Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Structural Analysis And Interpretation Of Deformation Along The Keweenaw Fault System From Lake Linden To Mohawk, Michigan, Nolan G. Gamet

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Keweenaw fault is likely the most significant and most studied fault associated with the Midcontinent Rift System. The fault roughly bisects the Keweenaw Peninsula and places Portage Lake Volcanics (~1.1 Ga) over much younger Jacobsville Sandstone (~1.0 Ga). Published bedrock geology maps with cross sections from the 1950s show the fault as a single continuous trace that is locally associated with smaller cross faults and splays. The accompanying cross-sections show hanging-wall volcanic strata having a well-defined, listric geometry with dip decreasing away from the fault to the northwest.

This M.S. thesis presents a structural analysis and interpretation of the …

Remote Sensing Application For Landslide Detection: Monitoring Along Eastern Lake Michigan (Miami Park, Mi), Guzalay Sataer

Dissertations

I assessed the nature and spatial and temporal patterns of deformation over the Miami Park bluffs on the eastern margin of Lake Michigan and investigated the factors controlling its observed deformation. Our approach involved the following steps: (1) extracting bluff deformation rates (velocities along the line of sight of the satellite) using a stack of Sentinel-1A radar imagery in ascending acquisition geometry acquired between 2017 and 2021 and applying the Intermittent Small Baseline Subset (ISBAS) InSAR time series analysis method; (2) generating high-resolution (5 cm) elevation models and orthophotos from temporal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys acquired in 2017, 2019, …

Cultivating Meaningful Consultation And Collaboration: Tribal Environmental Protection In Michigan, Zachary Reed

Masters Theses

In the year 2022, there are 12 federally reaffirmed Native American tribes in Michigan. These tribes all maintain natural resource departments to manage tribal environments. Indigenous groups have a rich history of protection and understanding of the natural world. This connection to land and water has been systematically challenged through patterns of colonialism. Through policy making, revitalization efforts and environmental ethics, the State of Michigan has been improved by tribal natural resource departments. But, while the United States and the State of Michigan recognizes tribal sovereignty, meaningful tribal consultation is inadequate. Through collaborative interviews, historical sources, and contemporary evidence, this …

Strong Women Breaking Ground: Roles Of Women In Agriculture In Michigan, April L. Shirey

Masters Theses

Agriculture in Michigan is changing. While the number of farms and farmers continue to decrease, women are increasingly taking on the role of farmer instead of the “farmer’s wife”. The number of female producers increased from 8,275 to 26,059 where the number of producers in Michigan decreased from 56,014 to 47,641 from 2007 to 2017 (USDA, 2007, 2017). Women are becoming the face of farming in Michigan, yet little research examines the impacts of these shifts. In this research, I conduct semi-structured interviews with female farmers throughout lower Michigan beginning in the summer of 2020 to learn more about these …

The Effectiveness Of Rehabilitation And Educational Programs For African American Men With Cocaine Addiction, Hira Chaudhary

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Drug addiction, especially cocaine addiction is a major problem in the United States. There is a problem in Michigan regarding drugs and a high recidivation rate, especially among individuals with cocaine addiction. Evidence shows that at least 56% of the African American adults in Michigan who are being arrested for cocaine usage had been released from a rehabilitation facility in the past 3 years. Various researchers have investigated the prevalence of drug abuse among the African American population in the United States. Still, there is limited evidence on reducing the recidivation rate among African American men with cocaine addiction. Therefore, …

Albion Through Malleable Eyes: The Great Migration, Urban Renewal And Missed Opportunities, Demetrius R. Goodale

Masters Theses

Albion, Michigan’s African American community built a robust, diverse, and thriving city in the early 20th century. Jobs were plentiful and wages allowed for healthy communities to sprout up across the city’s landscape. During this period Albion’s overall population more than doubled, and its African American community grew exponentially over the course of six decades. However, for many in the African American community, societal and economic gains were overshadowed by a crippling shortage in viable housing options. Albion’s African American community experienced limited options to help remedy the community’s housing challenges. These limitations were due to discriminatory housing norms and …

Bilingual Family Literacy Programming In West Michigan: Points Of Alignment And Disconnect Among Learners, Instructors, And Local Partners, Thomas J. Rogers

Masters Theses

This research explores the beliefs and experiences of stakeholders in a family literacy program through the Literacy Center of West Michigan and Head Start for Kent County. The program is currently developing a curriculum to improve outcomes for learner specific goals. Therefore, one motivation behind this research is to analyze the goals, needs, and understandings for the multiple stakeholders within the program. On a national scale, there exists a need to better define the goals of family literacy programming in general. Points of alignment and disconnect for the participants in this study reflect realities that extend beyond the program at …

Legacies Of Industrial Contamination: Voices Of Resistance In White Lake, Michigan, Elizabeth A. Revord

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research presents a case study of resistance to contamination from three large chemical plants by activists in the communities of Montague and Whitehall located on White Lake, Michigan. Although clean-up efforts have met state and federal guidelines for brownfield and Superfund sites, the people and community of White Lake have continued to be vigilant regarding environmental protection and harbor many concerns regarding their future and redevelopment of sites that are likely still contaminated.

The connection to place and sense of community that the residents of White Lake honor is the foundation of their resistance. Using data collected from semi-structured …

Impact Of Highway Work Zones On Traffic Crashes: A Case Study In Michigan, Qadri Hafez Shaheen

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Infrastructure in the US is severely aged and outdated. This presents a seemingly paradoxical problem in the field of construction management: In order to fix and make roads and highways more safe, construction zones must become inherently less safe in the process. There is a high cost to taxpayers and drivers, as work zones experience a significant amount of crashes and fatalities each year. To mitigate some of the factors that contribute to these crashes, this paper attempts to deliver guidelines on how to update relevant crash data, identify relevant factors, and create recommendations accordingly. The research focused particularly on …

A Longitudinal Study Of Prenatal Care And Prenatal Outcomes Of Women In Foster Care Across Michigan Counties, Lauryn Jianrattanasawat

Masters Theses

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, at any given time, there are approximately 13,000 youth in foster care throughout Michigan. This study used secondary data of linked child welfare case records and State of Michigan Medicaid claims from January 1, 2009 to September 30, 2012 to research the effects of individual, foster care and spatial characteristics experienced by 307 women that became pregnant and delivered while still enrolled in foster care in Michigan on their prenatal care and prenatal outcomes. While, the majority of the analyses resulted in insignificant relationships, significant differences between foster care characteristics …

On Growing Up Finnish In The Midwest: A Family Oral History Project, Ingrid Ruth Nixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores what oral history interviews with my mother reveal about the familial and community dynamics that influenced Finnish-American children growing up on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula between 1930 and 1950. Close to four hours of oral history interviews were conducted with Viola Nixon, who is second and third-generation Finnish-American on her father’s and mother’s sides, respectively. After conducting a narrative analysis of the interviews, five themes emerged as significant to community function: family, language, education, work and church. I grouped some of these themes together to create three stories informed by materials drawn from the interviews, a cookbook, and …

Veterans’ Satisfaction With Veterans’ Administration Healthcare Systems, Dale Arnold

Masters Theses

There are currently over 600,000 veterans in the State of Michigan served by only five Veterans’ Administration Medical Centers. These medical centers are not evenly distributed throughout the state with the majority located in the southernmost portion of the state. There necessarily will be a number of veterans for which it is unreasonable to travel to these medical centers to receive care to which they are entitled. This research will investigate the number of veterans that are currently required to drive excessive distances to receive adequate care under the present system, and to possibly suggest solutions to the current situation.

Moving Beyond The Apple Orchard: The Institutional Analysis Of The Construction Of Washtenaw Community College, Julie M. Kissel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to understand the institutional forces that constructed and shaped the function, nature of funding, and governance of Washtenaw Community College (WCC). To do this, I studied the founding and development of WCC using organizational theory. This qualitative, historical case study used archival research to identify themes and the institutional building blocks for the junior college movement at large and the transition of the junior college to the comprehensive community college in the 1950s and 1960s as it served to buffer and bridge the post-secondary world. This study discovered that WCC was not a grassroots …

The Perceptions Of Michigan Hunters Regarding Wolves (Canis Lupus) And The Ldea Of A Wolf-Hunt As A Management Option, Zachary A. Merrill

Masters Theses

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are an important keystone species in mixed forest ecosystems throughout the Great Lakes region. Due to wolves being placed on the Endangered Species List in 1974, the wolf population of Michigan has increased from near extinction in 1974 to greater than 650 in 2013. The return of wolves to northern Michigan ecosystems has re-ignited complex debates regarding how humans and wolves should best coexist. Wildlife professionals have become increasingly aware of the importance of human response for sound wildlife management decisions. The most effective management plans require cooperation from all parties, including farmers, citizens, tourists, wildlife …

Investigating The Social Habitat Of Deer Hunters In Michigan, Christopher Henderson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

State wildlife management agencies are funded primarily by revenue from hunting and angling license sales as well as federal excise taxes on equipment. These agencies are also responsible for managing wildlife populations and providing recreational resources to the public. Declines in hunting participation across much of the United States throughout the last two decades have prompted researchers and wildlife professionals to search for explanations and solutions that will ensure a level of funding for state agencies that allows continued management of wildlife within biological and social carrying capacities, engagement in conservation initiatives, and development of recreational opportunities. Most of the …

Fitting In: A Study Of Lesbian Mothers In Rural Southeastern Michigan, Allison Amadea Ranusch

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Lesbian parents residing in rural and small communities have received little scholarly attention. The primary focus of the existing research has highlighted the isolation experienced by lesbian parents within such locations, but little examination has been made of other issues or their coping mechanisms. This study was designed to address these deficits in knowledge and understanding through a series of eleven in-depth, qualitative interviews. Several stigma management strategies were discovered. For example, it was reported that engaging in farming and trade helped lesbian mothers "fit in" enough to gain some level of acceptance from their immediate neighbors. Stigma was also …

Forgotten Sherds: Analysis Of Archaeological Ceramics From The Riverside Site (20me01), Michigan, Devyn Mcilraith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides an analysis of the ceramic sherds recovered from the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) and the Oshkosh Public Museum’s (OPM) 1961-1963 excavations at the Riverside site (20ME01) in Menominee, Michigan. The Riverside site is most well known as a Late Archaic/ Early Woodland Old Copper/Red Ocher burial site. This analysis focuses on using the ceramic assemblage to refine the Riverside site’s cultural chronology and relationship to the Riverside II site (20ME40). More than 1,300 sherds were collected from the site between 1961 and 1963 and they have been permanently housed at the MPM for the past 60 years. …

Using Dynamic Lndicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) Oral Reading Fluency Data To Predict Michigan Educational Assessment Program Outcomes, Lisa Lockman

Dissertations

Schools are under legislative pressure to ensure students make adequate progress each year, and therefore, must identify students in need of intervention at early grade levels. Educators use diagnostic tools to measure student progress, attempting to determine which children may be most at risk for future reading failure. The Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is widely used for early identification of students who have risk factors. This study incorporated a quantitative, correlational, ex post facto design to examine the relationship between students’ third grade scores on the spring DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assessment and their fifth grade …

Overtime Traffic Enforcement Evaluation: A Methodology For Selecting Agencies And Enforcement Periods, Dario Enrique Romero Santana

Masters Theses

Multiple studies have stated the advantages of police traffic enforcement on crash reduction (Zaidel, February 2002). It is very important to identify locations and time periods where police enforcement produces the greatest crash reductions. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the impact of overtime traffic enforcement on crash occurrence; (2) develop procedures to identify police agencies with potential to reduce targeted crashes; and (3) develop procedures to identify additional time periods in which enforcement activities should be conducted. In order to accomplish these objectives, many methodologies were explored. The study used crash and enforcement data collected by …

No Fracking Way! A Study On The Spatial Patterns Of And Changes In Perception And Distance From A Michigan Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing Site, Shannon Mcewen

Masters Theses

The research investigates whether Michigan residents' perception of risk from an oil and natural gas (ONG) well site that employs the use of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) changes with distance. The research goal is to determine if residents that live farther from a fracking site perceive it to be more dangerous than those who live closer. Secondary research goals include determining if increasing distance from a fracking site cause residents to overestimate their proximity to a fracking site and if gender and education levels have an effect on residents' perception levels. Data were collected from residents in three counties in …

Examining The Costs Of Providing An Adequate Education For Michigan's K-12 Public School Students, Sean Haskin Wightman

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXAMINING THE COSTS OF PROVIDING AN ADEQUATE EDUCATION

FOR MICHIGAN'S K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

by

SEAN WIGHTMAN

February 2014

Advisor: Dr. Michael F. Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Because the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires students to perform at predefined proficiency levels on state standardized testing instruments, adequate school funding has become arguably the single most important factor influencing the success of children in schools. Because State legislators are the one's primarily responsible for establishing annual budgets for K-12 public education, it is essential they are made aware …

Practicing What We Teach: The Politics Behind Creating A State Social Studies Curriculum, Jacquelyn Visger

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Societal importance of the social studies fields is the key to what makes the development of social studies curriculum political. State standardized curricula adopted in the 1990s gave freedom to individual states to create their own standards on what information they were requiring their students to learn. The standards we require students to know inherently molds their political philosophy throughout schooling. By focusing attention on two separate cases, Texas and Michigan, inherent differences in the creation process of these standards are highlighted to show how the differences in the creation process have an effect on the standards document. This thesis …

The Effects Of Merit Awards On District-Level High School Graduation: Evidence From Michigan, Brandon Lee Harrison

Masters Theses

This paper considers the effects of the Michigan Merit Award, a college scholarship program, on high school graduation rates. Students qualify via a standardized high school proficiency exam. Identification is achieved through difference-in-differences estimation using both a broad set of controls and a stricter set of controls. The effects on graduation rates differ depending on the model specification, as some significant results show a positive correlation between the introduction of the program and graduation rates, while others a negative effect. Where it appears the award increased graduation rates, pinpointing the exact impact of the award on graduation levels is difficult …

Archaeological Investigations Of Control And Autonomy At The Colony Farm Of The Michigan State Asylum, 1880-1950, Alison Thornton

Masters Theses

This project is designed to look into mechanisms of control and patient autonomy in institutional confinement, using Colony Farm in Kalamazoo, Michigan as a case study. I have chosen to specifically examine landscape, architecture, foodways, and personal goods/dress as avenues in which to parse out information regarding control and autonomy. The main themes throughout this paper are work as a cure, patient labor, and the blurring of roles between patients, staff members, and paid hired workers. These themes are intertwined with landscape, architecture, foodways, and personal goods/dress and highlight the contradictions inherent in institutional confinement, especially in the context of …

Disability Determination Services And The State Of Michigan Media Project, Eric Hartstein

Honors Theses

I designed two informational brochures as part of a media project for both the State of Michigan Internship Program (SoMIP) and Disability Determination Services (DDS), which were both host agencies for my student internship during the spring 2012 semester. The purpose of the project is to raise awareness about the programs among college students, as well as to recruit talented students to become future interns for either of the programs. I chose this project because I felt that brochures would be a simple and effective way to distribute information regarding the programs across campuses statewide. I corresponded with both WMU …

The Determinants Of Student Achievement And High School Completion In Michigan, Cleo Michele Moody

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

By

Cleo M. Moody

December 2010

Advisor: Dr. Michael Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Education

Policy and practice regarding in-grade level retention and their effects on high school graduation rates and successful student academic outcomes have currently assumed great importance in the education reform debate. Further, the effectiveness of our public schools and the achievement of our students have implications that can affect individuals and the communities in which they live. Now, more than ever, individual economic success and economic growth depend crucially on academic achievement and human capital. The purpose of this research …

The Social Bases Of American Voting Behavior; Wayne County, Michigan, 1837-1852, As A Test Case, Ronald P. Formisano

Wayne State University Dissertations

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