Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Middle Paleolithic Hominin Lake Environments In Saharan North Africa, Cynthia Anne Bradbury

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Contemporaneous with the transition to biologically modern humans was the episodic change from wetter to drier environments in the Egyptian Sahara. At Bir Tarfawi, White Lake sediments represent a wet phase occurring prior to the last interglacial in the now hyperarid Egyptian Western Desert. One hypothesis for the development of Western Desert Pleistocene lakes was that the northward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) provided a path for summer-constrained, Atlantic-sourced precipitation resulting in local precipitation. Oxygen and carbon stable isotope analysis of climate proxies such as the gastropod, Melanoides tuberculata, indicate precipitation and groundwater sources as well as the …

The Metroburb: American Values In Facebook Culture, Heather Marie Carlson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using critical discourse analysis, fantasy themes were extracted from user profiles and postings to examine American values found in Facebook culture.

Core values found on Facebook worked to create not only socially recognizable identities enacted and communicated through the participants, but also a particular culture to which participants both reflected and contributed in Facebook. Themes and values extracted from findings indicate that Facebook users should be casual, technologically-aware, social, respectful and fair to others, “good little copers,” financially savvy while at the same time valuing higher education, a healthy lifestyle, family and travel.

Because Facebook is an interestingly fluid cultural …

User Motivations For Using Business Facebook Pages, Malcolm Lee Hong

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Although user motives for personal use of Facebook has been frequently researched, literature that describes user motives for business communication purposes is limited. To understand this process, this study employed uses and gratifications theory to interpret users’ motivations for communicating and using business Facebook Pages. An online survey was distributed and completed by 345 participants. This survey asked participants about their personal use of Facebook, their use of business Facebook Pages, and what type of content on Facebook they found gratifying. Content analysis was also utilized to observe users’ communicative patterns on business Facebook Pages.

It was found that, in …

Projecting The Impact Of The Money Follows The Person Program On Idaho Medicaid Long-Term Care Expenditures, Andrew Michael Hyer

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Background: It is well established that access to home and community-based services (HCBS) as an alternative to institutional long-term care (LTC) leads to better health outcomes. Because Medicaid is the primary payer for formal LTC services, changes in Medicaid policies favoring access to HCBS play a crucial role in “rebalancing” the nation's LTC delivery system. Prior research indicates that expanding Medicaid HCBS may result in lower per patient expenditures. A key part of Medicaid's rebalancing effort is the recently expanded Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, whereby the federal government offers enhanced match funds to assist state Medicaid programs in …

Exploring Dialectics In Grandparent Grief: Communication With Family And Friends Following The Death Of A Grandchild, Ashley Nicole Duchow-Moore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A relational dialectics perspective was adopted for this study in order to better understand the tensions and contradictions bereaved grandparents experience following the death of a grandchild. The interviews of eleven grandmothers and five grandfathers were analyzed using a qualitative/interpretive method, leading to implications regarding the nature of grandparent grief. Grandparents experienced tensions in their own grief and in their multiple roles within the family structure after a grandchild died. Grandparents expressed contradictions in their role as a stable supporter versus griever, as well as balancing the need for protection and privacy. Grandparents negotiated these tensions through conscious communicative choices …

Recent Archaeological Investigations At Three Island Crossing: Insights Regarding Late Archaic Diet Breadth And Mobility, Meghan Kim Eastman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In 1986 and 1987, an important Late Archaic period site was excavated at Three Island Crossing (10-EL-294), near Glenns Ferry, Idaho. As ethnographic reports depict extensive reliance upon salmon for winter consumption (Steward, 1938; Murphy and Murphy, 1960) the recovery of 19,000 fish remains was significant. Analysis of this assemblage demonstrated that the minimum number of individual fish recovered was around 300. Equally important were radiocarbon analyses that identified three distinct Late Archaic occupations. Of note was the recovery of a structure and storage suggesting semi-permanent residence. A subsequent excavation was undertaken at Three Island Crossing in 2008 to determine …