Title Page
Abstract
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction to the Study 13
Background of the Study 14
Problem Statement 16
The identification of China's national image 16
The representativeness of China's national image 18
Purpose of the Study 19
Research Questions 20
Theoretical Foundation 21
Conceptual Framework 23
Nature of the Study 24
Scope and Delimitations 25
Limitations 27
Significance of the Study 28
Significance to Practice 29
Significance to Theory 29
Summary and Transition 30
Chapter 2. Literature Review 31
Theoretical Foundation 31
Framing Theory in Communication 31
Framing Effects in Media 34
Typology of Media Frames 37
Identification of Media Frames 39
Critique of Framing Theory in Mass Communication 42
Conceptual Framework 44
The Theoretical Framework of National Image 44
Connotation and Extension of National Image 47
The Construction of National Image 49
Literature Review 53
Briefings of China's National Image 54
Constructing China's Image from the Perspective of Journalism 57
Research on China's National Image in American Media 59
Critique of Literature of China's National Image 61
Summary 63
Chapter 3. Research Method 65
Research Setting 65
Research Design and Rationale 65
Role of the Researcher 67
Data Selection Logic 68
Methodology 73
Instrumentations 74
Data Collection Procedures 78
Data Analysis 91
Issues of Trustworthiness 94
Reliability 94
Dependability 95
Summary 97
Chapter 4. Results 98
Categorized Frames in NYT News on China 98
Diplomatic Relations of China 99
Security Concerns Related to China 107
Economic Topics about China 110
Political Issues in China 116
Environmental Assessment 122
The Role of China 123
Frames Extracted from China Daily News 131
Diplomatic Relations 131
Security Concerns 134
Economic Topics 135
Political Issues 138
Environmental Assessment 141
The Role of China 141
Comparison of the Frames and Image 143
Summary 147
Chapter 5. Discussion, Recommendations, and Conclusions 149
Discussion 149
Interpretation of Findings 154
Implications 157
Limitations of the Study 160
Recommendations for Future Research 162
Conclusions 163
References 165
Appendices 192
Appendix A. Sampled News from NYT 192
Appendix B. Sampled News from China Daily 202
Table 1. Major Categories of Themes and Numbers of Items 89
Table 2. The News Articles in July 2017 in the New York Times 92
Table 3. The Categories and Sub-categories in NYT News 99
Table 4. Frames Identified under the Category of Diplomatic Relations 100
Table 5. Frames Identified under the Category of Security Concerns 108
Table 6. Frames Identified under the Category of Economic Topics 111
Table 7. Frames Identified under the Category of Political Issues 116
Table 8. Articles Focused on Hong Kong published on NYT in 2016-2017 119
Table 9. Frames Identified under the Category of Environment Assessment 122
Table 10. Frames Identified under the Category of the Role of China 123
Table 11. Direct References of China's Image in NYT Articles 128
Table 12. The Frames under the Category of Diplomatic Relations in China Daily 131
Table 13. The Frames under the Category of Security Concerns in China Daily 135
Table 14. The Frames under the Category of Economic Topics in China Daily 135
Table 15. The Frames under the Category of Political Issues in China Daily 139
Table 16. The Frames under the Role of China in China Daily 142
Table 17. Comparison of Frames in NYT and China Daily 143
Figure 1. The Cognition Lens Model of National Image 23
Figure 2. Mind Map of China's National Image through Framing 66
Figure 3. Top 100 Words Frequency in the form of Word Cloud 81
Figure 4. Top 100 Word Frequency in the forms of Clusters 84
Figure 5. Monthly Distribution of NYT Opinion Pieces from 2016 - 2017 91
Figure 6. Pie chart for the main categories in the NYT News 94
Figure 7. Sub-frames for Trade of China 115