Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Coherence And Usability Of An Environmental Impact Statement, Jill A. Easterly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research effort was to investigate the application of certain principles of effective communication to improve the comprehension, and ultimately the usability, of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Principles from cohesion theory (an area of research describing effective design) were used to manipulate the design of select sections of two sample EISs. Each sample EIS was altered to manipulate the presence and/or absence of visual and linguistic cohesion. Subjects were required to read select versions from each section of the two sample EISs and answer four short answer questions. The dependent variables were accuracy in answering the …

Tacit Cooperation Between Enemies: Two Case Studies, Kristina Handy

Theses and Dissertations

This research details a point of reference to understand two case studies of cooperation that developed among lower-level, or non policy-making bureaucrats during times of conflict or war. Using components of game theory, I propose that when an international conflictual relationship occurs that resembles an iterated Prisoners' Dilemma, and that meets certain conditions, tacit cooperation can emerge. Tacit cooperation consists of illicit or implied cooperation that is not sanctioned at the national policy level.

In this research I develop a framework of tacit cooperation, relying heavily upon Robert Axelrod's theory of evolutionary cooperation. With the framework in place, I then …

Florine Stettheimer: A Re-Appraisal Of The Artist In Context, Melissa (Liles) Parris

Theses and Dissertations

Florine Stettheimer was an independent painter and eminent "art hostess" among the avant-garde in New York City during the years between the World Wars. In 1916, Stettheimer rather suddenly affected a naive or unschooled style that did not fit within any academic or vanguard movement. This new style, what I have termed conscious naiveté, can be considered the genesis of Stettheimer's mature works. Contemporaneous critical appraisals after the shift in style undervalued the inventive modernity of her work and unfairly “feminized” her style.

The Mormons In Wilhelmie Germany, 1870-1914: Making A Place For An Unwanted American Religion In A Changing German Society, Michael Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1853 and 1914 the kingdom of Prussia and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, disagreed over the issue of Mormon missionaries proselyting in Prussia. In 1853 royal magistrates banished all Mormon missionaries from the kingdom for advocating emigration. A new church policy of preaching without seeking for official permission, in addition to an improved relationship between the Mormons in Utah and the United States government after the Manifesto of 1890, led to an increase in missionaries sent to Germany, including Prussia. By 1900 mormon success alarmed the Prussian Protestant clergy and a few Prussian governors …

Predicting Missionary Service, Bert Burraston

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to test the antecedents of religiosity on religious commitment. Specifically, what dimensions of religiosity predict if a young-adult Mormon male will serve a mission. Both Logistic Regression and LISREL were used to examine data from the Young Men's Study, in order to predict Mission. The six variables, Religious Intention, Public Religiosity, Religious Negativism, Family Structure, Tithing, and Smoking were found to have direct effects on missionary service. Four more variables were found to have important indirect effects on Mission. The four variables are Parents Church Attendance, Home Religious Observances, Agree With Parents' Values, and …

From Mormon To Evangelical: A Look At Disaffiliation And Conversion, Laura M. Marwick

Theses and Dissertations

Religion is a major institution in society and for many, affiliation with a religious group shapes the way they view the world and the way they interact with other formal and informal institutions within society. In addition, particular behaviors are present during the processes an individual goes through when deciding to leave or switch their religious affiliation.
There are a variety of new affiliations that these disaffiliated individuals can make. One alternative religious group that disaffected members of the LDS Church (Mormons) can form a new affiliation with is Evangelical Christianity, often referred to as the "Born Again Movement". This …

Synthesis As A Method For Elaboration, Polly Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Before I began this thesis, I examined my previous work and a consistent quality emerged. l tended to assemble (synthesize) things (entities) that were seemingly unlike (disparate). I q u e s t i o n e d my approach and its validity as a design methodology.

I found, through investigation into the nature of my p r o c e s s and the process of other artists and designers that specific methods of synthesis could be defined. In this thesis I have outlined three synthesis methodologies. They are not the only methods that exist, but were the ones …

Risk-Taking Predispositions Among Mormon Women: Improving Communication About Health And Environmental Risks, Shelly Nicholls

Theses and Dissertations

This study measures risk-taking predisposition among a conservative religious population of women, in this instance Mormon women. Risk taking is defined as a recognition of some probability of negative consequences to an action, which can include the loss of a potential reward as well as a punishment. A risk-taking predisposition results when individuals are not risk aversive but, in fact, enjoy risk taking.

Survey research collected at two conferences in Utah reveal the likelihood of moderate levels of rebellious and adventurous risk-taking predisposition among the over 500 Mormon women respondents. It is suggested that religious affiliation or economic and educational …

Lds, Catholic And Secular Perspectives On Development In The Dominican Republic, Gregory L. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses six world views concerning development in the Dominican Republic. Catholic and LDS traditions assert that full development is life with God and life with God as a god, respectively. The LDS church has experienced rapid growth in the Dominican Republic, but must deal with less active and illiterate members. The catholic tradition permeates Dominican culture but must deal both with a scarcity of priests and a schism among the clergy.

The secular chapter combines many secular views into four, based on lan Mitroff's and Ralph Kilmann's extension of C.G. Jung psychological types. Analytic Scientists have historically dominated …

Active Latter-Day Saint Working Mothers: Their Effect On Their Daughters' Future Plans, Nissa C. Bengtson Allred

Theses and Dissertations

This research looks at the effect employed active LDS mothers have on their daughters' future plans for education, career, marriage, and children. Mothers' educational level, type of employment, and daughters' attachment to the LDS church were taken into consideration. It was found that a majority of daughters are definite in their plans for education, career, marriage, and children regardless of the employment status of their mother. Daughters of employed LDS mothers are more definite in their plans for a career than daughters of unemployed LDS mothers. No effect was found for mothers' employment on daughters' future plans for college, marriage, …

Mormon Opposition Literature: A Historiographical Critique And Case Study, 1844-57, William P. Connors

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is in three parts. The first part looks at the historical scholarship on writings opposed to Mormonism, especially those from the nineteenth century. The conclusion is that, despite hundreds of works written against Mormonism in its early years, the historical scholarship has not done justice to the writings or people involved. The vast majority of the writings and writers have not been analyzed, and those that are discussed are usually the most sensational and not representative of the genre.

The second part of this thesis is a a case study giving an example of the kind of work …

Pornography And Premarital Sexual Activity Among Lds Teenagers, Mark A. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between several independent measures and premarital sexual activity among 1,393 LDS teenagers living along the east coast. Results indicate that among these LDS teens, exposure to pornography is strongly and significantly related to the probability of having engaged in premarital sex. This holds true even when controlling for peer influence, family structure, religiosity, gender, and age. Teens who were exposed to pornography (1 to 24 exposures) are 2.6 times more likely to have engaged in sex as compared to those who report no exposure to pornography. Furthermore, those teens exposed to a higher amount of …

"A Little Oasis In The Desert": Community Building In Hurricane, Utah, 1860-1930, W. Paul Reeve

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of the mechanisms employed in the community building process of Hurricane, Utah. It traces the roots of the town's early settlers beginning with their arrival in southern Utah in the early 1860s through the founding of Hurricane and the establishment of its social order. This pioneering period largely ended by 1930.
Hurricane's founders were the remnants of the Mormon Church's failed Cotton Mission. Original U.S. census research shows that by 1900 close to half of the mission's colonizers abandoned the challenging desert of southern Utah. The stalwarts who remained fashioned the Hurricane Canal with the …

Other-Centeredness And Depression In A Sample Of Mormon Women, Janice G. Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

Other-centeredness and depression were examined to see if a relationship existed between the two. One scale measuring other-centeredness and another measuring depression were given to a sample of married Mormon women who did not work outside the home. Other-centeredness and depression were significantly negatively correlated. The women scoring in the top one-third of the range of other-centeredness scores suffered no depression on the depression scale. The factor most predictive for depression was the relationship the women had with her husband, and other-centeredness was found to overlap with this variable to some extent. The factors of health, income, and education were …

The International Diffusion Of The Mormon Church, Samuel Otterstrom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis outlines the international diffusion and growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. A model of Mormon spatial diffusion in foreign countries is developed incorporating both a functional and spatial perspective. The functional perspective includes supply and demand variables which influence the rate of growth of the Mormon Church in a country. The functional perspective is not fully explored in the thesis. The spatial perspective which the study concentrates on seeks to show a general spatial pattern related to the spread of the Church within countries.

The original diffusion of the Church to …

Wendell J. Ashton: Advocate, Publisher, Civic Leader, Val L. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Wendell J. Ashton has been described as a pacesetter in the communications field in the Intermountain West. He was a trailblazer in public relations in the early days of his career at Gillham Advertising. His life has been filled with challenges such as publisher of the Deseret News, director of the LDS Church Communications Department, principal in Gillham Advertising, and various civic and community activities.

Ashton's communications career was one of innovator and pioneer as he helped forge the public relations industry in the Intermountain West. His career has followed in the footsteps of many other professionals such as …