Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Online Social Networking Sites: Meaning Of Sns's To Gay Men From Non-Accepting Families, Richard Tazz Curry

Doctoral Dissertations

The role of technology can be argued as changing the social landscape for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals. A 2009 survey of LGBTQ adults revealed over 70% of individuals self-reported using the Internet as their primary means of information seeking (Bond, Hefner, & Drognos). While traditional venues still exist for LGBTQ individuals in exploration of personal and sexual identities, the Internet serves as one distinguishing difference: anonymity. This study utilizes in-depth interviews, (N=15), to explore the experiences of gay men, from non-accepting families, who use online social networking sites (SNS) to reshape their perception of the world …

Drawing The Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Interracial Marriages In Television Sitcoms, Jodi Lynn Rightler-Mcdaniels

Doctoral Dissertations

Changes throughout history, particularly those surrounding race relations in the U.S., frequently have a direct effect on personal social experience and the current structure of society. Although public discourse often emphasizes the rhetoric of racial progression, subtle racism abounds – both in society and in media – masked under the façade of equality. This is especially true when examining race relations between Blacks and Whites, particularly those involved in intimate heterosexual interracial relationships, as they have traditionally been viewed as negative, dangerous, and threatening to the status quo.

Television representations are often socially and culturally rooted with real issues, hence …

Essay On Firm Inventory And Innovation Behavior, Ye Gu

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies firm’s decisions on inventory investment and innovation activities. The first chapter examines firm inventory behavior. It resolves and simulates the production smoothing/buffer stock model using different sets of parameters. It shows that the relationship between a sales shock and inventory investment could be ambiguous which is different from previous predictions. The production smoothing/buffer stock model and the (S, s) model of inventory are tested using a rich Chinese firm-level dataset covering 769 manufacturing firms from 1980 to 1989, and I find that sales are positively correlated with inventory for raw materials, but negatively correlated with …

Challenging The State: Evaluating The Effects Of Uneven Distribution Of Public Goods, Economic Globalization And Political Openness On Domestic Terrorism, Sambuddha Ghatak

Doctoral Dissertations

The end of Cold-War ushered in an era of global economic integration and political openness in terms of emerging democracies; the world celebrated the triumph of free market capitalism as the East European ex-communist countries and Third World countries of Asia and Africa placed market forces at the center of their policy. There seems to have been a breakthrough for the idea of the Manchester School, in terms of using economics as a means of international peace. On the other hand, however, the world is not at peace. The collapse of the “Soviet Empire” was followed by the emergence, or …

The Role Of Family In Wellbeing And Quality Of Life Among Palestinian Adults, Carolyn Reagh Spellings

Doctoral Dissertations

The family domain has been inadequately included in general discussions of wellbeing and quality of life. The omission of family influences from these discussions is particularly unfortunate given that families are the primary institution in which individuals come to know themselves in relation to others and their environment. Adequate attention to family is all the more important when studying political conflict given the span of forces associated with political conflict that might tax families. This dissertation used data from a recent project designed to understand the nature of wellbeing/ quality of life among Palestinians, focusing particularly on the role of …

Examining Perceived Life Stress Factors Among Intercollegiate Athletes: A Holistic Perspective, Landon Tyler Huffman

Doctoral Dissertations

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) subscribes to the principle of intercollegiate athlete well-being (Article 2.2) which includes health and safety (Article 2.2.3). However, intercollegiate athletes, particularly those competing in arguably the most competitive level of intercollegiate athletics (i.e., NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision [FBS]), are exposed to unique stressors which may compromise their well-being. One dimension which has been received less frequent investigation in the context of athlete welfare is that of spirituality. In lieu of the unique intercollegiate athletic environment and stressors, it is critical to investigate the relationships between the spiritually-related characteristics, specifically religiosity, resiliency, and …

Local Government-Citizen Relationships: Using The Coorientation Approach To Analyze Relationship Effectivness, Melissa Wooten Graham

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the current debates in public relations scholarship surrounds how to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of public relations practitioners and programs and the value they add to an organization. Known as the ROI, or return on investment, in public relations, this concept is often hard to define. However, as management demands become stronger for more accountability from public relations departments, the need to effectively address this concern continues to grow. Previous research has shown that a strong indicator of the effectiveness of public relations is the relationship that exists between an organization and its publics.

This study details …

The Western Tennessee Shell Mound Archaic: Prehistoric Occupation In The Lower Tennessee River Valley Between 9000 And 2500 Cal Yr Bp, Thaddeus Geoffrey Bissett

Doctoral Dissertations

Data from seven Middle and Late Archaic sites in western Tennessee dating to ca. 8900 – 3200 cal BP are used explore how shell middens and mounds were created and used. The study sites – Eva (40BN12), Big Sandy (40HY18), Kays Landing (40HY13), Cherry (40BN74), Ledbetter Landing (40BN25), McDaniel (40BN77), and Oak View (40DR1) – were excavated during the Great Depression prior to the construction of the Kentucky Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

A high-resolution chronology of site use was developed, based on existing older radiocarbon assays and 50 new AMS determinations. These chronological data were used in conjunction …

The Effect Of State Orientation On Emotion Dysregulation, Borderline Personality Disorder, And Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Desiree Leboeuf-Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study extends the application of Personality Systems Interactions (PSI) theory (Kuhl, 2000b) to the distinction between Nonsuicidal Self-injury (NSSI) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) by examining the effect of State Orientation (Kuhl, 1994) on emotion dysregulation, BPD, and NSSI. Participants were recruited using social media and internet-based snowball techniques. Participants were directed to a web-based survey consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Action Control Scale -24 (ACS-24; Kuhl, 1994; Kuhl & Fuhrmann, 1998), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004; Gratz and Roemer, 2008), the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD; Zanarini …

Two Essays On Insider Trading And Option Grants Around The Filing Of Influential Patents, Liu Pan

Doctoral Dissertations

Research documents that insiders, who have access to private information, appear to trade with profits before major corporate events like mergers, bankruptcy, dividend announcements, and future cash flow news (see, e.g., Seyhun, 1990; Seyhun and Bradley, 1997; John and Lang, 1991; Jiang and Zaman, 2010). Another recent stream of studies find that the size and quality of a firm's patent portfolio are positively related to the firm's future stock returns (Hirshleifer, Hsu, and Li, 2012; Pandit, Wasley, and Zach, 2011). However, there is little systematic evidence on whether insiders act opportunistically when they possess private information about the firm's patent …

An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of The Louisiana Gear Up Program In Promoting Self-Efficacy, Improving Academic Achievement And Increasing Teachers' Aspirations For Their Students, Candi Hill

Doctoral Dissertations

Students are likely to avoid academic pursuits if they lack academic self-efficacy (Bandura, 2000). Furthermore, past poor academic performance contributes to the development of low academic self-efficacy. Students who participate in extracurricular activities, like LA GEAR UP, demonstrate better academic achievement and less risk-taking behaviors than non-participating students (Barber, Stone, & Hunt, 2003). Research supports the notion that LA GEAR UP is an effective way to improve students' academic performance and to reduce the number of disciplinary referrals students receive (Beer, 2009). Additionally, within the academic literature research has demonstrated that teachers' attributions about students are based upon their perceptions …

Bay Area Student Involvement In The Environmental And Food Justice Movements: A Narrative Of Motivations, Experiences, And Community Impact, Laura E. Solof

Doctoral Dissertations

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability to problem-solve, suffer from obesity, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, and unknowingly contribute to the ever-increasing problems of air and water pollution, land and habitat destruction, and other environmental injustices. Community organizations and university programs are filling this much-needed gap in student environmental education, as they …

Psychopathy And The Hexaco Personality Model, M. Todd Lobrano

Doctoral Dissertations

Within the recently published DSM-5, alternative diagnostic criteria for personality disorders have been offered (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). These changes allow for a more dimensional diagnostic system than has been previously used while maintaining some aspects of a categorical system (Skodol et al., 2011). These changes also include a description of specific traits that characterize personality disorders and make it possible for measures of normal personality to have a more significant impact in their diagnosis. Relevant to the present study are the changes in the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, considered by many to be an extreme …

Proactive Search: Using Outcome-Based Dynamic Nearest-Neighbor Recommendation Algorithms To Improve Search Engine Efficacy, Christopher Shaun Wagner

Doctoral Dissertations

"The explosion of readily available electronic information has changed the focus of data processing from data generation to data discovery. The prevalent use of search engines has generated extensive research into improving the speed and accuracy of searches. The goal of this research is to accurately predict user behavior as a means to proactively improve speed, accuracy, and predictability of search engines. The proactive approach eliminates query entry time and hence reduces the overall processing time, improving speed. Assuming success, the user locates an electronic resource of interest, improving accuracy.

Algorithms that have been shown to predict many vastly different …

Two Essays On Insider Trading And Option Grants Around The Filing Of Influential Patents, Liu Pan

Doctoral Dissertations

Research documents that insiders, who have access to private information, appear to trade with profits before major corporate events like mergers, bankruptcy, dividend announcements, and future cash flow news (see, e.g., Seyhun, 1990; Seyhun and Bradley, 1997; John and Lang, 1991; Jiang and Zaman, 2010). Another recent stream of studies find that the size and quality of a firm's patent portfolio are positively related to the firm's future stock returns (Hirshleifer, Hsu, and Li, 2012; Pandit, Wasley, and Zach, 2011). However, there is little systematic evidence on whether insiders act opportunistically when they possess private information about the firm's patent …

The Effects Of Explicit Listening Strategy Instruction On The Listening Comprehension Of English As Second Language (Esl) Community College Students, Yi Guan

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored the effects of explicit listening strategy instruction on the beginning-level ESL learner's listening comprehension at a community college in Northern California. Most previous studies measured the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction by comparing students' test scores, but little research explored the students' listening strategy development and their perceptions of the strategy instruction. Furthermore, no prior research exists on the effects of listening strategy instruction among community college students.

The researcher employed the concurrent triangulation approach, collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Data sources included interviews, a listening test, background surveys, and classroom …

Perspectives On Disability And Community Engagement In Albania: Developing Mutual Understanding Through The Sharing Of Individual Narratives, Lucia Murillo

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores current perspectives on disability in Albania by bringing into discourse the voice of families and community members in order to learn how history, tradition, and family values influence individual or community response to having or being in community alongside children with special needs.

Research Theory and Protocol

I carried out this research using critical hermeneutic theory. The protocol followed an interpretive approach as outlined by Ellen Herda (1999). This orientation brought the researcher and participants together and used narratives as a medium for participatory inquiry.

Research Categories

The critical hermeneutic concepts of narrative identity, mimesis, and communicative …

The Relationship Between Broad And Narrow Personality Traits And Change Of Academic Major, Nancy A. Foster

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and academic major change in two samples of college undergraduates. Utilizing a field study design, a total number of 859 undergraduates completed an online inventory that included the “Big Five” and other -related, narrow personality traits, as well as academic major change and various demographic variables. A number of expected and unexpected findings emerged. As hypothesized, the traits of Sense of Identity and Extraversion were significantly and negatively related to decisions to change major, but only for certain grade levels. Contrary to expectations, Career Decidedness and Optimism …

Supportive Leadership, Employee Engagement And Occupational Safety: A Field Study, Lauren Elizabeth Baxter

Doctoral Dissertations

This archival field study examined the relationships of supportive leadership, employee engagement, and safety outcomes in order to address the current knowledge gap regarding these concepts and also to test predictions of and extend the Job Demands-Job Resources Model. Participants were 3,312 employees from multiple departments located at 11 different locations of a large southeastern utility company. Data were collected on supportive leadership, employee engagement, and safety climate using archival data from self-report questionnaires. Recordable injuries and first-aid instances were collected through the organization’s archival safety records. Three consecutive years of data were included in the study. As expected, supportive …

A Comparison Of Mississippian Period Subadults From The Middle Cumberland And Eastern Regions Of Tennessee To Assess Health And Past Population Interactions, Rebecca Scopa Kelso

Doctoral Dissertations

Human subadult skeletal remains can provide a unique perspective into biosocial aspects of past populations. However, for a variety of reasons, they are often overlooked in the skeletal record. This is especially true for the Mississippian period (ca. 1000 years before present to ca. 400 years before present) populations that inhabited the Middle Cumberland region (MCR) and Eastern Tennessee Region (ETR). Most of the previous studies of these areas focused on adult skeletal remains, leaving out a large and extremely important population segment. To further expand current knowledge on the prehistory of the MCR and ETR, skeletal indicators of disease, …

A Flute Runs Through It, Sometimes… Understanding Folsom-Era Stone Tool Variation, Robert Detlef Lassen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the “Folsom-Midland Problem,” in which two distinct varieties of stone projectile points occur together in many Folsom-age sites from the terminal Pleistocene in North America. In order to understand why these point types co-occur, a sample of measurements and photographs of 1,093 artifacts including points, preforms, and ultrathin bifaces has been amassed from 27 archaeological sites and three private collections across the Great Plains region of the United States. Analysis of the Folsom and Midland diagnostic artifacts from the Gault site in Central Texas provides the basis of subsequent analyses of the larger sample and indicates that …

African American Oral Histories Of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Public Schools During The Early Days Of Desegregation, 1955 – 1967, Lorena B. Whipple

Doctoral Dissertations

Many traditional historical texts of the United States are missing the voiced presence of African Americans. Existing historical texts concerning desegregation in the South, and particularly in Tennessee, are missing African Americans’ experienced perspectives during racial desegregation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The intention of this dissertation is to use oral history as a methodology to document the memories of seven African Americans who participated in the racial desegregation of Oak Ridge, Tennessee public schools. Critical race theory is the interpretive lens used to analyze the interviews. The oral historical accounts contained in this study suggest African Americans have a unique …

Essays On State Fiscal Institutions, Todd Richard Yarbrough

Doctoral Dissertations

The following three essays investigate the effect various fiscal institutions have on state budgeting decisions. In the first essay, the impact of stringent balanced budget rules on a non-general fund expenditure category, environmental expenditure, is investigated. The essay finds that states with especially stringent balanced budget rules have lower average environmental expenditure than states absent stringent rules. Using a Fixed-Effects panel estimation, the paper finds that stringent balanced budget rules are associated with 1.55% lower per capita environmental expenditure than weak rules. Further, the presence of political interest groups in a state significantly mitigates this reduction, causing environmental expenditure to …

The Revolution Before The Revolution? A Material Culture Approach To Consumerism At George Washington’S Mount Vernon, Va, Eleanor E. Breen

Doctoral Dissertations

Before the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) profoundly impacted the lives of colonial Americans, another revolution of sorts was taking place. This one occurred in the realm of the daily lives of all colonial Americans – free and enslaved, poor and wealthy. What made the 40-year period before the American Revolution unique was that access to consumer goods appears to have opened up for larger segments of the colonial population through a more sophisticated and far-reaching system of distribution for imported items. But just how equal was this access? What can be learned about colonial culture and the maintenance of power …

Friendly Fire: Amicus Curiae Participation And Impact At The Roberts Court, David Hooper Scott

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the nature and extent of amicus curiae participation and impact at the Roberts Court. While previous literature has addressed amicus activity and influence in prior eras of the Court, in specific issue areas, and in specific cases, none has focused in a systematic way on the Roberts Court. Compiling data from the 2007-08 through 2011-12 terms of the Roberts Court, this study first examines the levels and categories of amicus participation during this time period. Amicus activity at the Roberts Court is ubiquitous, and exhibits an “arms race” phenomenon, being relatively ideologically balanced.

Second, this study analyzes …

Creating And Maintaining Social Presence Via Computer-Mediated Communication: Measuring The Self-Rated Behaviors That Lead To Social Presence, Scott A. Christen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation involved the creation and validation of a new measure of social presence. The first study involved the use of focus groups to create items for the future measure. The focus groups were presented with a set of items that were created based upon past literature; an through discussion of these items, a preliminary measure was created. The second study gathers data concerning the measure that was created from study one and an exploratory factor analysis was performed to eliminate items that did not work well with each other. This reduced the measure from 54 items to 23. The …

Personality Traits And Motivations For Usage Of Online Social Network Sites Among College Freshmen, Jason Paul Rieger

Doctoral Dissertations

Millions of people worldwide log onto social network sites (SNS) every day. Some users have positive experiences while others have negative experiences. The functionality of any given SNS is the same for each user, but the choice of how and when to use certain features leads each user to have different experiences. This study utilized a uses and gratifications framework to help understand what gratification expectations affect the usage of SNS among college freshmen in their first semester. Additionally, the research explored a possible link between individual personality traits of freshmen and gratification expectations as well as a link between …

The Effect Of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder And Social Support On Patterns Of Emotional Availability In Mother-Child Interactions, Rebecca Devan Trupe

Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience severe and pervasive disturbances in the development of attachment relationships, identity, and emotion regulation. Given these deficits, there is an important need to understand the unique challenges mothers diagnosed with BPD are likely to face in parenting their children, as well as identify contextual variables that might be associated with maternal functioning and parenting outcomes. The current study used a low socioeconomic sample of children aged 4-7 of mothers with BPD, and a comparison group of children of mothers without BPD, to examine associations between maternal BPD, maternal borderline features, social support, and …

Analysis Of The Role Of Homework In Predicting And Improving Exam Performance, Charles E. Galyon

Doctoral Dissertations

Homework is one of many factors thought to improve students’ academic performance, given that homework provides a means for students not only to master course content, but also to develop valuable study habits, improve their time management, and learn to work independently. Unfortunately, college students commit considerably less time to homework than is conventionally thought necessary, and their answers to homework questions frequently indicate an erroneous and/or incomplete understanding of the course material. The current study examined relationships between potential predictors of and trends in exam performance in a large undergraduate educational psychology course. The relationship between homework completion, homework …

Associations Between The Subtypes Of Aggression, Parenting Styles And Psychiatric Symptomatology In Children On A Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, Jamie Lee Rathert

Doctoral Dissertations

Childhood aggression often precedes more costly problem behavior that may result in psychiatric hospitalization. However, aggression is not a unidimensional construct, as there are subdimensions of aggression. A common way that aggression is divided is by the motivation behind the behavior, namely proactive and reactive aggression. Proactive aggression is calculated in nature, whereas reactive aggression occurs in response to a perceived threat. Some evidence suggests differential outcomes for these aggression subtypes; thus, further understanding of the link between the subtypes of aggression and psychiatric problems may help to refine current prevention efforts and reduce the number of hospitalizations.

Consistent with …