Date of Award

Fall 12-2015

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Communication Studies

Committee Chair

Steven Venette

Committee Chair Department

Communication Studies

Committee Member 2

John Meyer

Committee Member 2 Department

Communication Studies

Committee Member 3

Eura Jung

Committee Member 3 Department

Communication Studies

Abstract

This study aimed at gaining a better understanding of the Hispanic American culture in an effort to evaluate how they view and receive messages sent from the government. The purpose of this study was to further the conversation that messages should be designed with careful thought in order to resonate with the target audience involved in the communication process. A previous study found that the majority of the Hispanic American population felt as if they are overlooked and would not be warned properly in a time of crisis (Heath, Lee, & Ni, 2009). Therefore, the present study focused on variables that are assumed to impact an audience’s interpretation of a message in the hopes of discovering the most effective way to communicate crises to the Hispanic American population. The need to uncover better methods of communicating to this group in the population is of great importance due to the fact they are now considered the largest ethnic group in America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

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