Tag: Nicole Dahmen

The Micro-Mobility Narrative: Understanding the Effects of Anecdotal and Visual Communication on Health and Safety Behavior

Presenter(s): Marie Van Rysselberghe 

Faculty Mentor(s): Autum Shafer & Nicole Dahmen

Poster 108

Session: Social Sciences & Humanities

In the face of extreme pollution and congestion, micro-mobility transportation presents an alleviating solution for many megacities. However, as e-scooters, such as Lime and Bird, have rolled out in major cities across the globe, media coverage has centered around the accompanying safety epidemic related to user error and miscommunication. To understand how shared e-scooter companies can better design health and safety information, my research examines the presentation of terms and conditions statements that include safety instructions. By using a 2×2 factorial design experiment, my research examines participants interaction with the following stimuli conditions: (1) narrative example in standard (i.e., text-only) presentation, (2) narrative example in visual presentation, (3) non-narrative example in standard (i.e., text- only) presentation, and (4) non-narrative example in visual presentation. Participants are randomly assigned to one condition and exposed to the stimuli online via Qualtrics before answer a posttest questionnaire. Examining the effect of narrative and visual communication on health and safety attitudes and behavior, this research measures participants knowledge and understanding of the presented safety information, perceived fear of scooter use, perceived vulnerability, intentions to comply with safety instructions, and organizational trust. On these outcomes, hypotheses predict increased levels of knowledge, intentions to comply and organizational trust, as well as predict decreased perceptions of fear and vulnerability.

Fact Checking a President: Analyzing News Reporting on Trump’s Tweets About Climate Change

Presenter(s): Morgan Krakow

Faculty Mentor(s): Nicole Dahmen

Poster 112

Session: Social Sciences & Humanities

When President Trump makes statements about global climate change that lack context or scientific facts, journalists must decide how to refute and better contextualize such claims. Often, Twitter is the medium where President Trump makes these statements, placing journalists in a precarious moment — reporting on such informal presidential communication while accurately portraying issues of climate change. This research investigates how reporters grappled with responsibly covering the nexus of two emergent and critical issues: a president who touted often inaccurate information on Twitter, and the consequences of a rapidly changing climate. Using a textual analysis, stories from 3 large American newspapers that quoted at least one climate change related tweet by the president since his initial candidacy were categorized by tweet. The articles were then coded based on how the tweets were used as a journalistic tool. The coding revealed that there are many reporting styles to deal with the President’s tweets about climate change. The results demonstrated that the way the tweets were used depended primarily on the context, newspaper section and timing of the story that was published. Sometimes, the tweets provided context in a longform piece about President Trump’s overall views on the climate. Other times, the tweets were quoted as breaking news without any sort of in-article fact checking. Further, some reports used the inaccurate information as the focus of the story itself. Overall, the research showed that there is no standard manner of reporting on President Trump’s tweets about climate change.

Visualizing the Politics of Family: The Role of Propaganda Posters in China’s One-Child Policy

Presenter(s): Zoe Haakenstad

Faculty Mentor(s): Julianne Newton & Nicole Dahmen

Oral Session 4 M

The dawn of 2016 saw the end to what is considered by many scholars as one of the longest- lasting and harshest population policies in the world. From 1979 1o 2016, China enforced the one-child policy (OCP), which limited the number of children couples were able to conceive. The policy, which was popularized through a variety of propaganda campaigns throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, had far-reaching effects, some of which continue to ripple through China today. This research looks at the effects of propaganda posters on the dissemination of China’s population control ideas, particularly through the lens of visual persuasion theory. I analyze three propaganda posters from the mid-70s, provided by the University of Oregon Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. I utilize semiology and discourse analysis to identify specific persuasive elements of the posters, such as color, spatial layout, representation of people, and language. Together, these qualities better illustrate both the intensity and the persuasive value of the OCP propaganda. I ask the following questions of my research: What is the role of propaganda posters in suggesting certain ideologies about China’s OCP? How does scholarship on visual persuasion and propaganda inform the functions of China’s OCP propaganda posters? What commonalities and differences did I notice among the three posters I viewed? Rather than take a stance on the ethicality of China’s OCP, this research looks at the relationship between visual persuasion, population policy, and the ideas made noticeable through propaganda posters. As a child born under the OCP, this research is also important to better understand the historical contexts during which my biological parents conceived and relinquished me as a baby. The decisions made by many parents under the OCP were inextricably tied to larger economic, social, and political projects that failed to consider the long-term effects the policy would have on not only on Chinese society but also the world. Thus, this research centers the function of visual persuasion and propaganda to expand on one of the mechanisms that made such an impactful policy achievable.