Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Secular Change And Allometry In The Long Limb Bones Of Americans From The Mid 1700s Through The 1970s, Lee Meadows Jantz

Doctoral Dissertations

Secular change has long been of interest to researchers in fields ranging from human growth to human identification. In addition to changes in size, changes in limb bone proportions may also have occurred.

Secular change in size and limb bone length proportion was investigated in five U.S. skeletal samples (Total N =2700) with dates of birth ranging from mid 1700 to 1970s. The six long bones are measured for maximum lengths, and stature is known for a approximately 2000 individuals. The goals of this study include 1) examining any changes in the long bones and stature of white and black …

Patient Satisfaction With Spiritist Healing In Brazil, Darrell William Lynch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess patient satisfaction with Spiritist healing in Brazil. The data utilized consist of forty personal interviews of Spiritist patients conducted by the author during a seven month stay in Brazil. The study focuses primarily on the outcomes of the surgeries of Dr. Fritz, a well known Spiritist healer in Brazil, as seen from the point of view of the patients. The study finds that a clear majority of the patients expressed belief that their treatments were successful. This is particularly impressive in view of the fact that a majority of the patients had …

A Study Of Histological Aging Of The Human Clavicle, Nikki L. Rogers

Masters Theses

This study attempted to augment the Stout and Paine (1992) and Stout and colleagues' (1996) methods of histological aging for the clavicle. In the 1992 study, the predictive equation was generated from a sample of only 40 individuals taken from an autopsy population (mean ages 28.6 years) with no prior sampling strategy. The 1996 expansion (Stout et al., 1996) tested the 1992 equation, added 41 males and 42 females from a Swiss cemetery sample to the original autopsy sample to generate a new predictive equation based on all 123 individuals.

In this study, an independent autopsy population was used to …

Discovering The Meaning Of Bharata Natyam Movement Within The Devadasi Tradition: Dance Movement And Vernacular Movement Of South Indian Women, Nalini Raghavan

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Mentorship As An Intervention Strategy In Relapse Reduction Among Native American Youth, Lisa Jane Lefler

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary objective of this project was to develop and test a mentorship program for a regional Native American youth treatment center. Many Native American adolescents who are discharged from treatment return to their peers and families who may still be using alcohol, thus greatly increasing the probability of relapse. This project was designed to provide these youth with sober, positive role models who would aid in providing the support needed to maintain client sobriety.

As a tool for this project, an epidemiological data base was developed at the Indian Health Service facility. A retrospective inventory of 165 client files …

A Stylistic Analysis Of The White Swan Robe: Crow Representational And Applied Art As Ethnic Markers, Douglas Allen Schmittou

Masters Theses

The White Swan robe constitutes an extraordinary source of data concerning the manner in which Crow men and women differentially employed elements of somatic, representational, and applied art to simultaneously communicate their tribal affiliation, and to differentiate themselves from members of neighboring Plains tribes. The unique value of this specimen arises from the fact that it is not only the “canvas” upon which White Swan and an anonymous second artist depicted their respective military exploits, but is also embellished with a classic Transmontane-style beaded strip. Analysis of the painted vignettes was conducted for the purpose of determining thematic content, with …

The Use Of The Lincoln/Petersen Index For Quantification And Interpretation Of Commingled Human Remains, Bradley J. Adams

Masters Theses

This thesis concerns the use of the Lincoln/Petersen Index (LI) for quantification studies of commingled human remains. A wide variety of quantification techniques are available to the faunal analyst, but physical anthropologists tend to focus entirely on the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) as the only alternative for dealing with commingled human remains. As will be discussed, the LI has been effectively used in the zooarchaeological research and literature for determining the original number of individuals represented by the osteological assemblage. Prior to the completion of this thesis, no published study of commingled human remains was discovered which utilized the …

The Archaeology And History Of The Cherokee Out Towns, Lance K. Greene

Masters Theses

During the 19th century, several Cherokee towns were located in the Appalachian Summit of western North Carolina, in the Tuckasegee and Oconaluftee river valleys. They were termed the Out Towns by the English, due to their isolation in the mountainous region. The Out Towns remained largely isolated from the English, and later the Americans, due to this geographic isolation. As a result, very little historical documentation exists for the Out Towns.

Very few large-scale archaeological excavations have been performed in the area. Little has been written about the archaeology of the area since the work of Egloff (1967), Dickens (1976, …

Exchange Place: Development Of The Commercial Frontier, Dalford Dean Owens Jr.

Masters Theses

The archaeological study of early commercial sites and their contribution to regional development has been lacking, particularly in the Upland South. As an adaptive response of an expanding society, these sites originated through specific cultural and historical factors. Via these locations moved people, information, and consumer goods. These sites were strong integrative forces in frontier development and served as infrastructure for an expanding society. A better understanding of the active role that commercial sites played in local and regional development is presented. This is accomplished by a historical, archaeological, and geographical study of the Exchange Place (40SL22), Kingsport, Tennessee. Following …

The Cementoenamel Junction: Gap, Overlay And Edge To Edge Relationships, Elizabeth A. Gilb

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine mineralized tissue relationships at the cementoenamel junction in the maxillary central incisor and the mandibular canine. There are three distinct relationships at the cervical region of the tooth: a gap junction is when the cementum and enamel fail to connect, an edge-to-edge when the cementum and enamel meet and an overlay when the cementum extends on to the enamel. There are four main research questions that have been addressed in this investigation; 1) Can a type of junction be correlated to racial affinity? 2) Is there a relationship between sex and junction …

Cross-Cultural Differences And Intercultural Cooperation In The Context Of Change And Uncertainty: Americans And Finns In The Workplace, Maija Llisa Herweg

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

American and Finnish workers in financial institutions in the United States and in Finland were interviewed in their respective languages to explore cross-cultural differences in response to change and uncertainty in the work place. Changes were explored in the domains of organizational, process, procedure and work content, and technological changes in the work place. As a point of departure for this study, Hofstede's IBM study, as it pertains to Uncertainty Avoidance--a measure he used to evaluate culture-based resistance to change--was used for this study.

Differences in the kinds of change considered difficult to adjust to were found in the cross-cultural …

From Herds Of Goats To Herds Of Tourists: Negotiating Bedouin Identity Under Petra's Romantic Gaze, Cynthia Allison Wooten

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Job Satisfaction Of West Michigan Certified Nurse-Midwives: A Qualitative Study Of Autonomy And Empowerment In The Provision Of Health Care, Martha M. Shafer-Thyen

Masters Theses

Certified Nurse-Midwifery provides optimal health care service to women through all stages of the reproductive cycle. In order to ensure continued growth of this field of health care, prospective students must see it as an occupation which can offer them high levels of job satisfaction, and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) must be satisfied in their job or they will not continue to practice. In this qualitative study of West Michigan CNMs, two main factors are identified that determine high levels of job satisfaction: (1) The ability to autonomously care for a woman, with recourse to supportive comanagement of the woman's care …

Anthropology And Environmental Studies Of The Southwest: The Integration Of People And The Land Through Time, Terri S. Ross

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

The indigenous peoples of the American Southwest are so culturally integrated with their environment that it is impossible to separate the land and the people. Personal interviews with three Navajo women provide an original and native voice illustrating their relationship to the environment. Five different topics chosen from their interviews have been researched to provide academic information for a more complete picture illustrating the integration of the people and the land through time.

I claim to understand the relationship between anthropology and environmental studies of the American Southwest. The people must be viewed in their native environment, and their voice …

A Technological Analysis Of Modified Bone From The Widows Creek Site (1ja305), Alabama, Sean Patrick Coughlin

Masters Theses

This study examines chronological and spatial changes in the distribution of modified bone attributes. Five hundred sixty-two modified bone specimens were examined from Late Archaic, Early Woodland, and Middle/Late Woodland contexts of the Widows Creek site. Each specimen was examined for raw material, manufacturing traces, manufacturing stage, and morphology. The Widows Creek material was then compared to material from Russell Cave (1JA181) and Westmoreland-Barber (40MI11) using published data.

The study found that, at a general level, raw material choice varied little through time. However, distinct differences in the distribution of materials in manufacturing stages and morphological categories are present. Manufacturing …

Volunteer Fire Departments: A Neglected American Voluntary Association, Michelle C. Akers

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the social and cultural dimensions of volunteer fire departments (VFDs) in West Michigan. Through interviews and observations of four VFDs, important dimensions of social cohesion and variability within and between the departments and communities are revealed. An emphasis is placed upon the gender relations within the departments and their effect upon the relations in the larger community. From these companies, a sketch of a small West Michigan community is derived. If used as a companion with other research of Midwestern communities of a greater scope and sample size, an understanding of social organization and social structure may …

Social Stratification Within A Protohistoric Plankhouse Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Use-Wear And Spatial Distribution Analysis Of Chipped Lithic Artifacts, Cameron Mcpherson Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The spatial distribution of chipped lithic artifacts excavated at site 35C05, a Chinookan plankhouse of the protohistoric period, was observed to test the hypothesis that a gradient of material culture -- reflecting social status -- should be evident within the plankhouse, ranging from the highest to the lowest social rank. Prior to the spatial analysis, use-wear analysis was used to evaluate the classificatory labels used to describe the assemblage by a previous researcher. The use-wear analysis largely confirmed the functional classification of chipped lithic artifacts used by the previous researcher. The spatial analyses revealed that while most tool types were …

Expatriate Patterns Of Cultural Adaptation, Norma Westurn

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Meat And Potatoes: Recipes For A Range Of Egalitarianism In Three Hunter-Gatherer Societies, Amy Vlassia Margaris

Honors Papers

Throughout most of human history our ancestors lived by hunting and gathering. Only within the last ten to fifteen thousand years have alternative forms of social organization developed, duly labeled by anthropologists and archaeologists: agricultural, pastoral, and complex state societies, lineal tribes, and a host of other terms which pass in and out of favor in our ongoing (and inescapably human) attempts to categorize our own kind.

Classification lies at the heart of science, and anthropology is certainly no exception. However, categorization of any degree (which requires generalization) runs the risk of obscuring important differences between cultural groups. The trick …

The Power Of The Privy: Mediating Social Relations On A 19th Century British Military Site, Joseph Henry Last

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Wapato For The People : An Ecological Approach To Understanding The Native American Use Of Sagittaria Latifolia On The Lower Columbia River, Melissa Cole Darby

Dissertations and Theses

Sagittaria latifolia Willd. was an important root food and trade commodity for the Indians who lived along the Lower Columbia River in early historic times. This plant was prolific in the extensive wetlands of the Lower Columbia from about the great Cascades to the Kalama River. The tubers of this plant were called "wapato" in Chinook Jargon, the local trade language. The wetlands, and this plant that grew there, occupied a vast extent of the Lower Columbia territory; so much so that this valley was named 'Wapato Valley' by Lewis and Clark in 1805. This thesis will provide pertinent information …

Lead Poisoning From The Colonial Period To The Present, Elsie Irene Eubanks

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Marston Parish 1654-1674: A Community Study, Jane Dillon Mckinney

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

"Small Though The Spot Is": Settlement In Devonshire Parish, Bermuda, 1622-1798, John David Metz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Working With Tools: Work, Identity, And Perception Communicated Through The Material Culture Of Work In The Context Of The Rideau Canal Construction 1826-1832, Suzanne Elizabeth Stella Plousos

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A Distinctive Chest Of Drawers: Using Material Culture To Interpret The Past And The Present, Jessica Williams Johnston

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Indigenous Origins Of The Egyptian God-King, Deborah Jo Burnham

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The question of the Egyptian God-King's origin is not a matter of ethnicity, but rather one of culture. Is it indigenous and as such, an integral part of the rise of Egypt as a primary civilization? Or is it Mesopotamian and a product of diffusion, bringing with it the idea of the city-state and monumental architecture including the pyramid?

"Nyatiti Is My People": Music And The Reconstruction Of Culture Among The Luo Of Western Kenya, Ian Eagleson

Honors Papers

In this thesis I contend that experiencing music is a fundamental activity in the realization of cultural identity. Music reinforces cultural identity by enacting significant forms and practices that embody meaning, meaning particular to the identity of a culture. When people hear music that is significant in their culture it excites certain feelings in them which reinforce and regenerate their identity with that culture. Participation in music is a condition that evokes a vivid impression in the participant like no other activity in social life. Functionally, this impression may reinforce themes impressed on actors in other ways; however, the way …

Someone's Calling Your Swatch: Youth, Technology And Power, Su-Lyn Tan

Theses : Honours

Common assumptions about youth and youth culture exist in academic, as well as other adult cultures. These assumptions underlie policy decisions, programming choices, and even the way we (as adults) treat youth. This study proposes to examine Singaporean youth and their use of pagers, in terms of Foucauldian theories of power; in an attempt to draw critical attention to these common assumptions. The intention is to explore the ambiguities of such common assumptions as sites of power relations; relations that are inherent to all societies in one way or another. The pager is not a conventional focus for communication research. …

The Brigham Young University Folklore Of Hugh Winder Nibley: Gifted Scholar, Eccentric Professor And Latter-Day Saint Spiritual Guide, Jane D. Brady

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the stories which revolve around folk legend Hugh Winder Nibley and what those stories mean to the people of Brigham Young University. Folklore reveals who we are and what is important to us. But, interestingly, folklore tends to reveal more about the person telling the story than about the subject of the story itself. People can't remember every story they hear. The ones they do remember are important to them. The stories are important because they fulfill basic needs of the teller. Such needs are a desire to look up to a hero, a need to fit …