Use of Legitimating Strategies in Control

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines the legitimation of an institutionalized but contested practice. The methods used by its proponents to defend the practice, the content of their defense, and how this is covered by media are analyzed. This study advances understanding of the strategies and techniques used to influence public opinion and policy outcomes in an environment in which both the amount and complexity of information are rapidly increasing. Findings from this study will be valuable to society by increasing public knowledge of democratic decision-making in an area that has both fiscal consequences and consequences for social opportunity. Qualitative data are drawn from public documents and narratives from 1995 to 2018 of three groups with diverse interests, and from interviews with members of these groups. These data are analyzed using the theoretical concept of frames. Messages derived from the public documents of the three groups are compared to media coverage of them. Triangulation among data sources is employed to reduce bias. This study enhances understanding of legitimation processes by focusing on the legitimation of established but contested and unstable social practices. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.