Digital Commons Network^™

Job Characteristics And The Psychological Well-Being Of Older Workers, Anne M. Shattuck

Master's Theses and Capstones

Changes in public and private pensions as well as demographic and economic changes will likely lead to higher labor force participation rates for older adults in the future. Little research has examined the impact of work on the well-being of older adults beyond simply comparing those who work with those who do not. Using data from the 2002 and 2004 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, this thesis examined whether specific job characteristics---namely job flexibility, job stress, and the workplace climate's friendliness to older workers---were associated with depressive symptoms among a group of workers aged 62 to 73. Cross-sectional …

Dirty Whites And Dark Secrets: Sex And Race In "Peyton Place", Sally Hirsh-Dickinson

Doctoral Dissertations

"Dirty Whites and Dark Secrets: Sex and Race in Peyton Place " suggests that Grace Metalious's 1956 potboiler Peyton Place contains a critique of race which may have been just as unsettling to a mid-century readership as the novel's famed critique of sexuality. Peyton Place is most often said to be "about" sex. In this study, I argue that it is also "about" race, and that it is the racing of the sex that may have provoked the scandalized outcry against the novel. My work posits that Peyton Place's controversial reputation resulted from Metalious's racialized representations of sexuality and the …

The Effects Of Market Transition On The Distribution Of Health Care In China: 1991--2000, Rachel Marks

Master's Theses and Capstones

This research aims to examine the changes in the availability and accessibility of health care available to Chinese citizens over a nine year period. I use market transition theory as a framework for examining these changes. Market transition theory posits that as a government moves from a socialist system to a market-based economy, a new stratification order will emerge. Changes in the Chinese health care system are examined using 1991 and 2000 data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Using ordinary least-squares and logistic regression, I analyze differences in access and availability of health care between ethnic groups, rural …

The Disneyization Of Service Work In Financial Organizations, Karen Schreiner

Master's Theses and Capstones

In recent years, financial companies have adopted "the Disney Way" in their approaches to customer service. Along with other organizations, financial companies place emphasis on the service they provide and are training associates to stage a "show" for their customers. Financial organizations increasingly look toward Disney as a model for customer "delight", and use Disney's methods of training to mold associates who are constantly smiling and friendly, use a company-written script, and "perform" as part of their job duties.

My study investigates the nature of performance-based customer service through a content analysis of bank teller employment advertisements and banking advertisements …

Perceptions Of A Generation Gap By Contact And Perceptions Of Intergenerational Responsibility, Michelle L. Stransky

Master's Theses and Capstones

As the Baby Boomers begin to retire in 2011 and federal monies become more strained, it will be useful to determine whether there are actual divisions or points of agreement between grandparents and grandchildren in regards to value differences. Cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations are used to examine the differences in perceptions of intergenerational responsibility and a generation gap between grandparents and grandchildren. Variations in these potential differences as a function of grandparent-grandchild contact and caregiving are also examined. Findings indicate grandparents perceived more responsibility toward younger generations while grandchildren perceive more responsibility toward older generations; grandparents …

Hospice Nurses, Spiritual Development And A Changing Health Care Paradigm, Amy L. Barr

Master's Theses and Capstones

Recently researchers have become increasingly interested in how we are going to care for our growing elderly population. Little, however, has been done to examine the personal attitudes toward death, dying and spirituality of the professionals who care for the terminally ill. The purpose of this study is to examine spiritual development among hospice nurses who work in palliative care. Data were obtained using qualitative, in-depth interviews with 20 hospice nurses (4 males, 16 females) from ages 36 to 61. The interviews were conducted at three different hospice organizations located in the northwest, northeast and New England regions of the …

Transcending The Body: The Role Of Divine Mind In The Practice Of Christian Science Healing, Sarah L. Gibb

Master's Theses and Capstones

Christian Science has been largely ignored in sociological inquiries of modern religious institutions. This research project aims to uncover how Christian Science practitioners understand their world in terms of the origins of illness, the gender division of labor, and their role as healers within the Christian Science community and the world. I distributed questionnaires to practitioners in California and the New England region, analyzing the responses using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The practitioners in this sample (N = 33) are overwhelmingly white, middle-aged to older women with higher-than-average levels of educational attainment and income. Thematic analyses reveal that in …

Is Romanian Mothers' Employment Status During A Child's First Year Of Life Correlated With School-Age Children's Behavior Problems?, Codruta A. Ruset

Master's Theses and Capstones

Although research studies are more likely now than in the past to include children and families of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, no attempts have been made to examine the relationship between early maternal employment among Romanian mothers and their children's behavioral problems. Therefore, based on a sample drawn from a Romanian population, this thesis investigates whether maternal employment during the first year of the child's life is related to Romanian school-age children's behavioral problems, considering control variables like period of maternal employment, employment type, child care type, family income; child's age, maternal educational level, and family type. Findings illustrate …

Race Salience In Defense Attorney Opening And Closing Statements: The Effects Of Ambiguity And Juror Attitudes, Donald Bucolo

Master's Theses and Capstones

Two studies were conducted to evaluate if making a defendant's race salient in defense attorneys' opening and closing statements would reduce White juror racial bias towards a Black defendant when evidence against the defendant was strong (Study 1) or weak (Study 2). In Study 1, making race salient did reduce guilty verdicts against the Black defendant. In addition, more racist jurors were more likely to find the Black defendant guilty only when race was not made salient. In Study 2, making a defendant's race salient did not affect White jurors verdicts. Further, in Study 2 participants with more positive views …

Gender Socialization: Implications For Gender Differences In Self-Concept Among Adolescents, Erin D. Libby

Master's Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between traditional gender socialization and self-concept during adolescence, in the domains of athletic competence, physical appearance, social competence, and close friendship.

The sample used in the study consisted of 33 eighth graders, of which 19 were female and 14 were male. Participants completed an instrument developed by the researcher to measure level of gender socialization, along with Harter's (1988) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) to measure self-concept in the above-referenced domains.

The Mann-Whitney U-Test was used to test distributions of means. Results were not statistically significant and therefore failed …

The Family In Tocqueville's "Democracy In America": Understanding Difference In The Age Of Equality, Nicholas R. Noloboff

Master's Theses and Capstones

The American family in Tocqueville's Democracy in America presents a novel association to humankind; at its heart are natural bonds between generations, spouses and siblings that offer, through public recognition, new opportunities for both individual and civic improvement. Through an exposition of Democracy's American family, this paper addresses how the association helps remediate the greatest dangers of the age of equality: a tyrannical majority, materialism, individualism and ultimately, democratic despotism. It finds that the chief virtue of the American family comes from the natural, complementary gender differences that define marriage in American public opinion; in particular, the social recognition that …

The Role Of Peer Networks In Mediating And Moderating Racial Disparities In Youth Violence, Louis F. Burdi

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the present study the influence of peer networks in mediating and moderating racial disparities in youth violence is examined using wave I and wave II of the National Youth Survey (N=1725). Data on peer attitudes and behavior, and individual self-reported incidences involving violent behavior were analyzed through a series of regression models. This study asserts first, that peer association and socioeconomic status mediate racial differences in violence; second, that an interaction between race and differential association and an interaction between race and socioeconomic status exist that affects violent behavior; lastly, an interaction effect will exist between socioeconomic status and …

The Effect Of Involvement On Collegiate Binge Drinking: An Examination Of Competing Social Theories, Lauren Rinaldi Magrath

Master's Theses and Capstones

The perils of collegiate binge drinking are well documented in popular media, frequently in light of athletic or Greek participation. This study was designed to better understand relationships between an expanded list of involvements and the frequency of binging by applying competing theories. Social bond theory predicts all conventional involvements will serve to prevent deviant behavior. In contrast, subcultural theory suggests some involvements will serve to support deviance. Using the College Alcohol Study and OLS regression, this study examined the relationship between involvements and binging, and if the processes operate by gender. The study found some results in alignment with …