Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Albion Through Malleable Eyes: The Great Migration, Urban Renewal And Missed Opportunities, Demetrius R. Goodale

Masters Theses

Albion, Michigan’s African American community built a robust, diverse, and thriving city in the early 20th century. Jobs were plentiful and wages allowed for healthy communities to sprout up across the city’s landscape. During this period Albion’s overall population more than doubled, and its African American community grew exponentially over the course of six decades. However, for many in the African American community, societal and economic gains were overshadowed by a crippling shortage in viable housing options. Albion’s African American community experienced limited options to help remedy the community’s housing challenges. These limitations were due to discriminatory housing norms and …

Singing In Synchrony: A Feasibility Study Of Interpersonal Familiarity And Movement Synchrony In Group Singing, Sheridan Rockwell Brown

Masters Theses

In a time when social isolation and decreased in-person interactions pose increasing risks for physical, emotional, and mental well-being, it is more important than ever to find ways to combat the negative consequences of social isolation. Moving in synchrony with others and singing with others have both been identified as social activities through which social bonding may occur, yet little is known about the role of natural movement synchrony in group singing. This study sought to explore the feasibility of using motion capture technology to examine the natural head movements of groups of four participants singing together. The study consisted …

The Portrayal Of The Woman’S Suffrage Movement In High School History Textbooks, Michelle A. Devries

Masters Theses

The narrative of the woman’s suffrage movement in high school history textbooks varies from textbook to textbook and over time. Textbooks include different information, people, events, and interpretations of events. They employ different word choices and pictures. By using comparative analyzation of numerous popular high school textbooks, the pressure exerted by external economic, social, and political forces on the historical narrative can be seen. Studying the historical narrative in this way trains students to be discerning learners of history and equips them not only to recognize the bias in any historical narrative, but also to be able to analyze how …

Agritourism Development In Southwest Michigan: Motivations Of Agritourists And Operators, Esther Akoto Amoako

Masters Theses

National agricultural statistics show that the number of agritourism farms and the proportion of agritourism related revenues in the United States has steadily increased during the last ten years, especially among small family farms. The recent growth in agritourism is both demand - and supply-driven. However, there are limited studies that explore agritourism motivations from both the visitors' and operators’ perspectives. This study examines what the agritourists' and operators’ motivations are and the challenges facing the industry to provide information for those currently involved and those wanting to include agritourism in their operations. Online and in-person surveys and unstructured interviews …

Testing A New Photovoice Model: A Meta-Analysis On Participatory Action Research Methodologies In Geographical Research, Nolan Bergstrom

Masters Theses

Photovoice was developed in the early 1990s for use in public health studies evolving from participatory action research (PAR) and photographic methods. It attempts to mitigate the power dynamics between researcher and researched by allowing participants to be the primary knowledge producers. The Photovoice methodology has left open methodological avenues to implement Photovoice as a research tool in many fields. This research aimed to modify the Photovoice methodology to include mobile technology, social media to create a new model of Photovoice.

This research was conducted in K.I. Sawyer, MI, a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan over a …

Social And Demographic Drivers Impacting Family Planning And Family Size In Buraydah City, Saudi Arabia, Sami Abdulkarim Alwulayi

Masters Theses

The goal of this research is to identify factors impacting changes in family size for medium-size cities in Saudi Arabia. Since the initial comprehensive development plans were adopted in the 1970s, Saudi society has changed rapidly in many different ways, and demographic change is one of the most noticeable. This mixed methods research is based on an online survey conducted in the summer of 2019 of 560 married couples and their families living within the 29 neighborhoods of Buraydah City, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, this research examines socioeconomic and demographic conditions related to family planning, as well as collecting perspectives on …