Date
9-17-2026
Department
School of Communication and the Arts
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Communication (PhD)
Chair
Carol Hepburn
Keywords
religious communication, framing theory, prospect theory, mask-wearing, X, COVID-19
Disciplines
Communication
Recommended Citation
Farzinpour, Michael J., "A Quantitative Content Analysis of Major United States-Based Religious Organizations' Framing of Mask-Wearing on X (Formerly Twitter) During COVID-19" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8897.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8897
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative content analysis was to examine how major U.S.-based religious organizations framed mask-wearing on X (formerly Twitter) during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether identifiable framing cues were associated with observable audience engagement. Grounded in framing theory and prospect theory, the study analyzed publicly available tweets posted by 14 nationally prominent U.S. megachurches and affiliated public-facing organizational representatives between March 2020 and December 2022. The final sample consisted of 1,288 tweets. Tweets were coded for gain- and loss-framed valence-framing cues, compliance- and resistance-oriented frame-orientation cues, and engagement outcomes measured through publicly visible likes, comments, and retweets. Because engagement variables were highly skewed, Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare engagement between tweets with and without identifiable framing cues. Results indicated that explicit mask-wearing framing cues were rare. Valence-framing cues were present in 30 tweets, and frame-orientation cues were present in 31 tweets. Despite this limited distribution, tweets containing identifiable valence-framing cues differed significantly from tweets without such cues in likes, comments, and retweets. Tweets containing identifiable frame-orientation cues also differed significantly from tweets without such cues across all three engagement outcomes. These results suggest that identifiable mask-wearing framing cues were associated with higher engagement. In addition, likes and retweets were sensitive to unusually high-engagement observations. The study contributes to scholarship on religious communication, health communication, and digital framing by clarifying how faith-based framing corresponded with observable engagement during a contested public health crisis.
