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The Lived Experience Of Losing Employment After Diagnosis With Dementia: A Phenomenological Analysis, Susan K. Blaine

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was describing the experiences of people with dementia (PWD) who lose their employment after diagnosis with dementia, but sooner than originally planned. A phenomenological approach based on tenets of Maurice Merleau-Ponty was used. Six telephone interviews were conducted, with participants sharing their experiences. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim, and subsequently analyzed via a hermeneutical analysis approach. Themes were identified within and between transcripts, considering the contextual grounds of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology: body, others, time, and world, and the contextual ground of participants’ experience: the stigma of dementia. An overarching, central theme of “still working” was identified across …

Paying Attention: The Lived Experiences Of Female Adhd Graduate Students In Higher Education, Tiffany Michelle Devol

Doctoral Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rates have been increasing, and while adult learners with ADHD have maintained some success to get to college, they still underperform their non-ADHD peers despite having normal intelligence. There is some research on the impact ADHD has on adult learners as they enter college, but there is little research on how ADHD impacts graduate students seeking to continue their education. Given the fact that this population of adult learner is still struggling, it begs the question, why? And what can be done about it? The purpose of this study was to understand the essence of …

The Unfamiliar Familiar | An Exploration Into The Architectural Uncanny, Jessica P. Peters

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Female Veteran Students’ Transition Experiences From The Military To Higher Education: A Mixed Methods Study, Carrera Romanini

Doctoral Dissertations

Female veterans are a growing population on campuses across the United States (DiRamio et al., 2015; National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). Researchers have turned their attention toward the veteran student population, but research specifically on female veteran students is lacking (Borsari et al., 2017; Demers, 2013). This sequential explanatory mixed method study was conducted to examine and compare the transitional experiences of male and female veteran students from the military to college. In this research method, the quantitative and then qualitative data were collected and analyzed, each in distinct stages (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). Participants from this …

Like Wildfire In A Drought: The Power Of Parent Perspectives In A Phenomenological Study Of A Rural Community School, Janine Amina Al-Aseer

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe families’ experiences at a rural Community School. Using descriptive phenomenological design, I sought to answer the study’s central research question: What is the experience of families at a rural Community School? In order to answer this question, I interviewed ten parents at a rural Community School in the Southeastern United States. Participant interview transcripts were analyzed using Creswell’s method of phenomenological data analysis and led to the identification of five themes that describe the phenomenon. Those were (1) School Supports (2) Parent Engagement (3) Community Impact (4) Institutional Trust and (5) The …

The Lived Experience Of Nurses Caring For Patients Diagnosed With Infective Endocarditis Who Use Or Have Used Intravenous Drugs In Appalachia: A Phenomenological Study, Kendrea Lea Todt

Doctoral Dissertations

Infective endocarditis (IE) from intravenous drug use (IVDU) is an increasing problem in Appalachia. IE is an infection of the inner lining of the heart which may be contracted from body piercing, tattooing, or tooth brushing. In the person who uses IV drugs, the infection is generally needle borne. The Appalachian Region has been profoundly affected by the opioid crisis. Hospitalizations of Appalachians diagnosed with IE from IVDU are rising. Appalachians operate from a strong moral compass, gauging behavior as right or wrong. In the literature, health care provider attitudes towards patients with substance use disorder (SUD) are pejoratively negative, …

"At First The Attempt To Remember, And Then Remembrance Itself:" A Phenomenological Study Of Alfred Schnittke's Piano Quartet, Harry Lee Ward

Masters Theses

Phenomenology, in its etymological sense, is the activity of giving an account of the way things appear. Thus, a phenomenology of time attempts to account for the way things appear to us as temporal or how we experience time. Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quartet lends itself well to phenomenological analysis due to the anachronistic placement of Gustav Mahler’s unfinished, G-minor scherzo sketch into the subjective, intentional realm of time-consciousness. Schnittke’s meticulous manipulation of Mahler’s theme intentionally creates multi-dimensional objects in time and sound that suggest both small- and large-scale circular-patterns of memory, a musical epitaph for both Mahler and himself.In order …

Structurally Rich Movement: Measuring Movement For Empirical Psychology And Examining The Dynamic Complexity Of Affect Regulation In Behavior, Michael Timothy Finn

Doctoral Dissertations

Movement not only permeates human life, but structures dimensions of experience. Phenomenological theory points to the dynamic congruency of movement and emotion, via the body schema, as shaping affectivity. For psychology, this calls for an understanding of behavior beyond being discrete events, but also manifesting kinetic melodies. Yet there is a gap in existing methodology for empirically studying the three-dimensional characteristics of human movement continuously across segments of the body. A potential line of research in this area, implicit affect regulation capacities, was described to inform the selection of instrumentation, measurement, and calculations of dynamic structure that would, theoretically, best …

The Lived Experiences Of Position Specialists In A Team Sport Environment, Allison Brooke Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to discover the lived-experiences of position specialists in a team sport environment. Participants were intercollegiate male and female specialists (pitchers, kickers, punters, and goalies; N = 21) who were enrolled and participating in Division I, II, and III college sport (softball, baseball, football, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s hockey, and women’s hockey) at institutions throughout the South, Midwest, and Northeast. Interviews were conducted in person and via the phone with participants.

Interview transcripts were transcribed and then analyzed using grounded theory approach of collapsing codes down into categories or themes (Glaser & …

‘It’S Not Rocket Science’: Employees’ Lived Experiences And The Essence Of Employee Engagement, Laura Lou Lemon

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand how employees perceive and experience engagement and participate in its meaning-making process. While employee engagement has been primarily explored within the business, the human resources, and management disciplines, public relations research has only recently taken an interest in furthering its understanding.

Within these disciplines, the functional perspective has dominated employee engagement research, which has potentially limited theoretical developments. In response to the current literature being inundated with a rational, functional approach, the following dissertation attempts: (1) to examine employee engagement from an array of organizational voices using phenomenological methods; (2) to …

Religious Metaphor And Structural Complexity, Tyler E. Kibbey

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

“It’S Like A Mountain”: The Lived Experience Of Homeless College Students, Valerie Karen Ambrose

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of college for homeless students. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher completed interviews in which participants were asked to describe what college was like for them. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a hermeneutic approach. All interviews were analyzed within the contexts of each other to identify themes. The participants all lived in a world of homelessness that they could never fully ignore. The world of homelessness was grounded in the contexts of the body and other people. An encompassing central theme of “Escaping the Homeless World through …

The Student Experience Of Other Students, Brian Kelleher Sohn

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature on higher education classroom climate and its relationship to teaching and learning is dominated by studies and theorizing regarding the role of the instructor. But when instructors use learner-centered approaches and diffuse the role and authority of the teacher, students gain a higher level of influence in the learning experience of their peers. In this phenomenological case study of a unique graduate seminar, I interpreted the thematic structure of the student experience of other students (SEOS). Data sources included field notes, audio recordings of class sessions, weekly student post-class reflections, and individual and focus group interviews with students. …

“You Came To Not Normal Land”: Nurses' Experience Of The Environment Of Disaster: A Phenomenological Investigation, Stasia Elizabeth Ruskie

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research suggests US nurses are unprepared for disaster, and suffer from adverse psychosocial outcomes following their disaster response. Current disaster preparedness focuses on providing hospital-centric trauma and acute care in fully resourced Western conditions, and does not include the environmental realities of the disaster setting. This study utilized an existential phenomenological approach to explore the meaning of the nurse’s experience of the disaster environment. Eleven nurses with broad disaster expertise and training levels participated in this research. The essence of their disaster experiences can be summed up by the central theme of “You came to not normal land.” Four …

Lived Experiences Of Beginning Counselors In Harmful Supervision, Alessandra Joy Rhinehart

Doctoral Dissertations

When supervision moves beyond poor oversight to inciting personal and professional impairment, it becomes harmful. Although there is much in the literature regarding ineffective supervision in general, empirical data explicating harmful supervision is significantly less available. In fact, the negative effects of harmful supervision may be notably more severe than those reported of ineffective supervision (Unger, 1995). The purpose of this study was to provide rich description and meaning of beginning counselors’ experiences in harmful supervision. The research question addressed was, “What is the lived experience of beginning counselors in harmful supervision?” Transcendental, existential phenomenology (van Manen, 2014; Thomas & …

The Lived Experience Of The Collegiate Female Student-Athlete, Kelsie Ann Patricia Saxe

Masters Theses

This study explores the lived experience of the collegiate female student-athlete. This population makes up approximately half of the 463,000 student-athletes competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (Irick, 2013). Previous research has explored the benefits and drawbacks of women’s participation in sport and specific experiences within the female student-athlete experience. While research heavily encourages the adolescent girl’s participation in sports, there is conflicting research regarding the impact sport has on the experiences of female student-athletes at an elite level. LaFountaine (2007) found that female student-athletes are not thriving in relation to various aspects of holistic wellness. However, McLester, …

Microbloggers’ Motivations In Participatory Journalism: A Cross-Cultural Study Of America And China, Jue Rui

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological study focuses on the motivations of participatory journalists contributing on microblogs such as Twitter and Weibo. Although online user behavior and motivations have been studied before, few studies have examined motivations of participatory journalists from their own perspective. Moreover, this study is one of the few to explore participatory journalists across different cultures (U.S. and China). The author conducted a total of 13 in-depth interviews with participatory journalists on microblogs from both countries and used a qualitative analysis method to identify the themes and patterns that emerged. Motivations such as earning respect, technology early adoption, self-expression, relationship building, …

The Lived Experience Of Transitioning From The Foster Care System To Adulthood, Carla Renee Parker

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 408,000 children were in foster care in the United States at the end of fiscal year 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Some children return to their families of origin; however, some children remain in the foster care system until they reach age 18 or 21 and must leave, which is called “emancipation” or “aging out” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Transitioning foster youth are at risk for many negative consequences including poverty and homelessness. These negative consequences are associated with significant health implications, such as mental health problems and risky sexual behaviors. …

Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions And Experiences Of Family Engagement: A Phenomenological Investigation, Tiffany Janise Dellard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand pre-service teacher’s perceptions and experiences with family engagement in the education of students. The phenomenological method developed at the University of Tennessee was utilized to explore the following research questions: (1) How do pre-service teachers view the roles of parents in their interactions with teachers, administrators and other school staff to facilitate family engagement; and (2) What influences do pre-service teachers cite as helping to form their views of the role of families in the education of students the pre-service teacher’s experiences in the teacher education program as well as personal experiences …

The Lived Experience Of Female Doctor Shoppers, Julie Ann Worley

Doctoral Dissertations

Prescription drug abuse is a significant problem in the United States with huge societal and financial cost. The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated that in 2009 there were 12.4 million non-medical users of prescription opioids, indicating a 10% increase from 2002. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the financial cost of prescription drug diversion is approximately $72 billion per year. According to the Department of Justice, doctor shopping is the primary method of diversion of prescription drugs. Doctor shopping occurs when patients visit numerous prescribers and pharmacies to obtain prescriptions for controlled drugs for illicit …

A Story Of Change: Adult Learners’ Experiences Of Questioning Their Beliefs And Assumptions In A Graduate Course In Reflective Practice, Megumu Doi Burress

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of students in a graduate course on the topic of Reflective Practice (RP). A phenomenological method was utilized to frame interviews with eight students discussing challenges to their beliefs and assumptions that arose during the course.

Based on a thematic analysis of the interview data, three major figural themes and one ground theme emerged. The three figural themes indicated that participants experienced changes in their beliefs and assumptions about student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships and about similarities and differences among their own and others’ belief systems, in addition to their own …

Conversations With A Phenomenologist: A Phenomenologically Oriented Case Study Of Instructional Planning, Karen Anne Franklin

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the instructional planning practices of one university professor as he prepared to teach weekly classes for a seminar in existential phenomenology. I applied the phenomenological pedagogy of van Manen and the phenomenological philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Husserl, Heidegger, and Gadamer in order to understand the process this professor undertook as he planned instruction for his graduate course. The study is a phenomenologically oriented, illustrative, and descriptive case study of this professor’s planning practices over the course of one semester in the context in which those practices occurred.

Findings from this study demonstrate that Dr. Pollio’s instructional planning is …

Local Residents' Experience Of The Coal Ash Spill In Kingston, Tennessee: A Phenomenological Study, Amy Lynn Mathis

Doctoral Dissertations

On December 22, 2008, near Kingston, Tennessee, a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) retention pond holding approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of coal fly ash failed, spilling the ash into the nearby Emory River and inundating farms and homes in the Swan Pond community. As a result more than 100 people were permanently displaced from their homes and the clean-up effort is ongoing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of living near Kingston, Tennessee, in the aftermath of the spill. Using existential phenomenology as the guiding research methodology, I interviewed 9 participants from the area and asked …

Examining Corporate Social Responsibility In Thailand: A View From Thai Companies, Nutthanun Rajanakorn

Doctoral Dissertations

This study aims to understand the perceptions and meanings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of Thailand. Phenomenology was used to explore the inquiry of how Thai executives perceived and implemented their companies’ CSR. Twenty long-interviews were conducted with Thai executives who were directly involved in and in charge of CSR in their companies. Several themes emerged from the study, and the findings were presented in the aspects of their perceptions of CSR involvement, the motivations, the benefits, and the overall meanings of CSR. Giving back, caring for and helping /sharing, and developing and creating are three themes …

River And Ridge: Eco-Revelatory Design At Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, Valerie Friedmann

Masters Theses

Eco-revelatory design (ERD) emerged in 1998 as a reaction to polarity within the field of landscape architecture. Two predominant schools of thought, one insistently cultural and the other assertively ecological, reigned over the conceptual and theoretical dialog in landscape design and planning. The authors of ERD proposed a design theory in which landscape architecture is “intended to reveal and interpret ecological phenomena, processes and relationships” (Brown, Harkness, Johnston, 1998).

Proponents of ERD recognized that landscape architecture alters and directs both cultural and ecological systems. Furthermore, they acknowledged landscape architects’ capacity to direct human experience and reveal, through design, aspects of …

“It Was Fight Or Flight...And Flight Was Not An Option”: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation Of Military Service Members’ Experience Of Hand-To-Hand Combat, Peter Richard Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

Hand-to-hand combat is one of the more psychologically challenging performance environments for those in the military (Grossman, 1995). Even with the technological advances of modern warfare military leaders still believe hand-to-hand combat is an important and relevant challenge for service members (Blanton, 2007; Clark, 2009; Collins, 2007; Wojdakowski, 2007; Wood & Micaelson, 2000). Despite its importance, the hand-to-hand combat experience has, to date, attracted very little research attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore military service members’ experiences of hand-to-hand combat. To accomplish this objective, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 17 male military service members. Each participant …

Evoking Unity: Toward A Communal Phenomenology In Virginia Woolf And William Faulkner, Phillip Douglas Bandy

Masters Theses

Contemporary readings of William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf typically situate these canonical authors within their historical contexts as exponents of the material conditions of modernity or as the literary precursors of postmodernism, as writers of indeterminacy and linguistic play. In this thesis, I argue for a mode of reading Woolf and Faulkner grounded not in history or language, but in consciousness as the irreducible basis of human experience. That is, by invoking the philosophical tradition of phenomenology, I claim that both authors attempted to engage more fully with not simply a historical moment called “modernity,” but a human reality characterized …

"Your World Stops": The Relationship Chiasm Between Teachers And Students In Court-Mandated Adult Education, Rondal David Mottern

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the experiences of teachers working with court-mandated students in GED/ABE programs. While there is a considerable body of literature on adult correctional education, this literature almost exclusively deals with teachers and students working within incarceration settings, where students are in jail or prison. There is a lack of research on the experiences of teachers working with students who are a part of the correctional system but are placed within the community, i.e., students who are in community corrections programs such as probation and parole. This study begins to fill that void in the research literature. This research …

An Existential Phenomenological Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Mothers In Dual-Career Families, Andrea Darlene Marable

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of mothers living in dual-career families. Using existential phenomenology as the guiding research methodology, I interviewed 10 mothers living in dual-career families. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed four themes that stood out as figural for participants in the study: (a) "Free time isn't really free anymore": Timing is Everthing; (b) "It's because of the support I get": Supporting Me; (c) "I feel like I'm lacking in one area all the time, just a little bit": Struggling to Find a Balance; and (d) "I know how …

Suspended Students’ Experiences With In-School Suspension: A Phenomenological Investigation, Katherine Rene Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study was to consider the ways in which middle school students made meaning of their experience with exclusionary discipline, specifically in-school suspension (ISS). While ISS has historically been positioned as an alternative to exclusionary discipline, ISS programs are often designed in ways that are exclusionary. Current research on exclusionary discipline points to the ways in which suspensions and expulsions impact students academically, socially, and emotionally. Very little of that research, however, considers the perspectives of the students who have been the recipients of exclusionary discipline. Thus, seeking to more fully understand the lived experiences of …