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A Comparative Study Of Performance, Impediments, Advantages, And Disadvantages Of Construction And Professional Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Ravi Sharma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Construction and professional disadvantaged, minority, and women business enterprises (DBE/MBE/WBEs) face several impediments that hinder their business growth. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the important factors that affect their business performance, impediments faced by these business enterprises, advantages, and disadvantages of being DBE (DBE will be an umbrella designation for DBE, MBE, and WBE). This study compares the difference in responses from these two groups. A total of 333 business enterprises responded to the questionnaire. The survey results showed that construction firms gave significantly higher importance to "financial" issues and "safe work practices" as their most important factors …

The Effect Of Marriage On Stage At Diagnosis And Survival In Women With Cervical Cancer, Sanae El Ibrahimi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Marriage is associated with improved health outcomes for many conditions. Married persons enjoy financial stability, social and emotional support, and tend to have better control of health risk behaviors compared to the unmarried. The marriage scene is changing continuously. Americans are marrying less or delaying the engagement to an older age. They are divorcing more, they choose cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, or engage in premarital relationships. As a consequence, barely half of Americans were married in 2011 compared to close to three quarters of Americans were married in the sixties. With the increase of the unmarried population - …

What Works In Suicide Bereavement: What Helps And What Hurts?, Quintin Hunt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Suicide is one of the most painful grief experiences that any family may experience. The suicide bereavement literature, though small, is replete with research that shows family and systemic impacts of suicide. The literature also includes constant calls for family- and systemic-based intervention as every part of society is impacted. Research in the field of marriage and family therapy, however, has ignored suicide and suicide bereavement almost entirely. The purpose of this qualitative study is to develop a more thorough understand of the grief that survivors of suicide experience and to systemically understand what helps and hurts the grieving process. …

The Lived Experiences Of Acute-Care Bedside Registered Nurses Caring For Patients And Their Families With Limited English Proficiency, Jami-Sue Coleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Approximately 8.6% of the total U.S. population is considered limited English proficient (LEP), a term that has been used by official US federal policy and will be used throughout this study. In a landmark report, the Institute of Medicine found that minorities received lower-quality health care than Caucasians even when insurance status, income, and other factors were equivalent. These differences were tied to issues such as bias, stereotypes and communication barriers between patients and their caregivers. In the hospital setting, registered nurses provide the most direct contact with patients and their families. Effective communication between patients and health care professionals …

Investigating Potential Factors That Influence Recruitment For Parenting Skills Classes, Rachel Elizabeth Davis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Juvenile delinquency and child maltreatment are prevalent in the U.S., particularly among ethnic minority children. Although parent skills training is effective in preventing these problems, recruitment and retention rates of parents from ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic minority groups are less than satisfactory. In a qualitative study of 13 high-risk African American mothers, Davis (2009) investigated the deterrents to recruitment and participation for parent skills training programs. The resulting theory, the Mothers Shouldn't Need Help Script, explicates the relationship between the beliefs reported by these mothers and participation in parenting skills classes. To build on these findings, the overarching purpose of …

Effects Of Pecs Phase Iii Application Training On Independent Mands In Young Children With Autism, Jessica June Love

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of PECS phase III application training on independent mands in young children with autism. Participants were five children with autism ranging from ages 2 to 4 years old. A multiple baseline across participants was used to evaluate acquisition of independent correct mands across baseline and treatment conditions during training with the PECS Phase III iPadTMapplication.

Data for Participant Four did not demonstrate experimental control directly, as he showed high levels of mands during baseline. The functional relationship for Participant One was questionable as she too likely learned to mand by …

What Factors Impact The Effectiveness Of International Non Governmental Organizations (Ingos) In Ethiopia, Ermias Abraham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the 1970s Ethiopia has experienced a massive increase of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) in its territory. The multiplication of these INGOs seems to be the result of the activities of both international donors and governments in Ethiopia. International donors considered INGOs as efficient, flexible or adoptive to the needs of the community and more trustworthy than government agencies in implementing development projects. International donors also believe that the proliferation of INGOs in Ethiopia will stimulate the growth of political democracy and trade liberalization. The government allowed the influx of these INGOs in order to tap the resources they bring …

Examination Of Student, Program, And Institutional Support Characteristics That Relate To Pga Golf Management Students' Intent To Persist, Christopher Paul Cain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The examination of student (entry characteristics, academic performance, career goals, and interaction with peers and faculty), program (programmatic interventions, academic major, and learning communities), and institutional support characteristics (financial aid and residence) that relate to cohort intent to persist are studied among 490 PGA Golf Management University Program undergraduate students from 12 universities. Results from this analysis will offer insight into which persistence factors lead to students' matriculation to the next cohort, with the ultimate goal of program completion. Identifying persistence factors related to student, program, and institutional support characteristics will help guide PGA Golf Management University programs by: recruiting …

Examining Household Identity Through Lithic Technology At The Harris Site, Justin Albert Demaio

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Utilitarian technology is often studied by archaeologists to understand what specific functions and activities these items represent in a past population's daily life. However, it is important not to forget that technology manufacture, use, and discard is embedded in a social context. Flintknapping is a skill that requires close instruction and training so that the desired outcome can be achieved. This training requires daily mentoring from other individuals in the community, many times within one's own family. These daily interactions create learning frameworks through which craft knowledge is transmitted. Technological style and domestic processing activities can be used as an …

Vitamin And Mineral Intake Relative To The Dris In Young Adults, Samantha M. Coogan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

INTRODUCTION: In general, most college-aged students live highly, and newly, independent lives. Although campuses offer wide varieties of food choices, most choices do not meet the standards set by the RDA or DRIs, per NHANES 1999-2000.

METHODS: In order to document these eating patterns, 1001 male (n=379) and female (n=622) college-aged students quantified dietary intake for three consecutive days using the food log method. Assessment reports were generated and analyzed in order to determine the percentage of the DRI in both males and females, and groups with a BMI of less than 20 and greater than 30. Tests for correlation …

Examining The Relationships Between Internalizing And Externalizing Problems And Academic Achievement, Lara Elizabeth Conrad

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The relationship between internalizing and externalizing problems and academic achievement for children and adolescents has been inconclusive. Particularly the relationship between the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) reports of internalizing and externalizing problems and academic performance on the Woodcock-Johnson, Tests of Achievement, Third Edition (WJ-III:ACH). The current study examined the self and parent reports of internalizing and externalizing problems as measured by the BASC-2 and the relationship with academic skills as measured by the WJ-III:ACH. The referral source (private practice or school setting) was evaluated for severity of presenting internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Secondary data analysis was …

The Ethics Glass Ceiling: A Historical Analysis Of Actions By The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On Ethics, Michael James Gordon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The breaking of moral and ethical codes has been with humankind since history was first recorded. As such, the public wants to know that their elected officials are held accountable and cannot disregard enshrined legal rights without incurring broader personal and societal consequences. Within the hallowed halls of government, the "unrequested" House Committee on Ethics (HCE) provides the forum of accountability.

In this qualitative, historical case study, HCE documents are analyzed and both the internal and external motivating factors behind the actions of the HCE members are examined. Computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, namely ATLAS.ti, was used to look …

3-D Oropharyngeal Airway Analysis Of Different Antero-Posterior And Vertical Craniofacial Skeletal Patterns In Children And Adolescents, Chi Kim Huynh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sleep apnea disorder has recently emerged as a significant public health issue. While the prevalence of obesity is on the rise among children, it is one of the main risk factors associated with apnea. Upper airway dimensions and morphology seem to be major components of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and can be affected by different craniofacial patterns. The purpose of this retrospective, cross-sectional pilot study is to correlate gender, Body Mass Index, risk for OSA, neck circumference, and 3-D oropharyngeal airway dimensions in children and adolescents with different antero-posterior (AP) and vertical craniofacial skeletal patterns. A total of 86 pre-orthodontic …

Evaluation Of The Relationship Between Nutrition Knowledge And Disordered Eating Risk In Female Collegiate Athletes, Amy L. Miracle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Involvement in collegiate sports among female athletes is at an all-time high with approximately 198,000 currently participating, (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2012). With this increase in female participation in collegiate sports, the pressures of sport participation and academics lead some women to engage in harmful eating behaviors. These harmful eating behaviors may lead to the development of disordered eating (C. Johnson, Powers, & Dick, 1999; Quatromoni, 2008; Reel, SooHoo, Petrie, Greenleaf, & Carter, 2010; Reinking & Alexander, 2005). Many factors have been identified as contributing to the development of disordered eating but nutrition knowledge or lack thereof, has yet to …

Comparative Direct Democracy: A Study Of Institutions And Individuals, Donald D. Mirjanian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Do institutions matter? This dissertation examines the role of institutions in the context of comparative direct democracy. Through an institutionalist framework, this study considers how the context in which the mechanism of direct democracy is first introduced has an impact on later usage, and how individuals operate when constrained by those very institutions. In particular, I examine the cases of Italy, France, Uruguay, and Venezuela and find that the inclusion of direct democracy mechanisms (most commonly, the referendum device) is more likely to occur when previously excluded "out-groups" participate in constitutional formation. In addition, I find that institutional design is …

The Effects Of The Jccs Curriculum On Juveniles' Legal Knowledge, Competency, And Anxiety, Leslie Strasser Murdock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current law requires that juveniles be competent to stand trial prior to their involvement as defendants in court. According to Dusky v. US, a defendant must have a rational and factual understanding of the court proceedings to be deemed competent to stand trial. Past studies call into question whether juveniles at any age could meet the understanding element of the standard articulated in Dusky v. US (1960). Additionally, youth with disabilities have less knowledge than their typical peers. Besides a lack of legal knowledge, court related anxiety has also been found to have a significant effect on youths going to …

Factors Associated With Parental Decision Making And Childhood Vaccination, Zuwen Qiu-Shultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to better understand factors affecting immunization status, logistic regression was used to assess the association of various socio-demographic factors and whether parents would have their child immunized if not a state mandate. Factors included in the study were race, household income, number of children in the household, number of adults in the household, if the child had a primary provider, if the child had a health check-up in the last twelve months, and medical insurance status of the child. The combined Nevada Kindergarten Health Survey Result of 2009-2010 (Year Two) and 2010-2011 (Year Three) conducted by the Nevada …

Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Academic Cheating And The Influence Of Achievement Motivation With Online And Face-To-Face Learning Environments, Sherée Christine Royer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There are many components contributing to academically dishonest behaviors and with improvements in technology, methods for cheating have expanded to web-based classrooms. This study focuses on academically dishonest behaviors in online and face-to-face (F2F) course formats in an attempt to better understand the impact of cheating in these two learning environments. Additional factors in this study include the relationship between student and faculty achievement orientation and classroom context through the use of vignettes. Participants were students and faculty from a large Southwestern University and faculty members from a local smaller college in the same area. Respondents completed inventories using a …

Study Of Seat-Belt Usage In Nevada & Driver's Performance, Atul Sancheti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), motor vehicle incidents has been reported to be the leading cause of the accidental deaths in the United States accounting for more than 42,000 deaths every year. Distracted driving and Driving under influence (DUI) are the major contributors to these roadway crashes. Moreover, drivers fatigue and drowsiness behind the wheel is another important factor contributing to the high fatality rate. These factors results in significant decline in the driver's abilities of perception, recognition and vehicle control.

It has also been reported by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that about 292,471 …

Perceptions And Definition Of Infidelity: A Multimethod Study, Sarah Schonian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most couples in committed relationships have implicit or explicit rules regarding infidelity. However, not all partners view infidelity in the same way, and the discrepancy in opinions can lead to problems in the relationship and can complicate the healing process. The purpose of this study was to better understand how people define infidelity and the variables that influence perceptions about infidelity. A mutlimethod design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on participants' perceptions and definitions of infidelity. Quantitative data was collected through participants' answers to questions on a scale about perceptions of potentially unfaithful behaviors that was developed …

Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis In Hispanic Children And Adolescents: A Lateral Cephalometric Study, Alyssa E. Sprowl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lateral cephalometric radiographs have been used for years to help diagnose skeletal and dental patterns in Orthodontics. Within the last decade, these radiographs have caught the interest of the department of Anthropology for the identification of gender within the adult and adolescent population. Numerous publications have been made but failed to identify sexual dimorphism in the pre-adolescent population. 303 lateral cephalograms of pre and post Latino adolescence age ranging from 6.5 to 17.9 years old were obtained from University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) digital database. 25 variables were identified and plotted with all linear and angular measurements transferred into …

Dehumanization: As It Is Present Within Bullying Behaviors In An Anti-Bullying Program, Katelyn Amos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bullying is an aggressive act performed repeatedly on another enacting a power differential. This thesis utilized data collected from The Anti-Bullying Prevention Pilot Program (ABPPP), which studied bullying within eleven schools in a large metropolitan area in southwestern United States. The program was aimed to increase positive school climate through the use of Operation Respect and Welcoming Schools programs.

Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) and mixed methods approaches were used in order to analyze interviews and questionnaires. Grounded Theory analysis procedures were used to code the information, and thick descriptions were utilized to illustrate the occurrence of dehumanization among across four …

Developing Ethical Competence: The Perspective Of Nurse Educators From Pre-Licensure Baccalaureate Nursing Programs Accredited By The Commission On Collegiate Nursing Education, Jennifer Lee Bartlett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nurses face ethically-charged situations every day, yet ethics education is not universally integrated into pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing programs. Like other forms of competence, ethical competence requires development. Nurse educators are poised to impact on the competence of their students, both defining the ethics content and designing students' exposure. The purpose of this study is to describe the concept of ethical competence from the perspective of baccalaureate nursing faculty and describe current methods of integration and evaluation of ethics education in pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing programs. This research will be conducted using a sequential (quantitative-qualitative) mixed method approach. The first phase of …

"What's In A Name?": Heteroglossia And History In Native Alaskan Names, Shannon Hannahs

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines Native Alaskan personal names and naming practices and how these names are being used to index cultural identity in Anchorage, Alaska. In order to do this, I follow Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of heteroglossia (1981), which states all words are populated with meaning from all of the contexts in which they have been used in the past. Native Alaskan personal names should be considered heteroglossic based on the Yup'ik/Cup'ik and Inupiaq beliefs that personal names are a type of soul that carries with it the characteristics of a person who uses it. When that person dies, the name-soul …

Managerial Behavioral Complexity And The Collegiate Registrar, Katherine Jeanette Humphreys

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Colleges often put an emphasis on the student experience and the student as a "customer" that should be courted, tracked, and understood. Yet, there are few academic studies that address the administrative roles that oversee the offices with direct student contact. All colleges have a registrar's office, or an office responsible for much of the institution's infrastructure from enrollment to graduation. Gunn & Backes (1992) point out, "In a climate where schools are competing for the best students, something as simple as making the registration system run smoothly and efficiently for the student can have major impacts, providing services that …

Examining The Inner Experience Of Four Individuals With Bipolar Disorder Using Descriptive Experience Sampling, Johanah Kang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bipolar disorder is a lifelong mood disorder with diagnostic criteria that provide a description of expected experiences of individuals diagnosed with BD (e.g., elevated mood, sadness, difficulty concentrating). Despite these criteria, the inner experience of these individuals is largely unknown. Understanding the inner experience of individuals diagnosed with BD may prove essential in understanding and treating BD. The present study examined the inner experience of four individuals diagnosed with BD using the Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) method (Hurlburt 1990, 1993, 2011). Results revealed all our participants had clear and prevalent experiences of sensory awareness. They also had difficulties apprehending and …

The Perceived Level Of Enjoyment In Sports Violence: An Experiment Examining How Sports Commentary, Fanship, And Gender Affect Viewer Emotions, Sarah Vineyard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This investigation examines if the independent variables of sports commentary, fanship, and gender affect the viewer's level of perceived enjoyment while watching sports violence through televised professional football and hockey clips. Previous studies have found that these three variables contribute most to a viewer's level of perceived enjoyment. This study aimed to test to see if that was still true, while taking into account new rules regarding violence by the National Football League and the National Hockey League. This thesis addresses all variables in one study, which something past research has failed to do.

Perhaps the most significant finding from …

Friends In The Desert Foundation, Inc. Program Evaluation, Gina Brooksbank, Jessica Wilde, Holly Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This report presents an evaluation of the Friends in the Desert, Foundation Incorporated (FID), a sit-down feeding program in downtown Henderson, Nevada. The evaluation identified both strengths of the program and opportunities for growth. Major components of this report are presented in the following order: scope of work, research design, findings, recommendations, conclusions and limitations. The report recommendations provide the agency’s members and principal stakeholder groups with proposals designed to improve the program’s financial position and long-term viability. These recommendations focus on opportunities for restructure, growth, and uninterrupted success.

FID is a sit-down feeding program located at St. Timothy’s Episcopal …

Examining The Inner Experience Of Left-Handers Using Descriptive Experience Sampling, Aadee Mizrachi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research suggests there are anatomical asymmetries of the human brain associated with right-hand or left-hand preference. In addition, left-handedness has been related to a wide range of psychological and physical problems. Despite these relationships, little is known about the inner experience of left-handers.

The present study, a replication of Mizrachi (2010) using a larger sample, used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) with three objectives: 1) examine the inner experience of left-handers; 2) compare the results of the present study to the results of Mizrachi (2010); and 3) compare the inner experience of left-handers to that of the general population as reported …

The Meaning Of Visual Thinking Strategies For Nursing Students, Margaret M. Moorman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nurse educators are called upon to provide creative, innovative experiences for students in order to prepare nurses to work in complex healthcare settings. As part of this preparation, teaching observational and communication skills is critical for nurses and can directly affect patient outcomes. Visual thinking strategies (VTS) are a teaching method that has been studied in primary education to develop communication and observational skills. VTS holds the possibility to improve these same skills in nursing students, but it has only been studied once with nursing students in a quantitative study. Therefore, this qualitative research study sought to explore how nursing …