FICS Theses and Dissertations

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https://repository.upou.edu.ph/handle/20.500.13073/2
Theses and dissertations by graduate students from the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.

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    Health Communication in Digital Spaces: Selected FIlipino Medical Influencers’ ‘Clout’ and Parasocial Relationships
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2026) Martinez, Keith Gabriel B.
    This study explores how Filipino medical influencers build and sustain parasocial relationships (PSRs) to promote health information in digital spaces such as social media. Through an exploratory-descriptive qualitative research design, the study utilized semi-structured interviews with two medical influencers and six active followers. The research is grounded in socio-cultural and phenomenological traditions that allow for an examination of the co-construction of meaning and lived experiences within these one-sided but meaningful online bonds. Findings reveal that influencer motivations stem from a desire to combat misinformation and provide accessible, bite-sized health advice. Influencers employ strategic self-presentation by balancing clinical rigor with conversational communication to humanize their expertise. Followers are primarily motivated by financial pragmatism and the need to alleviate health-related anxiety, viewing influencers as credible, cost- free intermediaries. The study introduces the Dynamic Digital Authority (DDA) Model, which posits that online influence functions as a continually negotiated performance rather than a static marker of expertise. It concludes that effective digital health communication is a reciprocal process. This process transforms passive consumers into active health advocates. Recommendations include the integration of digital literacy into medical training and the strengthening of expert verification on social platforms.
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    Exploring Communication Patterns and Work Value Fulfillment Through Network Analysis among International Professors in a Korean Christian University
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2026) Ramos, Ma. Hazel Bersales
    A Korean Christian university is characterized by hierarchical, top-down, centralized communication patterns that are deeply ingrained by strong Confucian values. Universities were encouraged to hire international professors in response to the Global Declaration “Segyehwa” of Kim Young-san’s Administration in 1994, which aimed to transform South Korea into a first-rate nation and drew national attention to education. A specific support network categorized as “international professors” in a Christian university that comprised twenty-four actors which was 100% of the network (62.5% males, and 37.5% females) were surveyed through discourses of work value fulfillment to analyze the network using UCINET 6 to identify ties created by each actor and its characteristics, the central actors in each discourse, and to evaluate the most valued work values of professors through communicative patterns. Findings revealed that the significant ties created a star or all-channel network that was decentralized and enabled members to communicate freely. Similarities in demographic and personality attributes, such as nationality and cultural backgrounds, gender, age, and expertise, created both constraints and opportunities from how they were embedded in the networks. The central actors who were consistently well-positioned across all discourses accounted for 29% of the network. They were all male and demonstrated extensive knowledge and experience in technology and innovation. As reflected in professors' communication patterns, coworkers’ work value, supervision, and work itself were most valued in their profession. The not-well-connected nodes in the network exhibited that communication for them is “satisficing”.
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    Reproducing Media and Information Literacy Through the Digital Papacy and the Discursive Strategies of Pope Francis: An Intertextual Analysis
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2024) Redubla, Jomar D.
    This study examines the discursive tactics utilized by Pope Francis in his social encyclicals, emphasizing their function in articulating intricate theological concepts, ethical mandates, and social justice matters to a worldwide audience. Anchored in Mumby’s theoretical framework of discourse, the research highlights the interpretive essence of communication, the impact of socio-cultural circumstances, and the significance of conversation. The conceptual framework includes intertextual analysis, demonstrating how texts reference and engage with each other in the digital environment. The key issue identified is the necessity for improved Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in response to modern issues, including misinformation and digital saturation. This study seeks to accomplish three objectives: to examine the discursive techniques of the encyclicals, to investigate the implications of the digital pope for religious communication, and to evaluate the incorporation of Media and Information Literacy principles within the Pope’s teachings. The study employs a qualitative research design based on intertextual analysis, concentrating on three units: (1) Pope Francis’s encyclicals—Lumen Fidei, Laudato Si, and Fratelli Tutti; (2) messages from World Communications Day; and (3) pertinent secondary literature on Media and Information Literacy (MIL). The results indicate that Pope Francis's discursive strategy successfully foster critical thinking and ethical media participation, hence augmenting the Church's significance in the digital era. The study boosts social order within the universal Catholic Church by demonstrating how these encyclicals cultivate a unified narrative that promotes active engagement in confronting modern difficulties. The research suggests that the digital pope functions as an essential channel for Media and Information Literacy, enabling individuals to traverse the digital environment responsibly. Recommendations encompass enhanced incorporation of MIL principles within Church doctrines and the formulation of digital engagement tactics that promote community and ethical dialogue.
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    Host as Storyteller: An Autoethnographic Inquiry of Narrative Construction as a Communicative Act
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2025) Pelayo, Grichelle O.
    This study explores the multifaceted role of the host as a storyteller, focusing on the analysis of the narrative construction as a performative and communicative practice in live events, as well as an act of cultural mediation. While the act of storytelling is a vital component of human social behavior and has been extensively researched in the context of media and literature, very few studies have examined live event hosts as narrative agents. This gap in scholarship is addressed in the present study through an autoethnographic lens. The researcher has taken on the role of both participant and observer to preserve the intricacies surrounding hosting as a performative and spontaneous practice. The analysis incorporates communicative ecology and performance theory within a cultural narrative framework as a starting point for understanding a host’s function as a cultural mediator and emotional intercessor. The host’s narrative sculpting, resonating with a wide-ranging audience, is built on literature concerning media hosting, live event storytelling, and the psychology of narrative transport. The participant’s data came from direct observation, reflective journaling, and narrative analysis, along with the improvisational activities and storytelling mastery of the hosts, capturing their lived experiences. Analysis was carried out iteratively on emergent themes concerning how hosts develop and perform coherent, emotionally engaging, and culturally sensitive narratives for different audiences. The study demonstrates that the host functions as a storyteller, co-constructing narratives with both participants and the audience. Instead of merely facilitating, the host shapes the event’s emotional and cultural significance. Through fragmented and multi-vocal storytelling, the host captures spoken and unspoken elements, ensuring the representation of diverse perspectives. The host’s responsibilities extend beyond storytelling, encompassing the role of a cultural custodian who sustains the event’s meaning and connects it to community values. Reflexivity further enables the host to examine this evolving role. Accordingly, storytelling in hosting is active, affective, and participatory, thus enriching the event’s depth and cultural resonance.
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    Global Health Governance Communication: Cascading Health Security Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (University of the Philippines Open University, 2025) Salvador, Roja Estrelita C.
    The study is a qualitative content analysis on how the cascade of information and knowledge, through the language and framing of the policies at global, national, and subnational levels, may influence social norms and sociopolitical structures as well as the dynamics of interdependencies towards international cooperation. It answered three questions in terms of ideas, information, and feelings that are communicated through the policies coming from global health institutions; mechanisms of power and interdependence, that were communicated and normalized through the policies at the national and subnational levels; and the policies’ communicative constitution of cooperation for global health security. The analysis focused on health policies issued during the COVID-19 pandemic that targeted vaccination, health workers, discrimination, community quarantine, and face masks/shields. A typology of global health governance communication (GHG-C) is recommended based on the thorough reading, coding process, and code document and code co-occurrence analyses, using Norbert Elias’ concepts, that were done on 210 health policies cascading from the global (n=28), national (n=86) and subnational (n=96) levels. This includes Figuration Architecture, Sentiment Building, Power Diffusion, Norms Setting, Reinforcement, and Global Connect. Based on the results of the study, Global Health Governance Communication (GHG-C) is a field of communication that examines the thread of messages and language conveying ideas, information and emotions that cascades from global guidance to national and subnational policies and weaves the social fabric covering institutional and socialvalues, relationships, controls, behaviors and norms on health.