Date

4-29-2026

Department

School of Communication and the Arts

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Communication (PhD)

Chair

Erin Black

Keywords

Communication, Rhetorical Situation, Constraints, Exigence, Audience, Aviation, Aviation Safety, Pilot Errors, Aviation Communication

Disciplines

Communication

Abstract

Using qualitative content analysis to organize the thematic elements of Bitzer’s (1968) rhetorical situations, the researcher provides actionable insights into reducing errors and improving aviation communication. The problem lies in the gap between aviation communication and rhetorical situations to determine if this theory impacts pilot errors and affects flight safety. Strategies in this area must be improved to ensure effective communication among pilots and between them, control towers, and other contributors in the aviation industry. This dissertation aims to apply rhetorical situations to enhance communication strategies and improve flight safety by analyzing NTSB reports, while using the software, MAXQDA, to analyze themes based on the rhetorical situation. This analysis seeks to understand how aviation communication can be enhanced by applying Bitzer's (1968) rhetorical situation. The researcher developed codes (keywords) and organized them with qualitative content analysis using a thematic analysis approach elements based on three elements of rhetorical situations: constraints, exigence, and the audience. After analyzing the data with MAXQDA, the researcher has demonstrated that rhetorical situations can help the audience better understand what NTSB reports are sharing with the media. By color coding key terms and phrases that relate to these three elements of the rhetorical situations, the code segments are easily paraphrased and proofread about each aviation accident. These factors help the audience better understand the broader scope of aviation accidents.

Download

Included in

Communication Commons

Share

COinS