cis-gendered mothers interpret WMM will explore their accounts and rationalizations of how WMM can have effects on the social, psychological, and physical health of mothers.
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    Working out disability : identification and workplace health promotions.
    (2021-04-23) Mathis, W. Jarrod, 1991-; Barrett, Ashley K.
    Using Scott, Corman, and Cheney’s structurational model of identification, and building on existing communication and disability scholarship, this study provides scholars and organizations with a deeper understanding of disability in the workplace and the ways in which workplace health promotions serve as sites of organizational disidentification. This research conducts twelve semi-structured interviews with persons with disabilities (PwDs) who work at organizations with existing health promotion programs. This study finds that PwDs disidentify with workplace health promotions by not participating due to physical ability and program design, which pushes them towards workgroup identification. The implications of these themes are that organizations need to create more inclusive WHPs and that workgroup identification is stronger than disidentification with WHPs. This study may be used to help organizations understand their members, enable workgroup leaders to better support PwDs, and create programs that are both inclusive and empowering of persons with disabilities.