Ph.D. Student Dissertations

The dissertation process includes a written proposal, an oral defense of that proposal, a written dissertation document, and the oral defense of the finished study. It is a rigorous process that represents the culmination of the author’s career as a student.

More information about the specific policies and procedures regarding dissertations in our department can be found in the Ph.D. Graduate Student Handbook.

2021

DANA BORZEA

Title: Standby Lovers: A Typology and Theoretical Investigation of Back Burner Relational Maintenance
Committee: Martin (Chair), Dillow, Goodboy, Troilo (Child Development and Family Studies, WVU)

KEVIN C. KNOSTER

Title: Pandemic Pedagogy: A Zoom Teaching Experiment Using CTML Principles of Multimedia Design
Committee: Goodboy (Chair), Dillow, Martin, Johnson (Communication Studies, CSU-Fullerton)

2020

STEPHEN M. KROMKA

Title: The Effects of Instructor Self-disclosure on Students' Cognitive Learning: A Live Lecture Experiment
Committee: Goodboy (Chair), Martin, Myers, Hosek (Communication Studies, Ohio University)

MCKAY STEVEN WEST

Title: It's All Fun and Games until Somebody Dies: Grief, Mortality Salience, and Coping in Meaningful Permadeath
Committee: Cohen (Chair), Goodboy, Sharabi, Banks (Texas Tech University)

KYLIE WILSON

Title: Addiction or Disorder? Using the BIAS Map Model to Explain the Stigmatizing Effects of News Media Labels for Opioid Use Addiction
Committee: Cohen (Chair), Martin, Rittenour, Davidov (Social and Behavioral Sciences, WVU Health Sciences)

2019

JAMES P. BAKER

Title: Choose Your Own Lecture: Students' Motivational Resources as a Consequence of Autonomy Supportive Instruction
Committee: Goodboy (Chair), Martin, Myers, Sharabi, Rambo-Hernandez (Educational Psychology, WVU)

CATHLIN V. CLARK-GORDON

Title: Student-Instructor Out-of-Class Communication: A Media Multiplexity Approach
Committee: Bowman (Chair), Cohen, Goodboy, Sharabi, Ledbetter (Communication Studies, Texas Christian University)

EVAN ROBERT WATTS

Title: Henosis Experience in Gaming: A Metric for Adjustments to Global Schema and Appraised Meaning
Committee: Banks (Chair), Bowman, Cohen, Sharabi, Shook (Psychology, WVU)

2018

CHRISTINE K. ANZUR

Title: To meet her, that changed everything: Adult adoptees’ discursive construction of the meaning of ‘parent’ following birth parent contact
Committee: Myers (Chair), Goodboy, Rittenour, Troilo (Child Development and Family Studies, WVU)

JORDAN T. ATKINSON

Title: Investigating the Relationships Between Family Communication Patterns, Academic Resilience and Students' Classroom Communication Behaviors
Committee: Myers (Chair), Goodboy, Martin, Rittenour, Child (Communication Studies, Kent State University)

MOLLY S. EICKHOLT

Title: The Effect of Superiors' Mentoring of Subordinates' Organizational Identification and Workplace Outcomes
Committee: Myers (Chair), Goodboy, Martin, Dillow, Tanner (Marketing, WVU)

JENNIFER M. KNIGHT

Title: Presence in a Persuasive Drinking and Driving Message
Committee: Bowman (Chair), Goodboy, Martin, Cohen, Pressgrove (Reed College of Media, WVU)

JULIA K. WEISS

Title: Examining the Co-Occurrence of Engagement and Self-Referencing in the Context of Narrative Persuasion
Committee: Cohen (Chair), Banks, Bowman, Dillow, Fraustino (Reed College of Media, WVU)

2016

SHAUN M. ANDERSON

Title: Diversity Outreach in Major League Baseball: A Stakeholder Approach
Committee: Martin (Chair), Weber, Rittenour, Bowman, Brooks (College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, WVU)

HANNAH BALL

Title: Applying Psychological Reactance Theory to Communication between Adult Child Caregivers and their Older Adult Parents
Committee: Weber (Chair), Goodboy, Myers, Rittenour, Lilly (Biostatistics, WVU)

RITA DANIELS

Title: Young Adult Daughters and their Parents: Communication about Work/Career and Family
Committee: Rittenour (Chair), Myers, Martin, Goodboy, Oberhauser (Sociology, Iowa State University)

MELISSA F. TINDAGE

Title: Using the Instructional Beliefs Model to Examine Instructional Feedback in the Classroom
Committee: Myers (Chair), Goodboy, Martin, Rittenour, Frisby (School of Information Science, University of Kentucky)

2015

GREGORY A. CRANMER

Title: Exploring the Anticipatory Socialization Stage of Division I Student-Athletes: The Content, Characteristics, and Functions of Memorable Messages
Committee: Myers (Chair), Goodboy, Martin, Weber, Brooks (College of Physical Activity & Sport Sciences, WVU)

ZACHARY W. GOLDMAN

Title: Doctoral Students’ Relational Communication with Their Advisors: A Dyadic Examination Using Chickering’s Theory of Psychosocial Development b
Committee: Goodboy (Chair), Martin, Myers, Weber, Sorber (Higher Education Administration, WVU)

ALEXANDER L. LANCASTER

Title: Persuasion, Police, and Public Safety: Message Framing, Compliance, and Perceptions of Law Enforcement
Committee: Martin (Chair), Bowman, Cohen, Weber, Westerman (Communication, North Dakota State University)

KELLY G. ODENWELLER

Title: Communicating to Resolve the “Mommy Wars:” Testing Communicated Stereotypes and the Common Ingroup Identity Model with Stay-at-Home and Working Mothers
Committee: Rittenour (Chair), Dillow, Myers, Weber, Metzger (Psychology, WVU)

2014

HAILEY GILLEN

Title: Male-Female Workplace Friendships: Third Party Coworkers’ Perceptions of and Behavior toward Organizational Peers in Cross-Sex Workplace Friendships
Committee: Chory (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Cohen, Rittenour, Cowan (Communication Studies, University of Texas at San Antonio)

SARA LABELLE

Title: Addressing the Role of Health Literacy in Social Science: The Revision and Validation of the Perceived Oral Health Literacy Scale
Committee: K. Weber (Chair), Martin, Myers, Booth-Butterfield, Wanzer (Communication Studies, Canisius College)

MICHAEL SOLLITTO

Title: Why and How Organizational Members Encourage their Peer Coworkers to Voluntarily Exit the Organization: An investigation of Peer – Influence Exit Tactics
Committee: Chory (Chair), Goodboy, Rittenour, K. Weber, Garner (Communication Studies,Texas Christian University)

JESSALYN I. VALLADE

Title: Extradyadic Communication with Friends about Negative Relational Events in Romantic Relationships: Development of a Measure and Implications for Friendship and Romantic Relationship Functioning
Committee: Dillow (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Martin, Myers, Lannutti (Communication, La Salle University)

2013

CHRISTOPHER J. CLAUS

Title: The Effects of Student Behavior Alteration Techniques on Student Motives, Student Talk, and Student Learning
Committee: Myers (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Dillow, Martin, Johnson (Communication Studies, Ithaca College)

ZAC D. JOHNSON

Title: Alternative Breaks: The Impact of Student-to-Student Connections in Non-classroom Service-learning Experiences
Committee: Martin (Chair), Myers, A. Weber, K. Weber, Lefebvre (Educational Leadership Studies, WVU)

LORI E. VELA

Title: Investigating the Effect of Humor Communication Skills Training on Pro-social and Anti-social Humor Styles, Self-efficacy, Motivation, and Learning
Committee: Booth-Butterfield (Chair), Chory, Martin, Rittenour, Westerman, Lefebvre (Educational Leadership Studies, WVU)

2012

COLLEEN C. MALACHOWSKI

Exploring the Effects of Implication Intentions and Goal Formation on Anxiety and Communication Effectiveness when Discussing Difficult Interpersonal Topics
Committee: Booth-Butterfield (Chair), Chory, Martin, Rittenour, Walls (Educational Psychology, WVU)

STEPHANIE SHIMOTSU

Examining Graduate Students’ Research Outcomes, Affinity-Seeking Behaviors, and Perceptions of Relationship Quality with Advisors From a LMX Perspective
Committee: Myers (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Chory, Martin, Wanzer (Communication Studies, Canisius College)

SYDNEY M. STAGGERS

Sports-Related Traumatic Brain Injury: An Investigation of College Student-Athletes’ Prospectus of Communication Facework and Communicative Strategies for Managing Uncertainty
Committee: Martin (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Brann, Weber, Kershner (Community Medicine, WVU)

2011

DANIEL H. MANSSON

Using Mentoring Enactment Theory to Explore the Doctoral Student-Faculty Mentoring Relationship
Committee: Myers (chair), Brann, Dillow, Martin, Edwards (Communication Studies, Western Michigan University)

2010

KERRY A. BYRNES

Adult Children of Alcoholics’ Perceptions of Communicative Exchanges with Family Members and Outsiders
Committee: Brann (Chair), Martin, Myers, Weber, Reger-Nash (Community Medicine, WVU)

BRANDI N. FRISBY

Communicative Facework in Marital Dissolution and Post-dissolution Processes
Committee: Booth-Butterfield (Chair), Dillow, Martin, Weber, Walls (Educational Psychology, WVU)

2009

SEAN M. HORAN

Understanding the Expression and Implications of Deceptive Affectionate Messages
Committee: Booth-Butterfield (Chair), Chory, Dillow, Martin, Frymier (Communication Studies, Miami University of Ohio)

CARRIE D. KENNEDY-LIGHTSEY

When Two Become One: Marital Couples’ Public Performances and Couple Identity
Committee: Martin (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Dillow, Weber, Goeres (Educational Leadership, WVU)

PAUL E. MADLOCK

The Development of Technological Management Model: A Conceptualization of Computer Technology in the Workplace
Committee: Avtgis (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Chory, Martin, Westerman, Rancer (Communication Studies, University of Akron)

2007

ALAN K. GOODBOY

The Effect of Teacher Confirmation on Student Communication and Learning Outcomes
Committee: Myers (Chair), Booth-Butterfield, Martin, Weber, Hursh (Educational Psychology, WVU)

KATIE NEARY DUNLEAVY

Student Nagging Behavior in the College Classroom
Committee: Martin (Chair), Brann, Booth-Butterfield, Myers, Weber, Walls (Educational Psychology, WVU)