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Communication Technology Research

How do people use communication technologies when working at a distance?

How does time perception affect peoples’ work and life patterns?

How can we best understand the multiplicity of ICT choices available to people today?

How do people form impressions of their online partners? How do members of virtual teams form impressions of remote collaborators?

How are people using mobile technologies during organizational meetings?

What are the cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes involved in playing video games and interacting in virtual environments?

How can we use technology to enhance communication with others?

How do people use communication technologies to organize and respond to a crisis?

How can we create new theoretical concepts that expand beyond the technologies available today?

These questions are just a few that scholars affiliated with the communication technology cluster explore. These are examples of the topics that faculty and students in the Communication Technology Cluster study: organizational meetings, virtual teams, newcomer communication, diffusion of new technology, combinations of ICTs, high tech organizations, uses and effects of recreational media, knowledge workers, online health information, crisis communication, romantic relationships, social networking, e-science and cyberinfrastructure, mobile communication, telework, and time-space compression.

These are the specific technologies we have studied: Smartphones (BlackBerries, iPhones), Blogs, Video Games, Email, Facebook, Instant Messaging, Intranets, Microsoft PowerPoint, Second Life, To-Do Lists, Twitter, Webconferencing, Websites, and the ever important Face-to-Face Communication!

Courses | Publications by faculty members | Dissertations | Graduate Student Publications

Courses

CMS 392P Communication Technologies in the Workplace

CMS 392P Communication in Virtual Groups

CMS 392P Computer-Mediated Communication: Models and methods

CMS 390S Time Matters

CMS 386N Qualitative Research Methods

Publications by faculty members

Ballard, D. I. (2007). Chronemics at work: Using socio-historical accounts to illuminate contemporary workplace temporality. In R. Rubin (Ed.), Research in the Sociology of Work: Vol. 17 Work Place Temporalities. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier.

Ballard, D. I., & Gossett, L. M. (2007). Alternative times: The temporal perceptions, processes, and practices defining the non-standard work arrangement. In C. Beck (Ed.), Communication Yearbook, 31. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ballard, D. I., & Seibold, D. R. (2003). Communicating and organizing in time: A meso level model of organizational temporality. Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 380-415.

Ballard, D. I., & Seibold, D. R. (2004). Communication-related organizational structures and work group members’ temporal experience: The effects of interdependence, type of technology, and feedback cycle on members’ views and enactments of time. Communication Monographs, 71, 1-27.

Ballard, D. I., Webster, S. P. (forthcoming). Time and time again: The search for meaning/fulness through popular discourse on the time and timing of work. KronoScope: Journal for the Study of Time.

Browning, L. D., & Beyer, J. M. (1998). The structuring of shared voluntary standards in the U.S. Semiconductor industry: Communicating to reach agreement. Communication Monographs, 64, 1-25.

Browning, L. D., Beyer, J. M., & Shetler, J. C. (1995). Building cooperation in a competitive industry: SEMATECH and the semiconductor industry. Academy of Management Journal, 38, (1), 113-151.

Browning, L. D., & Shetler, J. C. (2000). Sematech: Saving the U.S. Semiconductor Industry. College Station, TX: Texas A & M University Press.

Browning, L. D., Sætre, A. S., Stephens, K. K., & Sørnes, J. O. (2008). Information & communication technologies in action: Linking theory and narratives of practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Browning, L. D., & Sørnes, J. O. (2008). The challenge of doing corporatized ICT research: An ethnography of ICT use. Qualitative Inquiry, 14, 1223-1244.

Browning, L. D., Soernes, J. O., Stephens, K., & Saetre, A. S. (2006). A garbage can model of information/communication/technology choice. In A. Schorr & S. Seltmann, (Eds.), Changing Media Markets in Europe and Abroad. New Ways of Handling Information and Entertainment Content. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.

Nastri J. A., Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T. (2006). The construction of away messages in instant messenger: A speech act analysis. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), article 7.

Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T. (2006). An analysis of socioemotional and task-oriented communication in an online multiplayer video game. Communication Research, 33, 92-109.

Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T., & Merola, N. A. (in press). Avatar priming effects in virtual settings. Communication Research.

Peña, J., Walther, J. B., & Hancock, J. T. (2007). Effects of geographic distribution on dominance perceptions in computer-mediated groups. Communication Research, 34, 313-331. 

Shapiro, M. A., & Peña, J. (in press). Generalizability and validity in video game research. In U. Ritterfeld, M. J. Cody, & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Digital Games for Learning, Education and Social Change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Shapiro, M. A., Peña, J., & Hancock, J. T. (2006). Realism, imagination, and narrative video games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing computer games: Motives, responses, and consequences (pp. 275-289). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Seibold, D. R., Lemus, D. R., Ballard, D. I., & Myers, K. K. (2009). Organizational communication and applied communication research: Parallels, intersections, integration, and engagement. In L. R. Frey & K. N. Cissna (Eds.), Handbook of Applied Communication (pp. 843-866). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Stephens, K. K., & Davis, J. D. (2009). The social influences on electronic multitasking in organizational meetings. Management Communication Quarterly, pre-printed in on-line first, doi: 10:1177/0893318909335417.

Stephens, K. K., & Malone, P.C. (2009). If the organizations won’t give us information…: The use of multiple new media for crisis technical translation and dialogue. Journal of Public Relations Research, 21, 229-239.

Stephens, K. K., Sørnes, J. O, Rice, R. E., Browning, L. D., & Sætre, A. S. (2008). Discrete, sequential, and follow-up use of information and communication technology by managerial knowledge workers. Management Communication Quarterly, 22, 197-231.

Stephens, K. K., (2007). The successive use of information and communication technologies at work. Communication Theory, 17, 486-509.

Stephens, K. K., Rimal, R. N., & Flora, J. (2004). Expanding the reach of health campaigns: Community organizations as metachannels for the dissemination of health information. Journal of Health Communication, 9, 97-111.

Ph.D. Dissertations and M.A. Theses

In Progress

Stephanie Dailey, Ph.D. student: Identification and Organizational Technology Use. Directed by Keri K. Stephens

Jennifer D. Davis, Ph.D. Candidate: How does being “always on” impact our experience with work?: Exploring continuous connectivity from a grounded theory perspective. Directed by Larry D. Browning

Abigail Heller, Ph.D. student, Communication technology in instructional settings. Directed by Keri K. Stephens

Dina Inman, Ph.D. student: The new time clock: Punctuality in the age of space of flows and timeless time. Directed by Dawna Ballard

Kerk Kee, Ph.D. Candidate: The adoption and implementation of Cyberinfrastructure: The emergence and development of e-science in the U.S. Directed by Larry D. Browning

Caroline Sinclair, MA anticipated December 2010: Organizational use of social media. Directed by Keri K. Stephens

Completed

Stephanie Dailey, M.A., May 2009: What are the benefits?: The effects of orientation on new employee information seeking. Directed by Keri K. Stephens

Inho Cho, Ph.D., December 2008: The nature and determinants of intranet discontinuance after mandatory adoption. Directed by Craig Scott and Keri K. Stephens, Runner up for the Redding Dissertation Award.

Shama Hyder, M.A. (2008). Twitter and the experience of time. Directed by Dawna Ballard

Dina Inman, M.A. (2005). Virtual work practices and the experience of time. Directed by Dawna Ballard

James McCafferty, Ph.D. (1997). The essence of consortia: a comparative analysis of modernist and

Graduate Student Publications and Conference papers

Bird, I., Jones, B., & Kee, K. F. (2009). The organization and management of grid infrastructures. Computer, 42 (1), 36-46.

Cho, J., Inman, D., Sandlin, A. N., Schaefer, K. (2009, November). Are you overloaded?”: An investigation of communication overload through channel synchronicity on identification and job satisfaction. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL. (Top 5 Student Paper in the Human Communication and Technology Division).

Christopher, R. (2007). The medium is the metaphor: Toward a unified theory of computer mediation. Paper presented for the University of Washington's Architecture Department's Design Machine Group.

Dailey, S. L., Yilmaz, G., Blackburn, K., & Christopher, R. (2009, November). What happens after training?: Social influences on covert and overt ICT use and organizational identification. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL. (Top Student Paper in Training & Development Division).

Dailey, S. L. (2009, May). What are the benefits?: The effects of orientation on new employee information seeking. Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Davis, J. D., & Porter, A. J. (February, 2007). Finding balance: A case study of a high-Tech organization’s culture and communication technology and telecommuting practices, Paper presented at the Western States Communication Association, Seattle, WA.

Davis, J. D. (September, 2006). But it looks so simple: A rhetorical analysis of Google.com, Paper presented at the Association of Internet Researchers conference, Brisbane, Australia.

Iorio, J., Kee, K. F., & Decker, M. L. (forthcoming). Instructional technology training: Developing functional and applied skill sets. In H. Crumley (Ed.), Technology and graduate student instructor development. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers. 2

Isbell, M. G., & Davis, J. D. (November, 2007). Organizations are made to tick through talk: A network comparison of conversation centers, influential words and network centrality, Paper presented at the National Communication Association conference, Chicago, IL.

Jin, B., & Park, N. (2009, November). In-person contact begets calling and texting: Cell phone use, interpersonal motives, FtF interactions, and loneliness. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, Illinois. (Top Four Paper in the Human Communication and Technology Division)

Jin, B., & Peña, J. (2008, November). Mobile communication in romantic relationships: The relationship between mobile phone use and relational uncertainty, intimacy, and attachment. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, San Diego, CA. (Top Four Paper in the Human Communication and Technology Division)

Jin, B. (2007, November). Mobile communication as a mode of interpersonal communication. Paper presented at the National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, Illinois.

Kee, K. F. (2008, November). I am better than them with(out) Blackboard: Technology (dis)adoption as identity regulation by university faculty. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Conference, San Diego, CA. (Top Four Student Paper in the Human Communication and Technology Division)

Kee, K. F. (2008, November). Educate, innovate, everywhere: Blackboard reinvention Beyond the classrooms. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Conference, San Diego, CA. (Top Four Paper in the Instructional Communication Division).

Kee, K. F. (2008, November). Organizational communication and designing cyberinfrastructure to support science and emerging groups. Paper presented at the "Designing Cyberinfrastructure to Support Science" workshop at the Computer Supported Cooperative Work annual conference, San Diego, CA.

Kee, K. F. (2007, November). Blackboard implementation: Metaphoric perceptions and technical descriptions. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Conference, Chicago, IL. (Top Four Student Paper in the Human Communication and Technology Division).

Kee, K. F. (2007, November). A brief history of Blackboard: The development of an educational technology for teaching and learning in the 21st century. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Conference, Chicago, IL.

Kee, K. F. (2006, November). Organizational and educational intranets: New blends of interaction. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Kee, K. F. (2008, May). Time saving and time consuming: Faculty's temporal experience with Blackboard adoption and implementation. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Communication Association Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

McNamee, L., Peterson, B., & Peña, J. (2008, November). Teaching, invoking, indicting, and advocating: Understanding the communication of hate groups’ websites. Paper presented at the 94th annual convention of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.

Park, N., Jin, B., & Jin, S. (2009, May). Motivations, impression management, and self-disclosure in social network sites. Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association Convention, Chicago, Illinois.

Peña, J., Peterson, B., & McNamee, L. (2008, November). Virtual ethnocentrism: A social identity analysis of U. S. extremist group websites. Paper presented at the 94th annual convention of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.

Peña, J., McGlone, M., Jarmon, L., & Sanchez, J. (2009, November). The influence of visual stereotypes and roles on language use in virtual environments. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL. (Top Four Paper in the Human Communication & Technology Division).

Porter, A & Schaefer, K. M. (2007, February). Technology use and interorganizational coordination in an emergency relief organization: A case study of the American Red Cross during Hurricane Katrina. Paper presented at the meeting of the Western States Communication Association, Seattle, WA.

Schaefer, K. M. (2004, March). Rhetoric, techne, and today’s technological society. Paper presented at the DePauw Annual Undergraduate Honors Conference, Greencastle, IN.

Schaefer, K. M. (2005, November). The effects of instant messenger on the undergraduate experience. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Schaefer, K. M. (2007, November). Building the bridge and communicating world views in faith-intellect-ethics: Interfaith dialog between religious organizations. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago, IL.

Schaefer, K. M. (2008, November). Perceived credibility of online health information: Application of a health consciousness measure. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.

Schaefer, K. M. (2008, November). We met online: Perceptions of disclosing online romantic relationships to social networks. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association, San Diego, CA.

Scott, C. R., Lewis, L. K., D’Urso, S., & Davis, J. D. (May, 2007). Use and nonuse of newcommunication technologies in an interorganizational network: A longitudinal case study in a community of health and human service providers, Paper presented at the International Communication Association conference, San Francisco, CA.

Scott, C. R., Lewis, L. K., Davis, J. D., & D’Urso, S. (in press). Finding a home for communication technologies. In J. Keyton & P. Shockley-Zalabak (Eds.), Case studies for organizational communication (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Stephens, K. K., Dailey, S. (2009, November). Welcome!: Examining situated organizational identification before and after new employee orientation. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL.

Stephens, K. K., & Davis, J. D. (2009, May). Using multiple technologies in organizational meetings: A meso-level model of contemporary meeting communication, Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association conference, Chicago, IL.

Stephens, K. K., & Davis, J. D. (November, 2008). The social influences on electronic multitasking in organizational meetings, Paper presented at the National Communication Association conference, San Diego, CA.

Stephens, K. K., Davis, J. D., & Rayburn, S. (2009, November). Mobile multitasking: Development of the electronic whispering scale. Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Meeting, Chicago, IL. (Top Four Paper in the Human Communication & Technology Division).

Valenzuela, S., Kee, K. F., & Park, N (forthcoming). Is there social capital in a social network site?: Facebook use and college students’ life satisfaction, trust, and participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

Valenzuela, S., Park, N. & Kee, K. F. (2008, April). Lessons from Facebook: The effect of social network sites on college students’ social capital. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Symposium on Online Journalism, Austin, TX.

Valenzuela, S., Park, N., & Kee, K. F. (2008, August). Youth engagement 2.0: The role of Facebook on college students’ civic and political participation. Paper presented at the meeting of the 6th Annual APSA Preconference on Political Communication, the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, Harvard University, Boston, MA.