Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Edelbert Rodgers, Edelbert G. Rodgers '33, Yvonne Jones

All oral histories

Rodgers speaks of how he came to enroll at IWU (from his home in St. Louis), racism as well as kindness he encountered in Bloomington, and jobs he held as the sole provider of his expenses at school during the Depression. He also describes research he conducted while a student and how he went to the University of Minnesota for his Master's work prior to being drafted in World War II and the Ph.D. in Psychology he received from New York University afterwards. Virginia Rodgers speaks briefly about her Nursing education in Maryland. The two eventually settled in Flint, MI …

Luther Bedford, Luther Bedford '59, Yvonne Jones

All oral histories

Bedford discusses how he came to enroll at Illinois Wesleyan, some of the faculty who mentored him, difficulties with campus social life, and successes with roommates. Bedford played on the football and track teams but was denied an opportunity to play varsity basketball. He also discusses difficulties he faced in getting his desired teaching position after college and volunteer work he engaged in at the time of the interview.
Bedford served as Athletic Director at Marshall High School in Chicago for 33 of his 40 year tenure there. He received the Minority Alumni Network Award from Illinois Wesleyan in 1995 …

Technological Progress And Its Effects On The Interaction Between Money Supply And Demand: A Cointegration Approach, Patrick J. Holly Jr. '99

Honors Projects

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the significance of the effect current payment technologies ha e had on money supply and demand. Specific attention will be giv n to M1 and M2 stocks and velocities, th Fed Funds Rate and National Income, and how their interaction with each other has been affectrd by technology development. Using Electronic Fund Transfer and Automated Teller Machine introduction as a proxy or current technological development in a cointegration test model it is found that current payment technologies have had mixed effects on money supply and demand, and the interaction between their associated …

The Man Who Listens To Behavior: Folk Wisdom And Behavior Analysis From A Real Horse Whisperer, James Dougan, Valeri Farmer-Dougan

Scholarship

The popular novel and movie The Horse Whisperer are based on the work of several real-life horse whisperers, the most famous of whom is Monty Roberts. Over the last 50 years, Roberts has developed a technique for training horses that is both more effective and less aversive than traditional training techniques. An analysis of Roberts’ methods (as described in his book, The Man Who Listens to Horses) indicates a deep understanding of behavioral principles including positive reinforcement, timeout, species-specific defense reactions, ‘‘learned helplessness,’’ and the behavioral analysis of language. Roberts developed his theory and techniques on the basis of personal …

Specific Worries In Siblings Of Children With Down Syndrome, Laura M. Holsen '99

Honors Projects

In this exploratory study, 13 children who had siblings with Down syndrome and 11 children with typically developing siblings were interviewed about general anxiety and specific worries concerning their sibling. Parents completed corresponding measures regarding the child participant's anxieties as well as a general measure of child behavior. Results indicated that siblings of children with Down syndrome had more sibling-specific worries and slightly heightened internalizing behavior as compared to controls. Parents of siblings with Down syndrome reported more worries than did the control parents.

Needling Around: Discovering The Factors Affecting Physician Opinion On Acupuncture, Crea Fusco '99

Honors Projects

This paper investigates the effects of the independent variables, age, exposure to acupuncture, knowledge of acupuncture, level of religiosity, physician referrals for acupuncture and physicians type of practice on the dependent variable, opinion of acupuncture. Using bivariate cross-tabulations, gamma and linear regression analysis, exposure, knowledge and physician referrals were found to have a significant relationship with opinion of acupuncture. The self-administered questionnaire was mailed to all physicians and surgeons of the Bloomington! Normal IL community who were listed in the April 1998 GTE phonebook. Respondent's ages ranged from 29 to 95 years old, the mean equaling 46.4 years old. Four …

Loneliness And Coping: Examining Predictors Of Active And Passive Styles Of Lonely Individuals, Betsy C. Garver '99

Honors Projects

This study sought to extend research on loneliness and coping. Emotional loneliness is a state that results from the lack of a personal, intimate attachment with another person, and social loneliness results from the lack of engaging in a social network, in which a person shares common interests with a group. Active coping involves making a plan and following it, while passive coping involves using passive techniques such as self-blame or distancing to solve the problem. In addition to replicating the prior finding of Russell et al. (1984) that emotionally lonely individuals were more likely to engage in active coping …

Adult Attention Disorders: The Effect Of External Auditory Stimulation Of Attention And Comprehension During Reading, Angela M. Reining '99

Honors Projects

This study examined the underarousal/optimal stimulation theory of ADHD. This theory states that an optimal level of arousal is maintained through moderation of incoming sensory stimuli (Zentall & Zentall, 1983). It is proposed that some of the deviant behavior displayed by hyperactive children represents a functional set of responses to conditions of abnormal sensory input. Attempts to correct this imbalance in arousal through chemical and sensory stimulation have been relatively successful. A recent study supported this theory by demonstrating the positive effect of music on children doing arithmetic problems. Using college students with a tendency toward attention disorders, the present …

The Gender Pay Differential: Choice, Tradition, Or Overt Discrimination?, Jaynanne Calaway '99

Honors Projects

No one disputes that a male-female gender wage differential favoring men exists. This study seeks to unearth not only the sources of this differential but also the relative degrees to which the various sources impact the differential. The theories proposed by current literature suggest three principal causes: differences in human capital, crowding discrimination, and other forms of discrimination. This study estimates separate equations for men and women and then uses the regression results to decompose the gender wage differential into the three aforementioned components. We find, after isolating the effects of differences in individual human capital and choice characteristics as …

The Determinants Of Home Ownership: An Application Of Human Capital Investment Theory To The Home Ownership Decision, Jaclyn K. Hood '99

Honors Projects

The decision to purchase a home is one of the most important financial decisions made by young adults today. This decision is influenced by several factors including the individual's demographics and family characteristics. The purpose of this study is to focus on the influence of these factors on the probability of home ownership for young adults.

Does It Pay To Be A Man? A Study Of Pay Differentials Between College Graduates, Jennifer Van Dyke '99

Honors Projects

This paper takes a section by section approach to address the problem of wage differentials between college men and women. Section I serves as an introduction to the topic and Section II introduces the theoretical foundation for this subject. Section III lays out the hypothesis and explains the theoretical model and data. Section IV discusses the results of the model and Section V draws conclusions from the results and makes policy implications.

A Benchmarking Study Of The Lehigh Valley, Jason Faberman, Stephanie Laski

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

This study benchmarks the Lehigh Valley to nine other metropolitan areas within the United States. These areas represent a wide array of economic growth levels. Charlotte, Portland, Seattle, and Nashville represented high growth cities. Minneapolis and Lancaster represented moderate growth cities. Hartford, Flint, Rochester and the Lehigh Valley represented low growth cities. Three analyses attempted to identify reasons for economic growth. The study period included the years 1970 through 1995. All three analyses looked at regional growth relative to the nation. A study of each region’s industry mix compared the diversity of this mix to the overall employment growth of …

An Economic Analysis Of Child Care: Bias, Refinement, And Powerful Insight, Ben Fritz

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

This paper considers the various ways in which the child care market operates (and fails), both in reality and in terms of economic models. Economic theory shows that child care should have a significant impact on women's’ decision to enter the labor market, and I consider whether this is true in practice, as well as how the child care market operates compared to the demonstrated need. Economic analysis shows that child care has a significant impact on women’s participation in the labor force, both in theory and in practice.

The Effects On Labor Of Post-Industrial Globalization: A Comparison Of Marxist And Non-Marxist Paradigms, Louis Hyman

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

In this paper I will be examining the changes in labor conditions that have occurred during the last ten years, how they are intimately linked to new notions of information technology and the rise of a global economic perspective. I will compare the [Marxist and non-Marxist] trains of thought as well, and attempt to provide a notion of where I believe them to be sufficient and lacking. If these new notions of globalized post-industrial labor resolve the antagonism between Labor and Capital, they would signal a critical shift in the socioeconomic dynamics of the world, similar in importance to the …

The Economic Impact Upon Modern U.S. Elections, James Jackson

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

Economic voting has been blamed for Bush’s loss in 1992, Carter’s loss in 1980, and attributed to Clinton’s win in 1996. I intend to dispel the myths against economic voting by showing that it does occur, and examining the four different manners in which it occurs: retrospective, prospective, pocketbook and sociotropic voting.

Editor's Note: The bibliography for this article is missing. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Implications And Prospects Of Reforming The Market For Secondary Education In The U.S., Steve Kapsos

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

The purpose of this paper is to address the complex issue of public school reform. I will focus primarily on the rather generic concept of school choice, which will inevitably be defined and redefined, throughout my analysis. In doing this, I will first examine the structure and composition of the market for education in America. I will then briefly look at some theoretical approaches to educational reform. Lastly, I will examine specific reform proposals that draw on some of the many varying concepts of choice as well as currently enacted projects that have a form of choice as their focus. …

Comparative Analysis Of Max-Planck Gesellschaft And Akademie Der Wissenschften In The Years 1945-1989, Victoria Kats

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

The Realm of Science claims to be an autonomous entity, governed by its own rules and institutions. In practice it is difficult to test the extent to which different enveloping political systems affect economics of basic research, as too many cultural and historical differences would distort such a comparison. Unique historical circumstances make East and West Germany the best available ground for setting up an experiment with both experimental and control groups within societies and organizations. Testing the influence of socialistic pressure on economic performance of scientific institutions, the analysis of East German Academy of Sciences and West German Max …

Fun, Games & Economics: An Appraisal Of Game Theory In Economics, Jamus Jerome Lim

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

Game theory has had a profound influence on many fields of the social sciences since its rise to prominence more than fifty years ago. This paper provides an overview of the main concepts in game theory and studies four main areas of its application in economic problems – oligopolistic competition, externalities & public goods, market equilibrium and general equilibrium. The conclusion is that game theory has found a natural place in economics and will continue to contribute to it for many years to come.

Free Agents, Fire Sales, And Fungoes: An Econometric Examination Of Team Success In Major League Baseball, Corey R. Maynard

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

This paper explores what good organizational strategies baseball teams use to put themselves into the group of those that win more often than they lose, and conversely, what poor strategies cause teams to fall into the group of those who lose more than they win.

The Exchange Rate Mechanism And The Ruble Devaluation Of 1998, Philip Porter

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

I will first examine what I see as the common sense fundamentals of the exchange rate mechanism, noting as I go, the relationship with the current Russian crisis. In my examination, I will take the simplest approach, assuming free trade, unrestricted capital movements and negligible transaction costs. Concluding, I will delve into the quagmire of the Russian situation.

Gender Differences In The Causes Of Non-Completion Rates Among Oregon Apprentices: A Case Study Of The Metro Electrical Jtpc, Portland, Oregon, Kerstin Rock

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

This paper will address the question of why women drop out of apprenticeship programs at a higher frequency than men. I will examine if there are in fact substantial differences in human capital and social characteristics between female and male apprentices and whether the influence of these characteristics on the probability of finishing depends on the sex of the apprentice. I hypothesize that the reasons apprentices quit prematurely will differ significantly between sexes, especially in reference to educational background, experience, and family situation.

Integrating Self-Concept Theory Into A Model Of Loneliness, Joy M. Tassin '99

Honors Projects

This study utilized the Brewer and Gardner (1996) theory of self-concept and related it to previous theories of loneliness. Seventy participants were cued by stories (primes) to put them in a mind-frame that focused on one level of self. The levels used were the interpersonal level and the collective level. In addition, a control group was used. The collective level of self is the way in which individuals think of themselves within a group. The interpersonal level is the way they think about themselves within an intimate relationship. Loneliness was then measured using both the SELSA and the UCLA loneliness …

Voluntary Versus Involuntary Runaway Youth: Basic Demographics, Characteristics And Family Relations, Darcia A. Colburn '99

Honors Projects

There is an increased concern that youths are leaving home earlier than ever. According to the National Network for Youth, 38% of runaways are under the age of 14. Clinicians, as well as researchers, who have worked with the population of runaway youth recognize that there are two distinct groups (i.e., voluntary and involuntary). Previous research has largely neglected the difference between those youths who have left home on their own initiative (voluntary) and those youths who were forced to leave their home (involuntary.) I hypothesized that involuntary youth will predominantly male and older in age. I examined a number …

Beyond Narrow Liberalism, Justin B. Taylor '99

Honors Projects

Of growing debate among those concerned with American political culture and democratic theory is the modern conception ofliberal democratic theory. This work attempts to broaden our understanding ofdemocracy. I will argue that modern liberalism has narrowed our conception of individual liberty. This narrowed focus has produce a reliance on the use ofpublic regulation and interest group pressure as substitutes for civic engagement. In an attempt to move past a mere critique of narrow liberalism, this essay will develop a research design and an empirical test to measure our current political culture's support for a robust democracy and its future prospects …