Maddie alongside thesis mentor Professor Janine Parry and committee members Professor Gina Shelton and Professor Jeff Ryan (from left to right) after completing her defense

Author: Maddie Johnson | Major: Journalism, Political Science | Semester: Spring 2024

I was inspired to pursue research under the guidance of Dr. Janine Parry, university professor of political science, after taking her course on Arkansas Politics during my sophomore year. The theme of the shifting partisan landscape of the state and the U.S. South we explored in this class related directly to what I had observed in an internship in the governor’s office, and I wanted to learn more about the topic.

After initially meeting with Dr. Parry to explore how this idea could be studied in an undergraduate thesis, we set out to examine policy-related word frequencies in the Arkansas governor’s debates throughout the last 20 years to see if they have shifted in accordance with the shifting partisan landscape. More specifically, I was able to utilize speech-to-text transcription software to generate transcripts for each of these debates and then analyze word frequencies based on these. I then graphed and charted which topics were most prevalent throughout the debates and found a substantial increase in focus on nationalized issues within state election dialogue. I utilized the same method for analyzing the questions asked of candidates by reporters and found a stronger pattern of increased focus by journalists on national issues and questions over candidates’ personal lives at the expense of the more state-centered, policy-focused questions that once dominated the debates of the early 2000s.

Throughout this process, I was reminded of the importance of not being afraid to ask for help from those overseeing my thesis and serving on my committee. Drawing on the knowledge and experience of my thesis mentor was incredibly invaluable not just in her encouragement but in her suggestions of publications to read and learn from in making my own thesis edits. Weekly check-ins with her, whether through email or visiting her office hours in-person, always proved to be a source of inspiration, which serves to illustrate that while the independence of taking the initiative to complete an undergraduate honors thesis on one’s own is important, the insights gained from working with such accomplished faculty in the process are just as impactful, if not more so.

The thesis defense experience was one that was intimidating beforehand but proved to be an opportunity to engage in a group conversation with my committee members on areas of interest such as media literacy and voter turnout. It was especially enjoyable to have the conversation shaped by the varying specialties of each of the committee members, from state politics to political extremism and anthropology.

I am deeply grateful to Dr. Parry for her constant support, encouragement, and diligence in mentoring me throughout this project. I am also deeply appreciative of Dr. Jeff Ryan, Professor Gina Shelton, and Dr. Mike Plavcan for serving on my honors thesis committee, reading my final work, and providing feedback. I am confident that the experience I gained in research, writing, editing, and presentation will be invaluable both personally and professionally, and I look forward to expanding on these skills as a law student at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis this fall. I am deeply grateful to the University of Arkansas Honors College for supporting this research and this experience through a research grant; I am fortunate to have been able to dedicate more time and focus to this project because of this generosity.