Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Religious congregations have considerable influence in the lives of Americans. Despite this importance, we know little about what accounts for how some congregations attract new participants while others stagnate or even decline. In this paper, I show that organizational connectivity plays an important role in the success of congregational recruitment efforts by examining the effects of three levels of connectivity on this process: internal cohesion, ties to other religious organizations, and ties to a congregation's surrounding community. I use data from the National Congregations Study to analyze conservative Protestant, liberal Protestant, and Roman Catholic congregations separately. I find that while connectivity plays an important role in the attractiveness of congregations, it does so in fundamentally different ways for the different types of congregations. My findings inform existing literature on congregational growth and will improve our understanding of the factors that determine people's affiliations with particular religious organizations.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Boundaries between the public and private sphere have become particularly difficult to locate due to the influence of personal technologies (Meyrowitz, 1985; Reimer, 1995; Thomson, 1999). Specifically, portable media players (PMPs) like the Apple iPod allow users to experience a variety of music and media in innumerable settings. While scholars have often described the effects of PMP usage as isolationary (Henderson, Taylor, and Thomson, 2002; Kim, 2003) few have noted that these devices connect users (Bull, 2000/2005; Hampton, 2004). This paper argues that the ways personal technologies like the iPod are used and the impact usage has on everyday interactions allow individuals to develop social connections. To uncover the nature of that connection, in-depth interviews and participant observations were conducted with college students who regularly use the iPod. Analysis of the interpretations and meanings users give to their interactions with the device demonstrates that users can remain socially connected through file sharing, collective usage, and group identification in the form of trends. Findings should not suggest that personal technologies do not privatize pubic life, but that forms of social connection also emerge from their usage.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The principal goal of this study was to extend existing knowledge on the effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on relationships. Results indicated that quality of CMC predicted increased perceptions of social support and relationship satisfaction. Results further suggested that CMC enabled participants to manage more effectively relational tensions of autonomy-connection and openness-closedness. Specifically, individuals used CMC to retain higher levels of conversational control, and to maintain greater numbers of relationships with decreased levels of investment.