Digital Commons Network^™

Peeking Out: A Textual Analysis Of Heteronormative Images In Prime-Time Television, D. Renee Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation traces lesbian portrayals on network television from the 1960s through the 1990s. A focus on episodic dramas and situation comedies reveals a concise representation of the mediated lesbian image. Building on existing research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender images on television, this work focuses exclusively on the lesbian image broadcast free of charge over the air during prime-time on commercial networks in the United States. Using a postmodern feminist framework, this textual analysis examines the images and texts portraying lesbian characters in episodic dramas and situation comedies. Furthermore, applying a semiotic lens to the analysis dissects the …

Reaching Resilience: A Multiple Case Study Of The Experience Of Resilience And Protective Factors In Adult Children Of Divorce, Denis' A. Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the experiences of resilience following parental divorce for university freshmen. Five participants were interviewed using a multiple case study methodology and Richardson’s (2002) resilience model as the theoretical framework. It examined how the three needs of Self-Determination theory (autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and the three categories of protective factors (individual, family, and community) contributed to resilience. Data were collected through demographic surveys, divorce artwork, resilience artwork, and interview transcriptions. General themes, typological self-determination need themes, and typological protective factor themes were developed for each individual and across cases. The findings …

Functional Connectivity Of Eeg Loreta In Cortical Core Components Of The Self And The Default Network (Dnt) Of The Brain, Rex Lee Cannon

Doctoral Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Recent research exploring cortical functional connectivity defines a default network (DNt) of brain function and activation of a core midline network (CMS) in the processing of self. The electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in these components of the human DNt and CMS is not well understood. METHODS: This study was conducted with 63 participants. Individuals were recorded during eyes-closed (ECB) and eyes-opened (EOB) baselines and active task (AT) conditions (e.g., self-referential, self-image, self-concept, recent symptomology, other face and object processing). We estimated EEG source localization with standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). Subjective experience was obtained for baselines and photographic conditions. …

Child Parent Relationship Therapy: Hope For Disrupted Attachment, Carolyn Carlisle Hacker

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) was an effective method of treatment for reducing behaviors associated with attachment difficulties experienced by foster children who have been removed from their family of origin. This study also sought to determine if the age of the foster child, the gender of the foster child, or the number of foster placements would also influence behaviors associated with attachment difficulties. This study was conducted with a pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental group, control group design format using the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ) assessment instrument. The quasi-experimental group received …

The Impact Of Met-Expectation Of Organizational Justice On Attitudinal And Behavioral Outcomes Of Intercollegiate Athletics Coaches, Seungmo Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to examine coaches’ perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice regarding current resource distribution systems in intercollegiate athletics in terms of sport types (high profile sports vs. low profile sports) and gender of players (male participant sports vs. female participant sports) and the impacts of direct or indirect organizational justice on coaches’ attitudinal (job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment toward organization and supervisor) and behavioral (organizational citizenship behavior for organization and supervisor) outcomes through the mediating effects of met expectations, outcome satisfaction, and social exchange relationships (perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange) via a …

Laboratory Models Of Infection And Transmission Of Mycobacterium Ulcerans; Causative Agent Of Buruli Ulcer Disease, Lydia Mosi

Doctoral Dissertations

Identification of the environmental reservoir of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiological agent of Buruli ulcer, within the aquatic ecosystem has been a salient research area within the last five years. Based on extensive environmental sampling and elegant laboratory models, associations have been made between the bacterial DNA and aquatic invertebrates, biofilms, plants, fish and detritus material captured on 0.2μm pore filters. These studies have suggested that M. ulcerans is widely distributed within many functional feeding groups and may be concentrated through different trophic links; however, the specific route of transmission to humans remains a mystery. In this study we have …

A Comparison Of Attachment-Related Defenses And Ego Defense Mechanisms, Elaine M. Rivas

Doctoral Dissertations

The concept of ego defense mechanisms has been a central component of psychoanalytic theory since Freud and the repeated subject of psychoanalytic research. Attachment theory, originally formulated by John Bowlby as a radical revision of psychoanalytic views regarding the fundamental forces that drive our behavior, includes the concept of defensive processes, but so far these attachment-related defenses have not yet been the subject of research. The current study utilized attachment-related defense ratings adapted from the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) and more traditionally defined ego defense mechanisms as measured by the Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM) in a sample of 90 college …

Optimism And Achievement: A Domain-Specific And Within-Construct Investigation, Salmaan F. Toor

Doctoral Dissertations

Academic optimism is the general tendency to expect positive outcomes in terms of personal, current and future academic experiences. Academic optimism is similar to general optimism with the exception of academic optimism’s focus on the academic life domain. The study investigated the psychometric properties of the newly constructed Academic Optimism Scale (AOS), as well as the relationships among academic optimism, general optimism, self-esteem and depressive symptoms in relation to academic achievement. The within-subject design included 292 college students at Time with 160 of those students returning for Time 2. At each time, participants completed a general optimism, academic optimism, self-esteem, …

The Path To Success: Identities That Mathematics Students Develop In A Specialized Residential High School, Yan Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the mathematics learning practices in the lives of students in a specialized residential high school in the Southeastern region of the United States. In particular, the study explores how mathematics classroom micro-culture shapes and is shaped by students‘ developing identities as mathematics learners, and what mathematics learning means to them. These purposes were achieved through the lens of the theoretical framework of identity in practice (Wenger, 1998), multiple framework (Martin, 2000), and the interpretive scheme (Cobb, Gresalfi, & Hodge, 2009).

Mixed research methods were used to conduct the study. Surveys, semi-structured interviews, …

Social Support And Depression Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Julie Helen Grocki

Doctoral Dissertations

Late-life depression is a significant public and geriatric mental health concern and one of the most prevalent and common emotional disorders for all older United States citizens. This study examined how relationships with close friends and close relatives affected depressive symptomatology among African American and White older adults and explored how health, social and religious factors modified that relationship. The sample consisted of participants from the New Haven, CT cohort of the population-based longitudinal study, The National Institute on Aging project entitled “The Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly” [EPESE]. Respondents were ages 65-75 and older (mean age …

The Impact Of Entrepreneurs’ Personal Wealth Allocations In Determining Their Firms’ Capital Structures, Tianning Li

Doctoral Dissertations

We study the effect of entrepreneurs’ wealth allocations on their firm level capital structure by using a sample of small privately owned firms from the 2003 Surveys of Small Business Finance. We find that financial leverage decreases as entrepreneurs allocate more wealth on their firm investments. We also find that wealth allocation only affects capital structure in limited liability firms. Lastly, we show that the effect of wealth allocation on capital structure does not disappear after adjusting for collateral and personal guarantees.

Vibration Analysis Of Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles, Christopher Jack Campbell

Masters Theses

Truck drivers are more susceptible than other workers to lower back pain and spinal disorders caused by whole body vibrations, which are among the most common long term health effects for drivers. The dynamic behavior of trucks can be modeled and simulated to improve the design of the trucks, which can reduce the exposure of drivers to whole body vibrations.

The main purposes of this study are to analyze vibrations for different manufacturers and road types, and to create a computer-based model using Adams to predict vibration anywhere on the model using acceleration data collected previously from on-road tests of …

Effects Of Differences In Video And Traditional Markets On Feeder Cattle Prices, Damon Eric Drinnon

Masters Theses

Few decisions are more important to feeder cattle producers than how to market their product. This study uses the hedonic pricing model to show which method of marketing results in higher prices (traditional auctions or video board sales) and which characteristics of cattle, conditions of sale, and market conditions result in price premiums and discounts.

The two equations used were estimated by ordinary least squares in the SAS Reg procedure with 3131 observations over the 1996-2007 period. Model I (47 independent variables) was developed to estimate implicit values of various animal attributes, conditions of sale, and market conditions on the …

Effect Of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder On Autonomy And Relatedness In The Mother-Adolescent Relationship, Miriam Rose Frankel

Masters Theses

This study examined autonomy and relatedness in a low socioeconomic status sample of adolescent children of mothers with borderline personality disorder (BPD), compared to a normative comparison group, during a video-taped problem solving task. The interpersonal difficulties with individuation and separation within relationships that characterize BPD, may create a diathesis for psychopathology among adolescent children of women with this disorder. The parent-teen interactions were transcribed and coded using Allen, Hauser et al., (2003)’s Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System. Mothers with BPD scored significantly higher on the inhibition of autonomy and inhibition of relatedness than did comparison mothers, although no group …

Electronic Diary Assessment Of The Temporal Association Between Angry Affect And Intimate Partner Violence, Sara Rachel Elkins

Masters Theses

The proposed project examined the temporal association between three forms of angry affect and dating violence among a sample of college students using electronic daily diary assessment methodology. It was hypothesized that the odds of dating violence would be greater on days of angry affect relative to days of no angry affect. It was also hypothesized that relevant distal variables would moderate this association, although examination of the direction of such effects was exploratory in nature.

Participants were 184 men and women attending a large university in Tennessee. Participants completed a baseline survey packet assessing distal variables. They were also …

Physical Activity, Sedentary, And Dietary Behaviors Related To Overweight/Obesity Among Adolescents Involved In A Creative, Problem-Solving Program, Jill Murren Maples

Masters Theses

Background: Productive sedentary-to-light activity pursuits may enhance the relationship between positive health behaviors, like physical activity and sufficient fruit and vegetable intake, and weight status. The purpose of this study is to examine whether participation in a creative, problem-solving program is related to overweight/obesity, other sedentary pursuits, physical activity, and diet.

Methods: This study describes select health behaviors that are believed to be related to body weight status for 1,679 adolescents in grades 6-12 participating in the 2008 Destination Imagination (DI) Global Finals. Dietary, physical activity (PA), and sedentary behavior data was collected via self-reported survey based on the 2007 …

Www.Homeless.Org/Culture: A Cross-Level Analysis Of The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And Technology Use Among Homeless Service Providers, Courtney Marie Cronley

Doctoral Dissertations

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires federally-funded homeless service providers to participate in an homeless management information system (HMIS). While federally mandated, no one has examined how these technologies are being used. Theory and research suggest that the technology dissemination is contingent upon the organizational culture in which it is used. This study represents the first empirical analysis of HMIS use and explores the cross-level relationship between staff members’ HMIS use and organizational culture.

Staff members at 24 homeless service providers completed the Organizational Social Context (OSC) survey and scores from each provider were aggregated …

Giving Back Not Giving Up: Generativity Among Older Female Inmates, Regina White Benedict

Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted to understand the experience of incarceration, with the focus on hardships inflicted on inmates via incarceration. In addition, the current graying of America‟s prisons has gained some attention from both policymakers and the general public. However, despite the recent upsurge in concern and interest in matters pertaining to prison inmates, the focus by and large remains on young males. Meanwhile, studies addressing the experience of incarceration for older females are virtually non-existent. Generativity, defined as the desire to give back and execution of that desire, is regarded as a universal life stage first occurring sometime …

Implementation Of Healthier School Meals: Education And Acceptance, Nicole Lynn Mcgee

Masters Theses

Background

As part of a Coordinated School Health Program project to improve the nutrition quality of school meals, a series of nutrition education and culinary training in-service workshops were conducted followed by the implementation of healthier menu options. The objectives of this study were 1) to evaluate the effect of the training on food service employees’ attitudes about nutrition, self-efficacy for preparing healthier meals, and meal preparation behavior changes and 2) to determine the plate waste percentages of school meals and school meal participation rates before and after healthier school meals were implemented. Methods

The study was completed in a …

Influence Of Parenting Behavior On Behavioral And Psychological Associations Of Proactive And Reactive Aggression, Jamie Lee Rathert

Masters Theses

Child aggression is often categorized by the motivation behind the behavior, namely proactive and reactive aggression. Proactive aggression is goal oriented in nature whereas reactive aggression is in response to a perceived threat. There is some evidence to suggest that these subtypes are associated with distinct behavioral and psychological problems, with proactive aggression being associated with delinquency and reactive aggression being associated with depression. However, the behavioral and psychological correlates of these subtypes of aggression are not one to one relations and little research has examined the variables that impact these relations. This is a notable omission in the literature, …

Ida Von Hahn-Hahn Und Isabelle Eberhardt. Ausbruch Aus Restriktionen – Auf Der Suche Nach Sich Selbst, Anja Katharina Seiler

Masters Theses

The following thesis compares the travelogue Orientalische Briefe by the German author Ida von Hahn-Hahn with the travel journals Mes Journaliers by the French author Isabelle Eberhardt, in the context of how each woman represents herself as a female traveler and author. The comparative study analyzes whether both authors in these texts deal with the issue of breaking out of social and cultural restrictions while traveling to the ‘Orient’. The overall question of my thesis concerns what kind of filters did they use to speak about the ‘cultural other’.

The personal backgrounds of Ida von Hahn-Hahn and Isabelle Eberhardt differ …

A Program Evaluation Of Parenting Apart: Effective Co-Parenting, Melissa Ivy Rector

Masters Theses

A two-month longitudinal program evaluation was conducted of a four-hour mandated parent education program for divorcing parents of minor children. To expand on Brandon’s (2006) program evaluation of the same program, the present study sought to examine knowledge gain and behavior change in participants. Using a retrospective post-then-pre design, 139 participants reported their knowledge gain in two areas: (a) the impacts of divorce and of putting children in the middle of conflict, and (b) strategies to reduce conflict with one’s former spouse. Two-month follow-up interviews were used to assess behavior change in two areas: (a) using techniques to manage post-divorce …

Athletes' Experience Of Poor Coaching, Brian Gearity

Doctoral Dissertations

Effective coaching has long been associated with winning. Because of this conceptualization of effective coaching, researchers have tended to study the behaviors and thought processes of winning coaches, but not how these behaviors and thought processes affect athletes. Very little research has looked at poor, ineffective coaching, specifically from the athletes‟ perspective. Because of this, our understanding of poor, ineffective coaching is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore collegiate, professional and semi-professional athletes‟ perceptions of poor coaching. An existential phenomenological research design provided the framework for understanding athletes‟ experience of poor coaching. Data were collected via in-depth …

The Regulation Of Neuropeptide Corazonin And Its Functional Analyses In Drosophila Melanogaster, Seung-Hoon Choi

Doctoral Dissertations

Neuropeptides regulate diverse physiological processes, including homeostatic metabolism, behavior, reproduction, and development. The neuropeptide Corazonin (Crz), was first isolated from American cockroach, P. americana, as a potent cardioactive substance, and has been shown to exert diverse functions in different insects. In Drosophila, Crz expression is limited to three groups of neurons; totaling only 26 neurons out of ~10,000 neurons in a third instar larval central nervous system (CNS). In adults, Crz is expressed in 6-8 pairs of protocerebral neurons and 2 pairs of male specific abdominal ganglion. To gain insight into such tight regulatory mechanisms of …

The Effects Of 17- Beta Estradiol On G-Protein Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channels (Girks) In Breast Cancer, Michael W. Hance

Doctoral Dissertations

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer death and in 2009, the American Cancer Society estimates that over 192,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed, and over 40,000 women will die from breast cancer. Estrogen (E2) is required for normal female development and reproduction, but long-term exposure is carcinogenic and considered a risk factor for breast cancer. Membrane ion channels are essential for cell proliferation and are suggested to have a role in cancer, especially potassium channels. In the present study, we investigate the effects of estrogen and the estrogen antagonist ICI182780 on G-protein inwardly rectifying potassium …

Was That Racist Or Not? I Can’T Tell: The Music Of Prussian Blue, Michael J. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an investigation into the music group Prussian Blue. The study was conducted by textual analysis of cultural material including novels, Web sites, documentary films, online interviews, music, videos, and magazine articles garnered through theoretical sampling. The textual analysis was conducted following the grounded theory approach to coding qualitative data. The findings reveal various discursive and ideological interconnections between the music group Prussian Blue and the contemporary hate movement. The group has a history of Holocaust denial, celebrates Adolph Hitler as someone with ―a lot of good ideas,‖ and cultivates relationships with some of the most notorious figures …

Parents’ Perceptions Of Their Children’S And Their Own Sport Experiences, Michael John Diacin

Doctoral Dissertations

Sport participation is a significant aspect in many people’s lives. The experiences they accumulate in sport are shaped by a variety of factors. A combination of personal factors (e.g., demographics), social factors (e.g., socializing sources and the support they provide), and structural factors (e.g., costs and accessible programs) uniquely shape each individual’s experience. Since a variety of factors can shape that experience, it is useful to examine perceptions of the factors were significant in the creation of an individual’s participation opportunities and experiences in sport.

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to gain insight into the personal, social, …

The Effects Of Betrayal Characteristics On Laypeople’S Ratings Of Betrayal Severity And Conceptualization Of Forgiveness, Lee J. Dixon

Doctoral Dissertations

The two studies included in this project were aimed at understanding the effect that relational closeness has on perceived ease of forgiveness and betrayal severity and, in turn, how betrayal severity and relational closeness influence people’s conceptualization of forgiveness. Study 1 addressed the fact that although past studies have shown that relational closeness predicts one’s willingness to forgive and researchers have posited that betrayals that are committed by those closest are the most severe, it is still unclear whether these trends are due to the characteristics of close relationships or to the characteristics of the types of betrayals that are …

Extending Knowledge Of Parents’ Role In Adolescent Development: The Mediating Effect Of Self, Sally Beville Hunter

Doctoral Dissertations

Much previous work has demonstrated the importance of parenting for adolescents’ psychosocial functioning. Barber, Stolz, and Olsen’s (2005) recent monograph contributed in organizing and specifying the voluminous literature on parent-child/adolescent literatures by documenting specific paths among three commonly-studied dimensions of parenting (i.e., support, psychological control, and behavioral control) and three salient adolescent outcomes (i.e., social initiative, depression, and antisocial behavior). They did not, however, explore the possible mechanisms that underlie the consistent parenting effects they and others have found.

Theory suggests that the adolescent self would be a logical mediator of the effects of parenting. Further, measures of the self, …

Life Lived Well: A Narrative Analysis Of One Woman‟S Wellness Across The Life Span, Whitney Locke Jarnagin

Doctoral Dissertations

The Indivisible Self (Myers & Sweeney, 2004; Myers & Sweeney, 2005a) model of wellness was proposed in the counseling literature to serve as a framework for enhancing wellness across the life span. Numerous researchers conducted a variety of investigations related to this model; however, gaps in the literature still exist. The aim of the current study was to add to the body of existing literature by investigating one woman‟s wellness across the life span utilizing qualitative methods. The senior adult participant provided a narrative of her life in the form of an oral history. This narrative was then analyzed through …