Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gender Difference And Test Anxiety, Leann Chandler

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study compared male and female students in the 4th, 6th, and 10th grades to see which sex had more test anxiety. The students are from a rural town in Southeastern Ohio. A total of 85 students filled out the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale. The students were given the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) two weeks prior to, one week prior to, and one week after the Ohio Fourth and Ohio Sixth Grade Proficiency Tests and the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). The hypotheses of this study are that the 10th grade females will have greater test anxiety than …

Popularity And Aggression Among Females In The Eighth Grade, April Lynn Kantz

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis examines how popularity affects the use of indirect and direct aggression. By using a class roster of all of the participants, the girls nominated three of the most popular and three of the least popular girls. The Direct Indirect Aggression Scales were used to examine which girls exhibited which type of aggressive behaviors. The results indicate that popularity affects aggression and that popular girls use more indirect aggression. These findings are consistent with past research on popularity and aggression and could help parents and educators understand the effects of such behaviors.

Over The Hills: Locating The Politics In Redneck Discourse, Brent M. Heavner

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This project offers a critique of popular redneck discourse in the United States from a perspective that draws from Marxism, cultural studies, and whiteness studies. Three individual studies are presented in order to map out the tenor of popular discourse: a content audit of major print media that use the term redneck, a textual analysis of print media that use the term redneck, and a textual analysis of entertainment media that construct and encourage identification with a redneck lifestyle. The redneck construct, it is argued, serves to mark the boundaries of normative whiteness and obfuscate white privilege. As a commodified …

Employment Success Of Community And Technical College Program Graduates As An Indicator Of Economic Development In West Virginia, Kristin L. Mallory

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to analyze existing wage data to quantify the employment success of community and technical college graduates by program as an indicator of economic development in West Virginia. Data for the variables were obtained from archival databases and a cooperative agreement between state agencies. Descriptive statistics were utilized to examine employment rates, range of earnings, and employment in-industry of community and technical college graduates from 23 programs from 1997 to 2002. Graduates in the health fields demonstrated both the highest and lowest ratios of employment, with the mean employment rate for all programs of 68.12 …

Evaluation Of The Marshall University School Psychology Internship Experience, Carolee S. Richards

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Parental satisfaction of 16 students completing an internship through the Marshall University School Psychology Graduate Program was evaluated in the current study. Surveys consisting of ten questions related to services offered by the School Psychology Intern during the Special Education eligibility process were provided to parents during the last five eligibility meetings conducted by each intern. Descriptive statistics as well as qualitative data were utilized to determine whether or not parents were generally satisfied with services being offered by the intern. These results were compared to data collected by Debra Henderson during the summer practicum attended by the same interns …

A Comparison Of The Effect Of Single-Sex Versus Mixed-Sex Classes On Middle School Student Achievement, Carol E. Thom

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of single-sex versus mixedsex classes on middle school student achievement. It was a case study of Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston, West Virginia, an inner-city school with approximately 600 students, of which 30% were minority (mostly black), 30% were special needs, and 70% were classified low socio-economic status (SES). Student WESTEST (West Virginia Educational Standards Test) scores in reading/language arts and math were collected and compared from the school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. Each student’s scores from the first year were compared to that same student’s scores from the …

Staff Attitude Change In A Response To Intervention Program Evaluation, Alicia Kirby

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to predict whether the staff attitude about the Response to Intervention (RtI) Project in the areas of reading achievement, student potential, the time it takes to implement the RtI Project, and parent involvement have improved from the survey in December of 2005 to the survey in March of 2006. Winfield Elementary began the project with very little funding and professional development training on Response to Intervention (RtI). The prediction for change in attitude is a result of additional funding and RtI professional development training.

A total of 399 initial and final surveys from the …

Parental Satisfaction With Psycho-Educational Consultation, Larry G. Lester

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the consumer satisfaction of the Psycho-educational consultation. The method of data collection was a survey consisting of ten questions to be answered using a Likert type scale and one question asking for opinions for program improvements. The instrument was based on a measure of effectiveness for School Psychologists (Barnett, 2004). At the end of the meeting to discuss the results of the psycho-education evaluation, parents were asked to complete the survey. Parents and students remained anonymous and the completion of the survey was voluntary. Parents were asked to place their survey in …

Social Cognition In Children From Rural Appalachia: Defining, Predicting And Discovering, Conrae J. Lucas-Adkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study, as part of longitudial Rural Appalachian Infant Temperament Project, investigated social cognition in a group of 10 and 11 year old children. We looked at two aspects of social cognition 1) the extent to which children could generate two different explanations for the behavior of others (perspective-taking) and 2) children's interpretations of the reasons for the behaviors of others. We established a measure of social cognition, based on the earlier work of Dodge & Frame(1982), that asked children to explain the reasons for the behavior of others as presented in six hypothetical situations. Children were also asked to …

The Biological Etiology Of Mental Health Disorders: Social Influences And Change Potential Of Practitioners’ Beliefs, Donna Marie Midkiff

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study was designed to examine mental health professionals’ strength of belief in biological causation of several syndromes including ADHD, unipolar depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia and whether a three-hour educational program will alter their thinking. Findings suggest that pre-training, mental health professionals’ reported strength of belief regarding the etiology of many mental health disorders tends toward the biologically based. Also, this study demonstrated that attendance at a three hour training program is able to reduce the expressed acceptance of biological causation of such disorders. The social influences of pharmaceutical direct to consumer advertising and medical guild dominance, as well …

The Selective Capacity Of The Likely To Become A Public Charge Clause In The Visa Issuance Process, Camila Morsch

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This paper provides an empirical examination of how the Likely to Become a Public Charge Clause (LPCC) is used in the American visa issuance process. This work covers literature on the logic and usage of the LPCC since the late 1800’s to present, suggesting administrative use of the LPCC expands according to different circumstances beyond its intended purposes. The quantitative portion of this work evaluates the use of the LPCC (for both immigrant applicant and nonimmigrant applicant populations) from 1966 to 2002 to ascertain the effect of economic and security conditions on the use of the LPCC. Applied Statistical Logistic …

Parent Satisfaction With Marshall University’S Summer Enrichment Program: Year Three, Cristen C. Pulliam

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The current study sought to examine the level of parent satisfaction with an extended school year program, the Marshall University Graduate College Summer Enrichment Program, verses the level of parent satisfaction at students’ local schools. The study also replicated the findings in two previous studies (Lattimore, 2003; Wartenburg, 2005). Parent satisfaction data were collected using satisfaction surveys. A survey was mailed to parents at the end of the regular school year to assess level of parent satisfaction with local school (N= 105). Twenty surveys were returned by mail. Intercorrelations of the parent satisfaction survey questions for the local school were …

Is The Gai A Good Short Form Of The Wisc-Iv?, Kimberly A. Scott

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A comparison was done between the standard scores of the GAI and the FSIQ of the WISC-IV using 31 subjects. The mean difference between the GAI/ FSIQ standard score is 3.74. T tests of significance show that there is not a significant difference between the scores of the GAI and the Full Scale IQ. The Pearson r correlation (.963 @ .01 level) suggests there is a strong positive correlation between the GAI and the Full Scale IQ. In summary, the GAI is a good predictor of the FSIQ of the WISC-IV. More data is required to determine if a statistical …

Use Of Gis In The Provision Of Emergency Services In Small Municipalities Huntington, Wv As A Case Study, Maria Eulalia Simental

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Although disaster management is a national concern, at the most basic level it is the responsibility of county emergency management agencies to cope with disasters. The objective of this research is to gauge the extent of the adoption and future benefits of the use of GIS technology by first responders and stakeholders to assist in the planning and response to an emergency and to provide a working GIS application model for emergency response in small municipalities, using Huntington, West Virginia as a case study, and how the resulting tools linked with GIS can provide visual and interact decision support capabilities …

Socialization And Attitudes: Effects Of Religion, Political Identification, And Class, 1972-2002, Melissa Kimmel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study analyzes the effects on culture wars attitudes of socialization into religion, political identification, and class on culture war type attitudes. Stepwise OLS and Logistic regression models were used to determine which of the three social institutions would have greatest impact on the attitudes: abortion for reasons beyond one’s control, abortion for willful reasons, capital punishment, prayer in schools, interracial marriage, teaching sex education in schools, homosexuality, premarital sex and extramarital sex. The findings support the theory that religion is the primary social institution involved in the development of culture war attitudes.

Intimate Partner Violence And Rural Women, Amanda S. Adams

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Over the past twenty years, awareness of the significant issue of intimate partner violence (IPV) has steadily increased. The deleterious consequences of IPV on physical and psychological health are well documented. However, much of our understanding of IPV is based on urban models, while little is known about the phenomena of IPV among rural women. In an attempt to address this deficiency within the literature, the present study explored the impact of IPV on rural women. Fifty-six women, between the ages of 18 to 69 comprised three distinct groups: the rural IPV victims recruited from the community (R-IPV group, n=13), …

The Utilization Of Gender, Retention, Ses And Steep Scores To Predict Reading Mastery, Lisa Lee Adams

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gender, retention, SES and STEEP scores to predict reading mastery. Second grade students’ records were reviewed to obtain demographic information. SAT 9 scores were used to measure students' reading mastery. SES was measured and defined by approved applications for free or reduced lunch for the 2004-2005 school year. Retention was defined as the number of students previously retained. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictive validity of gender, retention, SES and STEEP scores dependent on SAT 9 reading mastery. Gender, retention, SES and STEEP scores were entered as …

Correlations Between The Wisc-Iv, Sb: V, And The Wj-Iii Tests Of Achievement : Which Has A Better Relationship With Reading Achievement?, Krystal Campbell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The relationship between the WISC-IV and the SB: V to three reading subtests on the WJ-III Tests of Achievement was used to determine which intelligence test correlates better with achievement using 22 students. Results yielded insignificant values when assessing significant relationships, comparing two correlated correlations, and significance between means. This study concludes that both intelligence tests measure reading similarly and does not result in whether or not one should be preferred over the other. Future implications to further validate these results would include a larger and more generalized population.

Reading Achievement For Students In Marshall University Graduate College’S 2005 Summer Enrichment Program: Program Evaluation, Elizabeth Cottle-Willard

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The improvement of individual student reading achievement is a major desired goal for academic institutions across America. Public and private schools desire knowledge to afford professional assessment of implemented curricula and instructional strategies. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Marshall University Graduate College’s Summer Enrichment Program through individual student reading achievement for pre-kindergarten through ninth grade students. Running record reading probes were administered to help identify student’s reading skills. The analysis of this data enabled the instructors to instructionally group students with similar reading strengths. This researcher compiled each student’s initial and final reading running …

Comparison Of The Reading Subtests Of The Woodcock Johnson Tests Of Achievement- Third Edition And The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition, Bruce A. Crum

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A comparison of the reading subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson, Third Edition and the Wechlser Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition using 49 subjects. A t test of significance and the Pearson R Correlations were computed to compare the scores. The purpose of the study is to determine how closely the two tests measure the same reading skills.

Three-Strikes Legislation And The Evolution Of The Liberal Conception Of Justice, Lisa Dillon

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to examine the changing nature of the liberal conception of justice using three-strikes legislation as a basis for comparison. It includes a brief examination of the legal debate surrounding three-strikes legislation, as well as comprehensive tables comparing the content of the laws in several states. The preponderance of the paper explores the evolution of the liberal concept of justice in the works of John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill. It concludes with a discussion of contemporary liberal thought on justice, and more specifically, with an examination of the work of John Rawls …

Attendance And Reading Gains: Marshall University Summer Enrichment Program, Justa L. Dolin

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine if attendance has any influence on student success during the Marshall University Summer Enrichment Program. This study compared student’s daily attendance records to gains in reading. Students were divided into two groups, those who missed no more than 2 days and those who missed 3 or more days. Missing no more than 2 days has been the traditional description in this setting for the program completion certificates. Running record reading probes were used to identify the student’s gain in reading skills. The data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test to determine the …

The Effect Of Substance P On Ovariectomy-Induced Memory Deficits In Rats, Jamie L. Haga

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present experiment was designed to test whether pretreatment with substance P would affect ovariectomy-induced memory deficits in rats for retention in the Morris water maze. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided to two groups: (1) control (received saline) and (2) experimental group (received substance P). All rats underwent an ovariectomy, as this has been shown to significantly impair spatial reference learning and memory (Monteiro, Matté, Bavaresco, Netto, & Wyse, 2005). Approximately 8 months after surgery, all rats were trained in the Morris water maze in order to evaluate both reference and working memory. Results showed that substance P did …

Phonological Awareness Instruction: Opinions And Practices Of Educators And Speech-Language Pathologists In West Virginia, Melinda J. Daniel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Research has shown phonological awareness to be a strong predictor of literacy. To support literacy development, a phonological awareness project was piloted in several West Virginia schools in 2001. This study compared WV educators based on employment setting (schools participating and those not participating in the phonological awareness project) and professional category (classroom teacher, reading specialist, speech-language pathologist) on answers to survey questions related to phonological awareness. Results showed no significant relationships between employment setting and responses. However, reading specialists reported spending more minutes per week providing phonological awareness instruction to children at risk for reading difficulty than did speech-language …