Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nonparametric Identification And Estimation Of Stochastic Frontier Models, Jun Cai

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation studies nonparametric identication and estimation of stochastic frontiermodels. It is composed of three chapters. The rst chapter investigates the identication and estimation of a cross sectional stochastic frontier model with Laplacian errors and unknown variance, which is built on a nonparametric density deconvolution strategy. Chapter two studies a zero-ineciency stochastic frontier model utilizing a penalized sieve estimator, which allows flexible function forms and arbitrary distributions of ineciency. The third chapter explores identication and estimation of a nonparametric panel stochastic frontier model based on Kotlarski's Lemma and moments derived from conditional characteristic functions.

Gendered Civil Society Context, Local Party Strength, And Candidate Emergence: Explaining Female Representation Across The Us State Legislatures, Colleen Dougherty Burton

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the substantial and persistent variation in female representation observed across states and party caucuses in the US state legislatures. I develop and test the theory of gendered civil society context and party strength to explain why female candidates are more likely to run for office in some places rather than others. Gendered civil society context refers to the gender balance of civil society groups (e.g. unions, service organizations, advocacy groups, professional associations) in a party’s local strategic environment; party strength is defined as the capacity of political parties to influence candidate nomination.

Two main hypotheses guide the …

Three Essays On Demand-Side Health Policies In India, Raghav Puri

Dissertations - ALL

Demand-side health policies, such as conditional cash transfers and public health insurance, aim to increase the utilization of healthcare services by providing financial incentives and higher purchasing power to under-served populations. With their increasing popularity in developing countries, there is a need for more research on their implementation and impact. In this dissertation, I examine demand-side health policies in India by evaluating the impact of these policies, identifying challenges in their implementation and proposing ways to improve their effectiveness in increasing utilization of healthcare services.

In the first chapter, I measure the impact of conditional cash transfers on health-seeking behaviors. …

A Model Of Scaffolded Encoding, Yanxiu Chen

Dissertations - ALL

Repetitions are ubiquitous and are the foundation of episodic memory. As we investigate episodic memory in a laboratory setting and with, usually, a study-test design, we have inaccurately assumed encoding happens only at study and retrieval happens only at test. However, it’s entirely possible that encoding and retrieval happen simultaneously at both study, with explicit repetition, and test, with implicit repetition. The fallacy that encoding and retrieval are separate processes coincides with the unsatisfactory status of memory process model: there is no unified memory model. Most models of memory are models of retrieval tasks. Facing these two challenges, we proposed …

Examining The Mediational Role Of Writing Motivation In The Writing Development Of Elementary-Aged Students, Brittany Eggleston

Dissertations - ALL

Motivational variables, such as writing self-efficacy and writing attitudes, are not emphasized in writing frameworks for developing writers. The purpose of this research study was to extend the research literature on elementary-aged students’ writing development by examining the potential mediational role of writing self-efficacy and writing attitudes between foundational academic skills (e.g., handwriting, spelling, and executive functioning/working memory skills) and written performance. Measures of spelling, handwriting, executive function/working memory skills, writing self-efficacy, writing attitudes, and written expression were administered to 140 third-grade and fifth-grade students. In this correlational research study, a parallel mediational analysis was conducted to examine whether writing …

Maternal Communication At Menarche: Evaluating Direct And Indirect Effects On Age At First Sexual Intercourse In Young Adult Women, Jennifer Horne King

Dissertations - ALL

This study examines maternal communication at menarche and its effects on early sexual decision-making in young adult women. Drawing on principles from Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory and communication privacy management theory, I predicted that certain types of maternal communication at menarche would either promote or inhibit early sexual self-efficacy, with indirect effects on age at first sexual intercourse. I also predicted that maternal communication at menarche would vary in tone or content, depending on age at menarche, with mothers communicating less to daughters who reached the milestone early. A total of 175 sexually active females aged 18 to 26 …

Parenting Typologies And Adolescents' Academic And Behavioral Outcomes In Ghana, Odetta Odartey Addo

Dissertations - ALL

AbstractGrounded in Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection and Social Learning theories, and guided by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions framework, this study sought to test the applicability of parenting typologies within the Ghanaian context. In addition to ascertaining maternal and paternal culturally-specific parenting typologies, the associations among parenting typologies, and sociodemographic correlates, adolescents’ academic and behavioral outcomes were determined. Variations in the prevalence of parenting styles, academic and behavioral outcomes across different Ghana’s cultural regions were also examined. A sample of 800 adolescents, including 489 (61.1%) females and 311 (38.9%) males drawn from high schools located in two southern sector regions (Greater Accra and Eastern) …

The Affective Politics Of Democratic Erosion: Explaining Mass Support For Executive Aggrandizement, Aykut Ozturk

Dissertations - ALL

During the last two decades, executive aggrandizement has emerged as one of the chief threats to democratic regimes. In various countries, ranging from Turkey and Hungary to Venezuela, elected incumbents used their democratic mandates to gradually dismantle democratic institutions. Similar patterns of executive aggrandizement have been visible even in an advanced democracy, the United States of America. Executive aggrandizement is facilitated by the consistent electoral support that incumbents with authoritarian agendas enjoy. In order to understand this threat to the future of liberal democracies, we first need to explain why voters support leaders eroding democratic rights and freedoms in their …

¿Campo Para La/Os Jóvenes? Exploring Campesina/O Youth Subjectivities In Contemporary Colombia., Manuela Ruiz Reyes

Dissertations - ALL

The fate of small-scale agrarian production, livelihoods, economies and cultures and their transformations under capitalism is an ongoing and global question. Instead of focusing on agriculture, this dissertation focuses on the young adult agriculturalists (18-35 years old) as the subject under transformation. Based in the frameworks of agrarian studies, political ecology and feminist theory, and situated in the Andean region and river basin of Sumapaz, Colombia, this dissertation is a feminist political ecology analysis of agrarian livelihoods, exploring how campesina/o identity is constructed and how the decisions of continuing or not with small-scale agrarian or campesina/o livelihoods are taken and …

#Metoo: Networked Celebrity Advocacy As Capital Performance, Li Chen

Dissertations - ALL

Celebrity advocacy scholars have studied how social movements utilize celebrity appeal to attract media and public attention for decades. Some researchers have found that celebrity advocacy failed to achieve exceptional performance in the legacy media age. Moreover, only a very few top-class celebrities have successfully attracted legacy media attention regarding advocating social causes. This dissertation introduces the concept of networked celebrity advocacy to illustrate a new route on networked social media. Employing theories of capital and the framework of social network analysis, I test networked celebrity advocacy in the case of the #MeToo movement on Twitter. This dissertation analyzes the …

Visual Processing Across Space And Time In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Justin Kopec

Dissertations - ALL

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate enhanced perceptual

abilities relative to typically developing (TD) peers, as evidenced by better detection and identification of visual targets. This enhanced ability to discriminate features has been replicated across spatial and temporal displays. Research also suggests that visual perceptual abilities are correlated with the severity of core autism symptoms in this population, with the exception of atypical sensory behaviors, including sensory seeking and aversion, in which the relationship has been understudied and remains poorly understood. The current study introduces a novel visual search task to assess identification accuracy of feature-based visual targets that …

Factor Invariance Of Anxiety And Depression Measures In Autism, Elizabeth Patrice Mckernan

Dissertations - ALL

This study examined factorial invariance of three self-report measures of psychiatric symptoms—the World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS; Kessler et al., 2005), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R; Eaton, Smith, Ybarra, Muntaner, & Tien, 2004), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995)—using a convenience sample of 434 adults surveyed though Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were sorted into two groups based on their score on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001). Of 423 participants included in the final sample, 203 were included in the low ASD traits group …

Making Military Wives: Militarizing Social Reproduction Of Military Families, William J. Oliver

Dissertations - ALL

How do current day military institutional practices structure the daily lives of military wives? To answer this question, I use the theories of greedy institutions, militarization, and the life-course perspective to investigate the effects of deployments, temporary duty assignments, and training exercises, which coalesce to create long-term family separations, as well long work hours and frequent family geographic moves. In total, I conducted in-depth interviews with 38 women and 2 men, used as supplemental data, who were married to active duty U.S. military service members at the time of their interview. I find the military’s organization of work creates certain …

Factors Related To Self-Identification Of Candidacy, Device Selection, And Self-Fitting Of Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids, Jasleen Singh

Dissertations - ALL

Purpose: The Over-The-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Act was introduced in an effort to make hearing aids more accessible and affordable. Implementation of this law will go into effect in 2020. It is assumed that the average consumer will be able to self-navigate an OTC hearing aid fitting. In the OTC hearing aid model consumers are expected to self-diagnose, self-treat, and self manage their hearing loss. The purpose of the present study was to assess how well the average consumer can perform each step in the OTC hearing aid model, and identify factors related to self-identification of candidacy, device selection, and …

Effects Of Differential Reinforcer Magnitude For An Alternative Response On The Resurgence Of Academic Responding, Emily Lynn Baxter

Dissertations - ALL

Several studies have looked at ways to mitigate resurgence of challenging behavior by manipulating dimensions of reinforcement for an alternative behavior. To date, only one study has examined differences in resurgence following different magnitudes of reinforcement for an alternative behavior, and only one study has addressed resurgence in an academic setting. The current study evaluated the magnitude of resurgence of a target academic response when large- or small-magnitude reinforcement for an alternative behavior was provided and then all responses were placed on extinction in a subsequent phase. Four students, not receiving academic or behavioral services, were recruited from a suburban …

Stress And Alcohol Use: An Experimental Investigation Of Cognitive Mechanisms, Katherine Anne Buckheit

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Research suggests that exposure to stressors is associated with greater alcohol consumption, more alcohol-related problems, and a greater likelihood of Alcohol Use Disorder. Theory suggests that cognitive processes, particularly unconscious cognitive processes, are key in determining a coping strategy but both alcohol and chronic exposure to stressors may interfere with these processes. The current study tested one such process, attention bias to alcohol cues, as a mediator in the stressor-alcohol relationship. Thirty-nine participants who endorsed hazardous alcohol consumption patterns were recruited from the community; eligible participants were randomly assigned to a stress-exposure or non-stressful control condition. Participants completed assessments of …

The Perceived Credibility Of Professional Photojournalism Compared To User-Generated Content Among American News Media Audiences, Gina Gayle

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This study examines the perceived credibility of professional photojournalism in context to the usage of User-Generated Content (UGC) when compared across digital news and social media platforms, by individual news consumers in the United States employing a Q methodology experiment. The literature review studies source credibility as the theoretical framework through which to begin; however, using an inductive design, the data may indicate additional patterns and themes. Credibility as a news concept has been studied in terms of print media, broadcast and cable television, social media, and inline news, both individually and between genres. Very few studies involve audience perceptions …

Three Essays On The Economically Disadvantaged, Emily Gutierrez

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines disadvantaged students through a unique and novel lens and investigates the effects of Universal Free Meals (UFM) – a program available to schools with sizable economically disadvantaged populations – on student well-being and district financial feasibility. UFM provides free meals to all students, regardless of household income, in an attempt to increase participation in school meals and ensure all students have access to nutritious meals. The Hunger Free Kids act of 2010 expanded the availability of UFM via the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows schools, clusters of schools, or entire districts to adopt UFM if 40 …

The Diffusion Of Cyber Forces: Military Innovation And The Dynamic Implementation Of Cyber Force Structure, Jason Blessing

Dissertations - ALL

What explains the variation in implementation dynamics for cyber forces across militaries? In other words, as cyber forces emerge in states across the international system, why do some militaries undertake wide-ranging implementation efforts with few alterations to cyber force structure, while implementation in other militaries is characterized by a drawn-out, incremental process entailing several changes in cyber force structure?

Militaries have been building cyber capabilities since the late 1980s; however, formalized military cyber organizations for these capabilities have only recently emerged. These cyber forces—active-duty military organizations that possess the capability and authority to direct and control computer network operations (CNOs) …

Medical Cannabis Use Among Chronic Pain Patients And Associations With Prescription Opioid Use: A Retrospective Study, Jesse Kosiba

Dissertations - ALL

Medical cannabis is increasingly used as a treatment for chronic pain, and there is initial evidence that medical cannabis may lead to a subsequent decrease in prescription opioid use. The objective of the current study was to conduct a retrospective, naturalistic examination of medical cannabis use (i.e., dose, frequency, type) and subsequent changes in prescription opioid use among a sample of treatment-seeking chronic (non-cancer-related) pain patients (N =277). Data from the electronic medical record (EMR) was paired with information from the State Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and collected at time of initial certification and at six months post-certification. Results indicated …

Security After War: A Theory Of Security Assistance And Governance In Post-Conflict States, Elise Marguerite Roberts

Dissertations - ALL

Donors have increasingly promoted the provision of security assistance to states emerging from civil war as a tool to establish peace. Driven by both security and development concerns, donors have asserted the value of this assistance to improve both the governance and effectiveness of the security sector. Despite this increase in aid, however, we know relatively little about its effects. In some cases, security assistance has promoted security force professionalization and a consolidation of peace. In others, security assistance has gone towards fueling corruption and repression, seriously jeopardizing the stability of the recipient state.

This dissertation seeks to address this …

Using A Token System To Increase Compliance And Avoid Satiation During Reinforcer Preference Assessments, Samantha Sallade

Dissertations - ALL

Preference assessments are commonly administered to identify potential reinforcers for use in behavioral interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a token intervention for increasing compliance during paired-stimulus preference assessments. Three male preschool children with hypothesized tangible-motivated problem behavior participated. For Experiment 1, an ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of tokens on students’ compliance and problem behaviors. Experiment 2 used a concurrent-operants design to compare children’s choice of concurrent VI-15s schedules of token delivery and exchange at the end of each session versus immediate access to a highly-preferred item. Results demonstrated that two of the three …

Being In Transit: Life, Death, And The Politics Of Migrant Journeys From Central America To The United States, Jared Patrick Van Ramshorst

Dissertations - ALL

Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua risk their lives traveling to and toward the U.S. Long before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, however, they travel thousands of miles across Central America and Mexico, often stopping off in migrant shelters scattered along the way. Whether travelling by foot or riding atop large freight trains known as “the Beast,” migrants spend weeks, months, and even years in transit, navigating a dense landscape of hardening borders and immigration enforcement in Mexico and the U.S. while encountering incredible dangers along the way, such as assault, extortion, kidnapping, …

Examining The Efficacy Of Combining Cover, Copy, Compare And Performance Feedback: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Natalie Williams

Dissertations - ALL

A large percentage of elementary-aged students in the United States are performing below the proficient level in writing (Aud et al., 2012) and a key component in improving writing quality is the acquisition of proficient spelling skills (Berninger, 1999). One intervention, Cover, Copy, Compare, has shown effectiveness in improving third-grade students’ spelling performance (Williams, 2017); and it has been found to be most effective when combined with another instructional component (Jaspers et al., 2012). A second intervention, Performance Feedback, has been found to be effective in increasing third-grade students’ writing performance (Eckert et al., 2006). However, limited research has examined …

Three Essays On The Implementation Of Food Assistance Programs, Saied Toossi

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation uses experimental and quasi-experimental methods to evaluate policy instruments available to state and local officials administering food assistance programs for improving children’s utilization of services, nutritional intake, and food security. More specifically, this dissertation consists of three chapters pertaining to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In the first chapter, co-authored with Amy Ellen Schwartz, I use large, uniquely detailed longitudinal administrative data on New York City students and schools, including the different lunch menus they offer over time, to present the first plausibly causal evidence on the link between school …

A Study Of Ethics In Crowd Work-Based Research, Huichuan Xia

Dissertations - ALL

Crowd work as a form of a social-technical system has become a popular setting for conducting and distributing academic research. Crowd work platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) are widely used by academic researchers. Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of ethical issues because they could affect the long-term development and application of crowd work in various fields such as the gig economy. However, little study or deliberation has been conducted on the ethical issues associated with academic research in this context. Current sources for ethical research practice, such as the Belmont Report, have not been examined thoroughly on …

Crossroads Of Conversion: Intersections Of Bodies, Materials, And Histories In Early Medieval Bohemia, Lauren Hosek

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This dissertation examines the skeletal remains and mortuary practices from two cemeteries at the early medieval site of Libice nad Cidlinou in the Czech Republic. The 9th and 10th centuries in Central Europe have been characterized by political consolidation and the rise of Christian institutions. As Christianity gained influence in the region, conversion altered not only religious beliefs: political landscapes, disease ideologies, material culture, and bodies were also transformed. The skeletal remains and mortuary contexts of 260 individuals from the Akropole and Kanín cemeteries at Libice are compared to examine how social status and engagement with Christianity influenced daily life …

Liberalizing Democracy: Property, Citizenship, And The Constrained Promise Of Self-Governing Houseless Communities, Stephen Przybylinski

Dissertations - ALL

As cities in the U.S. continue to experience increases in unsheltered houselessness, houseless encampments are becoming far more common throughout urban landscapes. Along with the increase of encampments there has been new rights-claims by houseless communities, claims for rights to organize communities on public and private properties. As a result, cities are beginning to sanction organized encampments as a strategy for managing the current crisis of houselessness. Based on a combination of qualitative methods, this dissertation analyzes the ways in which property affects the lives of houseless people residing in self-governing encampments in Portland, Oregon. It does so by drawing …

The Makings Of A Peer: Evidence On Within-Classroom Heterogeneities In Peer Effects, Jonathan L. Presler

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This dissertation consists of three essays on peer effects in elementary school classrooms using data from New York City (NYC) public schools. Each chapter explores a different component of within-classroom interactions in order to build towards an understanding of what makes a peer relevant.

The first chapter proxies for the social network using a set of shared characteristics (homophily). In this coauthored work, we are not interested in measuring the classroom peer effect, but rather we estimate and then rank each network's effect on academic spillovers. This answers the question: which characteristics are socially important, and by how much?

The …

Cortical Auditory Processing Of Informational Masking Effects By Target-Masker Similarity And Stimulus Uncertainty, Christopher Edward Niemczak

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Purpose: Understanding speech in a background of other people talking is one of the most difficult listening challenges for hearing-impaired individuals, and even for those with normal hearing. Speech-on-speech masking, is known to contribute to increased perceptual difficulty over non-speech background noise because of informational masking provided over and above the energetic masking effect. While informational masking research has identified factors of similarity and uncertainty between target and masker that contribute to reduced behavioral performance in speech background noise, critical gaps in knowledge including the underlying neural-perceptual processes remain. By systematically manipulating aspects of similarity and uncertainty in the same …