Tweeting Government: an Analysis of Kenya's National

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Tweeting Government: an Analysis of Kenya's National TWEETING GOVERNMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S NATIONAL EXECUTIVE LEADERS’ USE OF TWITTER AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL PATRICK WANJOHI GITHINJI UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-AFRICA FALL, 2017 TWEETING GOVERNMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S NATIONAL EXECUTIVE LEADERS’ USE OF TWITTER AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL by PATRICK WANJOHI GITHINJI A Thesis Submitted to the School of Science and Technology in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-AFRICA FALL, 2017 i Student’s Declaration I, the undersigned, declare that this is my original work and has not been submitted to any other college, institution or university other than the United States International University- Africa in Nairobi for academic credit. Signed: ________________________ Date: __________________ Patrick W. Githinji (ID No 645313) ii Approval Page In accordance with United States International University – Africa policies, this thesis is accepted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Communication Studies Signed: ________________________ Date: _____________________ Lucy Wanjiku Gichaga, Ph.D. Supervisor & Assistant Professor, School of Communications, Cinematics and Creatives Arts Signed: ________________________ Date: _____________________ Kioko Ireri, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Journalism & Corporate Communications Signed: _______________________ Date: ____________________ Prof. Valerie P. Adema, Ph.D. Dean, School of Communications, Cinematics and Creatives Arts iii Copyright Copyright ©2017 By Patrick W. Githinji iv Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my thesis advisors, Dr. Lucy Wanjiku Gichaga, Department of Journalism, USIU-Africa and Prof. Nancy Muturi, A.Q Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Kansas State University (USA). The door to Dr. Gichaga office was always open whenever, I had a question about my research or writing. She consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever she thought I needed it. Prof. Muturi’s inspiration and can-do attitude were critical ingredients for completion of this thesis. I would also like to thank the experts who were involved in the coding process, Njeru Martin Murimi, Japhet Kirimi, Angela Maina, and Jimmy Ochieng’. Without their passionate participation and input, the coding and data analysis could not have been successfully conducted. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Wanjiku Njoroge, Dr. Maria Canudo, Prof. Kioko Ireri, Dr. Serede Sikolia, and Dr. Stephen Kimotho for their support. I am indebted to your very valuable comments on this thesis. I also thank my fellow classmates, Karoline Kanyeria, John Sande and Naomi Wariara for their moral support. v Dedication I dedicate my thesis work to God, my family many friends. A special feeling of gratitude to my loving parents, Andrew and Hellen Githinji, whose words of encouragement and push for tenacity still ring in my ears. My brother Kennedy and George, you are both very special. I also dedicate this dissertation to my many friends, especially; Finlay Kimani, Derrick Maingi, Desiree Gomes, Maureen Sande, Ian Mugoya, Emily Manjeru, Maryann Ngure and Eric Macharia Mahindu for supporting me throughout the process; I will always appreciate all you have done. I dedicate this work and give special thanks to Mercy Wangari my friend and mother to my wonderful son Ayden Wanjohi, for being there for me throughout the entire programme. Both of you have been my best cheerleaders. vi Table of Contents Student’s Declaration ............................................................................................................ ii Approval Page...................................................................................................................... iii Copyright ............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... v Dedication ............................................................................................................................ vi Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ vii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... x Abstract ............................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background of the study .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 5 1.3 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Objectives of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................. 8 1.6 Scope of the Study ....................................................................................................... 9 1.7 Limitation of the Study ................................................................................................ 9 1.8 Assumption of the Study .............................................................................................. 9 1.9 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 10 1.10 Operational Definition of Terms .............................................................................. 11 1.11 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................ 13 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................. 13 2.1.1 Dialogic Communications Theory ....................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Dialogic Loop ..................................................................................................... 13 2.1.3 Usefulness of information ................................................................................... 14 2.1.4 Generation of return visits ................................................................................... 14 2.1.5 Ease of use/interface ............................................................................................ 15 2.1.6 Conservation of visitors ....................................................................................... 15 2.2 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Overview of Twitter ................................................................................................... 20 2.3.1 Twitter use by political actors and elites .............................................................. 21 2.3.3 Government activities: Twitter in Government .................................................... 24 2.3.4 Interactions: Twitter in Kenya’s political and Government communications ........ 26 2.3.5 Kenyan on Twitter (#KOT) ................................................................................. 28 2.4 Study Gap .................................................................................................................. 29 2.5 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 31 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY......................................................................................... 31 3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................ 31 3.2 Population and Sampling Design ............................................................................... 32 3.3 Data Collection Methods............................................................................................ 33 3.3.1 The unit of analysis ............................................................................................. 33 3.3.2 Content categories .............................................................................................. 34 3.4 Data Analysis Procedures........................................................................................... 35 3.5 Study’s Reliability and Validity ................................................................................
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