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Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

2007

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Articles 1 - 25 of 25

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Response To Intervention And Effects On Retention, Jason D. Haught Jan 2007

Response To Intervention And Effects On Retention, Jason D. Haught

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Little research exists pertaining to the affect of the Response to lntervention model on student grade retention. This study was designed to determine a relationship between the frequency of students retained in grades kindergarten through third prior to and following the implementation of the Response to lntervention model. A five member cohort group conducted a longitudinal study of grades kindergarten through third grade in eleven pilot schools in the state of West Virginia. A Chi-Square test was chosen to examine the variables in an attempt to identify whether the implementation of the Response to lntervention model had an affect upon …

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An Analysis Of The Stereotypes Of Preacher’S Kids And Its Application On Their Spouses, Tara J. Allman Jan 2007

An Analysis Of The Stereotypes Of Preacher’S Kids And Its Application On Their Spouses, Tara J. Allman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to discover the results of the effects of stereotypes and under what conditions certain stereotypes occur. The focus of this study is to examine stereotypes connected to the children of a Protestant minister and the spouses of those children. Ethnographic interviews and surveys show that the stereotype does exist in two distinct ways. Children of ministers are expected to either be rebellious hellions or they are expected to be perfect role models. The stereotypes affect the respondents more as children and teenagers than as adults unless as an adult the child still attends the …

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Organizational Leadership In Academic Libraries : Identifying Culture Types And Leadership Roles, Monica Garcia Brooks Jan 2007

Organizational Leadership In Academic Libraries : Identifying Culture Types And Leadership Roles, Monica Garcia Brooks

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify organizational culture types and leadership roles among research and non-research libraries in higher education institutions in the United States and to reveal trends that can assist in enacting needed organizational change. Organizational culture and leadership are two intertwined concepts that are strongly aligned with the human element of any supervisory experience. According to Crosby, they help “nurture effective and humane organizations” (Crosby, 2004). This research project sought to test the claims brought forth by library researchers such as Kaarts-Brown et al. in which they reported a tie between the library manager’s ability …

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Suicidal Terrorism : A Dying Strategy, Michael Jessee Adkins Jan 2007

Suicidal Terrorism : A Dying Strategy, Michael Jessee Adkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study identifies a causal model for suicidal terrorism consisting of three primary blocks of factors. First, terrorist organizations must desire to expel a social entity from a geographic area and typically operate with a perception of religious asymmetry. Second, members of terrorist organizations must undergo active exposure to specific socialization practices that directly glorify martyrdom and render suicidal behavior socially acceptable within the context of their community. Third, terrorist organizations must adopt an organizational philosophy that indicates they are capable of achieving victory. This study analyzes the characteristics of several high-profile terrorist organizations to demonstrate the noted factors are …

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Attachment And Adolescent Psychopathology In A Correctional Setting, Lindsay A. Lounder Jan 2007

Attachment And Adolescent Psychopathology In A Correctional Setting, Lindsay A. Lounder

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It was the purpose of this research to better understand the role of attachments and related clinical issues in relation to the development of criminality in late adolescence. This study involves designs comparing the youth at a maximum-security correctional facility versus controls matched on demographic variables using the Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ). Within group data is also analyzed to study differences and similarities among the offenders. Significant differences were found between the offenders and control group on attachment classifications as well as other clinical scales. Offenders are more likely than controls to have insecure attachments to their mother, …

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The Principalship: A Study Of The Principal's Time On Task From 1960 To The Twenty-First Century, Jacqueline A. Mcpeake Jan 2007

The Principalship: A Study Of The Principal's Time On Task From 1960 To The Twenty-First Century, Jacqueline A. Mcpeake

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine legislative and societal developments in the United States in relation to changes in educational administration and determine the existence of bifurcation points of change. The effects of legislative and societal changes on the tasks on which administrators focus their time were evaluated. The administrators were surveyed to determine if changes in time on task have occurred to meet the demands of current legislative priorities and if any demographic relationships existed. The study’s population consisted of 1950 (N=1950) administrators in public elementary, middle and high schools in the Southern Regional Educational Board 16 …

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The Effect Of Marshall University's Summer Enrichment Program On Reading Gains Program Evaluation, Ii, Kelli A. Potoczny Jan 2007

The Effect Of Marshall University's Summer Enrichment Program On Reading Gains Program Evaluation, Ii, Kelli A. Potoczny

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Marshall University Summer Enrichment Program on students’ reading success in grades Kindergarten through eighth. From June 26, 2006 through July 27, 2006, a 5 week chronological period, 105 students attended the summer program and were evaluated for reading achievement. The study measured students' reading performance during the 5 consecutive weeks. Students were divided into three groups, primary, intermediate and middle school to evaluate the different age groups for changes in reading ability. This study compared student's pre and post running records to determine any gains in reading skills. …

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Born Of Freedom And Dissent: A Comparative Analysis Of American Antiwar Protest In The First 1,418 Days Of The Vietnam And Iraq Wars, Thomas N. Ratliff Jan 2007

Born Of Freedom And Dissent: A Comparative Analysis Of American Antiwar Protest In The First 1,418 Days Of The Vietnam And Iraq Wars, Thomas N. Ratliff

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Cultural aesthetics are the latent effects of human relations informing cognitive schemas as cultural variations of social forms in specific time-space contexts. To understand what conditions produce intra-national conflict during wartime, engagement reactivity between social control mechanisms and antiwar protesters was measured. Hypothesis-1 showed high numbers of arrests were influenced by the type and duration of protest and military presence at protest events during Vietnam, whereas place and size of protest were influential during Iraq. Hypothesis-2 showed that where and how antiwar protests occur has changed. Hypothesis-3 showed that, compared to Vietnam, Iraq antiwar protest has increased initial reactivity-intensity, has …

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Scotland: The New Melting Pot?, Alexandria Rovatsos Jan 2007

Scotland: The New Melting Pot?, Alexandria Rovatsos

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Discussion of population issues increasingly centers on the low fertility rates common in much of the developed world. As a result of these low fertility rates and increased longevity, populations across much of Europe are getting older and in many cases declining in size. In response, governments with low fertility rates have implemented a variety of policies to maintain their population. While many countries have tried to boost fertility, Scotland had opted for a less popular approach, i.e. pro-immigration. This thesis focuses on Scotland and the policy implemented by the government to combat low fertility.

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Atmospheric Smog Modeling, Using Eos Satellite Aster Image Sensor, With Feature Extraction For Pattern Recognition Techniques And Its Correlation With In-Situ Ground Sensor Data, Parthasarathi Roy Jan 2007

Atmospheric Smog Modeling, Using Eos Satellite Aster Image Sensor, With Feature Extraction For Pattern Recognition Techniques And Its Correlation With In-Situ Ground Sensor Data, Parthasarathi Roy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Atmospheric pollution was previously considered as a 'Brown Cloud’ phenomenon restricted to industrialized urban regions. Studies in field stations and satellite observations made since the last decade revealed that it now spans continents and ocean basins world wide. The objective of this research investigation is to assess atmospheric pollutants in the troposphere and their spectral characteristic signatures by using highspectral and spatial resolution Earth Observation System (EOS) satellite imaging sensor Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data and to find correlations with ground sensor observations. Ground sensor data are imported into a geodatabase for spatial reference. Raw ASTER …

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The Influence Of College Students’ Perception Of Parental (Or Primary Caregiver) Expectations On Coping Behavior And Adjustment In Early Adulthood, Jessica Smith Jan 2007

The Influence Of College Students’ Perception Of Parental (Or Primary Caregiver) Expectations On Coping Behavior And Adjustment In Early Adulthood, Jessica Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

While some research has examined how parental expectations affect educational achievement, there is very little known about how parental expectations affect the development of coping skills and adaptive and maladaptive psychosocial functions. Participants were asked to complete a measure of their abilities in academics, sports, leadership, honesty, responsibilities, among other things. Then, they completed a measure of what they perceived their parents’ expectations of those areas were. Lastly, they completed the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-College Self Report of Personality form as a measure of adaptive and maladaptive functioning. The goals of this study are to investigate 1) if participants' …

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The Effects Of Access To Childcare On The Labor Force Participation Of Women In The Huntington-Ashland Metropolitan Statistical Area And West Virginia, Kristi Stephens Jan 2007

The Effects Of Access To Childcare On The Labor Force Participation Of Women In The Huntington-Ashland Metropolitan Statistical Area And West Virginia, Kristi Stephens

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This paper examines the connection between access to childcare and labor force participation of women in the Huntington-Ashland MSA and in West Virginia by evaluating the connection between the number of daycare slots available and several socio-economic factors. Based on data gathered from daycare resource groups and the U.S. Census Bureau, access to childcare is connected with the ability of women with children to participate in the labor force. This effect is seen more strongly in rural West Virginia than the more urbanized Huntington- Ashland MSA and the number of childcare slots available may be influenced by, or is influencing, …

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Marketplace Plants Used In Ceremonial Cleansing Among Andean Qechuans Of Ecuador, Sushma Shrestha Jan 2007

Marketplace Plants Used In Ceremonial Cleansing Among Andean Qechuans Of Ecuador, Sushma Shrestha

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Ceremonial cleansing plays a vital role in indigenous societies where ‘folk illnesses’ such as susto (fright) are common. Indigenous Andean Qechuans commonly use cleansing plants to treat susto, and related ‘folk illnesses’.The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare market plants and to define methods and knowledge used in ceremonial cleansing among Ecuadorian Qechuans. Interviews were conducted with 22 vendors at 13 marketplaces. Regression Analysis (RA) determined preferentially selected plant families and residual value of RA determined the highest and lowest preferentially selected plant families.Hierarchical cluster analysis and coefficient of similarity demonstrated the relationship between marketplaces and cleansing …

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Comparative Study Of The Working Memory Scales Of The Wisc-Iv And Sb5 In Referred Students, Erica N. Abbott Jan 2007

Comparative Study Of The Working Memory Scales Of The Wisc-Iv And Sb5 In Referred Students, Erica N. Abbott

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present study compared the working memory scales of the WISC-IV and the SB5 as both tests are used, in part, to develop academic interventions for students. There is a moderate correlation (.6) between the two tests with 33 percent of shared variance and a SEest of 9.1 [plus or minus]. The findings indicate that the two tests do not measure a similar ability and scores obtained on them should not be interpreted in the same manner. More research is needed to investigate the specific constructs measured and which test is most appropriate to assess working memory problems.

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Ladies On The Label: A Meta-Analysis Of Stereotypes In Advertising, Valerie L. Spears Jan 2007

Ladies On The Label: A Meta-Analysis Of Stereotypes In Advertising, Valerie L. Spears

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis explores the origins of modern-day racism and sexism by combining a meta-analysis with an in-depth historical examination of the Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker campaigns. The ten studies used in the meta-analysis were selected and analyzed based on criteria developed from the research question and literature review. The researcher made three major conclusions based on the meta-analysis results: 1) It is not only important that minorities are shown in media images, but how they are shown; 2) stereotypes can sometimes mold viewpoints about the stereotyped member(s) of society; and 3) the consumer psyche provides further evidence that viewing …

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Variables That Influence The Quantity Of In-Home Services For Children, Adrienne A. Bean Jan 2007

Variables That Influence The Quantity Of In-Home Services For Children, Adrienne A. Bean

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

There are many reasons in-home services are being implemented and having success with young children. Part of this success may be due to the practitioners’ access to the family and home environment. Previous studies have addressed the quality of these services; however, few studies examine how the quantity of services is dispersed and/or how quantity of services is related to various characteristics of, or surrounding, the child. This dissertation attempts to examine factors that may influence the amount of time practitioners are willing to spend in homes when children have comparable concerns or delays. Parental qualities, environmental conditions, and other …

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Analysis Of Prehistoric Burials At The Snidow Site (46mc1), Mercer County, West Virginia, Rachel J. Crawford Jan 2007

Analysis Of Prehistoric Burials At The Snidow Site (46mc1), Mercer County, West Virginia, Rachel J. Crawford

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Snidow Site (46-MC-1) is a Late Prehistoric village site containing evidence of palisade lines, house structures and numerous prehistoric burials. Most of the burials at the site consisted of infants and subadults, with only a couple of burials being of mature adults. The analysis of the grave goods and the human skeletal remains helps archaeologists identify such things as burials rites, social organization, and status of the individuals. Archaeological excavations and technical laboratory methods were used in analyzing the artifacts associated with the Snidow site. The main objective in this analysis is to date the material, analyze the artifacts …

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High Stakes Testing Effects Dropout Rates, Ann Dodd Jan 2007

High Stakes Testing Effects Dropout Rates, Ann Dodd

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Since the inception of No Child Left Behind, it has been argued that high stakes testing leads to a higher dropout rate. High stakes testing can cause anxiety, stress and fear in students when the results determine whether or not they are able to be promoted to the next grade or to graduate from high school. The dropout rates for the two years before and the three years after the high stake test (WESTEST) was implemented in West Virginia were examined to establish if there had been any effect on these rates. Results indicate no significant difference in dropout rates …

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A Wolf Amongst The Sheep: A Sociological Approach To Understanding The German Church Struggle, Kevin L. Dingess Jan 2007

A Wolf Amongst The Sheep: A Sociological Approach To Understanding The German Church Struggle, Kevin L. Dingess

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Researchers pursuing the Kirchenkampf, Church Struggle, have persistently concentrated on anti-Semitism to explicate why the Protestant Churches failed at stopping the Holocaust. Former studies indicate that the Protestant Churches were ineffective at limiting the Nazi regime Essentially, this failure was accredited to the following: anti-Semitism (both past and modern), post-war resentment, common enemies or shared values between the regime and the Protestant Churches (including, Communists, Bolsheviks, Jews, and the secularism/liberalism of the Weimar Republic), and a strongly ingrained nationalism. Despite the facts that the validity of this past research has been supported numerous times over, this research observes features of …

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Evaluation Of Reading Achievement For Students Of The Carroll County Public School System’S 2006 Summer Enrichment Program, Melissa A. Doan Jan 2007

Evaluation Of Reading Achievement For Students Of The Carroll County Public School System’S 2006 Summer Enrichment Program, Melissa A. Doan

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of guided reading interventions with regard to individual reading achievement for elementary aged students who participated in a five-week summer enrichment program. Using a baseline and intervention design, a curriculum-based measure model of assessment was administered to each student. The analysis of data from the curriculum based measurement allowed for the implementation of guided reading interventions, which targeted increased student reading abilities for the chronological time period of July 5, 2006 through August 3, 2006. The results indicated that student academic deficits were not sufficiently impacted to normalize students to …

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Girls In The Juvenile Justice System, Ryan Michelle Donley Jan 2007

Girls In The Juvenile Justice System, Ryan Michelle Donley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Juvenile crime has been a controversial topic of debate since the Industrial Revolution. More recently many studies on juvenile crime have turned their attention to sex differences in committing crime and being processed through the justice system. Current statistics of arrest, adjudication, and placement rates for different types of status offenses and criminal offenses will show whether Chesney-Lind’s and other researchers’ conclusions that juvenile females are treated more harshly within the juvenile justice system still holds true twenty years later. Given the literature review and the national juvenile crime statistics, there is strong evidence that suggests females continue to be …

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Effective Reading Instruction In A Response To Intervention Program Evaluation, Sabrina L. Graham Jan 2007

Effective Reading Instruction In A Response To Intervention Program Evaluation, Sabrina L. Graham

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In response to the reauthorization of IDEA, in the spring of 2005, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDOE) initiated a project to implement a Response-to- Intervention (RtI) approach to the identification of students with specific learning disabilities. The present study evaluated to what extent the Tier 1 approach provides effective instruction to reach mastery in Phonemic Awareness and Phonics in Kindergarten through 3 rd grade. The research design for this study was a program evaluation. The participants in the West Virginia RtI pilot project included approximately 150 teachers from Kindergarten through 3 rd grade, 11 principals, 11 project coordinators, …

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Conceptualizing Depression: The Role Of Attachment And Related Issues, Megan Green Jan 2007

Conceptualizing Depression: The Role Of Attachment And Related Issues, Megan Green

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between depression, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and attachment and related issues as measured by the Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ). Individuals who had been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder in outpatient therapy and who indicated the presence of depressive symptoms on the BDI-II were compared to a control group comprised of individuals who had never engaged in therapy and who demonstrated minimal levels of depression as measured by the BDI-II. Therapy clients were assessed during the first two weeks of therapy. The experimental group demonstrated higher …

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Estimation Of The Effects Of Vegetation On Local Climate Using Gis And Remote Sensing Data, Won Hoi Hwang Jan 2007

Estimation Of The Effects Of Vegetation On Local Climate Using Gis And Remote Sensing Data, Won Hoi Hwang

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

As one of the effective methods to control urban temperatures, the effects of trees and other vegetation have come into focus. Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing data, Digital Orthophoto Quarter-Quadrangle (DOQQ) and Landsat Thematic Mapper (Landsat TM), have been applied in this study to analyze the UHI. The effect of road-side trees on local micro-climate was examined with in-situ temperature measurement and simulated shade. Regression analyses revealed significant negative slopes for all time periods. This trend continued throughout the entire night until sunrise the next morning. The relationship between thermal patterns and vegetation distributions was investigated using the …

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Examining Juvenile Crime And Recidivism, Charles M. Watson Jan 2007

Examining Juvenile Crime And Recidivism, Charles M. Watson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

High juvenile recidivism rates are a dilemma that is plaguing the juvenile justice system and the treatment facilities that operate within. There is little understanding of the causal relationship between recidivism rates, treatment types, and the demographics of the residents at the various treatment facilities. The purpose of this research is to identify the common flaws existing in current treatment practices and to utilize social labeling theory as a means of gaining a better understanding of this issue.

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