Digital Commons Network^™

Personal Narrative Views Of Mothers And Their Children: Setting Events For Mother-Child Interactions?, Meredith P. Schwartzman

Masters Theses

The personal narratives of mothers and children were examined for coherence and richness. Both were assessed for commonalities in narrative structure and possible links to mother’s responsiveness to child’s aversion behaviors. Narrative structure was empirically manipulated to assess changes on responsiveness and child negativity. A sample of thirty mother-child dyads were recruited for participation from normal populations and ten mother-dyads were recruited through the University of Tennessee Psychological Clinic. Measures include the Child Behavior Checklist 9CBCL; Achenback & Edelbrock, 1983), Personal Narrative (Castlebury & Wahler, 1997), and the Standardized Observation Codes-Revised (SOC-R, see Cerezo, 1988). Mother and child narratives were …

“Participation And Life Skill Development Of The Tennessee Junior Livestock Skillathon Programs, Amy Margaret Powell

Masters Theses

This study examined the Tennessee Junior Livestock Skillathon Program and its objectives. Research was conducted to determine what motivates or deters youth participation, how youth prepare for the skillathon and life skill development in the areas of communication, critical thinking and self-confidence. A self-developed, eleven question, likert scale survey was mailed to 200 randomly selected youth that exhibited livestock in the 2003 Tennessee Junior Livestock beef, sheep or market hog shows. Fifty-two percent (112) participants responded.

Youth that participate in the skillathon do so because they want to see how much they know about their project and they felt the …

Berlin’ Movies In Post-Wende Berlin And Germany, Alissa Hope Nesbitt

Masters Theses

Historian David Large concludes his narrative study of modern Berlin by questioning how Germans can come to term with their new national identity. He suggests that the renewed political and social emphasis on Berlin may be key: “It might just be that Berlin, the city where the Germans have experienced the peaks and depths of their national experience, can help to show the way” (Large 647). One of the ways to see how Berlin and the German identity are interlocked is in the cinema, due to its influence on collective consciousness. Furthermore, films can also serve as a valid and …

Attitudes Of Resident Assistants Toward Homosexuality And Gay And Lesbian Students: A Study At A Southeastern Research University, Melissa Scandlyn Smith

Masters Theses

This purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of resident assistants at a large southeastern research university towards homosexuality and gay and lesbian students, as well as about the training they received on dealing with the issues that these students face. Attitudes in this descriptive census study were collected from 133 respondents by the distribution of a quantitative survey that utilized a Likert scale. In addition to their attitudes, the resident assistants were also asked to provide their gender, the amount of prior experience they had with lesbians or gay males, and the number of years they had …

Cultural Identities Of Chinese American Adolescents, Yan Cao

Masters Theses

This study examines the cultural identities of five Chinese American adolescents in a Chinese school in a southern city of the United States. This is a story of how the informal Sunday Chinese school setting, the regular school settings, the Chinese American community and the family shaped the identities of these Chinese American adolescents. It is a story of how they deal with two different cultures (American & Chinese culture) in everyday life and how they give meanings to their lives.

This study employs the qualitative research method and ethnographic tradition. Using data collected from interviews, observations, and a literature …

The Effect Of Official College Athletic Web Sites On The Job Of Division I Sports Information Directors, Karen J. Bielak

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of official college athletic Web sites on the job of Division I sports information directors. Specifically, it focused on how often the site is updated, who is responsible for performing that duty, and whether a position has been created solely for the purpose of maintain the Web site. The target population included all 327 Division I sports information directors. Directors from Division I schools were chosen because of the high probability that their school maintains an official Web site that it has had an impact on the sports information director …

Paternal Involvement: Effects On Delinquency, Porche' Teshia Wynn

Masters Theses

Despite the numerous research studies published regarding the influence of parenting on delinquent behavior, there is yet a clear understanding of how fathers’ parenting practices specifically influence behaviors. Because the majority of previous studies have solely focused on how mothers’ parenting practices affect adolescent behavioral outcomes, research has failed at specifically defining characteristics of fathers’ parenting practices and their influence on behaviors. Because this has been a debatable topic of research for several years, the purpose of the present study is to determine if fathers’ involvement, in the adolescent years, contributes to more favorable behaviors than when fathers are not …

Insulin Sensitivity And The Onset Of Hyperphagia In Fatty Rats, Holiday Agnes Durham

Masters Theses

Hyperphagia emerges suddenly after 22 days of age in Zucker fatty (fa/fa) rats, and fatties become visibly obese within days. This rapid increase in growth rate is likely to be associated with substantial changes in glucose metabolism. The objective of these experiments was to determine the relationship between insulin resistance and the onset of hyperphagia. Insulin tolerance tests showed that fatties were remarkably insulin resistant prior to the onset of hyperphagia, hyperinsulinemia, and obesity, but become as insulin sensitive as their lean littermates after the onset of hyperphagia. Furthermore, fatties became increasingly insulin resistant prior to the onset of …

Comparison Of Potential Business Structures For A Biodiesel Production Facility And Analysis Of Tennessee Soybean Producers' Willingness To Join A New Generation Cooperative To Produce Biodiesel, Yu Zhang

Masters Theses

In 2002, a study of the economic feasibility of producing biodiesel in Tennessee was conducted. As a follow-up to the feasibility study, potential business structures for a biodiesel production facility was compared and information regarding soybean producers' interest and willingness to invest in a New Generation Cooperative (NGC) to produce biodiesel was examined. The similarities and differences between a Traditional Cooperative (TC) and an NGC and between an NGC and a Limited Liability Company (LLC) were investigated from legal and practical perspectives. After evaluating the advantages of an NGC versus the other two business structures, an NGC appeared to be …

Incivilities In The College Classroom: The Effects Of Teaching Style And Teacher Gender, Misty Renee Bailey

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher gender, teaching style, and classroom incivilities in composition and business writing courses at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Incivility frequencies were collected from approximately 581 students and twenty-four teachers using surveys.

While it cannot be stated that teacher gender combined with teaching style causes more incivilities, this study revealed a correlation between the frequency of incivilities and teacher gender controlled for teaching style. Students of female teachers who use student-centered pedagogical methods report more incivility occurrences than students of male teachers who use student-centered pedagogical methods.

Findings also …

Effects Of Group Composition And Mating Season On The Agonisitic And Affiliative Behavior Of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Lauren Dawn Cox

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, were the effects of group composition and mating season on grooming and aggression in captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Three groups of rhesus macaques were observed during the summer of 2003. The behavior of these three groups was compared in order to determine if any group differences were present. The following January, two of these groups (one had been disbanded) were observed again to determine if behavior varied in the mating season.

The results suggest that the number of intergroup fights has an inverse relationship to intragroup …

Psychometric Properties Of The Pswq-A In A Community Sample Of Older Adults, Julie A. Crittendon

Masters Theses

Among older adults, GAD is as prevalent as major depression (Blazer, George, & Hughes, 1991). As a result of scale development and norming that generally incorporates younger samples, psychometrically sound anxiety and worry instruments for older cohorts are limited. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ; Meyer, Miller, Metzger, & Brokovec, 1990) is one instrument that may be useful for assessing worry in older adults, although limitations of this scale recently were highlighted that resulted in the development of a revised version that more effectively might assess worry in older adults, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire-Abbreviated (PSWQ-A; Hopko et. al., 2003). …

Weaving: Redesigning The Post Colonial Town Through African Cultural Traditions, Henry Walela Musangi

Masters Theses

“They [Africans] look upon their native arts and crafts primarily as the ‘locus’ of their national consciousness. In spite of a violent urge for the new, for progress and for high living standards, more and more of their valuable, innate culture and customs now are being reflected upon in new light, finding their own voice in the form of a new, healthy and surprisingly expressive art.”

“The ‘new’ is cleansed from any cliché imitating a style.

The ‘new’ does not evolve from cheap modernism.

The ‘new’ functions according to the climate and the situation.

The ‘new’ proves to have an …

Differences In Scores On Measures Of Work Satsifaction, Parenting Satisfaction, Family/Work Roles Conflict And Marital Conflict Between Dual-Earner Husbands And Wives, Michelle Ann Parrott

Masters Theses

Dual-earned husband and wives, the most common family style in the United States, attempt to maintain healthy relationships as they juggle work and family roles. This study examined dual-career husbands and wives on the measures of work satisfaction, parenting satisfaction, family/work roles conflict and marital conflict to determine if differences existed between the husbands and wives. The findings indicated that dual-earner husbands and wives in this sample reported remarkably similar scores on the measures of work satisfaction, parenting satisfaction, family/work roles conflict, and marital conflict. These husbands and wives were very satisfied with their jobs and their parenting skills and …

The Assessment Of Psychopathic Traits And Risk-Taking Using Balloon Analog Risk Task (Bart), Melissa Kathryn Hunt

Masters Theses

Continuing a program of research assessing the utility of the Behavioral Analog Risk Task (BART, Lejuez et al, 2002) as a measure of risk taking, the BART was administered to a non-forensic sample of individuals high and low in self-reported psychopathy. Inter-relations of BART performance with measures of psychopathy and impulsivity were examined, with an emphasis on exploring the predictive validity of self-report measures on overt risk-taking behavior. Following completion of the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP-II; Hare, 1991), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS; Barratt, 1985), and the Authority Problems subscale (Pd2) of the MMPI-2 (Harris & Lingoes, 1955), physiological data were …

The Relationship Between Steps Walked Per Day And Body Composition In Postmenopausal Women, Emily Martin Krumm

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between pedometer-determined physical activity measured in steps per day and body composition in healthy, postmenopausal women. Ninety-three women (60.9 ± 5.76 years) participated in the study. Subjects made one visit to the laboratory for height, weight, percent body fat, and waist and hip circumference measurements. Subsequently, each subject wore a pedometer for 14 consecutive days to assess average daily steps. Subjects recorded each day’s accumulated step count and reset the pedometer the next morning. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine the relationship between average steps per day and …

Pedometer-Determined Physical Activity And Health Variables In African-American Women (40-62 Years Of Age), Lyndsey Michelle Hornbuckle

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between pedometer-determined physical activity, measured in steps per day, and several health variables in middle-aged, African-American women. Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and % body fat were measured in 69 African-American females (mean age 51.4 ± 5.4 years). Subjects wore a pedometer for 7 consecutive days after their laboratory visit and average steps/day were compared to each health variable. For statistical analyses, subjects were categorized into 3 different groups based on their physical activity level. The categories were < 5,000 steps/day, 5,000-7,499 steps/day, and > 7,500 steps/day. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to …

Effect Of Gender, Socioeconomic Status And Family Structure On Depression In Adolescents In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lada Mujkic

Masters Theses

The relationship between self-reported depressive symptomatology among adolescents in Bosnia-Herzegovina, who experienced the chronic stress during four year war, and risk factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, and family structure were investigated in the current study. The present study tested the hypothesis that each one of above mentioned risk factors individually impact depressive mood. Also interactions between gender and socioeconomic status and gender and family structure were hypothesized. A nationally representative sample of high school teenagers was selected from two high schools in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo (N=559, 263 boys and 296 girls, mean age 15.34). Data from questionnaire …

The Relationship Between Steps Per Day And Bone Variables In Healthy Postmenopausal Women, Olivera Lukajic

Masters Theses

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between ambulatory physical activity (steps per day) and bone variables in healthy, Caucasian postmenopausal women. Additionally, we examined the relationship of body mass (BM), lean mass (LM), and fat mass (FM) with bone variables in this group of women, Average steps taken per day were compared to bone mineral density (BMD) in 93 postmenopausal women (60.8 ±5.8 yrs). Ambulatory physical activity (steps per day) was measured for 14 consecutive days using a Yamax Digi-Walker SW-200. Additionally, current physical activity (PA) level was estimated using a Paffenbarger Physical Activity Index …

The Haunted Hero: Mythology And Meaning In The Fathering Accounts Of Long-Haul Truckers, Jeremy P. Sayers

Masters Theses

Long-haul truckers face challenges of time and distance in their attempts to be what they consider good fathers. In their quest to define themselves as fathers and as men, they are also shadowed by the challenge of a pervasive macho mythology of the trucker as an American cultural hero – a high-flying, hard-driving, highway cowboy. As were the cowboys of the Old West, the mythological trucker is a loner, complete in his freedom from the worries and demand of more pedestrian lives. Through intensive interviews with 12 men who make their living as over-the-road (OTR) truckers, I explore the interwoven …

Secrets In Common: Intellectual Foundations Of The Lodge That Found Billet In The Dens And Klaverns, Damien Borg

Masters Theses

Secrets in Common is an anthropological history that undertakes to explain the similarities of membership and ideology between the Freemasons and two formations of the Ku Klux Klan. The work is divided into seven sections. It was compiled from both extant, which was of principle significance, and secondary printed material. After many hours of reading and countless attempts at “understanding,” three short ethnographic narratives were compiled: they makeup the central axis of the material. The first narrative describes the Freemasons, while the second two are on the “Reconstruction Klan” and the “Klan of the ‘20’s,” henceforth referred to as Kuklux …

Stuck In Science: The Natural Scientist And Non-Objective Ways Of Knowing Nature, Marianne R. Chrystalbridge

Masters Theses

My research investigates whether and to what extent natural scientists utilize non-objective but personally meaningful ways of knowing, that is, different modes of perceiving, interpreting, judging, and comprehending, in addition to their objective stance as scientific researcher, in constructing their understanding of nature. I investigate whether or not the norms of science restrict discussion of non-objective ways of knowing to the margins of the discourse. I pursue this topic through a review of literature on ecological sustainability that emphasizes the importance of buttressing objective knowledge with non-objective ways of experiencing and talking about nature.

In interviews with fifty natural scientists, …

Teachers' Perceptions And Concerns Of Year-Round Education In Tennessee High School Agriculture Programs, Gary Lee Blackwell Jr.

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to focus on the emergence of year-round education and its possible effects on agricultural education programs throughout the state of Tennessee. The study collected perceptions of teachers who currently teach in a Tennessee high school agriculture program regarding the implementation of a year-round program at their school.

A survey was designed and sent to all 284 teachers identified in the 2002-2003 Tennessee Agriculture teacher directory. Findings were based upon a 69% response rate.

Findings

• The total number of survey respondents was 197; of these 93 .1 % taught in schools operating on a traditional …

A Survey Of Visitors To Mt. Leconte In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Amy Lynn Mathis

Masters Theses

This study focuses on the behaviors, attitudes, perceptions and preferences of visitors to Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mt. LeConte (elevation 6,593 ft.) is a popular tourist destination year-round. In addition to the trails that access the summit, there is a backcountry shelter and a rustic lodge, built in 1926, for overnight guests. The upcoming expiration of the Concession Contract for Mt. LeConte Lodge makes it necessary to conduct an Environmental Assessment. This project serves the dual objectives of providing data needed for the Environmental Assessment (EA) and meeting the General Management Plan requirement to monitor …

Message Strategy And The Perception Of Self-Efficacy In Behavioral Intentions Resulting From Advocacy Advertising, Yoon-Joo Lee

Masters Theses

This thesis uses the Haley (1996) study as a conceptual framework for the study of advocacy advertising. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the role of message strategy in increasing the consumers' perception of self-efficacy, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) in behavioral intentions resulting from advocacy advertising. Additionally, the thesis explored the correlations and causal relationships between self-efficacy/ PCE, and behavioral intention and behavioral intention and the consumers' evaluation of the organization as good.

A quasi-experimental design was used. A questionnaire along with one of the two experimental stimuli (a print advertisement with the transformational-ego or the informational-ration message …

Our General Mother:’ Eve’S Mythic Power And The Poetry Of Aemilia Lanyer, John Milton, Elizabeth Barrett, And Christina Rossetti, Sarah C. Mccollum

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze Ameilia Lanyer, John Milton, Elizabeth Barrett, and Christina Rossetti’s versions of Eve. In my first chapter, I pair Lanyer and Milton’s work and focus on the demands and expectations they place on the reader. Both authors desire that their readers be intellectually and spiritually astute enough to accept their arguments about Eve, but also be willing to see themselves as Eve. In my second chapter, I discuss Milton’s influence on Barrett, and center my treatment of Barrett on the way Barrett’s ambivalence toward male authority manifests itself in her depictions of Eve. …

From Useful Knowledge To Rational Amusement: Museums In Early America, Allison M. Morrill

Masters Theses

This study examines the rise of early American museums following their birth from intellectual societies in the American colonies. The two primary categories of collections, scientific and patriotic items, were examined for their significance and intended purpose. Likewise, both popular education and interesting entertainment were identified as factors for encouraging early museum proprietors to seek the appeal of the general public while simultaneously drawing visitors to these early establishments of learning and leisure.

In order to understand the motives behind intellectuals’ desires for popular education, scientific knowledge, and patriotic enthusiasm, the writings of many American intellectual elites were consulted. The …

Frame Analysis Of The Living Wage Campaign And Social Work Implications, Katherine Ann Mcclernon-Chaffin

Masters Theses

The general aim of this study was to examine the living age movement and how frame alignment fits into social work practice. This research was developed from a limited empirical and theoretical base surrounding the living wage as a social movement. Frame alignment is becoming a tool that more and more people should know how to use. Frame alignment has been a key component in propelling social movements into society in order to effect change. This research is an examination of frame alignment, specifically the living wage movement and how it fits into effective social work practice.

The data were …

Comparison Of Physical Activity Recommendations In Previously Inactive Women, Cherilyn N. Hultquist

Masters Theses

The main objective of this study was to compare the number of steps accumulated weekly by individuals given the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day with those told to take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. Average steps per day were compared for 58 sedentary women (mean age 45.0 ± 6.0 y) who were randomly assigned to one of the following physical activity groups, (1) walk 10,000 steps per day or (2) take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. After measuring height, weight, body composition, …

National Pasttime: The Minor Leagues And Why Fans Are Filling The Bleachers, Timothy A. Lentych

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that determine why fans attend Minor League Baseball games. The factors were broken down into four categories which were customer services, promotions, entertainment, attractions. Additional information and demographics were also examined. A survey comprising of 32 questions was distributed at the last weekend home series of the Tennessee Smokies. The Tennessee Smokies are the Double A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Four hundred seventy surveys were distributed. Research participants consisted men and women who are 18 years and older that paid for a Tennessee Smokies Baseball game ticket. Each …