Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Public Perceptions And Attitudes Toward Domestic Climate Migrants And Migration In The U.S., Brittany Shae Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events due to global climate change have an important effect on human migration and relocation. Short-term extreme weather events like floods and wildfires are likely to continue to displace people. Long-term environmental changes like droughts and increasing temperatures may also contribute to increased human migration. This research aimed to better understand how people in the U.S. perceive domestic climate migrants, and what drives these perceptions. First, I investigated the relationship between public climate change risk perceptions and attitudes and perceptions about domestic climate migrants and migration. I found that people tend to rely …

Determinants Of The Student Loan Decision And Financial Well-Being: The Role Of Financial Education, Financial Literacy, And Student Loan Characteristics, Emily Shaffer Hales

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The student loan crisis has been an important area of personal, political, and research discussion. Many individuals must make the decision to attend college with the help of student loans and millions are currently in repayment on their student loan. However, it can be difficult to understand what factors may play a role the decision to take out a student loan and how managing one’s student loan could affect their personal financial well-being. Thus, this study examined factors that could be related to how an individual may decide to take out a student loan, such as if they participated in …

Kudos And K.O.M.'S: The Effect Of Strava Use On Evaluations Of Social And Managerial Conditions, Perceptions Of Ecological Impacts, And Mountain Bike Spatial Behavior, Noah E. Creany

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Smartphone based self-tracking fitness applications (apps) like Strava are increasingly becoming a part of recreation experiences in parks and protected areas (PPAs). Recreation research has employed smartphone GPS tracking (SGT) and volunteered geographic information (VGI) to study visitor behavior in PPAs, but little is understood about how smartphones or fitness apps affect visitor perceptions and behavior during their experience.

The first chapter of this thesis is a literature review of recreation survey and behavior research, social-psychology and technology use theory, gamification, and mountain bike social science and recreation-ecology research. The second chapter is formatted for submission to the Journal of …

The Sue-And-Settle Phenomenon: Its Impact On The Law, Agency, And Society, Katie L. Colton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Sue-and-settle is the name applied to a federal agency’s use of litigation to create policy outside of the normal regulatory process. This paper discusses the impact that the sue-and-settle policy has had on Congress, the judiciary, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Specifically, this paper will discuss the issues caused by the perception of collusion within the sue-and-settle policy. First, this paper examines whether a relationship occurs between the litigants. The paper then discusses whether the relationship between the litigants in sue-and-settle cases tends to be collusive or not. The second part of the paper examines how Congress, the Environmental Protection …

Policy Designs To Address Water Allocations During Societal Transitions: The Southern Nevada Water Authority's Groundwater Development Project, Lisa W. Welsh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although water is considered a renewable resource, there is only a fixed amount of water available. No additional water can be made, and we cannot easily control how fast water is recycled or in what form it will appear and where. With expected growth in the world’s population and economy, the same amount of water must supply more needs. Taking into account climate change projections and water-related environmental stresses, even less water might be available for human uses. People will need to decide how to serve a multitude of water needs. This dissertation uses the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA) …

The Shape Of Grief: A Generational Legacy Of The Vietnam War, Benjamin A. Quick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A well-known memoirist once said that a true war story never seems to end, that it just keeps going and going. The question begs: If the war story never ends, then how does it manifest in future generations? In my case, as the first-born son of a Vietnam veteran, the war story has played out physically, within my body, in the form of an Agent Orange-related disability and a resulting set of limitations and adaptations. Fortunately, for me the limitations have been few and the adaptations many. But despite this, I’ve known, since a relatively young age, that I am …

Essays On Population Aging And Social Security In The U.S., Shantanu Bagchi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the past few decades, falling birth rates and increasing life expectancies have threatened the viability of social security programs all across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In this dissertation, I attempt to shed some light on the extent of the crisis that the social security program in the United States (U.S.) currently faces, and I also recommend one possible reform policy. In the first essay, I provide an alternative estimate of the impact of population aging on the future social security benefits in the U.S., while accounting for the household-level and macroeconomic adjustments to population aging. …

Residential Landscape Water Check Programs: Exploring A Conservation Tool, Diana T. Glenn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In response to drought and regional growth in the arid western United States, urban water demand management is increasingly important. Single family residences use approximately 60% of their water consumption to irrigate landscapes often in excess of plant water requirements. This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to investigate outdoor water consumption and assess the effectiveness of a landscape water check conservation program. Study objectives included describing a contextualized landscape system to reveal variables influencing water use, identifying better ways to evaluate landscape water use, and more effectively targeting and delivering water conservation programs.

The study was conducted during the 2004 …

Private Or Public Insurance? The Institutional History Of Health Care In The United States And The United Kingdom, Karin M. Abel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary question at issue in this paper is the following: given the similarities between the two countries with regard to welfare state institutions, why have the United States and the United Kingdom diverged on the issue of health care? Drawing on sociological institutionalism, a branch of the new institutionalist paradigm, this paper provides an answer to this question: during the formative years of the health care stories in the two countries, variations in institutional and cultural conditions produced contrasting policy outcomes. More specifically, this paper discusses how the combination of institutions (political, labor, and medical) and culture led to …

Language Brokering In Latino Families: Direct Observations Of Brokering Patterns, Parent-Child Interactions, And Relationship Quality, Kee J. E. Straits

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With the growing percentage of immigrant families in the USA, language transition is a common immigrant experience and can occur rapidly from generation to generation within a family. Child language brokering appears to occur within minority language families as one way of negotiating language and cultural differences; however, the phenomenon of children translating or mediating language interactions for parents has previously been hypothesized to contribute to negative outcomes for children, such as role-reversals and parentification, emotional distancing and lack of communication, increased parent-child conflict, and increased internalizing/externalizing disorders. The current study used direct observations of 60 Spanish-speaking parent-child dyads (30 …

An Examination Of Integrated Rural Tourism Development In The Goris Region Of Armenia, Luke Alan Petersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rural tourism is a popular development tool in both developed and developing countries. However, rural economic development can be problematic when considering the diversity of resources and stakeholder groups. In the Republic of Armenia the current system of tourism development is not benefiting rural communities in the regions. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of community dynamics in the rural region of Goris through the study of tourism integration. A novel assessment tool is implemented which provides a systematic qualitative evaluation of stakeholder perceptions through which strengths and weaknesses of the local tourism sector are derived. Data extracted …

Sources Of Recreational And Community Conflict From Tourism In Moab, Utah, Susan R. Van Patten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A written survey of 200 Moab residents was used to measure residents' attitudes 11 toward tourism. Three regression models were developed using variables identified in the tourism literature to measure the relative importance of interpersonal contacts with tourists, negative impacts to outdoor-recreation experiences, and community experience in predicting attitudes toward tourism. Interpersonal contacts and recreation impacts both had fairly high predictive capabilities. It was concluded that interactions between recreation visitors/tourists and local residents should be a focus of further research.

Data from the Moab resident survey were also used in conjunction with a survey of mountain bikers visiting or living …

Park Visitor Responses To Natural Hazards, Lee H. Rentz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Natural hazards have been an increasing problem in wildland recreation areas. This study attempted to identify factors affecting park visitor perception of and preparedness for hazards.

A model was formulated incorporating three major independent variables which might affect park visitor responses to hazards. These were: (1) previous experience, (2) information about hazards provided by the park administration (such as warnings located on signs or in brochures), and (3) visitor perception of whether responsibility for hazards rests with the individual or with an outside authority such as government or God. Trip length and knowledge of hazards were also thought to be …

Chemical Quality Variation In A Small Mountain Watershed, David C. White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to quantify the chemical nature of the Chicken Creek waters, and to investigate the variability and causes of that observed chemistry. The three objectives of the study were: 1) inventory the chemistry of the water produced by the subject watersheds, 2) determine chemical budgets for the watersheds, and 3) identify the sources of the primary chemical components.

Chemical surveys were made: 1) on the stream exiting from each gaged watershed, 2) at various points within the West Branch drainage network, 3) of the atmospheric inputs (rain, snow, and dust), 4) of the soil solution, …

Communication And Job Satisfaction Attitudes Within The Utah Division Of Parks And Recreation, Brian J. Vachowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Communication patterns and job satisfaction are important components in understanding organizational behavior. Further, research evidence indicates relationships among communication, job satisfaction, and organization effectiveness.

After attitude indices were devised from questionnaire items administered to Utah Division of Parks and Recreation personnel, Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine the degree of relationship between attitudes toward communication and each of the following attitude indices for field operations employees: (1) degree of responsibility and participation in decision making; (2) career opportunities, security and training and (3) a combined index of the preceding two indices. Moderate but statistically significant correlations were found.

Analysis …

Utah Ski Area Use: A Descriptive Analysis, Timothy L. Silva

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Use of ski areas in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah has increased rapidly over the last two decades. To facilitate planning and management of programs and facilities designed to meet this need, public and private organizations should have information which delineates the factors affecting use of these ski areas. The objectives of this study were therefore: (1) to determine what factors were responsible for variation in use at Utah ski areas, (2) to determine the relative importance of these factors in explaining ski area use, (3) to ascertain if these variables explaining use differ significantly between two ski seasons, (4) …

The Utah Division Of Parks And Recreation And Intergovernmental Communications, Brande Faupell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study of intergovernmental communications between the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation and recreation-related agencies in the State of Utah was designed to explore the extent and nature of their role in decision-making within the Division. The purpose of the study was to determine what factors related to communication might help improve the effectiveness of Division operations.

A questionnaire aimed specifically at discovering what types of communication existed between the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation and sampled respondents was administered to private, municipal, county, and federal recreation personnel within Utah. The respondent's level of participation with the …

Tourist Recreation Interests In Logan, Utah And The Surrounding Area, M. Leon Hunsaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of the people that visited Bridgerland, the interests of these people and what these people participated in while visiting Bridgerland.

The population studied was the tourist group that visited a tourist information booth in Bridgerland during the 1967 and 1968 summer tourist seasons. Data collection was done in the form of a questionnaire which was given to the tourists who visited the tourist information booths in Bridgerland.

It was determined that in most cases the party head was an adult male. He was well educated, with a college degree or …

A History Of The Utah Extension Service, 1888-1950, Karen Juchau

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A Utah State Agriculture Extension Department was created by the Utah State Agricultural College in 1907 to be supported by state appropriations. Its purpose was to bring the information being gained by the College Experiment Station, and other knowledge applicable to agriculture, to the rural population of the State in order to improve the quality of Utah agriculture and the conditions of the farm population. The program began with college instructors holding Farmers' Institutes and schools and expanded into a state-wide system of agricultural and home extension work carried on by specially appointed county agents in each county. The purpose …