MA Community Psychology Theses
Title
Academic Grievances: An Exploratory Study
Date of Award
8-1-2016
Document Type
Restricted Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Community Psychology, MA
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Reed Mueller, Ph.D.
Abstract
This study will explore the reasons that students submit academic grievances in an online higher education institution and the association between academic grievances and transactional distances. A review of available literature on common conflict resolution styles in higher education and literature available on transactional distance theory is included. The researcher utilized exploratory content analysis to review policies from an online higher education institution and also utilized grounded theory methodology to analyze academic grievances from an available database from the same institution. It was found that an association does exist between academic grievances and transactional distance; however, more studies are needed in order to make the results generalizable. Recommendations were also made to the institution of study regarding the continued analysis of grievance social artifacts, as the results may provide a detailed look into the application and reception of new policies.