A CCA Analysis of How Media Cover Military Policies Regarding Trans Service Members and Veterans: Implications for Policy, Healthcare, and Wellbeing

Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Communication

Major Professor

Ambar Basu, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Steven R. Wilson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Marleah Dean Kruzel, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Joshua M. Scacco, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Dinorah Martinez Tyson, Ph.D.

Keywords

constructivist grounded theory, content analysis, health communication, transgender and genderqueer people

Abstract

The military is the leading employer of transgender and gender diverse (trans) people in the United States, and trans people are twice as likely to serve in the U.S. Military compared to the national average. This dissertation analyzes newspaper coverage of transgender service members and veterans between the end of President Obama’s administration and the early months of President Biden’s administration. Guided by the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA) this dissertation focused on cross-paradigmatic questions regarding the role of voice (e.g., quoting or paraphrasing various sources) in this coverage. Specifically, I assessed (a) which groups of people are being cited most often, (b) the topics most frequently discussed in this coverage, and (c) how notions of gender and the military are produced through discursive means in this coverage. To engage in this analysis, I developed a mixed methods approach to content analysis to study news media coverage. This method draws from both traditional approaches to content analysis and constructivist grounded theory. The purpose of this method is to demonstrate both the magnitude of a studied phenomenon (i.e., the degree to which it can be observed within society), and the underlying assumptions made about a studied phenomenon (i.e., how ideas are created and shaped by discursive means) within a single project. Findings from this dissertation offers important implications for communication theory, method, and reflections on practice.

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