Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploration Into Health Equity Discourse In Mississippi: Organizational Commitments And Practitioner Perspectives, Thuy-Vy Lillian Pham

Honors Theses

This thesis takes a sociological approach to examine healthcare workers' beliefs and medical organizations’ solidarity statements related to diversity and equity and how these discourses aligned and/or diverged. Through interviews with healthcare providers in Mississippi and content analysis of solidarity statements, the study finds that discussions on health disparities more frequently addressed socioeconomic inequality rather than systemic racism, diverging from organizational statements. This emphasis may partly stem from the demographics of the study participants, who were predominantly White—which also reflected the staff where they worked. Additionally, while healthcare workers recognized structural issues related to health disparities, they often showed hesitancy …

Diver Perceived Value And Satisfaction On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Ka'lon Duncanson

Honors Theses

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is known for its coastal beauty and the tourism that comes from the recreational activities associated with the water. However, there appears to be an underserved segment of the tourism industry. The coast provides opportunities for local scuba divers to take part in a range of diving activities, but there is minimal support for this tourism activity in Mississippi. There is a need for greater understanding about what local divers value in their diving experiences and how this might lead to greater satisfaction with this activity. Along with overall perceived value, the argument is made that …

"I Have A God That Sits High And Looks Down Low": Police Violence, Grief, And The Black Maternal Experience, Klaria Holmes

Honors Theses

Despite the recent exposure that police violence in America has received, of the related research that has been conducted, very little of it discusses the grief experience of victims’ families. The most significant insight given to that experience lies in the interviews of those family members that typically take place shortly after the tragedy. However, once the cameras and news stations leave, these families and communities must grapple with tremendous loss, oftentimes with limited support. Given that police violence impacts Black and people of color (POC) significantly more than their White counterparts, the aim of this research was to explore …

The Interaction Of Loyalty Status And Need For Status On Rewards Donations Through Perceived Social Exclusion, Clancy Slay

Honors Theses

Rewards programs are commonplace with companies seeking a competitive advantage and creating consumer loyalty. A newer development in rewards programs allows consumers to donate points rather than personally receiving these benefits. With more than $48 billion moving through these programs annually, understanding how to encourage consumers to donate rewards points has tremendous implications for reallocating funds to support worthy causes (Dorotic et al., 2017). Research on consumer donations within rewards programs is virtually absent, and many unique factors to these programs suggest prior findings on charitable giving may not generalize. One of these factors is the prevalence of hierarchical or …

An Analysis Of Public Library Services To The Military Community, Rachel Brown

Honors Theses

The military community is an underserved population in many public libraries. Historically, military bases have had a dedicated military library on base, but in some cases budget cuts have led to their closure. The closure of military libraries provides an opportunity for public libraries to fill the gap and provide support to the military community. Despite not being equipped to handle many of the unique challenges that Service members and their families encounter, public libraries have been making great strides towards providing support to the military community as a whole. Current research focuses on how military lifestyle impacts psychosocial development, …

¿Cómo Se Dice...? The Spanish Use Of Hispanic College Students, Christopher Castaneda

Honors Theses

The Spanish language is very prominent in the United States. Millions of Spanishspeakers live there, and the use of the language in their day to day lives has augmented the presence of it in an otherwise Anglophone country. However, there are certain factors that may influence how often Spanish speakers actually use their language in this country. This study sought to analyze two: the existing anti-Hispanic attitudes in the United States and the parental/caretaker level of education of Spanish-speaking people. This study aimed to conduct an analysis of college-aged Hispanic students in order to conclude the extent to which those …

Investigating The Viability Of Virtual Job Interview Training Through Pre-Ets, Elyse Hayes

Honors Theses

This study used a between-subjects repeated measures design to determine the efficacy of virtual reality job interview training (VR-JIT) as an instrument for providing workplace readiness training under pre-ETS when compared to current real-world methods. Of the total participants (N=19), 57.89% were male and 42.11% were female, and autism (36.84%) and cognitive impairment (47.37%) were the most frequently reported diagnoses. The results of a paired samples T-test were non-significant with t (8) = 0.13, p = 0.9029 with the use of mock interviews and t (9) = 0.68, p = .5156 with the use of virtual reality. The results of …

A Lost Reference Point: How Placing Our Identities In The State Has Facilitated Social Polarization Among Americans, Dylan Evans

Honors Theses

We are living in a moment of societal breakdown, as America is increasingly plagued with fractious polarization along political and cultural lines. The potential causes of this are complex and exist within a broad spectrum of possibilities, with the potential solutions being even more contentious. However, it is my contention that identity is the central issue here. As people begin to place their identities in a religious devotion to the liberal state as opposed to a transcendent ideal, once simple, agreed-upon premises become harsh divides, and polarization ensues. To fully evaluate how this has happened, and thus how it may …

Legitimate And Deceptive Media: An Analysis Of Sources Used In Conjunction With #Defundingthepolice Using Twitter Api, Isabel Tilford

Honors Theses

The idea of defunding the police has been circulating on social media for the past few years. This thesis seeks to analyze what types of sources people use in conjunction with the #DefundthePolice hashtag to define their understanding of defunding the police. Using Twitter API to search for #DefundthePolice, Tweets were analyzed and rated based on the credibility of links embedded within each post. Each link was assigned a credibility rating of one through three, one meaning not credible, two meaning somewhat credible, and three meaning credible. Each link was classified into one of eight categories: news, statements, advertisements, advertisements/propaganda, …

The Effects Of Social Media On Mental Health And Career Planning, Spencer A. Rowan

Honors Theses

Social media use is prevalent and necessary in society—nearly anything can be accomplished with a mobile device or smartphone. Among the US population, two thirds of American adults admit to using social media (Perrin, 2015) and in 2022, Georgiev (2023) found Americans spent an average of two and a half hours daily on social media. Furthermore, social media use is tied to mental well-being, work confidence levels, and feelings of being an imposter (Johnson et al., 2020; Uram & Skalski, 2022; Hernandez & Chalk, 2021; Myers, 2021; Ramm, 2019).

This project examined the role of social media use among college …

Language Experience: The Perception Of Foreign Language Acquisition Among University Adults, Lileth A. Stricklin

Honors Theses

While bilingualism has always existed within the history of the U.S. and is the global norm, mainstream approaches to learning have traditionally been monolingually centered and fail to employ approaches that produce sustainable motivation towards foreign language acquisition in students. This study sought to investigate the perceptions adult individuals display towards acquiring foreign language skills, emphasizing distinctions exhibited between monolinguals and their multilingual counterparts. A mixed-method approach in the analysis of 506 survey responses yielded results that suggest that university adults generally display positive perceptions towards foreign language learning. Distinctions in perception between monolinguals and multilinguals were very few with …

How Do Stress, Social Support, And Mental Health Relate In The Lives Of College Students?, Angel Moore

Honors Theses

Stress experienced in college can have considerable negative consequences upon those that experience it and do not properly cope. Perceived social support has repeatedly been found to act as buffer against these negative consequences and effects (Dwyer & Cummings, 2001). The present study sought to understand specific details surrounding the stress experienced by students, their current social support, and their mental health. Nine college student participants completed an interview about recent stress and measures related to social support and symptoms of mental health problems. Correlations among these factors revealed that overall social support is negatively associated with stress and mental …

Questioning The Use Of Race And Sex-Based Statistics In Economic Loss Valuations In Tort Litigation: A Comparison Of Mississippi To New York, Caitlin Phillips

Honors Theses

In tort litigation, specifically catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, forensic economists are employed to determine a plaintiff’s projected worklife and life expectancy, which is then presented to a jury as lost income. Often, projections of life expectancy and worklife use race and sex-based statistics. For example, a white female, on average, may live a significantly longer life than a black male. Additionally, said white female may, on average, work for fewer years than her male counterparts. In this research, case law of Mississippi and New York were read closely for mentions of race and sex-based statistics in forensic economics …

An Exploration Of The Correlation Between Body Mass And Skeletal Measurements Of The Long Bone Joints And Diaphyses, Caroline Genius

Honors Theses

Body mass is a characteristic of the human body that can aid in narrowing down potential identifications of unidentified individuals. However, when faced with skeletal remains, body mass is not easily ascertained, especially when the remains are incomplete. This research explores the potential correlation between body mass and long bone dimensions in order to aid in identification efforts. The limited research done prior has been conducted almost exclusively on the lower limbs—therefore, one of the primary foci of this study is to assess the efficacy of using the joint surfaces and shaft measurements of the upper limbs. Five long bones …

Breaking The Cycle Of Stigma: The Role Of Majority Group Stigmatization In Contributing To Internalized Stigma Among Racial Minorities, Camryn Harris

Honors Theses

This study investigates whether individuals hold more stigma against minority group members with mental health issues based on race. Individuals are more susceptible to the negligence of treatment and further assistance due to increased stigmatization associated with mental health. Internalized stigma is more prominent within marginalized communities due to various co-existing factors such as socioeconomic status, inadequate resources, aversive health experiences, and low education levels infiltrated by systemic discrimination and structural inequality. In addition, minority group members are also more at risk for mental health disorders due to these factors. Past research has shown that stigmatization against individuals with mental …

Examining Financial Knowledge Levels Of Students Of Color Versus White Students, Anecia Flewellen

Honors Theses

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) focuses on the way that cognitive factors such as self-efficacy interact with contextual factors, like race, to predict goal setting behaviors (Lent, 2013). The SCCT framework has shown to predict academic goal setting like intention to graduate, with higher academic self-efficacy resulting in higher graduation intention (White & Parrone-McGovern, 2017; Wu, 2018). One contextual factor that has an ability to affect academic self-efficacy is financial stress, which includes student debt (White & Parrone-McGovern, 2017). Students who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) have more debt on average and a harder time paying off …

The Effectiveness Of The University Of Southern Mississippi's Marketing And Branding Efforts Among Prospective Students, Amy Clevenger

Honors Theses

With enrollment rates expected to surge over the next decade, the competition

between institutions of higher learning will also increase. Because of this, marketing

material produced by all institutions will need to adjust to become more effective at

establishing brand identity to attract the attention of prospective students. Using Aaker’s

brand identity model as a framework to understand branding methods, this research aims

to identify marketing communication strategies that are more effective in a prospective

student’s decision-making process. The thesis also investigates prospective students’

recall and perception of marketing material produced by USM to determine its overall

effectiveness and differences …