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Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated the impact of social influence on weight loss, more specifically, the internal and external elements that effect response and success of those who are trying to lose weight. The research focused on three questions: (1) How great of an influence does self-efficacy have in weight loss success? (2) How great of an influence does social comparison have in weight loss success? (3) Which factor has the largest impact on weight loss: self-efficacy, peer efficacy, or positive social support, or negative social support? Data was collected by the researcher conducting semi-structured interviews. These interview were conducted with …

Social And Behavioral Sti Risk Factors: Comparing A Two-Year Community College Setting To A Four-Year University Setting, Oswald M. Attin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Discipleship In The Area Of High School Ministry: Key Strategies For Transforming Urban Youth, Michael Rackley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to a Barna Research Group study titled "Third Millennium Teens" 60% of young people will leave the church permanently or for an extended period. Decreasing the number of urban youth ages 14-18 from defecting from the church and to increase retention of church dropouts using Twenty-First Century transformational strategies is the goal of this project. Having served as a youth pastor the writer will analyze key strategies that will benefit high school ministry by raising the bar on expectations and by building future leaders in the church.

This project will include an anonymous survey of 125 participants aged 18-24 …

University Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Hermeneutical Phenomenological Study Of Challenges And Successes, Vickie Johnston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This hermeneutic phenomenological study inquired about the challenges and successes of eight university students diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at a university in the southeastern United States. The data collection methods involved documentation, questionnaires, focus groups, and individual interviews. The analysis of data involved open coding and in vivo coding; conversational interview methods through member checks were employed at the end of each interview. Several themes emerged from the data regarding the factors in academic success and challenges, the environments and learning styles most conducive to learning, individual factors that contributed to academic success, and the reading and study …

An Effective Leadership Strategy Model For Lakeland Korean Presbyterian Church, Jae Hwa Mun

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this project is to find out the strategy of building leadership for church growth. This thesis is primarily concerned with understanding church leadership and leadership development for effective ministry. The fundamental reason churches go through crisis in growth is due to a lack of leadership and strategy for leadership development.
To establish effective leadership strategy model, this project examined the leadership qualities and the process of leadership development from the Biblical perspective, and researched effective leadership types for church growth through a survey. The survey was performed on eight churches to look at the need of leadership. …

Exploring Factors That Contribute To Academic Persistence For Undergraduate Hispanic Nontraditional Students At Hispanic Serving Institutions In The Southeast, Floralba Arbelo Marrero

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the academic persistence of 10 undergraduate Hispanic nontraditional students enrolled at a public and a private not for profit Hispanic Serving Institution in the southeastern region of the United States, each in their last year of a bachelor degree program. Using a phenomenological research design and an ecological and sociocultural framework the findings indicated that family context, personal aspirations, campus environment within Hispanic Serving Institutions, life challenges, and English language learning each play a vital role in the persistence behaviors of this population. These factors interact at the student and institutional levels to provide students with internal …

The Victorious Christian Life: Overcoming Alcohol Dependence Through The Phenomenon Of Christian Spirituality, Michael Byrne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Interviews were conducted with graduates of a northeastern evangelical Christian-based treatment program to discover insights regarding the role that the phenomenon of Christian spirituality played in their recovery. Eight themes were extracted from three periods of time in the participants' lives as they related to the phenomenon of Christian spirituality: prior to treatment; during treatment; and after treatment. These themes revealed that the participants lacked resiliencies to overcome alcohol dependence themselves. All participants reported that critical aspects of Christian spirituality, such as regeneration and cultivation of a divine-human relationship through lifestyle exercise of Spiritual Disciplines and diligent application of the …

A Study Of The Utilization Of Brief And Biblically Integrated Child Parent Relationship Therapy With Mothers From Christian Families And Their 11-14 Year Old Children, Valerie Waruszewski

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Twenty-six mothers and their 11-14 year old children participated in the Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT). Although designed for elementary-aged children, CPRT was modified for pre-teens and biblically integrated worldview. An analysis of data obtained from the Parenting Relationship Questionnaire-CA (Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2009), Conflict Behavior Questionnaire-20 (Robin & Foster, 1989), and Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) revealed meaningful trends in the decrease of frustration, levels of conflict, and negative communication within family systems. It is hoped that these findings will encourage additional research to help Christian mothers and therapists with an effective tool that …

Military Service Members: A Manual For Reintegration After Deployment, Carla Barry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Deployment to Afghanistan for Marines and Sailors stationed in Jacksonville, NC is continual. The transition back to home life can be both difficult and stressful. The purpose of this thesis is to increase awareness of the dynamics of reintegration of military members and their families after deployment. Based on questionnaires sent to local churches, military families, observations, and journaling the thesis project validated a need for support. The thesis project produced a resource guide teaching pastors stressors associated with reintegration. The summary and conclusion will address behavioral and social changes by group participants.

A Phenomenological Approach To The Use Of Praise In The Upper Elementary Classroom, Kristen Mcguire

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and data analysis to explore how teachers use praise in multiple sixth grade classrooms. Both novice and veteran teachers are involved in the study. The study examines the differences between these novice and veteran teachers' use of praise. The study also examines how teachers use praise differently for effort versus achievement and the pros and cons of praise in the classroom. In addition, the study provides reasoning for why teachers use praise in the upper elementary classroom. The study utilizes various data collection techniques to focus on how and why teachers use …

Using Shared Leadership To Achieve School Improvement Goals: A Qualitative Study Of One High School's Journey, Leigh Putman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the impact of shared leadership committees on school improvement efforts. The research identified which leadership factors lead to successful shared leadership committees and which supports and structures were needed for the committees to be meaningful in regards to school improvement. Certified staff who had been a part of the shared leadership committees at one high school in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia took part in the study. The participants were divided according to the committee on which they served and two were randomly selected two from each committee for participation in the study. All study …

Stigma And The Acceptability Of Depression Treatments Among African American Clergy, Connie Gardner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this cross sectional study was to investigate stigma associated with depression treatments and to approximate its association with treatment acceptability among African American Clergy. There were 109 African American clergy who completed three measures: treatment specific stigma instrument, treatment acceptability instrument, and a demographic questionnaire, anonymously. Three hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics, Mantel-Haenszel common odds ratio estimate, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ordinal logistic regression. Statistical analysis revealed stigma did increase with the expansion of the social circle; Christian mental health counseling had the highest acceptability rate among clergy not pastoral or lay counseling and there was …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of Non-Completers In Online Doctor Of Education Programs, Bernadette Wyman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The chance of an individual completing a traditional doctorate program is 50% (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project, 2008; Ivankova & Stick, 2007). Student attrition in online programs is 10% to 20% greater than that of traditional, residential programs (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Carr, 2000; Diaz, 2000; DiRamio & Wolverton, 2006; Parker, 1999; Rovai, 2002). While doctoral attrition rates have been examined for decades, little research focuses on the phenomenon of attrition with doctoral candidates who enrolled in online graduate programs (Perry, Boman, Care, Edwards & Park, 2008). The phenomenon of attrition is multifaceted and …

Eight Key Principles To Transform Church Culture To Retain Ministry Leaders, Trent Lambert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In today's culture, there is an ever-growing population of unchurched and dechurched within our local communities, not to mention dysfunctional leaders within the Church. This project attempts to create a healthy quality of life for ministry leaders that transcends into relevant evangelism and empowering discipleship. Based on scripture, segments of church history leadership styles, surveys of current ministry leaders, various books/articles, and personal perspectives this paper will delineate lessons to be learned and principles that are effective in the remodeling process. The principles within this project will show how church culture can transition from an antiquated paradigm of ministry to …

Erik Von Kuehnelt-Leddihn: Leftism: From De Sade And Marx To Hitler And Marcuse Study Guide, C. 1990-2012, Steven A. Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

12-04-12 (The Liberty Champion, Volume 30 Issue 11), Champion

2012 – 2013

No abstract provided.

Anthropological Apologetics: A Proposal Of An Anthropological Compendium As Evidence For The Imago Dei, Jeffrey R. Dickson

Masters Theses

Evangelical scholarship has shown great admiration for the work of Gary Habermas and others in their contribution to Christian apologetics by validating the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ with a list of minimal facts generally agreed to by historical and biblical scholars. This thesis will explore the methodology of the minimal facts approach and appropriate it as a tool to explore the data within the field of anthropology which offers evidence for the biblical concept of the Imago Dei. This study will focus on Wolfhart Pannenberg in his critically acclaimed work demonstrating the importance of the theological perspective …

The Problem Of Evil, Modern Calvinism And The Doctrine Of Free Will: Is John Feinberg's Theodicy A Coherent Resolution To The Problem Of Tragic Moral Evil?, Michael Obanla

Masters Theses

The thesis examines and evaluates Feinberg's theistic defense against the problem of evil with a view to determining whether it represents a coherent and consistent resolution to the problem of tragic moral evil. The thesis relies on three criteria for the evaluation: the internal consistency of Feinberg's theistic defense, its exegetical accuracy, and epistemic adequacy.

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

An Exploration Of African American Male Community College Students' Experiences Concerning Their Successful Postsecondary Enrollment, Robin Dabney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite increased numbers of African American male students in higher education, their academic achievement levels continue to be at disproportionate numbers compared to other ethnic groups and genders (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore lived experiences of African American male community college students concerning factors hindering their academic progress and to understand perceptions of factors that influence their academic achievement in higher education. The current study identifies pertinent factors that will assist African American males to become successful in their postsecondary experiences. Findings from this study provide insights into predictors that may lead …

A Phenomenological Study Of Experienced Teacher Perceptions Regarding Cooperative Learning Training And Cooperative Learning Implementation In The Classroom, Susan Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore the perceptions of experienced teachers regarding cooperative learning training and its implementation in the classroom. Twelve total participants, nine teachers and three administrators, volunteered for this six-week study at a private, K3 - 12 school in Broward County, Florida. The study's purpose was guided by the following questions: (1) What do experienced teachers perceive about cooperative learning training as it relates to their classroom teaching? (2) What do experienced teachers perceive regarding cooperative learning use as it relates to their classroom teaching? (3) What are the impacts of cooperative learning training and implementation …

Identifying Causes Of Student End Of Year Transfers As Experienced At Private All-Male Military Boarding Schools: A Multiple Case Study, Frank Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined and helped identify causes for end-of-year transfers from private all-male military boarding schools to a non-military school. The purposes of this study were twofold. The first purpose was to identify the reasons why parents chose to transfer their sons from the all-male military private boarding school of their choice to another school from the 2009-2010 school year to the 2010-2011 school year. A secondary purpose was to identify any commonalities amongst the military schools involved in the study regarding why students returned to either their previous school or chose another school, whether public or private. The researcher …

Making Disciples Through Evangelism: A Plan For The Evangelist Who Only Has One Chance At A New Convert, Richard Hertless

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Making disciples is an integral part of being a Christian. God has called some to be Evangelists (Ephesians 4:11). The rationale of the project is the need to fulfill the Great Commission's command of "making disciples." The value of this project is the plan that is developed to ensure that new converts will be placed with a disciple to confirm his or her Christian growth. This project will take the reader through a step-by-step plan to prepare, conduct and follow-up on an evangelism event to ensure that the Great Commission is fulfilled for the new convert to successfully walk in …

Examining Crime Among College-Aged Christians: Are Christian Religious Beliefs Associated With Low Levels Of Criminal Activity?, Paul Rickert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this correlational study into crime among college-aged Christians in the United States is to determine if indicating higher levels of Christian spiritual growth is associated with lower levels of criminal behavior. A convenience sample of college aged Christians was given an online survey to measure self-reported criminality measured by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports Part I and Part II and self-reported religious convictions as measured by Bufford et al.'s Christ-like Spiritual Growth Scale. This quantitative study then analyzed data generated from 57 respondents and found that reporting higher rates of Christ-like …

Influential Educators: Why Are They Remembered And What Can Be Learned From Them?, Jessica M. Butler

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the lives of seven educators and present a synopsis of their lives, educational beliefs, and how their practices are implemented in the modern classroom. The educators included are Socrates and Plato, Jesus Christ, Johann Pestalozzi, Fredrich Frobel, Maria Montessori, and Jamie Escalante. Each were considered great teachers of their time, and their practices be evaluated for effectiveness and then implemented into modern educational thinking.

The goal of addressing each educator individually is to look at what these educators have in common that all teachers should identify as effective practice. These commonalities may …

The Relationship Of Food And Academic Performance: A Preliminary Examination Of The Factors Of Nutritional Neuroscience, Malnutrition, And Diet Adequacy, Allison Woodhouse, Mark A. Lamport, Ph.D.

Christian Perspectives in Education

This article examines the extent of food’s impact on children’s academic achievement. The purpose of this study is to summarize existing research concerning the food-learning correlation and to synthesize studies regarding nutritional needs of the brain, malnutrition during development, and overall diet quality as related to academic achievement. Data finds a fundamental link between nutrition and cognition. Results suggest to the extent the brains of many United States schoolchildren do not receive the nutrients needed for optimal cognition, that academic performance may be consequentially reduced. Finally, a discussion of related learning theory and current debate, and practical implications for educational …

Life Or Death: The Relationship Between Child Abuse And The Education System, Avery Wilson

Senior Honors Theses

Child abuse occurs when an adult demonstrates dominance over a child by mistreating that child physical, mentally, emotionally, or through neglect. This tragic issue is pervasive in the United States today and the number of children being abused continues to rise. Children who have been abused are affected in many different ways, and the effects can be both devastating and long lasting, depending on the child. Teachers are some of the only adult figures and role models that children have in their life. Since teachers see most children between six and eight hours each day, they can and should play …

11-06-12 (The Liberty Champion, Volume 30 Issue 9), Champion

2012 – 2013

No abstract provided.

The Mouse Who Ruled His Kingdom: An Agenda Setting Analysis Of The Walt Disney World Company, Jacob Overbey

Masters Theses

People are seeking their news in more social environments, but very little research has been conducted on agenda setting and online environments. This thesis examined the agenda setting relationship between an organization on Twitter, @WaltDisneyWorld (i.e., The Walt Disney World) and public opinion on Twitter. The relationship was examined using Twitter's database of tweets to measure public opinion on Twitter. Since the news media is losing steam on the ability to break news, and social media is growing rapidly, this study tested the value of the agenda setting theory on social media. To this end, this thesis qualitatively examined the …

Operating The Silencer: Muted Group Theory In The Great Gatsby, Sarah Funderbruke

Masters Theses

This master's thesis examines gender and social roles seen in dialogue in the American classic novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The researcher conducted a coding and rhetorical analysis to determine if elements of muted group theory were in the novel. Muted group theory was developed by Edwin and Shirley Ardener after their research indicated that a culture's values and social structure were voiced through rhetoric. The theory states that dominance in certain groups mutes, or silences, others from communicating effectively. Five passages from The Great Gatsby were selected for this analysis. These passages highlighted dialogue between the …