Digital Commons Network^™

Fathers, Sons, And Health : Relationships Between Fathers' And Sons' Health Habits And Perspectives, Barbara J. Smith

Masters Theses

In this study Dorethea Orem's Self-Care Framework was used to explore the relationships between how a father takes care of his own health (self-care agency) and the health of his son (dependent-care agency), and how his adolescent son takes care of his health. This descriptive study focused on the relationship between the health habits and attitudes of fathers and the health habits and attitudes of their adolescent sons. A convenience sample of adolescent males and their male parents was used. The adolescent males were in grades 10 and 11, from four public high schools in one county in a southeastern …

Gender And Gender Role Orientation In Same-Sex Friendship, Ameera Celeste Gaia

Masters Theses

The present study was conducted to examine the same-sex friendships of women and men. Research has shown that such friendships differ along the dimensions of activity and intimacy orientation. As a partial replication and extension of Wright & Scanlon (1991), participants (n=287) completed several personality and relationship measures, including The Acquaintance Description Form, The Friendship Scale, The Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Intimacy and Activity Scale. Women indicated more intimacy and support than men, yet no differences were found regarding activity related behaviors. Gender role orientation was found to be associated with these differences, since androgynous individuals usually indicated …

A Quantitative Uncertainty Analysis For The Assessment Of Risk Associated With Radionuclide Releases From The K-1435 Incinerator At Oak Ridge, Tn : Human Inhalation Pathway Analysis, Teresa C. Perry

Masters Theses

The objective of this study is to perform a quantitative uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the dose and risk to the maximally exposed individual from the inhalation of radionuclides emitted from the K-1435 TSCA incinerator located at the DOE K-25 facility in Oak Ridge, TN. Dose and risk estimates are computed from monthly stack emissions data beginning in 1990 when the incinerator went into operation and continuing through August, 1994. A gaussian plume dispersion model is used to obtain radionuclide concentrations from the emissions data, and an inhalation pathway analysis is performed. Probability density functions are assigned for each of …

Framing Health Care Reform: An Analysis Of White House Information Subsidies And Ap News Stories, Rosa Renee Rallos

Masters Theses

This thesis was a text analysis using both thematic analysis and the computerized content analysis program, VBPro, to determine whether White House information subsidies on health care reform served as a framing influence on AP news stories. A census of all White House health care reform information subsidies and a random sample of AP news stories released between January 20, 1993, and September 30, 1994, were analyzed. The AP news stories were separated into two groups: those that cited the White House as a source first and those that did not. A computerized content analysis of these text files was …

Evaluation Of Disability Simulations As A Teaching Tool For Undergraduate Students Majoring In Recreation And Related Fields, Melanie Collins

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to design a set of disability simulation activities and to determine the logical validity of the activities for use as a teaching tool for students preparing for careers in recreation and related fields. The general circumstances of three disabilities, spinal cord injury, visual impairment and hearing impairment, were defined and were then evaluated by a jury of experts. This is referred to in the study as the Definition of Circumstances. The definitions described the physical, environmental and psycho-social circumstances of each of the disabilities. Four disability simulation activities were designed, including parameters, rules and …

A Test Of Anxiety In Right Cerebrovascular Patients For Re-Integration Into The Community, Amy Booher

Masters Theses

This was a descriptive study for the purpose of examining the effects of hospital outings on anxiety levels of inpatients who had experienced a right cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Eight subjects diagnosed with a right CVA participated in the study. The subjects included 6 males and 2 females. All eight subjects received a doctor's order for a community re-entry outing. The instruments for data collection were the IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (referred to as the Self Analysis Form) and a demographic questionnaire. Administration of the questionnaires took place before and after participating in the outing. The results of the IPAT anxiety …

The Effect Of Risk-Taking Behavior On Personal Fraud Victimization, Judy Allene Van Wyk

Masters Theses

This is a study of risk-taking behavior and personal fraud victimization. Victimology theory is extended to fraud victims, a type of crime victim that has been largely ignored. The effects of risk-taking behavior on vulnerability to fraud are analyzed. It is predicted that the greater a person's willingness to take financial risks the greater the likelihood that he or she will be a victim of fraud. In contrast to these "risky people", prudent people, those who take few risks with their money and who try to manage their finances carefully, will be less likely to be victims of personal fraud. …

Goal Orientation And Flow In Sport, Eric Deemer

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between goal orientation and flow for elite college athletes in addition to the interaction of the following variables: (a) gender and goal orientation, (b) gender and flow, (c) task variability and flow, and (d) task dependence and flow. The primary hypothesis to be investigated was that task-oriented athletes experience flow to a greater degree than ego-oriented athletes. It was also hypothesized that a gender difference would exist for goal orientation in that female athletes would be significantly higher than male athletes in task orientation, however no such difference would exist …

The Relationship Between Perceived And Actual Academic Stressors By Freshmen And Senior University Students, Heather Lea Harvey

Masters Theses

The complaint of many undergraduates at universities has often been one of academic demands and the resulting stresses that they encompass, in their pursuit of a degree. Academic stress has been associated with deteriorating mental and physical health in undergraduates, as well as influencing their graduation rates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between perceived academic stress intensity levels for freshmen and actual stress intensity levels for seniors in the university environment. Twenty-four academic stressors were identified. Freshmen and seniors were asked to rate the stress level they felt was best associated …

Determining If Self-Concept Differences Exist In A Group Of University Women Identified As Eating-Disordered And Noneating-Disordered, Gregory Lee Duthey

Masters Theses

The purposes of this study were: 1) to determine if there was a significant difference in self-concept between a non randomly selected sample of eating-disordered and non eating-disordered undergraduate females at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and 2) to determine the relationship between the variables that compromise the two instruments used in this study. Data were collected during Spring, Summer, and Fall, 1995 terms. Three-hundred-thirty eight volunteers from General Psychology 110 classes completed a demographic questionnaire and the following two self-report instruments: The Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS).

Scores of 14 and above on the …

Consumers' Use Of Nutrition Labels On Dairy Foods, Laura Emily Adams

Masters Theses

This research was conducted in order to better understand and identify the demographic, socioeconomic, shopping habits, sources of nutrition information, and nutrition attitude characteristics which influence consumers' use of nutrition labels on dairy food products. The data used in this study was gathered from a mail survey of households throughout the state of Tennessee. The effects of demographic, socioeconomic, shopping habits, sources of nutrition information, and nutrition attitude characteristics on the probability of the head of a household being a nutrition label reader. The probit model was used to examine these effects statistically.

The results showed that certain characteristics do …

Assessment Of Role Modeling And/Or Mentoring Programs In The Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area, Troy A. Breitmann

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of mentoring and/or role modeling programs for inner-city youth in the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the course of the research agencies, organizations, and groups in the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area who offered mentoring programs were identified. The programs they offered were examined to determine the criteria of mentor and protoge eligibility as well as the overall scope of the program. A questionnaire was developed using the Total Design Method (TDM) and validated with a jury of experts. The questionnaire was delivered via mail to 116 agencies, organizations, and groups …

Morphometric Discriminant Function Sexing Of The Adult Human Greater Sciatic Notch, Tom Edward Bodkin

Masters Theses

Morphometry is a subfield of biometry that combines biology, geometry, and statistics for the purpose of describing biological shape and shape change to facilitate explanations of ontological and phylogenetic development. Recently morphometry has become a tool in human osteological studies to describe skeletal shapes, both in physical anthropology and in the broader areas of biomedicine. This thesis is an application of two-dimensional morphometric methods and discriminant function analysis to determine the sex of skeletal remains using the greater sciatic notch, a structure on the posterior border of the os coxa (hip bone). The sample in this study consists of 254 …

Class And Gender In Southwestern Michigan: Interpreting Historical Landscapes, Deborah L. Rotman

Masters Theses

The gardens, houses, and barns that comprise the cultural landscape embody information about their makers. Because the built environment is not static, it actively serves to create, reproduce, and transform relations of class and gender. Members of society use space to reinforce and resist relations of power, authority, and inequality. For example, the organization of the landscape facilitates the activities and movements of some segments of society, while at the same time it constrains others. Material dimensions of form and space are differentially acknowledged by members of society because individuals occupy multiple roles simultaneously. Material responses to the social world …

Toward A Theory Of Gendered Reading, Larry Edward Schoenholtz

Masters Theses

Sociolinguistic studies have long acknowledged that men and women sometimes read, write, speak, and view differently. This is often recognized as a cultural phenomenon, but there are increasing reasons to suppose that biology may play a larger role in these differences than was suspected two or three decades ago. Over the last fifteen to twenty years, in particular, evidence has continued to mount in that direction from studies in neurophysiology, endocrinology, and infant behavior. In addition, sociobiological perspectives first proposed in the 1970s seem to have met with large success in being confirmed by cross-cultural studies done in the 1980s. …

Loneliness: Do Living Arrangements Make A Difference?, Judith N. Moore

Masters Theses

This study is an exploratory secondary analysis of loneliness experienced as a serious problem by the elderly. The secondary data were from the Davis (1986) national study conducted by Harris & Associates (1987) for the Commonwealth Fund Commission on Elderly People Living Alone. The independent demographic variables of living arrangements (living alone or living with others), age (65 to 85 and over), marital status (married, widowed, divorced, separated, and never married) and sex by the dependent variable of loneliness (a serious problem or not a serious problem) were measured by chi-squares and Cramer's V test for statistical significance. Results indicated …

The Image Of 4-H As Perceived By Selected Tennessee Seventh Graders, Deanna Lee Essington

Masters Theses

The 4-H organization for youth ages 9-19, is the youth education program of the Cooperative Extension Service. Tennessee's 4-H program had 185,000-plus members in 1993-94, up from 171,685 in 1992-93. Even though there has been an overall increase in enrollment, there has been an average 38 percent decrease in membership from the sixth to seventh grades during the past five years. One reason which could have an effect on the decreasing membership is the perception of the image of 4-H to these students. The purpose of this study was to look at relationships between 4-H membership and selected personal and …

A Study Of Tennessee Extension Faculty Attitudes Of Poverty And Public Assistance, Shirlene N. Booker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine and evaluate the Tennessee Agricultural Extension faculty and staff's attitude about poverty and public assistance. Seven specific objectives of the study were identified. The population included all professional staff members and paraprofessionals employed by the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service and Tennessee State University. The sample size was set at 250 in order to achieve at least 95 percent confidence in findings. A random sample procedure was used to select the 250 participants. The study was Expost Facto in nature. The instrument used in the study contained 37 statements on a …

The Meaning Of Editorial Freedom For An Advertising-Free Women's Magazine : A Case Study Of Ms., Anne-Lauren Cunningham

Masters Theses

Content analyses and survey research have shown that advertising is often a powerful force that can dictate the editorial content of magazines, especially women's and trade publications. This study examines how Ms. magazine, which used to publish with advertising but in 1990 dropped it in order to maintain editorial integrity, now functions without advertising. Qualitative interviews were conducted with eight members of Ms.’s current staff who answered the question, "What does editorial freedom mean to you." Based on these interviews, observations made during four days spent at the Ms. offices, and Ms. editorials, a model of advertising-free publishing was …

Loss Associated With Chronic Illness: Application Of The Roy Adaptation Model, Linda M. Dehaan

Masters Theses

The Roy Adaptation Model guided this pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study to test an intervention addressing loss associated with chronic illness. Differences in adaptation and well-being were evaluated between control (n = 20) and experimental groups (n = 20) 30 days after intervention. Adaptation was measured by PAIS-SR scores and analyzed using ANCOVA to adjust for pretest differences. T-test and Mann-Whitney U was used to evaluate well-being as measured by the Global Well-being Scale. Changes in adaptation were not significantly different between groups, but well-being improved 12.8% in the experimental group as compared with 1.4% in the control group. Inconsistency of results …

Effacing The Blots From Their Otherwise Fair Escutcheon : Problems Of Public Health In Leicester 1849-1891, Scott Edward Roney

Masters Theses

This study concerns two public health problems in Victorian Leicester: sewerage and 'summer diarrhoea.' The problems are considered to have been constructed socially as well as materially. While neither problem was unique to Leicester, there were circumstances which made the town's responses to the problems unique. The methodological lens for the study is a quasi-Kuhnian conceptualization called an 'accepted remedy.’ It is posited that the existence or absence of a consensually-held accepted remedy for a specific public health problem was a significant factor in determining how a community would respond to the problem and how successful such a response might …

Our Children : Lesbian Mothers' Perceptions, Ellen P. Wolfe

Masters Theses

The purpose of the research discussed in the present study is to determine the impact a lesbian lifestyle has on lesbian mothers' biological children. I interviewed ten lesbians who experienced coming to terms with their lesbian orientation after spending a period of their life in a heterosexual marriage. I conducted an extensive review of the literature on changes in the relationship between the mother and her children as a result the mother coming out as a lesbian, the influences of homophobia on the children, the impact of the divorce on the children, the influence of living in a lesbian family …

Comparing The Rorschachs And The Mmpi-2s Of Assaulted And Non-Assaulted Females On Variables Associated With Ptsd, Dawn L. Gable

Masters Theses

Previous studies have indicated a high prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among civilian survivors of trauma. Among the psychometric instruments used to assess the characteristics of subjects diagnosed with PTSD are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the Rorschach Inkblot Test. However, few studies have employed both instruments to assess PTSD symptomatology in a civilian group of trauma survivors, and no single study has used both instruments to assess PTSD symptoms in female survivors of physical assault (i.e., battering or rape) or to discriminate between assault survivors and non-assaulted subjects in a female clinical population. This study investigated …

The Effects Of An Integrated Outdoor Education And Recreation Program On The Attitudes Of Nondisabled Middle And High School Students Toward Their Disabled Peers, Julia Kershaw Higley

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of an Integrated outdoor education and recreation program on the attitudes of nondisabled middle and high school students toward their disabled peers. Two sub-problems were also investigated: the effects of gender and the effects of various teaching methods on the attitudes of the nondisabled toward the disabled. There were 28 subjects involved in the study; 14 in the treatment group, and 14 in the control group. The subjects were middle and high school students recruited from the Christian Academy of Knoxville and a home school group. The ages of the …

Parental Investment In The Common Marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus) : Demography And Behavior, Karen Lisa Bales

Masters Theses

This research attempted to determine if the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus, family Callitrichidae) is biasing its sex ratio and parental investment according to patterns predicted by Trivers and Willard (1973) and other current investment theory. Because the common marmoset has a polyandrous mating structure and high female reproductive variance, females in good condition were predicted to invest more in female infants and females in poor condition were predicted to invest more in male infants. Both demographic and behavioral data sets were examined. Demographic data sets from Oak Ridge Associated Universities Marmoset Research Center and the University of Tennessee Walters Life …

Internet Adoption And Use By Innovator And Early Adopter Communicators In Tennessee, Margot Emery

Masters Theses

This diffusion of innovations study examines the experiences of six individuals in traditional communications organizations and in six in associated fields as they acted to adopt and implement the Internet for purposes of professional communication. Using a sociometric approach to detect interpersonal networks, individuals within Tennessee who were considered innovators or early adopters in their usage of the Internet were sought and identified for the sample. An interview protocol developed from diffusion theory was administered in personal interviews at each participant's work setting. Questions focused on perceptions of the Internet, the speed of adoption and issues of implementation and confirmation. …

Restaurant Environments : The Influence Of Environmental Attributes On Preference, Valérie Andriani

Masters Theses

Research indicates that although commonly preferred environmental attributes exist, designers and laypersons do not share a preference for the same ones. In addition, research in the built environment has overlooked restaurant environments despite their increasing success and importance. If designers are to create spaces that the end-users will satisfactorily use and enjoy, they must be aware of not only their needs and wants but also of their preferences. This study investigated the ability of ten environmental attributes (sensory stimulation, coherence, comfort, complexity, formality, mystery, nature, novelty, privacy and spaciousness) to predict preference in upscale restaurants as exhibited by three groups …

The Development Of Models To Predict The In Vivo Background In Phoswich Lung Count Spectra, Nancy W. Richards

Masters Theses

Lung count spectra acquired with phoswich detectors are dominated by Compton-scattered photons from the decay of natural potassium-40 (K-40) that is distributed in the body. To detect the presence of actinides in the lungs, the K-40 background contribution must be estimated and subtracted out. Data analysis at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory currently employs a spectral region called the monitor region (129 - 166 keV) to predict the backgrounds in the ²⁴¹Am (40 - 82 keV) and ²³⁸Pu (11 - 32 keV) regions. This study refines the current methodology. Prediction models are developed from multiple linear and …

High School Guidance Counselor's Perceptions Of Secondary Home Economics Programs : Directions For The Future, Gwendolyn Kay Tenpenny Erwin

Masters Theses

Home economics is at a crossroads between what it is, what it has been, and where it is going. At present, home economics is examining how it is being perceived by those who have an impact upon its image. High schools are perhaps the primary location where students first have contact with home economics education, and guidance counselors have an impact upon the opportunity students have to interact with home economics curricula. This study examined how guidance counselors in one state perceive home economics in secondary programs and its contribution to the overall school curriculum. The study revealed a heavy …

Women's Work And The Family Economy In The Industrial Revolution : A Comparative Study Of The Coalmining Communities Of The Tyne And Wear And The West Riding, Janice M. Mcclelland

Masters Theses

At the time of the Coal Mines Act of 1842, which excluded women from underground work in Britain's coalmines, it was noted by the Commissioners reporting to Parliament that women were not universally employed in underground work in Britain's coalmines. They were employed only in some of the mines of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lancashire, South Wales, Cheshire, and the east of Scotland, and appear to have left underground work 30 to 60 years earlier in other mining regions. How can we account for the fact that women were still working underground in these limited areas, when they already …