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Latino Entrepreneurs In Nontraditional Destinations: The Case Of Northern Utah, Rebecca A. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A recent trend in immigration is the arrival of foreign-born Latinos to new destinations in the American West and South. The influx of these immigrants has been accompanied by growth in Latino-owned businesses. Although we know a great deal about ethnic entrepreneurship in traditional immigrant destinations, few studies have been conducted to examine this phenomenon in new immigrant destinations. The purpose of this study was to collect, analyze, and report the experiences of Latino entrepreneurs in one new immigrant destination, namely Cache County, Utah. The study finds that Latino entrepreneurs in the study draw heavily on family ties in their …

Private Or Public Insurance? The Institutional History Of Health Care In The United States And The United Kingdom, Karin M. Abel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary question at issue in this paper is the following: given the similarities between the two countries with regard to welfare state institutions, why have the United States and the United Kingdom diverged on the issue of health care? Drawing on sociological institutionalism, a branch of the new institutionalist paradigm, this paper provides an answer to this question: during the formative years of the health care stories in the two countries, variations in institutional and cultural conditions produced contrasting policy outcomes. More specifically, this paper discusses how the combination of institutions (political, labor, and medical) and culture led to …

The Effect Of Father Involvement On Marital Satisfaction, Tasha Dawn Falslev

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The effect of father involvement in childrearing on parental stress and marital satisfaction of wives in newlywed couples was assessed in a sample of couples married five years. Results showed that marital satisfaction is positively correlated with the wife's perception of husband's involvement in activities of childcare and negatively correlated with the wife's stress. The association between husband 's perception of involvement and wife's marital satisfaction was less strong.

The implications for these findings on family life education for couples in the early years of marriage are discussed. Suggestions for interventions to promote father involvement are presented.

Who Wins And Who Loses? A Community Approach To Understanding The Well-Being Of Boomtown Residents, Douglas Alan Malloy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to accurately identify residents of a boomtown who are either experiencing a higher level of well-being, or lower level of well-being. By definition, we consider the former to be winning, and the latter to be losing. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression analyses help to distinguish between winners and losers by generating statistical coefficients which will show both strength and direction of the relationship between individuals and various indicators of social well-being.

The data used in this thesis are from a community impact study issued in the spring of 2009, to residents of …

Back Where They Once Belonged? Local Response To Afforestation In County Kerry, Ireland, Matthew S. Carroll, Áine Ní Dhubháin, Courtney G. Flint

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Afforestation has many benefits at the local regional and global scale. The local social impacts of planting new forests, however, depend on a variety of contextual factors and other details including who is doing the planting, which species are being planted, the location of the planting and, perhaps most importantly, existing land uses and their linkage to social and economic circumstances. This article presents case study research into these issues in two places in County Kerry Ireland. Utilising the concept of the differentiated landscape, we examine the somewhat varying social responses to afforestation in the two study sites in light …

When Nurture Becomes Nature: Ethnocentrism In Studies Of Human Development, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This commentary will extend the territory claimed in the target article by identifying several other areas in the social sciences where findings from the WEIRD population have been over-generalized. An argument is made that the root problem is the ethnocentrism of scholars, textbook authors, and social commentators, which leads them to take their own cultural values as the norm.

The Influence Of Collective Action And Policy In The Development Of Local Food Systems, Lori Porreca

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The modern global agrifood system has had significant negative impacts on consumers and producers. This has precipitated the rise of local food systems that are purported to improve the health and livelihoods of consumers and producers. High expectations have led to significant public and private resources dedicated to the development of local food systems. Despite this, there has been little systematic research exploring the social and institutional conditions that facilitate or frustrate local food system development.

Using a comparative case study approach, this study explored the ways local structural conditions, collective action, food system policies, and the political context affect …

"All The World's A Stage": Parental Ethnotheories And Children's Extracurricular Activities, Mary Annette Grove

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the United States, educators, parents, policy makers, politicians, the media, researchers, and practitioners in many academic fields have taken an interest in outcomes for children aged 6 to 14 who participate in extracurricular activities outside of school time. Very little research examines parents' beliefs about and behaviors surrounding their children's participation in extracurricular activities. Yet, it may be parents' beliefs that guide choices about and persistence in extracurricular activities. This study used a phenomenonlogical and qualitative approach toward understanding parents' ideas and beliefs about their child's participation in extracurricular activities. These ideas and beliefs or parental ethnotheories are what …

Resident Attitudes Toward Community Development Alternatives, Chih-Yao Chang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utilizing survey data collected in four communities in the State of Utah, this study examined the extent to which rural resident perceptions and attitudes toward local community circumstances influence their own expectations and attitudes subjectively toward future community development alternatives. Understanding perceptions of community and community development, as well as the patterns of localized community development, is crucial and needs to consider residents' opinions and attitudes toward unique rural economic, environmental, and social conditions in order to help preserve the unique characteristics of the way of life while continuing economic improvement and social betterment in rural areas.

Three conceptual frameworks …

An Evaluation Of A Physical Activity-Based Residential Treatment Program, Eric Alan Mikkelsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study evaluated a physical activity-based residential treatment program. It explored the current literature on adolescent treatment implementing physical exercise with parental participation, specifically at residential treatment centers. While the current literature strongly supports physical exercise and family involvement in adolescent treatment, research on combining physical exercise with family involvement is insufficient at best.

The data were obtained from Telos Residential Treatment Center, an all-boys treatment program that incorporates a triathlon into their treatment curriculum and keeps pre- and posttest scores of the Youth Outcome Questionnaire for their students as well as completed questionnaires from students' parents. Research questions addressed …

Parental Perspectives Of Play With Preschool Children, Danielle M. Jensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Research in child development has found that guided play can be a very effective teaching method for young children. Children obtain higher levels of play when parents have an understanding of play and its benefits to learning. This research is designed to assess how parents of children at the Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory view play as a learning technique. Also, this study considered the relationship between parental opinions of play and other parenting roles. A total of 22 parents of children enrolled in the Child Development Laboratory completed the Parent As A Teacher (PAAT) inventory. Results showed …

Invisible Abuse: Utah's Response To Emotional Child Abuse, Janae Sirrine

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The very nature of emotional child abuse makes it difficult to detect and report. Nevertheless, scholars and professionals in the field of child welfare have identified emotional abuse as being equally detrimental to children as physical abuse and neglect. Many states, including Utah, have unclear definitions of emotional child abuse. The purpose of this study is to interpret how Utah has used its statute on emotional abuse in the court system and whether the current definition of emotional child abuse has given Utah’s courts enough information and direction to prosecute those who emotionally abuse children. Data was collected by researching …

Taiwanese Adolescent Psychosocial Development In Urban And Rural Areas, Chien-Ti Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese adolescent psychosocial development (i.e., autonomy and identity development) based on psychosocial theoretical models developed in western societies. Data were collected from both public senior high and vocational high schools in both urban and rural areas in Taiwan. Adolescent participants, with an average age of 17 years old, included 447 (about 54% were females) from urban areas, and 702 (62% were females) from rural areas. The results of this study revealed that Taiwanese adolescents from both urban and rural areas were similar to adolescent developmental ranges suggested in western theories. There were …

Commitment, Rituals, And Initiator Tendency In Married Couples, April Bakker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine and make explicit the relationships between commitment, rituals, and initiator tendency. Past research and theory suggests that these ideas are related. Two research questions guided the study: (1) How are initiator tendency and the number of rituals a couple participates in related to the commitment style?, and (2) How are initiator tendency and the meaningfulness of rituals related to commitment style?

Data were obtained from 55 couples who completed a questionnaire to measure participation and meaningfulness of rituals, initiator tendency, and commitment. Final analyses were performed with only 39 of these couples …

Latinos In The Credit Economy, Lisa M. Ralph

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Access to consumer credit as a means of building wealth is one of the least examined forms of social inequality. The recent economic crisis in the United States has brought attention to the significance of consumer credit in our nation's economy; however, less understood are the specific obstacles and barriers that prevent low-income individuals from reaching the "American Dream." In an exploratory manner, this study compared credit access, credit literacy, and credit experience of low-income Latinos and non-Latinos to understand how credit might translate into asset-building and home ownership for Latinos, particular for those in new immigrant destinations where access …

Examining The Compatibility Between Forestry Incentive Programs In The Us And The Practice Of Sustainable Forest Management, Steven E. Daniels, Michael A. Kilgore, Michael G. Jacobsen, John L. Greene, Thomas J. Straka

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This research explores the intersection between the various federal and state forestry incentive programs and the adoption of sustainable forestry practices on non-industrial private forest (NIPF) lands in the US. The qualitative research reported here draws upon a series of eight focus groups of NIPF landowners (two each in Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina). Despite minor regional variations, the dominant theme that emerged is that these landowners’ purchase and management decisions are motivated by the “trilogy” of forest continuity, benefit to the owner, and doing the “right thing.” This trilogy is quite consistent with notions of sustainable forestry, but …

Status And Prospects For The Wisconsin Dairy Goat Sector, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The Wisconsin dairy goat industry is a diverse, vibrant and robust sector that has grown rapidly over the last decade. Goat milk output has increased several-fold in the last ten years, and retail markets for goat cheese appear to be increasing at double-digit annual rates. The most recent data shows just over 200 licensed farms in Wisconsin in 2009. According to 2006 numbers, Wisconsin dairy goat farms were milking an average of 118 does that produced 1,416 lbs. On average, Wisconsin dairy goat farms were both larger and more productive on a per animal basis than farms in any other …