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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Journal

Articles 1 - 23 of 23

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Nashville-Basin Tornadoes: Using Storm Types To Elucidate The Local Climatology And Forecasting Challenges, Morgan Steckler, Kelsey Ellis Jul 2022

Nashville-Basin Tornadoes: Using Storm Types To Elucidate The Local Climatology And Forecasting Challenges, Morgan Steckler, Kelsey Ellis

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Early 3 March 2020 was a devastating night for many middle Tennessee residents. A strong EF-3 tornado tore through Nashville at 65 mph, and another EF-4 killed 18 in Baxter and Cookeville alone. Residents of the Southeastern United States are particularly vulnerable to tornadoes. This study aims to better understand local forecasting challenges by looking at the types of storms that produce tornadoes. Storm types, also known as convective modes, divide tornado-producing storms into categories by length, shape, multiplicity, and intensity. Distinguishing storms by these modes allows for a broader understanding of their occurrences and impacts. This study specifically evaluates …

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Pandemics And Power: An Applied Analysis Of American Inequality, Megan A. Engle Jul 2022

Pandemics And Power: An Applied Analysis Of American Inequality, Megan A. Engle

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Pandemics represent both social change and continuance. While these public health crises bring about seemingly new issues, they also have a unique ability to reveal pre-existing problems within our society and perpetual social processes. Understanding historical patterns related to public health crises provides greater insight on the ongoing pandemic and American policy needs. Research reveals that, both historically and presently, systemic social injustices and economic inequalities are inflamed by such events. As a result, pandemics disproportionately affect minority groups in several interconnected ways. In examining public health theory, past pandemics, and the present moment, the effects of both power disparities …

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Ecosystem Services Of Urban Tree Canopy For The Mitigation Of Climate Change: Measuring Carbon Sequestration And Understory Temperature Reduction Of Knoxville’S Urban Forest, Tyler Hounshell May 2020

Ecosystem Services Of Urban Tree Canopy For The Mitigation Of Climate Change: Measuring Carbon Sequestration And Understory Temperature Reduction Of Knoxville’S Urban Forest, Tyler Hounshell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

In the future, the city of Knoxville, Tennessee will be impacted by climate warming due to anthropogenic climate change. Yet, the ecosystem services provided by urban tree canopy in Knoxville’s urban forest can help mitigate the effects of climate warming. In addition to improving air quality, regulating water flow, and reducing noise pollution, Knoxville’s urban forest serves as a carbon sink and sequesters carbon dioxide on an annual basis. Utilizing methods for calculating carbon sequestration by trees in urban and suburban settings developed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the sequestration potential and its uncertainty is calculated until the year …

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Acronym Usage In Groups: The Relationship Of Socialization And Identification, Dara K. Carney-Nedelman May 2020

Acronym Usage In Groups: The Relationship Of Socialization And Identification, Dara K. Carney-Nedelman

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This study analyzed the relationship between knowledge of acronym meaning and group member’s socialization and identification. It examined the understudied relationship between knowledge of acronym meaning for group members and their socialization and identification in the group. Research has concluded that when assimilated into a group the group members contribute more, and overall have greater satisfaction (Riddle, Anderson, & Martin, 2000). This assimilation can be separated into two variables, socialization and identification of group members. Research on the relationship for knowledge of acronym meaning and assimilation has been understudied; therefore, this project explored how the terms we use in groups …

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Defining Insanity: How An Individual's View Can Impact A Trial, Jayme L. Ayres May 2020

Defining Insanity: How An Individual's View Can Impact A Trial, Jayme L. Ayres

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The insanity plea has always been a controversial topic among anyone. No one sees eye to eye on the matter. This can present a problem within professional fields. When insanity cases are brought into courtrooms, legal and psychology professionals need to be able to agree to some extent. However, these professionals have no true control on how jurors define insanity. Jurors tend to determine guilty or not guilty in insanity cases, based on their own personal views. The current study is a replication of Doctor John Geiger’s 2003 and 2008 study of how legal professionals and undergraduate psychology students view …

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The Oppressive Pressures Of Globalization And Neoliberalism On Mexican Maquiladora Garment Workers, Jenna Demeter Jul 2019

The Oppressive Pressures Of Globalization And Neoliberalism On Mexican Maquiladora Garment Workers, Jenna Demeter

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The international economic trends of globalization and neoliberalism have exposed and enabled the exploitation of Mexican workers, especially women in the maquiladora garment industry. During the 1950s, globalization gave rise to the new international division of labor and transnational corporations (TNCs) that have offshored labor-intensive phases of production to developing countries, many of which have pursued export-led industrialization. Export processing in Mexico was encouraged in the 1960s by Item 807 of the U.S. Tariff Code and Mexico’s Border Industrialization Program. Especially following the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s, advanced capitalist countries and International Financial Institutions foisted neoliberal structural …

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Tennessee's Promise: Education For All?, Tristan M. Hightower Jul 2019

Tennessee's Promise: Education For All?, Tristan M. Hightower

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Access to education has been at the forefront of public policy issues over the past several years. In order to combat relatively low rates of college attainment, Tennessee legislators implemented the Tennessee Promise program. It operates by providing financial aid for any direct costs not covered by students’ grants and scholarships. Notably, the program is not applicable to four-year degree programs; students wishing to utilize the funds must attend select schools that offer certificates and associate’s degrees. Community colleges are the most popular. While a boost in community college attendance has occurred, and more people will likely graduate with an …

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Lidar-Based Sinkhole Detection And Mapping In Knox County, Tennessee, J Clint Shannon, David Moore, Yingkui Li, Cathy Olsen Jul 2019

Lidar-Based Sinkhole Detection And Mapping In Knox County, Tennessee, J Clint Shannon, David Moore, Yingkui Li, Cathy Olsen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Sinkholes are one of the major causes of damage to roads, buildings, and other infrastructure throughout the US. Sinkholes near or on roads are especially costly and occasionally deadly. Knox County and much of East Tennessee are located within karst areas (comprised of porous and soluble limestone and dolomite), deeming it at risk for sinkholes. Currently, Knox County uses contour maps to manually identify sinkholes. Supported by a geographic information system (GIS), we developed a streamlined model to identify the locations and extents of potential sinkholes using 1.3-ft resolution LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and applied it to the …

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Spatial Analysis Of Tornado Warning System Understanding And Relationship With Tornado Occurrence, Chesnea A. Skeen Jun 2017

Spatial Analysis Of Tornado Warning System Understanding And Relationship With Tornado Occurrence, Chesnea A. Skeen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Tornadoes present a significant threat to life and property. The National Weather Service watch and warning system warns the public of tornadoes. If these warnings are not heeded by the public, the potential fatalities and destruction of property cannot be minimized. Thus, to prevent further loss of life and property, it is necessary to understand how the public understands the watch and warning system, as well as how they react. This paper aims to understand the correlation between understanding of watches and warnings and the occurrence of tornadoes, as well as how understanding varies spatially. Survey data were collected from …

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Sexual Violence, Consent, And Contradictions: A Call For Communication Scholars To Impact Sexual Violence Prevention, Katie D. Scott, Clint Graves Jun 2017

Sexual Violence, Consent, And Contradictions: A Call For Communication Scholars To Impact Sexual Violence Prevention, Katie D. Scott, Clint Graves

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the conflicting findings from existing sexual violence and consent communication research with the intention of motivating communication scholars to study these areas. Generally, normative roles and alcohol add to the inherent complexity of consent communication. Moreover, contradictory findings in the literature make it difficult to define a practicable approach to the reduction of sexual violence across college campuses. This paper broadly reviews the current literature in this area of research with the ultimate goal of creating a guiding research agenda based in communication theory. Sexual violence prevention programming may …

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Non-Governmental Organizations' Involvement In Poverty Alleviation In Bangladesh, Taylor N. Scheffing Jun 2017

Non-Governmental Organizations' Involvement In Poverty Alleviation In Bangladesh, Taylor N. Scheffing

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Labeled as one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh is accustomed to poverty. Beginning in the late 1970s and even more since the arrival of the millennium, Bangladesh had made significant strides towards economic development through poverty alleviation efforts brought on by the World Bank initiatives. However, widespread discontent with the World Bank has led to increased, dominant presence and involvement from non-governmental organizations. Non-governmental organizations typically share a public mission, where those in Bangladesh aim to work exclusively with those in disadvantaged, rural areas. This paper will be addressing the growing question: what are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) …

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Female Migrant Labor In The Philippines: The Institutionalization Of Traditional Gender Roles In The Name Of Economic Development, Sabiha Iman Mohyuddin Jun 2017

Female Migrant Labor In The Philippines: The Institutionalization Of Traditional Gender Roles In The Name Of Economic Development, Sabiha Iman Mohyuddin

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper investigates the ways the Philippines’ government applies Filipino ideas of femininity and kinship in pushing Filipina women into becoming transnational migrants as a means of economic development. Given that remittance money sent back by migrants to the Philippines makes up nearly ten percent of the country’s GDP, and that over half of Filipino overseas migrants are female, the Filipino government is committed to maintaining and overseeing transnational migration. As a way to maintain economic stability, the Filipino government has utilized traditional conceptions of femininity, domesticity, and kinship that influence the procurement, recruitment processes of oversea migration, and the …

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Second-Language Acquisition And Motivation: A Literature Review, Pat Goodridge Jun 2017

Second-Language Acquisition And Motivation: A Literature Review, Pat Goodridge

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This literature review traces the development of motivation in second-language acquisition, a field that has evolved from basic associations between affective factors and second-language performance to nuanced approaches of how motivation is shaped by a learner’s subjective cognition. With this review, we see that motivation’s role has always been central to language learning, and the development of our understanding of this role has mirrored the development of our understanding of second-language acquisition’s psychological and cognitive aspects. Such understanding contributes to many areas of second-language pedagogy, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics, all of which are relevant to our practical research goals …

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The End Of A Nation: Warithuddin Muhammad And Muslim Identity In The Nation Of Islam, Derek R. Galyon Jun 2017

The End Of A Nation: Warithuddin Muhammad And Muslim Identity In The Nation Of Islam, Derek R. Galyon

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Warithuddin Muhammad’s tenure as the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) saw the attempted implementation of universalist doctrine that differed significantly from the particularism practiced by the movement’s founding prophet, Elijah Muhammad. Despite an apparent desire to distance the movement from Elijah Muhammad’s teachings of the intrinsic link between Blackness and Islam, race remained important for both Warithuddin and his followers. By partially embracing universalist interpretations that purported to view each race as inherently equal from an Islamic viewpoint, Warithuddin could easily be characterized as having tried to “deracialize” the Nation of Islam. With this shift, one would expect …

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Mandala And Charisma: The Federalist Potentials In Traditional Indonesian Political Culture, Yuhao Wen Jun 2014

Mandala And Charisma: The Federalist Potentials In Traditional Indonesian Political Culture, Yuhao Wen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This research explores the federalist elements in the mandala (a graphic art pattern in Southeast Asia) and political charisma to discuss their constructive roles as traditional Indonesian political culture in federalizing Indonesia. Since August 17, 1945 when Sukarno declared the independence of the country in Jakarta, the newly–born Indonesia was also finalized as a centralized presidential republic. However, till today, societal diversities in Indonesian society are continuously increasing, the tendency of federalization, therefore, has never entirely faded away. Both the mandala and political charisma de facto have spontaneously generated their own initiatives for federalization since ancient times. Upon illustration of …

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The Business Of Coupons-Do Coupons Lead To Repeat Purchases?, Margaret P. Ross Jun 2014

The Business Of Coupons-Do Coupons Lead To Repeat Purchases?, Margaret P. Ross

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

In recent years, couponing has emerged as a pop culture phenomenon. Businesses of all types are taking advantage of this resource by revamping their out-dated programs and turning them into something fresh to excite customers. Many questions remain unanswered concerning the viability, profitability, and usefulness of coupons. This study is an analysis of the effectiveness of coupons in enticing return purchases in the soft-drink category and the effectiveness of price discriminating at this grocery store chain. The dataset is comprised of household level grocery store transactions compiled by dunnhumby USA for 2,500 households over a period of two years. An …

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The Fair And Laissez-Faire Markets: From A Neoliberal Laissez-Faire Baseline To A Fair Market, Eric L. Dixon Jun 2014

The Fair And Laissez-Faire Markets: From A Neoliberal Laissez-Faire Baseline To A Fair Market, Eric L. Dixon

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The essay begins with a brief overview of the role of the neoliberal conception of the laissez-faire market in modern political economy. The essay then goes on to defend three claims: 1) the laissez-faire version of a market should not be considered the economic ideal or baseline version of a market because often the fundamental conditions required to reach a genuine equilibrium are unfulfilled under a laissez-faire environment, 2) a distribution resultant from a laissez-faire market should not be considered the ultima facie just distributive baseline because an unregulated market may allocate commodities according to morally arbitrary factors and requires …

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Peace Education And Its Discontents: An Evaluation Of Youth, Violence, And School-Based Peace Programs In Northern Uganda, Jayanni Webster Mar 2013

Peace Education And Its Discontents: An Evaluation Of Youth, Violence, And School-Based Peace Programs In Northern Uganda, Jayanni Webster

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This research paper discusses current efforts and programs designed to address the issues of peace and conflict resolution, post-war recovery and education in northern Uganda. Through the collection of stories of life after war, I examine the experiences of children and youth and pilot peace education programs in secondary and primary schools. Northern Uganda was the site of a brutal civil war waged between the rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the government’s Uganda People’s Defense Force. The war resulted in the mass abduction of children and the forced displacement of the northern population into internally displaced persons’ camps. …

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Contending Theories Of Wage Determination: An Intersectoral Analysis Of Real Wage Growth In The U.S. Economy, James Sheffield Mar 2013

Contending Theories Of Wage Determination: An Intersectoral Analysis Of Real Wage Growth In The U.S. Economy, James Sheffield

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

In recent years, social movements and popular media have drawn attention to the issue of income inequality in the United States. This growing inequality in the distribution of income is often seen as a function of stagnating wage growth in the U.S. economy. There appears to be a fairly broad consensus among commentators that wage growth for many workers in the U.S. has stagnated in recent decades, though the precise causes and implications of this trend are a matter of considerable dispute. Some see it as a function of stagnant productivity growth, while others attribute it to the declining strength …

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An Interview With Dr. Theda Skocpol, Sarah Russell Dec 2012

An Interview With Dr. Theda Skocpol, Sarah Russell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

No abstract provided.

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Critique Of Microcredit As A Development Model, Grace Levin Dec 2012

Critique Of Microcredit As A Development Model, Grace Levin

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The field of microcredit (otherwise known as microfinance, microlending, or microcapital) has expanded rapidly since the 1980s as an economic means of lifting people out of poverty. Generally, microcredit has been accepted as an effective method for empowering both individuals and communities. In recent years, however, critics have brought to light some of the problems associated with microlending, such as the complex socioeconomic factors that can cause loan programs to fail. These problems stem from the basic tenet of microfinance: the need for lending programs to be managed locally in order to understand the needs of a community and assess …

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Working From Within: Observations Of Non-Governmental Efforts To Decrease Social Marginalization In Buenos Aires, Elisabeth Tilstra Dec 2012

Working From Within: Observations Of Non-Governmental Efforts To Decrease Social Marginalization In Buenos Aires, Elisabeth Tilstra

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This essay is a modification of an excerpt from the senior thesis written for the Chancellor’s Honors Program at The University of Tennessee. The complete project—titled “Bringing the Outside In: An Examination of Non-Governmental Aid Organizations in Buenos Aires”—first examines the political and economic history of Argentina as a context from which to understand the current stage of actors in the social sector. Then, drawing from my fieldwork in the slums surrounding urban Buenos Aires, it introduces the twelve organizations I studied that work with issues of poverty and development, exploring organizational elements that aid or limit a nonprofit’s efficacy. …

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African Irregular Migrants In Malta: Exploring Perceptions And Renegotiating The Socio-Cultural Siege Of Malta, Hannah E. Durick Dec 2012

African Irregular Migrants In Malta: Exploring Perceptions And Renegotiating The Socio-Cultural Siege Of Malta, Hannah E. Durick

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper discusses the influx of African irregular migrants seeking asylum in Malta and how their arrival and growing presence in Malta is perceived by the Maltese. Since becoming an EU Member State in 2004 Malta has been overwhelmed by the number of irregular migrants arriving on its shores while en route to continental Europe. Due to its proximity to the North African coastline Malta becomes a frequent, albeit unintentional, destination for African migrants who are rescued in Maltese waters and subsequently placed in a closed detention facility until their legal status is determined in a court of law. Although …

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