Lisa Lundy

The Development of an Instrument to Evaluate Distance Education Courses Using Student Attitudes

This study sought to adapt and test a methodological framework designed to produce a course evaluation that addresses the unique aspects of distance education while maintaining consistency with current evaluation instruments commonly used to evaluate an institutions on-campus courses. Using the four-step process adapted from Biner (1993), twenty items were identified for inclusion in the instrument. The authors concluded that the four-step process yielded an instrument for the evaluation of distance education courses that provides both functionality and flexibility to be used across a variety of courses.

Women, Pregnancy, and Health Information Online The Making of Informed Patients and Ideal Mothers

While the Internet has emerged as a significant resource for women negotiating the questions and circumstances that arise during conception, pregnancy and childbirth, it remains unclear what role the Internet plays in challenging the current biomedical paradigm and empowering women to make meaningful choices. This article explores how women use the Internet to manage their pregnancies and mediate their doctor–patient relationships, particularly examining the role of social class and personal health history in shaping such Internet use. Drawing from in-depth interviews with white middle-class mothers, the findings show that rather than using technology to resist the dominant biomedical paradigm, most women turned to online resources that affirmed mainstream medical authority and continued to rely on their doctors. By providing the means to confirm normalcy and take control in their reproductive experiences, the Internet enables socially privileged women to more fully perform the informed patient role in order to demonstrate their competence as mothers.

Likelihood to Vote, Candidate Choice, and the Third-Person Effect: Behavioral Implications of Political Advertising in the 2004 Presidential Election

This study found that levels of likelihood to vote can be predicted by the third-person effect. Unlike past studies that treated support for censorship as the main consequence of the third-person effect, this study is the first to examine the direct political implications of the process. A judgment task experiment of 340 individuals who were shown four ads from the 2004 Bush and Kerry campaigns yielded support for both the perceptual and behavioral hypotheses. The authors present paternalism as a theoretical rational for this occurrence. If individuals feel that others who are less knowledgeable or politically sophisticated than they are might be more likely to be persuaded by political advertising, they in turn would attempt to compensate for others perceived ignorance by taking political action such as voting.

Trying to Relate Media Relations Training Needs of Agricultural Scientists

This study uses a descriptive survey to examine the perceptions agricultural scientists have of the news media and the perceived need for media relations skills. The results showed that respondents were more negative about national news coverage and more positive about local news coverage of agricultural and scientific stories. They also were more favorable in their perceptions of coverage of general science topics than of stories in their agricultural discipline. Significant differences were found in respondents’ confidence in communicating with the news media on the basis of gender and age. Overall, respondents were confident in their media relations capabilities; however, areas in which respondents indicated they might take training included communicating in crisis situations and writing newspaper columns.

Glitz, Glamour, and the Farm: Portrayal of Agriculture as the Simple Life

Reality television has taken America by storm with programming ranging from extreme stunts to police adventures to spoofs on segments of society. Agriculture has been a participant in the reality television boom through a series called “The Simple Life” in which two Hollywood debutantes explore the “realities” of farm life in Arkansas. This study examines the impact of this portrayal of agriculture and its effects on viewers’ impressions of the industry. Four focus groups were used to investigate the potential effects of an agriculturally based reality television show on viewers’ attitudes, opinions, and perceptions of agriculture. Results indicated those with agricultural knowledge viewed the portrayal of farm life as inaccurate and disturbing, while those without agricultural literacy found the program entertaining, if not exactly “real.” Those viewers lacking in agricultural literacy realized that the program did not accurately portray real agricultural life, but could not discern where the program failed in its accurate representation. Viewers with agricultural backgrounds found the series did not accurately reflect the amount of labor and intellectual capacity needed to produce food and fiber. The portrayal of agriculture as “hickish” and “backwoodsy” reinforced traditional stereotypes. This study suggests that the agricultural industry may be well served in further exploration of the impact of broadcast entertainment programming on the public’s agricultural literacy.

Framing Biotechnology: A Comparison of U.S. and British National Newspapers

Despite the potential promise of agricultural biotechnology, consumers’ trust and acceptance varies in some parts of the world. To develop a deeper understanding of the differences in news media coverage of agricultural biotechnology in U.S. and British newspapers, a framing analysis study was conducted, focusing on the news coverage of three major national “newspapers of record” during the calendar year 2002: The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. No single frame was dominant in U.S. or British national newspaper coverage of agricultural biotechnology in 2002. Some of the prominent frames were contamination of the food supply, human risk, environmental risk, scientific progress, and world hunger. There were more different frames used in The Guardian (concepts as consumer choice, dependency, and politics) than in the U.S. newspapers. Additionally, this study reiterated findings that British news coverage included more editorial coverage of agricultural biotechnology. This research is available in Journal of Applied Communications: https://newprairiepress.org/jac/vol88/iss2/2

Critical Thinking Dispositions of Agricultural Communications Students

Critical thinking, a reasoned, purposive, and introspective approach to solving problems, has received increased attention from agricultural educators. This study of agricultural communications students utilized a directly administered survey to investigate critical thinking dispositions of agricultural communications students at 12 universities. Results indicated that agricultural communications student respondents tend to be highly innovative in their thinking, an important trait in the field of communications. Results also indicated that few agricultural communication students would be classified as having a strong disposition toward critical thinking, while a larger number would be classified as weak in critical thinking dispositions.

Reaching Florida Urban Opinion Leaders: Uncovering Preferred Communication Channels

Opinion leadership is a common concept in communication theory and research. This study examines the communication channels and sources of information that opinion leaders access for general information and specifically for agricultural information. Through a mailed survey opinion leaders’ pre-existing knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward agriculture were measured as well as their concern with several agricultural issues. This information was used to construct a foundation for an agricultural campaign in the state of Florida. By understanding the important issues that could make effective agricultural messages and the means for disseminating those messages, agricultural communicators can more successfully implement public relations campaigns to garner support for the agricultural industry. Survey findings suggest that opinion leaders do not have high knowledge levels about agriculture; however, they feel it is an important industry and have an interest in knowing more. The results indicate that an agricultural campaign to reach Florida urban opinion leaders should consist of a message dealing with agriculture’s role in water quality and the primary means of message dissemination should be through print media, primarily newspapers. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. This research is available in Journal of Applied Communications: http://newprairiepress.org/jac/vol88/iss4/1 Reaching Florida Urban Opinion Leaders: Uncovering Preferred Communication

Eating Animals: The Influence of Food-based Narratives

This study examines the prevalence and persuasiveness of popular food-based narratives. Specifically, the book Eating Animals, a detailed critique of the U.S. meat industry, provided the foundation for exploring the influence of food-based narratives. Guided by the theory of narrative persuasion, a qualitative research design was employed to investigate the influence of this contemporary text on reader perceptions and behaviors. The present study incorporated in-depth interviews with individuals that read all or some of the acclaimed foodbased narrative Eating Animals. Findings indicate that the popular narrative motivated a range of attitudinal and behavioral changes. Additional themes that emerged relate to cognitive dissonance, conscious consumerism and interpersonal influence over food consumption decisions. Implications of these findings are discussed relevant to both communication practice and future research.

#TransformFFA: An Analysis of Social Media Content During the 2016 National FFA Convention

The proliferation of social media has the ability to considerably impact stakeholders’ perspective of an organization’s brand. Due to this relationship, social media analysis is crucial to executing informed brand communication strategies. In October 2016, the brand communication strategies of the National FFA Organization were focused on promoting the 89th National FFA Convention. A large portion of these efforts and resources were dedicated towards the utilization of social media. This study was designed as a content analysis of the National FFA Organization’s social media presence during the dates of the convention. The goal was to identify the prominent themes of communication and the alignment of these themes with the organizational brand. Conversations on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat yielded a total of 344 posts for evaluation. The results indicated the presence of seven predominate themes: recognition, connectivity, appreciation, spirit, service, influence, and support. The researchers suggest opportunities exist for closer alignment between published social media content and the defined organizational and event brands. Specific attention should be placed on event-specific theme promotion. Renewed efforts to increase interactivity will allow for stakeholders to take part in the brand co-building process. It should be ensured that all communications are an accurate reflection of the brand’s image, connections, and reputation.