Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of The Use Of Sex In Advertising In American And British Women’S Magazines, Kathleen Ruddy

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Sex and decency in advertising is an international issue, and different nations allow different degrees of sexually explicit material (Boddewyn, 1991). This study compares the use of sex in advertisements in American and British editions of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, and Marie Claire. The degree of sexual content in the advertisements was analyzed using measures of nudity, sexual behavior, sexually attractive models, sexual referents, and sexual embeds. The variables of nudity and sexual behavior were examined in a content analysis, and the variables of sexual attractiveness, sexual referents, and sexual embeds were examined in a qualitative analysis. Analysis of variance between …

Acquisition Of Violations Of English Principle B By Native Speakers Of Japanese Or Chinese, Clarion C. Mendes

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This work focuses on Principles A and B of Binding Theory as applied to English. While English has a very strict interpretation of Binding Theory, it has a violation of Principle B with sentences with locative prepositional phrases and verb phrases of caused movement or perception.

In contrast, Chinese and Japanese have a very liberal interpretation of Binding Theory. The study is involved with investigating whether or not Japanese or Chinese speakers adapt to the English violation which is typically not taught in a classroom setting, but something acquired through natural exposure.

A custom survey was designed to see if …

The Effects Of Core Affect, Emotion, And Self-Efficacy On Physiologic Response To Social Stressors, Jessica L. Reedy

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Cardiovascular health is affected by many factors including biological aspects such as heredity and overall health, as well as by environmental factors. Social stress, socioeconomic status, family environment, and coping skills have all been shown to contribute increased risk for cardiovascular disease. In an effort to further elucidate past findings in this area, this study, conducted on 36 college-age students, examined the connection between physiological response (blood pressure, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure) to laboratory social stressors in correspondence to emotional, affective, and arousal levels, as measured by self-report. The results yielded a significant relationship between physiologic response to …

The Effects Of The Availability Heuristic On Student's Judgments Of Others Alcohol Consumption, Jennifer Mcenroy

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The primary purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that enhancing the availability of images that either portrayed liberal heavy drinking at college or the conservative academic side of college would serve to influence students’ perceptions of peer norms. It was hypothesized that students would rely on the availability heuristic to make judgments of peer norms, so that exposure to a movie clip that emphasized drinking would increase estimates of peer drinking norms when compared with exposure to a movie clip that emphasized academic work. It was further hypothesized that the film clips would assist participants in making …

The College Football Gambling Market An Empirical Approach, Brian Mcneil

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This study tests the efficiency of the college football gambling market and whether the market allows for profitable wagering. Operating upon the theoretical framework that, at any given time, prices fully reflect all information available in a particular market, I test for the existence of residual information that is not currently incorporated into the market, thus rendering it inefficient. This project expands upon several previous studies performed on sports betting – most notably that of Zuber, Gandar, and Bowers (1985), which examined the gambling market efficiency for National Football League games. The findings prove to be consistent with the conclusions …

Comparing Montessori Education And Conventional Education On Aspects Of Creativity, Tiffany Jones

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My Honors Thesis compares creativity in children taught in a Montessori classroom with students taught in a conventional classroom. I tested 58 children at BelleValleyElementary Schoolin EriePennsylvania, half in the Montessori program, half in traditional classrooms. Their ages ranged from 5-9, from kindergarten to 3^rd grade. I hypothesized that the independence allowed in Montessori classrooms would help foster creativity in its students. The project uses two forms of evaluation to test the concept of creativity, the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking and consensual assessment to score a creative collage. Significant developmental differences were found; older children scored higher on …

Connections Between U.S. Consumer Magazine Cover Characteristics And Single Copy Sales Circulation, Stephanie C. Barlow

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In the realm of journalism, conventional wisdom suggests that magazine covers “sell” magazines at newsstands. This study explores this idea by looking at the econometric relationship between cover characteristics such as presence of people and “catch” words and single copy sales. Several significant characteristics influencing such sales are found. In addition, this study is based on a new data set developed by the author indicating various characteristics of numbers of magazine covers over a five-year time span.

Specifically, a set of 14 magazines were observed for 10 characteristics. The percentage of the presence of these characteristics on magazine covers over …

An Exploration Of Self-Esteem And Racial Identity Among Children Placed In Transracial And Same-Race Foster Homes, Shanay Barrett-Hugan

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The number of children in foster care continues to grow. Unfortunately this increase in children is far greater than the number of foster families available. Children are being placed in homes in which the race of the foster parent is different from that of the foster child. Legislative policies have also been enacted to eliminate discrimination in foster care placement. This study is designed to explore the impact of transracial foster care on adolescent children’s racial identity and self-esteem. Three children ages 11-17, who were placed in transracial and same-race foster homes, were interviewed in order to explore whether children …

The American Democracy In The 21st Century, Richard A. Cocozza

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper puts forward a theory of democracy most suited for American politics given the plurality of ideological interests at play in the United States. This plurality, which I call the "fact of ideological diversity," dictates that in order for our government to be truly democratic, the political forum must foster opinions from all ideological considerations, not just the most dominant ones. I also demonstrate that given the nature of free institutions and our governmental structure, prior attemps by philosophers to reconcile a diversity of ideological interests using a procedural format is not sufficient to forming a wholly democratic political …

What Is Constitutional Democracy? A Comparative Analysis Between The United States And The European Union, Rebecca Tweed

Honors Capstone Projects - All

It is difficult to imagine the concept of constitutionalism without the notion of deliberative democracy. Historically, written constitutions are the capstone of the ages-long struggle to limit arbitrary governmental action. James Madison said, “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government.”

We live in an era of constitution making. There are close to 200 national …

Communicating The Obesity Crisis: The Role Of Public Relations And The Media In Framing A National Health Issue, Kimberly Jaindl

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Communication of obesity as a public health issue has taken many forms and been framed in a variety of ways since early 2000. These communications often frame the public’s perception of the problem and of potential solutions. This study examines the current perceptions and actions according to several groups, including the government, the food industry, individuals, the media, and public relations professionals. It then attempts to assess the framing of the issue, including perceptions and actions, by the print media and public relations professionals. A census of newspaper articles and press releases from a one-month time period in late 2004 …

Russian Organized Crime And The National Security Of The United States, Jessica Nelson

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This thesis examines the impact of Russian organized crime on the national security of the United States. It begins by defining why Russian organized crime should be of concern to U.S. policymakers addressing the effects of Russian organized crime on the U.S. economy, national security, and domestic law enforcement. The thesis then analyzes the evolution of Russian organized crime from its emergence during the Soviet Union, through its growth during privatization, to its structural transformation in the modern era. This analysis establishes the fundamental principles of any potential U.S. policy on Russian organized crime and prompts several policy recommendations for …

The Relationship Between Psychopathology In Caregivers And Their Children With Asthma, Jaime L. Benson

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Asthma is the leading chronic illness among children, and children with asthma have an increased risk not only for physical problems, but also for social and emotional difficulties related to their asthma. These risks are compounded when children have a caregiver who is depressed. The effects of maternal depression for children are complex and have been shown to persist into adolescence and adulthood. This is especially important because children with asthma, who are already at risk for psychopathology, may have increased internalizing and externalizing problems when their primary caregivers have depression or display depressive symptoms. Because depression affects cognitive functioning …

The Failure Of Vertical Mergers, Frederick M. Schwarz

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Creating successful vertical mergers is a challenge for organizations across Corporate America. This honors thesis contains a study of five of those vertical mergers. To complete this study, five mini cases were created that outlined those deals. In addition, statistical analysis of the post merger abnormal returns was completed for each of these deals. Abnormal returns are calculated as the difference between the returns occurring in the post-merger period and the normal returns, i.e., the returns that would have been expected if the merger had not taken place.

This thesis targets the mergers of Viacom Corporation and CBS, Merck Corporation …

The Impact Of The No Child Left Behind Act On American Education, Eva Downing Rippeteau

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper explores the role and impact that the federal No Child Left Behind Act has had on public education since its legalization in 2002.

It begins with a history on the evolution of federal involvement in public education. Over time, mounting pressure for theUnited Statesto compete academically on an international level has created a need for all areas of education to become “accountable” for reaching high achievement standards, arriving at the overwhelming reliance on standardized tests we see in public education today. Next, this paper presents four areas of contention surrounding the debate over No Child Left Behind. The …

The Usa Patriot Act And The Alien And Sedition Acts A Comparative Analysis, David Wicclair

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This thesis is meant to accomplish the task of comparing and contrasting the different aspects of the Patriot Act and the Alien and Sedition Acts in the hope that, in the process, something can be learned about the future of the Patriot Act.

The first chapter of the thesis consists of an analysis of the controversial sections of the Patriot Act. Moreover, the debate over the Act is introduced and dissected. The last section of the chapter discusses the importance of studying similar national security legislation in American history – such as the Alien and Sedition Acts – in order …

The Attraction To Activism: Recruitment And Retention In Progressive Student Organizations, Waverly De Bruijn

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Included

Movement Of Economics Professors Among Top Research Universities In The Us, Benjamin E. Resnick

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Included

Maroon Societies In Brazil, Jamaica And Mexico, Amanda Moore

Honors Capstone Projects - All

While many scholars concentrate their research on the enslavement of Africans, there are other stories to tell of Africans peoples in theWestern Hemisphere. The Maroons were fugitive slaves who developed their own communities throughout theAmericas. They were diverse peoples unified by their goal of freedom and self-determination.

This Honors Thesis Project explores the historical situation of the Brazilian, Jamaican and Mexican Maroons and elucidates the similarities and differences between them. The aspects of Maroon life explored here are: lifestyle, leadership and politics. These three countries were selected to illustrate the diversity within the experiences of enslaved Africans throughout the Americas. …

China’S Financial Institutions: Analysis Of The Dynamic Changes And Associated Inefficiencies Under A Hybrid Capitalistic Approach, Juan J. Zhou

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Chinahas risen to the forefront of international scrutiny because of its unique political and economic structure and evolution. The growth and development ofChinaas a world economic power has resulted from the political-economic reform efforts of Communist leaders withinChina. Under Mao Ze Dong, during the pre-socialistic modernization period,Chinabegan its reform of rehabilitation from war time and social-economic restructuring by instituting socialistic ideology. During the Dengist period under Deng Xiao Ping, there was a transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy. After Deng, socialist modernization reform has continued underChina’s hybrid capitalistic economic model, with particularly significant effects on the rapidly structured …