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Communication Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Consumer Purchase Intent in Opinion Leader Live Streaming , Jihong Huo

Organizing and Communicating Health: A Culture-centered and Necrocapitalist Inquiry of Groundwater Contamination in Rural West Bengal , Parameswari Mukherjee

HIV Stalks Bodies Like Mine: An Autoethnography of Self-Disclosure, Stigmatized Identity, and (In)Visibility in Queer Lived Experience , Steven Ryder

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Reviving the Christian Left: A Thematic Analysis of Progressive Christian Identity in American Politics , Adam Blake Arledge

Organizing Economies: Narrative Sensemaking and Communciative Resilience During Economic Disruption , Timothy Betts

The Tesla Brake Failure Protestor Scandal: A Case Study of Situational Crisis Communication Theory on Chinese Media , Jiajun Liu

Inflammatory Bowel Disease & Social (In)Visibility: An Interpretive Study of Food Choice, Self-Blame and Coping in Women Living with IBD , Jessica N. Lolli

Florida Punks: Punk, Performance, and Community at Gainesville’s Fest , Michael Anthony Mcdowell Ii

Re-centering and De-centering ‘Race’: an Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Organizational Websites , Beatriz Nieto-Fernandez

The Labors of Professional Wrestling: The Dream, the Drive, and Debility , Brooks Oglesby

Outside the Boundaries of Biomedicine: A Culture-Centered Approach to Female Patients Living Undiagnosed and Chronically Ill , Bianca Siegenthaler

The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Identity Salience on Online Political Expression and Political Participation in the United States , Jonathon Smith

Grey’s Anatomy and End of Life Ethics , Sean Micheal Swenson

Informal Communication, Sensemaking, and Relational Precarity: Constituting Resilience in Remote Work During COVID , Tanya R.M. Vomacka

Making a Way: An Auto/ethnographic Exploration of Narratives of Citizenship, Identity, (Un)Belonging and Home for Black Trinidadian[-]American Women , Anjuliet G. Woodruffe

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

When I Rhyme It’s Sincerely Yours: Burkean Identification and Jay-Z’s Black Sincerity Rhetoric in the Post Soul Era , Antoine Francis Hardy

Explicating the Process of Communicative Disenfranchisement for Women with Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs) , Elizabeth A. Hintz

Mitigating Negativity Bias in Media Selection , Gabrielle R. Jarmoszko

Blue Rage: A Critical Cultural Analysis of Policing, Whiteness, and Racial Surveillance , Wesley T. Johnson

Narratives of Success: How Honors College Newcomers Frame the Entrance to College , Cayla Lanier

Peminist Performance in/as Filipina Feminist Praxis: Collaging Stand-Up Comedy and the Narrative Points in Between , Christina-Marie A. Magalona

¿De dónde eres?: Negotiating identity as third culture kids , Sophia Margulies

The Rise of the "Gatecrashers": The Growing Impact of Athletes Breaking News on Mainstream Media through Social Media , Michael Nabors

Learning From The Seed: Illuminating Black Girlhood in Sustainable Living Paradigms , Toni Powell Powell Young

A Comparative Thematic Analysis of Newspaper Articles in France after the Bataclan and in the United States of America after Pulse , Simon Rousset

This is it: Latina/x Representation on One Day at a Time , Camille Ruiz Mangual

STOP- motion as theory, method, and praxis: ARRESTING moments of racialized gender in the academy , Sasha J. Sanders

Advice as Metadiscourse: On the gendering of women's leadership in advice-giving practices , Amaly Santiago

The Communicative Constitution of Environment: Land, Weather, Climate , Leanna K. Smithberger

Women Entrepreneurs in China: Dialectical Discourses, Situated Activities, and the (Re)production of Gender and Entrepreneurship , Zhenyu Tian

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Constructing a Neoliberal Youth Culture in Postcolonial Bangladeshi Advertising , Md Khorshed Alam

Communication, Learning and Social Support at the Speaking Center: A Communities of Practice Perspective , Ann Marie Foley Coats

A Visit to Cuba: Performance Ethnography of Place , Adolfo Lagomasino

Elemental Climate Disaster Texts and Queer Ecological Temporality , Laura Mattson

When the Beat Drops: Exploring Hip Hop, Home and Black Masculinity , Marquese Lamont McFerguson

Communication Skills in Medical Education: A Discourse Analysis of Simulated Patient Practices , Grace Ellen Peters

Hiding Under the Sun: Health, Access, and Discourses of Representation in Undocumented Communities , Jaime Shamado Robb

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Walking Each Other Home: Sensemaking of Illness Identity in an Online Metastatic Cancer Community , Ariane B. Anderson

Widow Narratives on Film and in Memoirs: Exploring Formula Stories of Grief and Loss of Older Women After the Death of a Spouse , Jennifer R. Bender

Life as a Reluctant Immigrant: An Autoethnographic Inquiry , Dionel Cotanda

“It’s A Broken System That’s Designed to Destroy”: A Critical Narrative Analysis of Healthcare Providers’ Stories About Race, Reproductive Health, and Policy , Brianna Rae Cusanno

Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies , Ryan A. D'souza

(re)Making Worlds Together: Rooster Teeth, Community, and Sites of Engagement , Andrea M. M. Fortin

In Another's Voice: Making Sense of Reproductive Health as Women of Color , Nivethitha Ketheeswaran

Communication as Constitutive of Organization: Practicing Collaboration in and English Language Program , Ariadne Miranda

Interrogating Homonationalism in Love, Simon , Jessica S. Rauchberg

Making Sense at the Margins: Describing Narratives on Food Insecurity Through Hip-hop , Lemuel Scott

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Telling a Rape Joke: Performing Humor in a Victim Help Center , Angela Mary Candela

Becoming a Woman of ISIS , Zoe D. Fine

The Uses of Community in Modern American Rhetoric , Cody Ryan Hawley

Opening Wounds and Possibilities: A Critical Examination of Violence and Monstrosity in Horror TV , Amanda K. Leblanc

As Good as it Gets: Redefining Survival through Post-Race and Post-Feminism in Apocalyptic Film and Television , Mark R. McCarthy

Managing a food health crisis: Perceptions and reactions to different response strategies , Yifei Ren

Everything is Fine: Self-Portrait of a Caregiver with Chronic Depression and Other Preexisting Conditions , Erin L. Scheffels

Lives on the (story)Line: Group Facilitation with Men in Recovery at The Salvation Army , Lisa Pia Zonni Spinazola

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Breach: Understanding the Mandatory Reporting of Title IX Violations as Pedagogy and Performance , Jacob G. Abraham

Documenting an Imperfect Past: Examining Tampa's Racial Integration through Community, Film, and Remembrance of Central Avenue , Travis R. Bell

Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia and Quality-of-Life: Ovarian and Uterine Cancer Patients and the Aesthetics of Disease , Meredith L. Clements

Full-Time Teleworkers Sensemaking Process for Informal Communication , Sheila A. Gobes-Ryan

Volunteer Tourism: Fulfilling the Needs for God and Medicine in Latin America , Erin Howell

Practical Theology in an Interpretive Community: An Ethnography of Talk, Texts and Video in a Mediated Women's Bible Study , Nancie Hudson

Performing Narrative Medicine: Understanding Familial Chronic Illness through Performance , Alyse Keller

Second-Generation Bruja : Transforming Ancestral Shadows into Spiritual Activism , Lorraine E. Monteagut

The Rhetoric of Scientific Authority: A Rhetorical Examination of _An Inconvenient Truth_ , Alexander W. Morales

Daniel Bryan & The Negotiation of Kayfabe in Professional Wrestling , Brooks Oglesby

Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective on Vulnerability , Nicholas Riggs

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

When Maps Ignore the Territory: An Examination of Gendered Language in Cancer Patient Literature , Joanna Bartell

From Portraits to Selfies: Family Photo-making Rituals , Krystal M. Bresnahan

Spiritual Frameworks in Pediatric Palliative Care: Understanding Parental Decision-making , Lindy Grief Davidson

Blue-Collar Scholars: Bridging Academic and Working-Class Worlds , Nathan Lee Hodges

The Communication Constitution of Law Enforcement in North Carolina’s Efforts Against Human Trafficking , Elizabeth Hampton Jeter

“Black Americans and HIV/AIDS in Popular Media” Conforming to The Politics of Respectability , Alisha Lynn Menzies

Selling the American Body: The Construction of American Identity Through the Slave Trade , Max W. Plumpton

In Search of Solidarity: Identification Participation in Virtual Fan Communities , Jaime Shamado Robb

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Straight Benevolence: Preserving Heterosexual Authority and White Privilege , Robb James Bruce

A Semiotic Phenomenology of Homelessness and the Precarious Community: A Matter of Boundary , Heather Renee Curry

Heart of the Beholder: The Pathos, Truths and Narratives of Thermopylae in _300_ , James Christopher Holcom

Was It Something They Said? Stand-up Comedy and Progressive Social Change , David M. Jenkins

The Meaning of Stories Without Meaning: A Post-Holocaust Experiment , Tori Chambers Lockler

Half Empty/Half Full: Absence, Ethnicity, and the Question of Identity in the United States , Ashley Josephine Martinez

Feeling at Home with Grief: An Ethnography of Continuing Bonds and Re-membering the Deceased , Blake Paxton

"In Heaven": Christian Couples' Experiences of Pregnancy Loss , Grace Ellen Peters

“You Better Redneckognize”: White Working-Class People and Reality Television , Tasha Rose Rennels

Designing Together with the World Café: Inviting Community Ideas for an Idea Zone in a Science Center , William Travis Thompson

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Crisis Communication: Sensemaking and Decision-making by the CDC Under Conditions of Uncertainty and Ambiguity During the 2009-2010 H1N1 Pandemic , Barbara Bennington

Communication as Yoga , Kristen Caroline Blinne

Love and (M)other (Im)possibilities , Summer Renee Cunningham

The Rhetoric of Corporate Identity: Corporate Social Responsibility, Creating Shared Value, and Globalization , Carolyn Day

"Is That What You Dream About? Being a Monster?": Bella Swan and the Construction of the Monstrous-Feminine in The Twilight Saga , Amanda Jayne Firestone

Organizing Disability: Producing Knowledge in a University Accommodations Office , Shelby Forbes

Emergency Medicine Triage as the Intersection of Storytelling, Decision-Making, and Dramaturgy , Colin Ainsworth Forde

Changing Landscapes: End-of-Life Care & Communication at a Zen Hospice , Ellen W. Klein

"We're Taking Slut Back": Analyzing Racialized Gender Politics in Chicago's 2012 Slutwalk March , Aphrodite Kocieda

Informing, Entertaining and Persuading: Health Communication at The Amazing You , David Haldane Lee

(Dis)Abled Gaming: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Decreasing Accessibility For Disabled Gamers , Kyle David Romano

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

African Americans and Hospice: A Culture-Centered Exploration of Disparities in End-of-Life Care , Patrick Dillon

Polysemy, Plurality, & Paradigms: The Quixotic Quest for Commensurability of Ethics and Professionalism in the Practices of Law , Eric Paul Engel

Examining the Ontoepistemological Underpinnings of Diversity Education Found in Interpersonal Communication Textbooks , Tammy L. Jeffries

The 2008 Candlelight Protest in South Korea: Articulating the Paradox of Resistance in Neoliberal Globalization , Huikyong Pang

Compassionate Storytelling with Holocaust Survivors: Cultivating Dialogue at the End of an Era , Chris J. Patti

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In this section

The development of conversational and communication skills

Doherty-Sneddon, Gwyneth (1995) The development of conversational and communication skills. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

This thesis investigates the development of children's conversational and communication skills. This is done by investigating both communicative process and outcome in two communication media: face-to-face interaction and audio-only interaction. Communicative outcome is objectively measured by assessing accuracy of performance of communication tasks. A multi-level approach to the assessment of communicative process is taken. Non-verbal aspects of process which are investigated are gaze and gesture. Verbal aspects of process range from global linguistic assessments such as length of conversational turn, to a detailed coding of utterance function according to Conversational Games analysis.

The results show that children of 6 years and less do not adapt to the loss of visual signals in audio-only communication, and their performance suffers. Both the structure of children's dialogues and their use of visual signals were found to differ from that of adults. It is concluded that both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies develop into adulthood. Successful integration of these different aspects of communication is central to being an effective communicator.

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• v.7(4); 2017

Learning outcomes for communication skills across the health professions: a systematic literature review and qualitative synthesis

Charlotte denniston.

1 Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Elizabeth Molloy

2 Department of Medical Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Debra Nestel

3 Department of Surgery (Austin), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Robyn Woodward-Kron

Jennifer l keating.

4 Department of Physiotherapy, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Associated Data

bmjopen-2016-014570supp001.pdf

bmjopen-2016-014570supp002.pdf

bmjopen-2016-014570supp003.pdf

The aim of this study was to identify and analyse communication skills learning outcomes via a systematic review and present results in a synthesised list. Summarised results inform educators and researchers in communication skills teaching and learning across health professions.

Systematic review and qualitative synthesis.

A systematic search of five databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL plus and Scopus), from first records until August 2016, identified published learning outcomes for communication skills in health professions education. Extracted data were analysed through an iterative process of qualitative synthesis. This process was guided by principles of person centredness and an a priori decision guide.

168 papers met the eligibility criteria; 1669 individual learning outcomes were extracted and refined using qualitative synthesis. A final refined set of 205 learning outcomes were constructed and are presented in 4 domains that include: (1) knowledge (eg, describe the importance of communication in healthcare), (2) content skills (eg, explore a healthcare seeker's motivation for seeking healthcare),( 3) process skills (eg, respond promptly to a communication partner's questions) and (4) perceptual skills (eg, reflect on own ways of expressing emotion).

Conclusions

This study provides a list of 205 communication skills learning outcomes that provide a foundation for further research and educational design in communication education across the health professions. Areas for future investigation include greater patient involvement in communication skills education design and further identification of learning outcomes that target knowledge and perceptual skills. This work may also prompt educators to be cognisant of the quality and scope of the learning outcomes they design and their application as goals for learning.

Strengths and limitations of this study

• As far we are aware, no previous paper has reported a comprehensive systematic literature review and qualitative synthesis of learning outcomes in communication skills across the health professions.
• Learning outcomes were restructured using qualitative synthesis to remove duplication and ambiguity; and to be concise, defined and accessible to educators developing individualised education programmes.
• The final list provides a comprehensive summary of published literature for consideration by patients, educators, learners and other stakeholders.
• The search strategy was limited to the English language and the specific education of communication skills. By restricting the search strategy, we may have excluded papers that contained relevant learning outcomes.

Introduction

It is widely acknowledged that skilled communication is essential for all health professionals. For the purposes of this paper, communication is defined as a two-way process involving speech, writing or non-verbal means that aim to create shared interpretation for those involved. 1 As such, effective communication skills are emphasised as a target for health professional education programmes locally 2 and internationally (including medicine, 3 physiotherapy 4 and across interprofessional groups 5 ). Over the past 20 years, there has been a growth in communication skills research, and the implementation of communication skills programmes in entry-level medical programmes has become commonplace worldwide. 6 7 Despite its recognition as a key competency for practice, communication skills teaching has not been routinely adopted in all health professional programmes, and discourse related to communication skills pedagogy remains less common outside medicine. 8

The literature on learning and teaching communication skills includes guides and consensus statements for doctor–patient communication (such as Calgary Cambridge Referenced Observation Guides, the UK Consensus Statement, the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement and the German Basel Consensus Statement). 9–12 The content of these documents could be presented as intended learning outcomes (ie, what learners are expected to be able to know and/or do after participation in an education programme). However, many of the individual items in these documents target multiple constructs and do not directly translate into specific learning goals.

Learning outcomes in education design

For many years, researchers in education have proposed alternate ways of structuring goals in educational design. From the 1960s, the term ‘instructional objective’ was used to define a statement expressing what learners should be able to do at the end of the learning period. 13 These instructional objectives were designed to be constructively aligned with methods for teaching and assessment. 14 Learning objectives have been described as focusing more discretely on observable knowledge, attitudes and skills, whereas the more contemporary term ‘outcome’ is defined as a broader statement of what is achieved and assessed at the end of a course of study. 15 16 More recently, competency-based medical education (CBME) argues for education organised around a defined set of competencies towards which learning is targeted to achieve proficiency. 17 Competencies have been defined as the observable capabilities of a health professional (ie, knowledge, skills, values and attitudes). 18 Grant 19 and Prideaux 20–22 argue that the differentiation of terms is not greatly important, as long as the goals for learning are clear. Regardless of semantics, it is acknowledged that some aspects of healthcare practice are difficult to define in these terms, and the identification of an objective, outcome or a competency may not specify exactly what is to be achieved. 20 23 This argument suggests that the ‘sum’ of healthcare practice is far greater than the ‘parts’ and that any reduction of complex human behaviour into objectives or competencies may be seen as unhelpful. 24 This stance resonates with reports within the communication skills literature, which argue that communication also cannot be separated into its parts. 25

Communication as a skill

Although learners may develop many aspects of communication through experience prior to university, 26 27 effective communication in the context of healthcare practice is highly technical and is likely to require training, deliberate targeted practice and feedback to develop skilled performance. 28 29

One school of thought in the communication literature is that positioning communication as a set of behavioural skills is reductionist and mistaken. 25 30 31 It has been argued that the ‘atomisation’ of communication into discrete observable skills may not take into consideration the complexity of a communication interaction, and nor does it consider the authenticity and creativity required in complex practice. 25 31 These authors also argue that the deployment of a communication skill does not necessarily equate to skilled communication. 25 30 It is important here therefore to make a distinction between learning and assessing skilled communication. Salmon and Young 25 may be correct when they contend that by assessing communication skills using a reductionist checklist, there is a risk of trivialising the communication interaction. This is particularly the case if assessment procedures require the demonstration of the many discrete communication skills proposed (ie, the ‘parts’) regardless of the context. Such rating requirements may inaccurately judge the ‘whole’. 22 25 32 However, breaking a complex phenomenon, like communication, into discrete ‘parts’ may allow a novice learner to appreciate what may be required for their own skill development. 33 Targeted performance development and self-regulated learning require targeted learning goals: therefore, the clarification of these skills has the potential to be useful for learners and educators. 34–36 Learning the component ‘parts’ of a communication interaction may allow for skill acquisition and improved performance of the ‘whole’. 37 With increased proficiency, learners would then be able to use these skills in a flexible, personal and creative way depending on the context. 33 38

Communication skills learning outcomes

To the best of our knowledge, there is only one published review identifying communication skills learning outcomes relevant to multiple health professional groups. In 2013, Bachmann et al 8 produced the European consensus on learning objectives (HPCCC: Health Professions Core Communication Curriculum). Bachmann et al use the term learning ‘objective’ in their report to which we attribute the same meaning as the term learning ‘outcome’. The HPCCC presents learning objectives that are based on the literature and a medical communication consensus statement and were developed using an extensive Delphi process. In total, 121 communication experts from 16 countries and 15 professions reviewed learning objectives in four stages. Each stage included a review of drafts, ranking of statements and comments regarding acceptability. 8 This process drew on a large community of practice within Europe that has a significant focus on communication in healthcare. The HPCCC presents learning objectives that go beyond ‘health professional-patient’ communication and target interprofessional and intraprofessional communication skills. However, the report omits the key quality indicator of detail about the literature review processes, subsequently limiting potential for replication. 39 While the Delphi process and the quantitative and qualitative analysis methods were clearly described, the development of the initial draft list of statements is less clear.

Research aim

The work presented here builds on the contributions of previous studies and aims to identify and analyse communication skills learning outcomes via a systematic review and to present the results in a synthesised list.

Methodology

Research design.

A systematic review of the literature (stage 1) was completed to assemble published learning outcomes relevant to health professional communication skills. A parsimonious set of learning outcomes was then developed through an explicit and iterative process of qualitative synthesis (stage 2).

Research team

The research team for stage 1 was the core research team (CD, EM, JLK). Researchers in the field (RW-K, DN, FK: see acknowledgements) joined the core researchers, expanding the research team to six for stage 2 of this study. The stage 2 team consisted of educational researchers, social scientists and an educational linguist based in medical education. Four of the members had clinical backgrounds (physiotherapy). The members had published extensively across health professions education and communication skills research in areas that included scale development, healthcare simulation education, communication skills teaching, curriculum and resource development, feedback and assessment, clinical education and interprofessional education. All members were actively involved in the education of prequalification and postqualification health professional students and medical education research.

Theoretical perspective and guiding principles

This work forms part of a broader research programme exploring the social construction of skilled communication in the health professions. According to social constructionism, knowledge and meaning are constructed through the interaction of a learner and the surrounding environment; therefore, multiple realities exist and there is no ‘true’ interpretation of a phenomenon. 40 In this work, we did not set out to define a single truth in relation to learning targets for communication skills. Instead, we investigated published interpretations of this phenomenon and synthesised the findings for application in education. The research team considered that the results of this review would provide a foundation for others to interpret rather than a prescriptive list.

As a research team, we also ascribed to the notions of person-centredness during the qualitative synthesis phase of this study. Aligning with social constructionism, patient-centredness appreciates the individual and social dimensions of a phenomenon. Values of person-centredness including acknowledging patient-as-person and the multiple other persons involved in healthcare practice (eg, colleagues, students and the health professional themselves), and sensitivity to another's perspective and preferences 41 informed the choice of language in the results of this work.

Stage 1: systematic literature review

The first stage of this work was a systematic literature review to identify published learning outcomes of health professional communication skills programmes.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

For inclusion, papers must have described learning outcomes within an education programme targeting the development of communication skills. Participating learners had to be health professionals and could be of any health profession and level of education. Any statement describing what learners were expected to know and/or do after participation in a programme was included, irrespective of the terminology used (eg, learning outcomes, objectives, targets and goals). Knowledge, behavioural and attitudinal learning outcomes were included. Papers were excluded if not available in English, if the education targeted English language fluency or the learning outcomes related to improvement of communication disorders (eg, those related to deafness or aphasia). Any study design was eligible for review.

Search strategy

A comprehensive search was conducted in August 2016, on the full holdings of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL plus and Scopus databases. Search terms included health professional, communication, training and their synonyms. The strategy used to search OVID databases is presented in online supplementary appendix A . The full yield from each database was exported to a bibliographic management system and duplicates deleted. On the basis of the title and abstract, papers that were ineligible were deleted. The remaining papers were read in full, and their eligibility was assessed against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary author (CD) independently reviewed all papers and consulted with authors JK and EM on papers when eligibility was difficult to determine.

supplementary appendix

Data extraction

Table 1 describes the data that were extracted from each paper. All data were descriptively analysed and synthesised for discussion. Learning outcomes described in each paper were extracted and referenced to the source using an alphanumeric identifier. They were pooled and common learning outcomes were collated under preliminary themes, and subthemes, in a process of thematic analysis for commonality. 42 Preliminary thematic groups rendered the data set manageable for qualitative synthesis. The core research team (CD, EM, JLK) collaborated to delete duplicated learning outcomes (eg, those with exact wording) that were revealed as the learning outcomes were collated.

Table 1

Items for data extraction

Quality analysis

This work does not resemble a traditional systematic review, in that quality assessment was not carried out on the included papers as we were not attempting to establish the validity of the recommended learning objectives. A systematic review approach, however, was used to identify eligible papers to enable transparency and replication and to address the research aim. Aligning with this aim, our focus was to extract the learning outcomes used in education design and review the content and quality of these statements. In other words, we applied a quality assessment filter to the learning outcomes (see decision guide, figure 1 ), not to the papers themselves.

Decision guide.

Stage 2: qualitative synthesis

In stage 2, learning outcomes identified in stage 1 were synthesised by the research team through an iterative process of individual, paired and group work. An initial meeting of the expanded research team was convened, and a random subset of learning outcomes was taken from the data set to rehearse the process of learning outcome synthesis. Synthesis was guided by the notions of person-centredness, and the decision guide is shown in figure 1 . The decision guide was adapted from that used by Dalton 43 in the refinement of assessment targets for competency to practice. This set of criteria was deemed the most fitting to guide the construction of learning outcomes. The decision guide was used to judge the quality of the learning outcomes and to address semantics in order to emphasise the important characteristics when constructing statements to be used for goal setting and practice. 28 36 43

Following this group meeting, the remaining learning outcomes were divided into five equivalent sections (eg, equivalent work per group member) and each member completed an individual review of one section. The primary author (CD) reviewed all sections.

Following this individual work, the primary author met with each member to compare work. After consensus was reached on all five sections, the core research team (CD, EM, JLK) reviewed themes and subthemes to reflect the synthesised data set. The refined learning outcomes were returned to the full group for consideration with a request for individual review prior to finalisation. A final group meeting enabled consensus regarding content, definition of terms and structure and presentation of the document.

Throughout the synthesis process, the number of learning outcomes was reduced as the research group collapsed multiple learning outcomes into one representative learning outcome, as further duplicates were identified, and as the group modified learning outcomes to align with the decision guide (see table 2 for an example of the qualitative synthesis process). At each step of this iterative process, the research group engaged in discussion to resolve different interpretations of the data, to highlight concepts that were absent from the data set, to resolve inconsistencies in language/terms and to ensure the learning outcomes continued to reflect the source literature. The primary author (CD) made an audit trail of decisions throughout the analysis. The audit trail included clear documentation of the process to make transparent the methods used in learning outcome refinement. 44

Table 2

Example of qualitative synthesis

Stage 1: literature review

A total of 168 papers were included for review ( figure 2 ). Full reference details of eligible papers are presented in online supplementary appendix B ; further details are available on request from the primary author. A summary is presented below and in table 3 .

Table 3

Primary research (description of education programme including evaluation of some type: including post-test learner satisfaction, pre-test-post-test change. Both randomised and non-randomised studies).

Secondary research (a paper providing synthesis of multiple primary research papers: review of the literature including systematic, literature and narrative review).

Description of communication skills education (including commentary, opinion pieces, websites, description of programmes with no evaluation).

*Makoul and participants in the Bayer–Fetzer Conference on Physician–Patient Communication in Medical Education 2001. 11

†Kurtz and Silverman (1996). 9

‡Cole and Bird (2014). 59

Flow of papers into the review.

The highest proportion of included papers was primary research (64%). There was a variety of study designs including randomised controlled trials investigating change in behaviour and posteducation learner evaluations. The majority of papers were published between 2010 and August 2016 (46%), originated from the USA (56%), described communication teaching in medicine (55%) and in qualified health professionals (56%). Learners in oncology (10%) outnumbered learners in other fields of practice. Learners in second year were most common in the prequalification population (8%). Many papers did not report a theoretical perspective of their work (58%); of those that did, the most common perspective reported was patient-centred care principles (7%).

Many included papers (40%) did not report any specific communication models that informed teaching. If cited, the most frequent models were the Kalamazoo Consensus Statement (7%), Calgary-Cambridge Referenced Observation Guides (5%) and the Three Functions of the Medical Interview (5%); a variety of other communication models were reported <4% of the time. Other factors that informed educational design were stakeholder engagement, with 51% of reports documenting turning to clinicians, researchers and the literature to design the learning outcomes of their programmes. Only 5% reported engaging patients as stakeholders in the development of programmes.

A total of 1669 learning outcomes for communication skills education were extracted from eligible papers; duplicated learning outcomes were deleted, reducing the list to 1073.

The 1073 learning outcomes identified in stage 1 were condensed to a final set of 205 learning outcomes ( figure 3 ). The learning outcomes are presented in themes of ‘knowledge’, ‘content’, ‘process’ and ‘perceptual’ skills. Three of these themes are based on the seminal work of Kurtz, Silverman and Draper. 45 The research group added a fourth theme, knowledge (see table 4 for detailed definitions and other terms used in the final learning outcomes document). ‘Knowledge’ learning outcomes made up 20% of the final list of learning outcomes. They relate to knowledge of the characteristics and modes of communication in healthcare and how emotions and relationships affect communication in healthcare. Learning outcomes within the ‘content’ and ‘process’ themes dominate the literature and therefore are represented heavily in the final set (36% and 35%, respectively). These learning outcomes include the important ‘what’ and ‘how’ of communication skills. 46 The learning outcomes within the content domain have been presented in the chronological sequence of a healthcare interaction for ease of representation. 47 48 Learning outcomes under the ‘perceptual’ skill theme made up 9% of learning outcomes in the final results. This final list of learning outcomes covers a wide range of skills proposed for communication teaching and is presented in online supplementary appendix C .

Table 4

Final learning outcomes: themes and definitions

Flow of learning outcome (LO) refinement.

The aim was to identify and analyse communication skills learning outcomes via a systematic review and present results in a synthesised list for consideration and use by educators and researchers across the health professions. From 168 included papers, 205 learning outcomes for communication skills evolved through qualitative synthesis. As far as we are aware, no previous review has reported on a comprehensive systematic literature review to identify learning outcomes for communication skills and presented them for uptake across the health professions.

What did we learn about communication skills learning outcomes?

Patients are less likely to be involved in education design.

Patient-centred communication is considered fundamental to effective healthcare delivery, but these principles are not consistently used as a basis for communication skills teaching, with only 7% of papers reporting patient-centred care as an underpinning theoretical perspective. In addition, only 5% of papers reported engaging patients in any aspect of educational design. Although valued in health professions education, patient engagement is not well defined. 49 Regan de Bere and Nunn 50 have proposed ideas for the future pedagogy of patient (and public) involvement in health profession education. It seems appropriate that future communication skills educational design follows this lead and engages patients (and public) in the design of teaching and learning to explore what patients expect from health professionals, in terms of communication, as well as to acknowledge patients and patient-centred care as a unifying focus in health professions education. 50

Knowledge and perceptual skills are less common

Unlike the learning outcomes reported in the HPCCC, this paper includes learning outcomes relating to behaviour and knowledge. Knowledge forms part of the initial phases of scaffolding for learning and assessment, 51 and in learning theories describing skill development, a learner usually needs to know the terms and context of behaviour before they learn the behaviour itself. 52 In the past, knowledge-based learning outcomes have been criticised for being overemphasised in approaches to educational design, at the expense of behavioural learning outcomes. 18 In the communication skills literature, perhaps the emphasis has swung too far away from the knowledge agenda with most publications only reporting behavioural learning outcomes. The presented list brings communication skills in line with other skills teaching, by acknowledging the integration of knowledge and behaviour in ‘technical’ skill development. 28

Learning outcomes under the perceptual skill theme made up only 9% of learning outcomes in the final results. These learning outcomes relate to awareness and evaluation of self, others and context, which are considered important in reflective, self-regulating health professionals. 34 53 Despite ample literature promoting reflective practice in the health professions education field in general, 54 published programmes on communication skill development seem less focused on incorporating learning objectives to target these evaluative skills. The low level of reporting of perceptual skill objectives may reflect the challenge in defining these skills so that they are objective and measurable. Healthcare communication is unique, complex and nuanced, and therefore objectivity when defining these desired communication skills can be elusive. 26 However, clearly articulating these important skills is key to defining learning goals for performance development.

Language can be modified for greater application

During the qualitative synthesis process, the research group identified many of the learning outcomes that were specific to communication with a patient but that could equally apply to other communication interactions. The term ‘patient’ appeared in many included learning outcomes and was replaced in the refined list with the term ‘healthcare seeker’. The term healthcare seeker was more broadly applicable across healthcare contexts and acknowledged the active role that an individual can have in regard to his/her health. While the original learning outcome may have referred to communication between a health professional and care seeker, in some instances we found that learning outcomes could be easily reshaped to apply to communication with a different ‘communication partner’ entirely (eg, colleague or student). This parallel between skills in a therapeutic interaction and a collegial or educational interaction has been identified by others. 55 56

The research team also replaced all profession-specific terms identifying the target learner (eg, dentist) with the term ‘health professional’ as most learning outcomes had potential application to a variety of professions. The identification of these common learning outcomes may provide a platform for interprofessional education and facilitate a shift from ‘siloed’ health professional education to ‘collaborative’ practice, and education, within which communication is considered an essential common skill. 57

Learning objectives are often unclear or absent

Previous reviews reporting communication skills in medical education have criticised the quality of published learning outcomes, reporting that they were unclear or absent in many papers on communication education. 47 58 This was reflected in the current review with only 208 papers, of the 945 full text screened, reporting specific learning outcomes for the education described. Like Cegala and Lenzmeier Broz, 47 the authors acknowledge that the word count of many journals limits the inclusion of exhaustive lists of learning outcomes. However, even when learning outcomes were reported, they often targeted two to three constructs per statement, included value-laden words such as ‘good’ (eg, use good non-verbals) and many were ambiguous in their intention (eg, be able to apply the necessary communication skills adequately in a simulation). During stage 2 qualitative synthesis, the use of the decision guide focused attention on the design features of useful learning outcomes and guided the synthesis process. For example, many learning outcomes such as ‘show empathy’ were not accompanied by a descriptor or defined example; this rendered them neither useful, nor measurable or transparent (see figure 1 , decision guide). For learning outcomes such as this, we made the decision to combine all learning outcomes describing ‘empathic’ behaviour under a single learning outcome ‘demonstrate empathy in the following ways’: after which a list of observable behaviours were assembled (see item no. 136 in online supplementary appendix C ). This method of illustrating these ‘slippery’ learning outcomes, with observable behaviours, aimed to shape the learning outcome into a useful, measurable and transparent structure that would guide educators and learners.

Study strengths and limitations

This paper has a number of limitations. By casting a wide net in this literature review, we drew from the worldwide interest in this topic. In targeting a breadth of perspectives, we identified diverse studies, from educators across professions, which informed the results. A side effect of the broad search was the challenge of dealing with a large amount of data. Multiple stages of thematic analysis and refinement were required to create a manageable data set. The process of refinement necessarily included removal or rewording of items. We cannot be sure that this has not led to omissions in the final set of learning outcomes. However, the iterative nature of the qualitative synthesis process meant that all attempts were made to produce a representative list. Although these results represent a wide range of literature, they do not include input from other key stakeholders (ie, care seekers, representatives from different healthcare professions, learners and educators). Therefore, we do not claim that this is a complete list of learning outcomes illustrative of all stakeholders' needs. By focusing on specific communication skills education, we may have excluded communication learning outcomes in patient safety or clinical reasoning education programmes. In addition, we excluded papers reporting on communication disorders or English language fluency which may have also provided relevant learning outcomes.

Implications for practice and future research

This work provides educators and learners with a comprehensive set of learning outcomes for educational design and goal setting in healthcare communication. Aligning with a social constructionist perspective, we invite stakeholders to take these learning objectives and reinterpret them based on their context. This work may prompt educators to reflect on how knowledge and perceptual skills are taught in domains such as communication and to encourage educators to be cognisant of the quality of the learning outcomes they design.

Further research is required to interrogate these learning outcomes for accuracy and completeness by engaging with stakeholders (including care seekers) to align targets for learning with targets for practice. Future research might also explore the parallels between communication skills needed in care seeker interactions and those required for other healthcare conversations (eg, between healthcare professionals, trainees or policymakers). Perhaps by positioning communication skills as skills that are required with any ‘communication partner’, we can equalise the gravitas generally afforded to ‘doctor–patient’ communication in this field of literature.

This paper presents a synthesis of the vast literature in communication skills teaching and a list of 205 learning outcomes. These learning outcomes have been categorised into four domains and provide educators from across the healthcare professions with a basis from which to develop learning goals and programmes relevant to their setting.

Supplementary Material

Acknowledgments.

The authors acknowledge Dr Fiona Kent for her contribution to the qualitative synthesis phase of this review.

Contributors: CD, EM and JLK designed the work. CD conducted the systematic review search and data extraction in stage 1. All authors (CD, EM, JLK, DN and RW-K) were involved in qualitative synthesis and analysis in stage 2. CD drafted the first version of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and revised the manuscript and approved the final version.

Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.

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Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Professional Papers

This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana Department of Communication Studies. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

COMEDY, CAMARADERIE, AND CONFLICT: USING HUMOR TO DEFUSE DISPUTES AMONG FRIENDS , Sheena A. Bringa

Navigating Toxic Identities Within League of Legends , Jeremy Thomas Miner

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA RICHNESS AND SOCIAL PRESENCE: EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF MEDIA CHANNELS ON INDIVIDUALS’ LEVELS OF LONELINESS, WELL-BEING, AND BELONGING , Ashley M. Arsenault

CANCELING VS. #CANCEL CULTURE: AN ANALYSIS ON THE SURVEILLANCE AND DISCIPLINE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIOR THROUGH COMPETING DISCOURSES OF POWER , Julia G. Bezio

DISTAL SIBLING GRIEF: EXPLORING EMOTIONAL AFFECT AND SALIENCE OF LISTENER BEHAVIORS IN STORIES OF SIBLING DEATH , Margaret C. Brock

Is Loss a Laughing Matter?: A Study of Humor Reactions and Benign Violation Theory in the Context of Grief. , Miranda B. Henrich

The Request Is Not Compatible: Competing Frames of Public Lands Discourse in the Lolo Peak Ski Resort Controversy , Philip A. Sharp

Patient Expectations, Satisfaction, and Provider Communication Within the Oncology Experience , Elizabeth Margaret Sholey

Psychological Safety at Amazon: A CCO Approach , Kathryn K. Zyskowski

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Discourse of Renewal: A Qualitative Analysis of the University of Montana’s COVID-19 Crisis Communication , Haley Renae Gabel

Activating Hope: How Functional Support Can Improve Hope in Unemployed Individuals , Rylee P. Walter

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

THE HOME AS A SITE OF FAMILY COMMUNICATED NARRATIVE SENSE-MAKING: GRIEF, MEANING, AND IDENTITY THROUGH “CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET” , Kendyl A. Barney

CRISIS AS A CONSTANT: UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNICATIVE ENACTMENT OF COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE WITHIN THE EXTENSION DISASTER EDUCATION NETWORK (EDEN) , Danielle Maria Farley

FOSTERING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE IN COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION: EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE FOUNDATIONS TRAINING , Shanay L. Healy

Belonging for Dementia Caregivers , Sabrina Singh

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Making the Most of People We Do Not Like: Capitalizing on Negative Feedback , Christopher Edward Anderson

Understanding the Relationship Between Discursive Resources and Risk-Taking Behaviors in Outdoor Adventure Athletes , Mira Ione Cleveland

Service Failure Management in High-End Hospitality Resorts , Hunter A. Dietrich

Fear, Power, & Teeth (2007) , Olivia Hockenbroch

The climate change sublime: Leveraging the immense awe of the planetary threat of climate change , Sean D. Quartz

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Relationship Between Memorable Messages and Identity Construction , Raphaela P. Barros Campbell

Wonder Woman: A Case Study for Critical Media Literacy , Adriana N. Fehrs

Curated Chaos: A Rhetorical Study of Axmen , Rebekah A. McDonald

THE ROLE OF BIPOLAR DISORDER, STIGMA, AND HURTFUL MESSAGES IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS , Callie Parrish

Cruising to be a Board Gamer: Understanding Socialization Relating to Board Gaming and The Dice Tower , Benjamin Wassink

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

STEAMED: EXAMINATIONS OF POWER STRUGGLES ON THE VALUE FORUM , richard E. babb

Beyond the Bike; Identity and Belonging of Free Cycles Members , Caitlyn Lewis

Adherence and Uncertainty Management: A Test Of The Theory Of Motivated Information Management , Ryan Thiel

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Redskins Revisited: Competing Constructions of the Washington Redskins Mascot , Eean Grimshaw

A Qualitative Analysis of Belonging in Communities of Practice: Exploring Transformative Organizational Elements within the Choral Arts , Aubrielle J. Holly

Training the Professoraite of Tomorrow: Implementing the Needs Centered Training Model to Instruct Graduate Teaching Assistants in the use of Teacher Immediacy , Leah R. Johnson

Beyond Blood: Examining the Communicative Challenges of Adoptive Families , Mackensie C. Minniear

Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic and Grotesque Framing of Capital Punishment in the News , Katherine Shuy

Knowledge and Resistance: Feminine Style and Signifyin[g] in Michelle Obama’s Public Address , Tracy Valgento

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

BLENDED FRAMEWORK: BILL MCKIBBEN'S USE OF MELODRAMA AND COMEDY IN ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC , Megan E. Cullinan

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDICAL DRAMAS ON PATIENT EXPECTATIONS OF PHYSICIAN COMMUNICATION , Kayla M. Fadenrecht

Diabesties: How Diabetic Support on Campus can Alleviate Diabetic Burnout , Kassandra E. Martin

Resisting NSA Surveillance: Glenn Greenwald and the public sphere debate about privacy , Rebecca Rice

Rhetoric, participation, and democracy: The positioning of public hearings under the National Environmental Policy Act , Kevin C. Stone

Socialization and Volunteers: A Training Program for Volunteer Managers , Allison M. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

THIRD PARTY EFFECTS OF AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION IN FAMILY SUBSYSTEMS: EXAMINING INFLUENCE ON AFFECTIONATE COMMUNICATION, MENTAL WELL-BEING, AND FAMILY SATISFACTION , Timothy M. Curran

Commodity or Dignity? Nurturing Managers' Courtesy Nurtures Workers' Productivity , Montana Rafferty Moss

"It Was My Job to Keep My Children Safe": Sandra Steingraber and the Parental Rhetoric of Precaution , Mollie Katherine Murphy

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Markets: ALEC's Populist Constructions of "the People" in State Politics , Anne Sherwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

COMMUNICATIVE CONSTRUCTION OF EXPECTATIONS: AN EXAMINATION OF EXPECTATIONS REGARDING MOTHERS IN NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION , Jordan A. Allen

Let’s talk about sex: A training program for parents of 4th and 5th grade children , Elizabeth Kay Eickhoff

"You Is The Church": Identity and Identification in Church Leadership , Megan E. Gesler

This land is your land, this land is my land: A qualitative study of tensions in an environmental decision making group , Gabriel Patrick Grelle

The Constitution of Queer Identity in the 1972 APA Panel, "Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals? A Dialogue" , Dustin Vern Edward Schneider

The Effect of Religious Similarity on the Use of Relational Maintenance Strategies in Marriages , Jamie Karen Taylor

Justice, Equality, and SlutWalk: The Rhetoric of Protesting Rape Culture , Dana Whitney Underwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Collective Privacy Boundary Turbulence and Facework Strategies: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of South Korea and the United States , Min Kyong Cho

COMMUNICATING ARTIFACTS: AN ANALYSIS OF HOW MUSEUMS COMMUNICATE ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY DURING TIMES OF CONTROVERSY AND FINANCIAL STRAIN , Amanda Renee Cornuke

Communication Apprehension and Perceived Responsiveness , Elise Alexandra Fanney

Improving Patient-Provider Communication in the Health Care context , Charlotte M. Glidden

What They Consider, How They Decide: Best Practices of Technical Experts in Environmental Decision-Making , Cassandra J. Hemphill

Rebuilding Place: Exploring Strategies to Align Place Identity During Relocation , Brigette Renee McKamey

Sarah Palin, Conservative Feminism, and the Politics of Family , Jasmine Rose Zink

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Salud, Dignidad, Justicia: Articulating "Choice" and "Reproductive Justice" for Latinas in the United States , Kathleen Maire de Onis

Environmental Documentary Film: A Contemporary Tool For Social Movement , Rachel Gregg

In The Pink: The (Un)Healthy Complexion of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month , Kira Stacey Jones

Jihad as an Ideograph: Osama bin Laden's rhetorical weapon of choice , Faye Lingarajan

The Heart of the Matter: The Function and Relational Effects of Humor for Cardiovascular Patients , Nicholas Lee Lockwood

Feeling the Burn: A Discursive Analysis of Organizational Burnout in Seasonal Wildland Firefighters , Whitney Eleanor Marie Maphis

Making A Comeback: An Exploration of Nontraditional Students & Identity Support , Jessica Kate McFadden

In the Game of Love, Play by the Rules: Implications of Relationship Rule Consensus over Honesty and Deception in Romantic Relationships , Katlyn Elise Roggensack

Assessing the balance: Burkean frames and Lil' Bush , Elizabeth Anne Sills

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Discipline of Identity: Examining the Challenges of Developing Interdisciplinary Identities Within the Science Disciplines , Nicholas Richard Burk

Occupational Therapists: A Study of Managing Multiple Identities , Katherine Elise Lloyd

Discourse, Identity, and Culture in Diverse Organizations: A Study of The Muslim Students Association (University of Montana) , Burhanuddin Bin Omar

The Skinny on Weight Watchers: A Critical Analysis of Weight Watcher's Use of Metaphors , Ashlynn Laura Reynolds-Dyk

You Got the Job, Now What?: An Evaluation of the New Employee Orientation Program at the University of Montana , Shiloh M. A. Sullivan

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Because We Have the Power to Choose: A Critical Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies Used in Merck's Gardasil Campaign , Brittney Lee Buttweiler

Communicative Strategies Used in the Introduction of Spirituality in the Workplace , Matthew Alan Condon

Cultures in Residence: Intercultural Communication Competence for Residence Life Staff , Bridget Eileen Flaherty

The Influence of Sibling Support on Children's Post-Divorce Adjustment: A Turning Point Analysis , Kimberly Ann Jacobs

TALK ABOUT “HOOKING UP”: HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS‟ ACCOUNTS OF “HOOKING UP” IN SOCIAL NETWORKS INFLUENCES ENGAGING IN RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR , Amanda J. Olson

The Effect of Imagined Interactions on Secret Revelation and Health , Adam Stephens Richards

Teaching Intercultural Communication Competence in the Healthcare Context , Jelena Stojakovic

Quitting versus Not Quitting: The Process and Development of an Assimilation Program Within Opportunity Resources, Inc. , Amanda N. Stovall

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

IMAGES AS A LAYER OF POSITIVE RHETORIC: A VALUES-BASED CASE STUDY EXPLORING THE INTERACTION BETWEEN VISUAL AND VERBAL ELEMENTS FOUND ON A RURAL NATURAL RESOURCES NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION WEBSITE , Vailferree Stilwell Brechtel

Relational Transgressions in Romantic Relationships: How Individuals Negotiate the Revelation and Concealment of Transgression Information within the Social Network , Melissa A. Maier

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

THE SOCIALIZATION OF SEASONAL EMPLOYEES , Maria Dawn Blevins

Friends the family you choose (no matter what: An investigation of fictive kin relationships amoung young adults. , Kimberly Anne Clinger

Public relations in nonprofit organizations: A guide to establishing public relations programs in nonprofit settings , Megan Kate Gale

Negotiated Forgiveness in Parent-Child Relationships: Investigating Links to Politeness, Wellness and Sickness , Jennifer Lynn Geist

Developing and Communicating Better Sexual Harassment Policies Through Ethics and Human Rights , Thain Yates Hagan

Managing Multiple Identities: A Qualitative Study of Nurses and Implications for Work-Family Balance , Claire Marie Spanier

BEYOND ORGANIC: DEFINING ALTERNATIVES TO USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC , Jennifer Ann von Sehlen

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

Graduate Teaching Assistant Interpretations and Responses to Student Immediacy Cues , Clair Owen Canfield

Verbal negotiation of affection in romantic relationships , Andrea Ann Richards

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Art of forgiveness , Carrie Benedict

"We shall fight for the things we have always held nearest our hearts": Rhetorical strategies in the U.S. woman suffrage movement , Stephanie L. Durnford

War on Terror Middle-East peace and a drive around the ranch: The rhetoric of US-Saudi diplomacy in the post-911 period , J. Robert Harper

What do you mean by competence?: A comparison of perceived communication competence among North Americans and Chinese , Chao He

Rhetoric of public interest in an inter-organizational environmental debate: The Fernie mining controversy. , Shelby Jo. Long

Investigation of the initiation of short-term relationships in a vacation setting. , Aneta Milojevic

"It 's the other way around"| Sustainability, promotion, and the shaping of identity in nonprofit arts organizations , Georgi A. Rausch

Child left behind: An examination of comforting strategies goals and outcomes following the death of a child , Kelly R. Rossetto

Profile of the modern smokejumper| A tension-centered lens on identity and identification , Cade Wesley Spaulding

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Communication Studies Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Theses/projects/dissertations from 2023 2023.

CEZZARTT: BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS , Cesar Aguiar

BLACK WOMEN PROFESSIONALS CHARGED WITH DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION WORK: USE SILENCING ^VOICE TO RESIST AND NAVIGATE EMBEDDED STRUCTURES OF WHITENESS IN HIERARCHICAL ACADEMIA , Malika Bratton

TRANSFORMING BLACK STUDENTS’ HIGHER EDUCATION EXPERIENCES AND LIVES: A PROPOSAL FOR THE CSU , Don Lundy

THE PATRIARCHY BECOMES THAT GIRL: TIKTOK AND THE MEDIATIZATION OF HEGEMONIC FEMININITY , Irene Molinar

“YO SÍ SOY BORICUA, PA’ QUE TÚ LO SEPAS”: A DECOLONIAL AND INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ , Jocelin Monge

Public Relations for Cryptocurrency: Coinbase Guidebook , Logan Odneal

CONNECTING STUDENTS WITH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS FOR INFORMAL, SHORT-TERM EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: A PORTAL PROPOSAL FOR CSUSB , Dia Poole

Anticolonial Feminism, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, and the Female Gothic: A Textual Analysis of Mexican Gothic , Hana Vega

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2022 2022

"ADVANCING PRIDE": HOW NEW TURKISH HISTORICAL DRAMAS CHALLENGED WESTERN MEDIA'S STEREOTYPICAL IMAGES OF MUSLIMS , Naim Aburaddi

THE PANDEMIC IS NOT KILLING US, THE POLICE ARE KILLING US: HOW THE CHANGE IN THE SUBJECTIVE REALITY OF NIGERIAN CITIZENS BROUGHT ABOUT THE #ENDSARS PROTESTS , Olabode Adefemi Lawal

UNAPOLOGETICALLY HER: A NOMADIC-INTERSECTIONAL CASE STUDY ANALYSIS ON LIZZO AND JILLIAN MICHAELS , Alexia Berlynn Martinez

THE RAIN OVER HANOI: A PERSONAL PROJECT ABOUT SCREENPLAY STRUCTURE, STORY, REPRESENTATION AND INTERGENERATIONAL STRUGGLE , Joan Moua

BLACK FEMALE ATHLETES’ USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ACTIVISM: AN INTERSECTIONAL AND CYBERFEMINIST ANALYSIS OF U.S. HAMMER-THROWER, GWEN BERRY'S 2019 AND 2021 PODIUM PROTESTS , Ariel Newell

GIRL POWER?: 2017’S WONDER WOMAN AS A FEMINIST TEXT AND ICON IN AN ERA OF POST-FEMINIST MEDIA , Rachel Richardson

OVERCOMING SELF-OBJECTIFICATION THROUGH A MIND BODY AWARENESS PROGRAM , Alexandra Winner-Bachus

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2021 2021

THE LOUDEST VOICE IN THE ROOM IS OUR SILENCE: NARRATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF SILENCED ADULTS , Rebeccah Avila

How Couples YouTube Channels Forge "Friendships" With Their Viewers: A Thematic Textual Analysis , Marisol Botello

THE CURIOUS CASES OF CANCEL CULTURE , Loydie Solange Burmah

“DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?”: INFLUENCE OF EMBODIMENT AND IMMERSION ON CHARACTER IDENTIFICATION IN VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS , Shane Burrell

INTO THE COLLEGE CLASSROOM, ANOTHER TOUR OF DUTY: A GUIDE FOR INSTRUCTORS OF VETERAN STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION , Steven deWalden

DECOLONIAL LESSONS FROM HISTORICAL AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEADERS: RECONSTRUCTING AFRICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY AS RESISTANCE IN PRAXIS , Rhejean King-Johnson

WELCOMING FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN TO CSUSB: MAKING AN INTERGENERATIONAL DIFFERENCE , Leslie Leach

INCLUSIVITY IN PRACTICE: A QUEER EXAMINATION OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF TRANS COMMUNITIES FROM THE STANDPOINTS OF TRANS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS , Sean Maulding

ENHANCING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN A SOCIALLY DISTANCED WORLD BY HUMANIZING ONLINE EDUCATION: A GUIDE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTRUCTORS , Gilma Linette Ramirez Reyes

COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A PRESSING MATTER FOR STUDENTS, A PROJECT ADDRESSING UNIQUE NEEDS USING COMMUNICATION IN THE DISCIPLINE WORKSHOPS , Brenda L. Rombalski

When the Victim Becomes the Accused: A Critical Analysis of Silence and Power in the Sexual Harassment Case of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh , Erendira Torres

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRAINING MANUAL: FOR FACULTY TO HELP STUDENTS , Ricardo Vega

THE IMPACT OF RACIST COMMUNICATION PRACTICES (RCP) ON A FORMERLY INCARCERATED STUDENT BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER PRISON , George Zaragoza

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2020 2020

REPORTING ON SUICIDE: A THEMATIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON DISCOURSES REGARDING SUICIDE IN 2010S HIP-HOP SONGS , Andy Allen Acosta Jr.

COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE TRAINING WITHIN MINORITY-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES , Shirleena Racine Baggett

“REAL ME VERSUS SOCIAL MEDIA ME:” FILTERS, SNAPCHAT DYSMORPHIA, AND BEAUTY PERCEPTIONS AMONG YOUNG WOMEN , Janella Eshiet

DESDE LA PERIFERIA DE LA MILPA: TESTIMONIOS DE MSM DE LOS RANCHOS Y LOS PUEBLOS DE SOUTHERN MEXICO (FROM THE PERIPHERY OF THE CORNFIELD: TESTIMONIES OF MSM FROM THE RANCHES AND TOWNS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO) , Luis Esparza

WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION: EXAMINING LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY, UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE, AND SOCIAL STYLES , Guy Robinson

Passing vs Non-Passing: Latina/o/x Experiences and Understandings of Being Presumed White , Francisco Rodriguez

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Fully Immersed, Fully Present: Examining the User Experience Through the Multimodal Presence Scale and Virtual Reality Gaming Variables , Andre Adame

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY: COMMUNICATIVE DISSOCIATION BETWEEN BLACK AMERICANS AND AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS , Melody Adejare

TAKING A KNEE: AN INTERPRETIVE STUDY ON PRINT NEWS COVERAGE OF THE COLIN KAEPERNICK PROTESTS , Kriston Costello

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN MEXICAN AMERICAN AND CAUCASIAN AMERICAN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS , Jessica Helen Vierra

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2018 2018

"I JUST GOT OUT; I NEED A PLACE TO LIVE": A BUSINESS PLAN FOR TRANSITIONAL HOUSING , Walker Beverly V

Performing Stereotypical Tropes on Social Media Sites: How Popular Latina Performers Reinscribe Heteropatriarchy on Instagram , Ariana Arely Cano

NEGOTIATING STRATEGIES: AN EFFECTIVE WAY FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE FOR SERVICES , Dorothea Cartwright

A COMMUNICATION GUIDE FOR EX-OFFENDERS , Richard Anthony Contreras

AUTHENTICALLY DISNEY, DISTINCTLY CHINESE: A CASE STUDY OF GLOCALIZATION THROUGH SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND’S BRAND NARRATIVE , Chelsea Michelle Galvez

“I AM NOT A PRINCESS BUT…”: AN IDEOLOGICAL CRITICISM OF “FEMINIST” IDEOLOGIES IN DISNEY’S MOANA , Victoria Luckner

MEETING “THE ONE” AT MIDNIGHT IS YOUR DESTINY: THE ROLE OF YUAN IN USE OF THE TAIWANESE SOCIAL NETWORK, DCARD , Wen-Yueh Shu

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2017 2017

HANDBOOK ON TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS , Michael Anthony Arteaga

TRAGIC MULATTA 2.0: A POSTCOLONIAL APPROXIMATION AND CRITIQUE OF THE REPRESENTATIONS OF BI-ETHNIC WOMEN IN U.S. FILM AND TV , Hadia Nouria Bendelhoum

MEETING THE DISTANCE EDUCATION CHALLENGE: A GUIDE FOR DESIGNING ONLINE CLASSROOMS , Patrick Allen Bungard

MASTERING THE TASK AND TENDING TO THE SELF: A GUIDE FOR THE GRADUATE TEACHING ASSOCIATE , Angelina Nicole Burkhart

The Construction of Candidate’s Political Image on Social Media: A Thematic Analysis of Facebook Comments in the 2014 Presidential Election in Indonesia , Siti A. Rachim Marpaung Malik

BACKPEDALING NUGGET SMUGGLERS: A FACEBOOK AND NEWS ARTICLE THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF CHICK-FIL-A VS. GAY MARRIAGE , Stacy M. Wiedmaier

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Value Driven: An Analysis of Attitudes and Values Via BET Programming Past and Present , Sasha M. Rice

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2014 2014

CELEBRITIES, DRINKS, AND DRUGS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CELEBRITY SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS PORTRAYED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES , Brent John Austin

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, KEEP IN TOUCH, AS A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF VISITATION , Shalom Z. LaPoint and Shalom Z. LaPoint

Selling Disbelief , Gregory S. McKinley-Powell

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Media and corporate blame: Gate keeping and framing of the British Petroleum oil spill of 2010 , Kudratdeep Kaur Dhaliwal

Sperm stealers & post gay politics: Lesbian-parented families in film and television , Elena Rose Martinez

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Like us on Facebook: A social media campaign's effect on relationship management outcomes for a non-profit organization , Natalia Isabel López-Thismón

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

This is not a love story: A semiotic discourse analysis of romantic comedies , Stephanie Lynn Gomez

Blackness as a weapon: A critical discourse analysis of the 2009 Henry Louis Gates arrest in national mainstream media , Ashley Ann Jones

Fabulistic: Examination and application of narratology and screenplay craft , Nicholas DeVan Snead

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The effect of cold calling and culture on communication apprehension , Kimberly Noreen Aguilar

The artistry of teaching: Commedia Dell'arte's improvisational strategies and its implications for classroom participation , Jean Artemis Vezzalini

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Internet marketing strategy and the cognitive response approach: Achieving online fundraising success with targeted donor outreach , Carrie Dawn Cornwall

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

The design of an intercultural communication skills training for multicultural Catholic parishes in the Diocese of San Bernardino , Marco Aurelio De Tolosa Raposo

Religious social support groups: Strengthening leadership with communication competence , JoAnne Irene Flynn

Parametric media: A strategic market analysis and marketing plan for a digital signage, interactive kiosk and content company , Helena Irita Fowler

Factors affecting cognitive dissonance among automobile magazine subscribers , Petroulla Giasoumi

Web templates: Unifying the Web presence of California State University San Bernardino , Angela Marie Gillespie

United States media portrayals of the developing world: A semiotic analysis of the One campaign's internet web site , Lindsey Marie Haussamen

The Use of Violence as Feminist Rhetoric: Third-Wave Feminism in Tarantino's Kill Bill Films , Leah Andrea Katona

Superior-subordinate relationships found in Scrubs: A discourse analysis , Nicolle Elizabeth Quick

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

A cultural studies analysis of the Christian women vocalists movement from the 1980's to 2000: Influences, stars and lyrical meaning making , Mary Elizabeth Akers

The application of marketing and communication theories on community festival event planning , Khara Louise Dizmon

The mad rhetoric: Toward a rigor on radical creativity and its function in consciousness as a communicative principle , Eugene David Hetzel

Millennial pre-camp staff training: Incorporating generational knowledge, learning strategies and compliance gaining techniques , Dana Robin Magilen

Images and lyrics: Representations of African American women in blues lyrics written by black women , Danette Marie Pugh-Patton

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

Views from the center: Middle-class white men and perspectives on social privilege , Sandra Jane Cross

Rendering whiteness visible in the Filipino culture through skin-whitening cosmetic advertisements , Beverly Romero Natividad

Bias in the network nightly news coverage of the 2004 presidential election , Stephen Arthur Shelton

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

A proposed resource development plan for the Department of Communication Studies, California State University San Bernardino , Donna Louise Cooley

From 9/11 to Iraq: Analysis and critique of the rhetoric of the Bush Administration leading to the war in Iraq , LaKesha Nicole Covington

A queer look at feminist science fiction: Examing Sally Miller Gearhart's The Kanshou , Jennifer Jodelle Floerke

Proposed marketing and advertising campaign for the United Negro College Fund , Rashida Patrice Hamm

The online marketing plan for Indra Jewelry Company, Thailand , Vorapoj Liyawarakhun

A metaphoric cluster analysis of the rhetoric of digital technology , Michael Eugene Marse and Nicholas Negroponte

Talking about drugs: Examining self-disclosure and trust in adult children from substance abusive families , Susan Renee Mattson

The public relations campaign for Bangkok fashion week, Thailand , Chanoknart Paitoonmongkon

A web design shop for local business owners , Mary Colleen Rice

International students' reliance on home-country related internet use , Songkwun Sukontapatipak

Theses/Dissertations from 2004 2004

Zapatistas: The shifting rhetoric of a modern revolution , Ofelia Morales Bejar

Globalization, values, and consumer trends: A French and USA comparison , Alexandre Hatlestad-Shey

Values and symbols: An intercultural analysis of web pages on the Internet , Aura Constanza Mosquera

Creating community through communication: The case of East Desert Unified School District , Michelle Elizabeth Shader

A comparison of women's roles as portrayed in Taiwanese and Chinese magazine print advertising , Yi-Chen Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2003 2003

The concept of interest in the Western and Middle Eastern society , Mustapha Ben Amira

A comprehensive examination of the precode horror comic books of the 1950's , Gene Marshall Broxson

Narrative versus traditional journalism: Appeal, believability, understanding, retention , John David Emig

Relationships of cultural orientations to online public relations message preferences among United States and South Korean college students , Seongjung Jeong

Self-esteem, television viewing behavior, and parasocial interaction with a favorite television personality , Sarah Beth Neighbor

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