Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hot Topic: Changes In Federal Reimbursement Rates For Travel, Dick Phebus

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

Summary of changes in the federal and state reimbursement rates for travel.

Hot Topic: Joint Economic Development Boards Must Comply With Requirements Of Public Chapter 1101, Don Darden

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

By July 1, 2004, every local government applying for a state grant administered by ECD must provide records that document a minimum of four board meetings and eight executive committee meetings were held during the previous 12 months.

Historic Period Foodways In The Danish West Indies (1718-1917): The Zooarchaeological Evidence From Cinnamon Bay And The East End, St. John, Virgin Islands, Judith A. Sichler

Doctoral Dissertations

This research concerns the faunal remains from two sites on the former Danish island of St. John, now part of the United States Virgin Islands. The first site, Cinnamon Bay, a small-scale cotton plantation that was later incorporated into a larger sugar plantation, was occupied from 1718 to 1917. The East End, a provisioning estate and later free African community, was occupied from 1725 to 1950. Cinnamon Bay and the East End are significant to historic zooarchaeological research in the Caribbean for two reasons. First, the assemblages represent subsistence choices and procurement in two contrasting occupation types in the 18 …

Predicting Academic Success: A Re-Examination Of Broad Versus Narrow Personality Traits, Susan D. Ridgell

Doctoral Dissertations

Personality and cognitive variables were examined to determine relative validity in predicting academic performance. This study investigated whether broad personality variables (in this case, the Big Five: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience) predicted academic success better than narrow personality variables (the construct Work Drive); it also explored the utility of operationalizing academic performance via cumulative grade point average (GPA) versus a single course grade. The highest significant correlates of GPA and course grade were Work Drive (r=.42, p<.01; r=.29, p<.01) and general intelligence, the cognitive variable (r=.40, p<.01; r=.35, p<.01). Regression analysis revealed that Work Drive was the stronger predictor of GPA (17.9% unique variance as step 1, compared to general intelligence’s 15.7% unique variance as step 1); while general intelligence was found to be the stronger predictor of course grade (11.8% unique variance as step 1, compared to Work Drive’s 8.6% unique variance as step 1). Two Big Five variables, Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability, correlated significantly with GPA (r=.15, p<.05; and r=.14, p<.05; respectively). Therefore, this study found that the narrow personality trait predicted better than the broader traits. Conflicting evidence was provided concerning whether GPA and course grade might be used interchangeably as valid criteria.

The Social Construction Of Tourism In Cuba: A Geographic Analysis Of The Representations Of Gender And Race During The Special Period 1995-1997, Michael W. Cornebise

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to critically examine race and gender as they intersect with tourism development in Cuba during the Special Period in a Time of Peace (Special Period), a government imposed austerity program that followed the loss of important Soviet subsidies in 1989.

I hypothesize that tourism development in Cuba during the Special Period betrays the Revolution in that it reconstitutes discriminatory practices along lines of race and gender and hence does not deliver benefits to average Cubans. Indeed, I argue that tourism as presently constructed may subvert the well being of ordinary Cubans.

I draw from …

Dating Violence And Psychosocial Problems: Exploratory Findings From A Sample Of Adolescents Facing Unwanted Pregnancy, Gretchen E. Ely

Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical studies of adolescent dating violence have mainly focused on changing attitudes and knowledge levels. These studies are mostly conducted in mixed gender classroom settings. Results from these studies do not provide knowledge of which psychological/social (psychosocial) problems co-occur with dating violence in at-risk adolescent populations. The current study provides exploratory information related to dating violence in adolescent pregnancy termination patients, a subset of the population virtually ignored by the adolescent literature. In this study, 120 adolescent pregnancy termination patients ages 14 through 21 completed the Conflict in Adolescent Relationships Inventory (CADRI) and the Multi-dimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale (MAAS). Linear …

Effects Of Urbanization On A Small Perennial Stream: Second Creek In Knoxville, Tennessee, Judith Laing Grable

Doctoral Dissertations

Little is known about the coarse load carried by streams in urban areas or the length of time needed for stream channel adjustments to urban conditions. In this study, I examine the history of urbanization in the basin of Second Creek, the status of the channel, and the sediment load of the creek in recent years.

Second Creek is a small perennial stream whose 18.6 km² drainage basin is almost entirely contained within the City of Knoxville, Tennessee. Almost all of the drainage basin was developed more than 40 years ago, and is now urban and suburban in character. …

An Investigation Of Personality Correlates Of Small Business Success, Kimberly Sue Owens

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to empirically examine the relationship between personality characteristics and small business success. A cluster of 14 personality variables were examined using a work-based measure of personality, the Personal Style Inventory (PSI), adapted for small business owners. Small business success was operationally defined in terms of financial and personal dimensions of success. The two criterion variables assessed were business performance and work satisfaction. It was hypothesized that business performance and work satisfaction are positively related.

One hundred forty-seven small business owners completed the web survey. Correlational analyses revealed personality characteristics were significantly related to …

Tax Structure And Political Support: Equity-Related Goods Taxation., Jonathan Mckernan

Masters Theses

We focus this paper on a political economic question, What determines the U.S. states’ sales tax treatment of equity-related goods? We consider a good to be “equity related” when its consumption is essential to survival. States sometimes choose to tax these goods uniquely, often exempting them from the sales tax base. The equity-related goods for this paper are food, clothing, water, electricity, household fuel, and natural gas. All these goods are for home consumption. This question is relevant to the larger issue of how tax structure evolves or is determined. We test the theoretical explanation of tax structure determination that …

Subsistence, Butchery, And Commercialization In Knox County, Tennessee, Rachel Jeannine Windham

Masters Theses

A multifaceted approach to zooarchaeology is used to attain a broader diachronic view of Upland South subsistence and market activities as commercialization increased nationwide. Greater beef consumption is evidenced through faunal remains as availability and affordability increase with technological advancements. Paralleling this trend is an increased acceptance and purchase of Georgian cuts (individual hams and beef steaks) gaining popularity over time.

In order to investigate this pattern, a sample of six historic archaeological sites in Knox County, Tennessee, differing in proximity to urban markets, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and temporal context was chosen. General time ranges from the late eighteenth through …

Testing The Transfer Of Hydrologic Model Parameters Across Scales: Modeling The Emory River, Daddy’S Creek, And Crooked Fork Watersheds., Benjamin Bryan Arthur

Masters Theses

Modeling the hydrologic response of small watersheds is often hindered by lack of data. We cannot calibrate robust models without ample and sufficiently accurate precipitation and discharge measurements. Limited data prevent the calibration process from estimating parameter values that adequately depict the physical characteristics of the watershed. But physical characteristics change gradually over space and hydrologic processes behave in predictable ways across scales. These factors suggest that the modeling of data-limited small watersheds could be improved by using the physical characteristics of a large, data-rich watershed to estimate the characteristics of a small watershed.

This thesis presents such an application. …

Toxic Communities: Examining The Relationship Between Race, Market Forces, And Environmental Hazards Using Elementary Schools As Community Locus, Stephanie Joy Gonzales

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the complex relationship between race, pollution, and market forces using elementary school zones as community locus within California. This analysis examines the relationship between race and toxic facility sites using the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), census data, and California school data. This research improves on past research in several important ways. First, the community is defined by giving attention to literature on environmental grassroots movements and the formation of informal social networks using local elementary schools as an organizational locus. Second, the migration of Black, Hispanic, and White populations away from and …

Bridging Thought Communities: Implications Of Membership In Degree-Completion Program Groups For The Self-Concepts Of Adult Students, Matthew S. Vos

Doctoral Dissertations

This study assesses the impact that an alternative delivery model in higher education may have for adult undergraduates who return to college. In trying to adapt their institutions to the needs of adult students, and reduce barriers facing them, some colleges and universities have developed degree-completion programs. In addition to offering convenient class times, some programs utilize what is known as a “group” or “cohort” model that provides a context within which students can find support, and which allows them to retain important outside-the-classroom statuses and identities. The purpose of the study was to determine whether close identification with a …

Hot Topic: Updating Occupational Safety And Health Programs, Steve Lobertini

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

This Hot Topic presents a brief review of certain provisions of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1972, as amended, that are applicable to local governments. Includes model ordinance to provide guidelines and procedures for an occupational safety and health program.

Not All Users Are Alike: How Do Age And Productivity Affect User Behavior?, Carol Tenopir, Peter B. Boyce, Donald W. King

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Online Issues Are Global, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY is international. With major English-language online publishers based in the Netherlands, Germany, and Canada (not to mention Alabama and New York), the information you lease may be generated and designed anywhere in the world. Likewise, the issues and challenges facing libraries as they move to large-scale digital collections are global in nature.

Conferences about digital libraries are also international; in September I attended "Digilib: Towards a User-Centered Approach to Digital Libraries" in Finland. Two hundred attendees from over 20 countries discussed how to gather user information for the purpose of designing more useful digital libraries. Sessions were …

Hot Topic: Tennessee Building And Fire Codes, Ray Crouch

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The proposed rules provide for the adoption of the 2002 International Building Code and the 2003 NFPA Uniform Fire Code.

Database For Information Professionals, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Dialog version of ISTA was part of Dialog's full-text linking program, and ISTA indexers include URLs in ISTA records when they have them. ISTA's Donald Hawkins explains that "many users don't have accounts with Dialog. ITI cannot offer One-stop shopping.' EBSCO, on the other hand, has a wealth of resources and a large complement of databases...[including] a large collection of full text, which it hosts and has rights to."

Interface, October 2003, School Of Information Sciences

Interface Newsletter

As the School of Information Sciences begins its second year as a part of the College of Communication and Information, we continue to experience change, but perhaps not as much as we once expected.

The planning we undertook to prepare for our transition into the College of Communication and Information has paid off handsomely. We are finding ways to share resources. We are making faculty contacts across disciplines. We are working together to build stronger graduate programs. We planned for these outcomes, and so despite all the change we’ve faced, we are still secure in our identity and our mission. …

Patterns Of Journal Use By Faculty At Three Diverse Universities., Donald W. King, Sarah E. Aerni, Carol Tenopir, Carol Hansen Montgomery

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

University libraries are rapidly moving toward electronic journal collections. Readership surveys at three universities with different levels of electronic journal implementation demonstrate how transition to electronic journal collections affects use patterns of faculty and staff. The University of Tennessee was in a transitional phase when the survey was done (2000), the University of Pittsburgh had acquired a large electronic journal collection, but with some duplication with print journals (2003), and Drexel University had migrated to nearly all electronic journals (2002). Although faculty use of personal print subscriptions remains significant, electronic personal subscriptions are used only infrequently by faculty even though …

Undergraduate Science Students And Electronic Scholarly Journals, Carol Tenopir, Richard Pollard, Peiling Wang, Dan Greene, Elizabeth Kline, Julia Krummen, Rachel Kirk

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Phase I of a 2‐phase project funded by the NSF‐National Science Digital Library Project used focus groups to determine how undergraduate science students perceive journal literature and how they use digital library resources. Their perceptions and use are contrasted with faculty and graduate teaching assistants in engineering, chemistry, and physics. Undergraduates have difficulties understanding journal articles. Although they consider themselves experts on the web, they rarely use online indexes or e‐journals unless required to for class. E‐Journals should be incrementally introduced to students starting at the time they declare a major. E‐Modules developed by the library and faculty could introduce …

Tennessee Public Acts 2003: Summaries Of Interest To Municipal Officials, Dennis Huffer

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

Summarizes the year's public acts and provides date they become effective.

What User Studies Tell Us, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Valid conclusions about user behavior should only be made within the research method used by each study. For example, if a researcher interviews academic faculty to determine if they prefer print or electronic sources, the conclusions should only state what faculty prefer, not what faculty actually use.

Hot Topic: Mental Evaluations For City Employees: Tennessee Enters Into A Consent Decree With The United States Department Of Justice, Rex Barton

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The State of Tennessee has entered into a consent decree with the United States Department of Justice to settle an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) case contesting the validity of several statutes concerning the minimum qualifications for certain public safety employees.

Personal Narratives As Reflections Of Identity And Meaning: A Study Of Betrayal, Forgiveness, And Health, Laura G. Porter

Doctoral Dissertations

As evidence suggesting both emotional and physical benefits from forgiveness continues to mount, scientific interest focuses on the intra-psychic dynamics and interpersonal processes that distinguish forgiving individuals from their non-forgiving counterparts. By studying the transformation of hurt and resentment into understanding and compassion, researchers hope to clarify further the cognitive and affective changes that characterize forgiving hearts and minds. As the nuances of this potentially healthful expansion of perspective become known, clinicians hope to integrate their newfound insights into therapeutic formulations and interventions that target ever-widening populations for whom forgiveness might prove beneficial.

Analysis of the very personal and often …

Investigating The Impact Of Aggregate Household Wealth Changes: Permanent Versus Transitory Wealth Effects On Consumption And Taxable Income, Markland Howard Tuttle

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the permanent and transitory effects of aggregate wealth changes on aggregate consumption and the distribution of taxable income, while controlling for other important macroeconomic factors. In the three essays presented, the first investigates the relationship between consumption, wealth, and disposable income. In addition, the relationship between the disaggregated components of consumption (non-durable, durable, and services consumption), wealth, and disposable income is explored. Through the use of cointegration techniques and Vector Error-Correction Models, the permanent and transitory responses of all series are investigated. The findings suggest that aggregate consumption, wealth, and disposable income are endogenous in the long …

Big Five Personality Traits And Work Drive As Predictors Of Adolescent Academic Performance., Susan Rae Perry

Doctoral Dissertations

The Five Factors of Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, or some combination thereof, are increasingly used as predictors of job performance in business settings. Personality factors are also related to academic performance in college. Further extending this research into academic realms would provide useful information about early individual attributes that not only affect performance in school, but may also predict future issues in later job performance. Additionally, the use of more work or school specific constructs and related instruments may provide more information about performance than the broader five- factor structure. The contribution of Work Drive to the …

Swat Team Composition And Effectiveness, Deanna Marie Putney

Doctoral Dissertations

A field study examined team effectiveness in relation to group composition in thirty-four (34) Specialized Weapons and Tactical (SWAT) Teams. Data collection during a five-day, work-focused, SWAT team competition and included judges’ ratings of team performance, a questionnaire among team members and leaders to assess individual personality traits conscientiousness and agreeableness, and perceptions of team performance, norms, and conflict. Hypotheses derived from current research and theory. Results showed that the team maximum conscientiousness score correlated positively with member-rated team performance, as predicted. Team average and minimum conscientiousness correlated with leader-rated team viability; whereas, only the maximum conscientiousness team score correlated …

An Empirical Examination Of Frontal Sinus Outline Variability Using Elliptic Fourier Analysis: Implications For Identification, Standardization, And Legal Admissibility, Angi M. Christensen

Doctoral Dissertations

The comparison of frontal sinus radiographs for positive identification has become an increasingly applied and accepted technique among forensic anthropologists, radiologists, and pathologists. However, the current method of outline comparison by visual assessment fails to meet evidence admissibility guidelines as set forth in the 1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell-Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Specifically, no empirical testing of the uniqueness of frontal sinus outlines has ever been performed, there has been no evaluation of the probability of misidentification using the technique, there are no standards controlling the technique’s operation, and there are no subjective standards for confirming or rejecting a …

Group Discussion Of Power Among College Women, Tiffany Elizabeth Kelsey

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study addresses power in a discussion group format. The purpose of the study is to examine the experience of group discussion of power by college women and to test for an effect of that experience on measures of self-efficacy, attitudes about women, and depression. The study uses Foucault’s definition of power and a postmodern feminist approach to therapy and research. Sixteen participants joined one of three discussion groups about power. Each group met three times to discuss their understanding and experiences of power. Pre-, post-, and delayed post-test measures of depression, self-efficacy, and attitude towards women were administered …