Digital Commons Network^™

Social Controls Through The Mirror Of Columnists' Narratives: A Content Analysis For Framing In Media, Daphne Canan

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Information dissemination is a need for human beings and it is a two way process. This two-way process can be in various formats and forms. One of the oldest ways is the newspaper, which has two types: online and print. While doing this important job, every news and column is influenced by the person who writes and edits it. The influence could be part of human nature; or it could result from an intentional selection of words, facts, and narratives. The latter emerged as an academic facet in social sciences and it is called framing. Framing theory discusses the intentional …

Development And Test Of A Theory Of Applicant Reactions To Branched Situational Judgment Tests, Craig Matthew Reddock

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Branched situational judgment tests (BSJTs) are a recent innovation in personnel selection. Yet, there is little research supporting their use. Data from a qualitative pilot study indicated that BSJTs are expected to result in more positive applicant reactions. Using a grounded theory approach, Study 1 developed a theoretical model of the impact of branching on applicant reactions. Several perceived procedure characteristics were theorized to mediate the relationship between both the general use of branching as well as different branching features and applicant perceptions. Study 2 empirically tested the model developed in Study 1. Results indicated that consistency of administration mediated …

Improving Second Language Lexical Acquisition Through Personalization And Contextualization: A Look At Intrinsic Cognitive Load Reduction Strategies, Curtis Kleinman

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Cognitive load reduction strategies traditionally seek to reduce the amount of extraneous mental effort required of the learner. Researchers, through effective instructional design, seek to eliminate load-causing agents that are extraneous to the learning topic at hand. However, cognitive load theory research has now shifted to also include the exploration of strategies that seek to reduce the inherent complexities of the target topic itself. The current study seeks to apply two such intrinsic cognitive load reduction strategies—personalization and contextualization. Previous research suggests that cognitive load can be reduced by personalizing the learning environment, which serves to meet the interests of …

Participation In Youth Running Events: The Role Of Parental Involvement And Satisfaction, Michelle L. Redmond

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

An increasing number of running events are being targeted to youth and are adding to the growing road racing industry. Offering running events for children along with a lineup of races ranging from 5K runs to marathons for adults is a way for race organizers to expand their businesses, increase economic impact in their communities and meet the needs of the entire family. In addition to economic benefits, there are other benefits associated with running events for youth. Community running events provide one potential intervention to counter rising childhood obesity rates by increasing the levels of physical activity for youth. …

International Students’ Satisfaction With Educational Service Augmenters And Their Adjustment To The U.S. Higher Education Institutions, Cong Cong

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The study aims to investigate the relationship between international students’ satisfaction with educational service augmenters and their academic, social, and personal-emotional adjustment to U.S. institutions. Furthermore, this study compared different influences on international students’ adjustment, with a focus on students’ satisfaction with educational service augmenters as well as the traditional predictors (i.e., English fluency, friendships with American peers, and institutional attitude towards the international student population). The researcher sampled participants from institutions across the United States by sending an email invitation and survey link to complete the International Students’ Satisfaction and Adjustment Instrument. Hierarchical Multiple Regression analyses were utilized to …

What Do You Believe? School Leaders And An Ideology Of Achievement, Andrew T. Lloyd

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Beliefs about achievement impact the educational experiences of students. The mainstream ideology of achievement espouses that anyone can be successful as long as they put forth effort and work hard. This belief fails to account for systemic barriers that have limited historically marginalized groups of people from achieving. Research has focused on the beliefs of teachers with scant research done on the beliefs of school leaders. This study focused on what school leaders believe about achievement and how it impacts their daily practice. In addition, the ideologies of the school leaders were compared and contrasted with an ideology rooted in …

Breaking The Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Secondary Traumatic Stress In U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals, Robert Jason Lynch

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Breaking the Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration of Secondary Traumatic Stress in U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals is a qualitative-intensive mixed methods study using phenomenology and art-based research techniques to uncover the essence of secondary traumatic stress in U.S. college student affairs professionals. Researchers in the fields of psychology, counseling, social work and other helping professions suggest that repeated exposure to individuals experiencing trauma, or hearing repeated details of an individual’s trauma, have negative outcomes on professional helpers. Coined secondary traumatic stress, this phenomenon may be defined as “the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering …

School Resource Officers And The School-To-Prison Pipeline: A Mixed Methods Application Of The Behavior Of Law In Schools, Caitlin Grace Lynch

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The implementation of school resource officer programs has been a popular response to school-based violence in the United States. Parents, school officials, and policy makers believe that police presence makes students and staff feel safer on campus, deters school-based crime and violence, and creates positive relationships between youth and the police. However, there is a growing concern that school resource officers hypercriminalize trivial student misbehavior, contribute to a culture of youth punishment and control, and are instrumental in facilitating a link between schools and the juvenile justice system. Despite the rapid rate at which school resource officer programs have expanded …

The Effect Of Interruptions During A Laparoscopy Skills Training Task, Brandon Allan Fluegel

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The goal of the present study was to examine how interruptions during a laparoscopic skills training task affected task performance. Undergraduate students completed a task that required them to pick up and transfer colored objects in a specific, predetermined sequence. The number of colored objects in the sequence was varied to produce three levels of task demand. During execution of the primary task, participants were interrupted by auditory task-irrelevant communication. The temporal length of interruptions was also manipulated to produce three levels of interruption duration. Results showed that participants made significantly more sequence errors in the high demand condition than …

Reconceptualizing The Work Of A Content Provider For An Online Audience: A Case Study For How Pedagogical Strategies Can Provide Models Of Engagement For Producers Of Entertainment, Diane Cooke

English Theses & Dissertations

With the interconnectivity of the Internet, and the availability of affordable media compositional tools, the proliferation of online media continues to grow exponentially. However, each day is still comprised of a fixed 24 hours, with far fewer hours spent in active media consumption. Considering the global potential for content to be found (Moreville), discovered (Cormier) or spread (Jenkins), content providers are looking for ways to attract, cultivate and hopefully expand their audiences amid all this digital clutter. In the field of entertainment, this challenge is complicated when small content providers are not aligned with an online, curated network such as …

Attitudes And Actions That Adoptive Parents Perceive As Helpful In The Process Of Raising Their Internationally Adopted Adolescent, Marina V. Kuzmina

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This phenomenological dissertation study explored the lived experiences of adoptive parents in the process of raising their internationally adopted adolescents. The researcher interviewed 9 participants. Criteria for selection of the research sample included having personal experience with parenting one or more international adolescents adopted at age 10 or older and raising these adolescents for at least two years following such adoption. Data analysis included steps suggested by Moustakas (1994) and the participation of a research team and external auditor. According to the recommendations of Lincoln and Guba (1985), several strategies for trustworthiness were implemented during this course of the study. …

Two Essays On The Impact Of Institutional Structures On Entrepreneurship: Country Level Analysis, Mehdi Sharifi Khobdeh

Management Theses & Dissertations

Entrepreneurship has long been viewed as an engine of innovation and economic growth; however, there is limited understanding of cross-national differences in rates and types of entrepreneurship. This dissertation mainly uses an institutional theory framework to investigate whether shared social knowledge, value systems, and regulations influence differences in rates and types of entrepreneurial activities among countries.

This dissertation’s central research question is addressed in two essays. In Essay 1, I examine what factors explain the recovery of entrepreneurial activities in countries after the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC). Nearly all countries experienced a sharp drop in entrepreneurial activities during the …

Community Art And The Role Of An Art Therapist: An Autoethnographic Inquiry, Casey Ann Mcdaniel

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

The field of art therapy lacks sufficient research support in the role of an art therapist within community art. Literature exists that addresses the potential therapeutic effect the engagement of community art can have on the community. Literature even suggests the method of how a therapist should enter a community. However, no literature exists exploring the role or experience of the art therapist when engaging in community arts. A community based art experience was explored through an autoethnographic self-study aimed to explore the phenomenon of working with a community (outside of the traditional clinical setting), to explore and assess the …

Diversity Team Building: Impact On Virtual Team Performance, Nina C. Magpili-Smith

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Although organizations have addressed diversity issues at the organizational-level with resulting positive employee outcomes, lack of scholarly attention to team-level interventions remain. Team-level interventions would benefit organizations more directly as they address issues directly related to task accomplishment. Since diversity may lead to negative performance results for teams, a team building intervention based on the latest empirical research was developed and tested to address the potential performance losses associated to diversity in decision-making teams. The team building intervention provides six crucial elements, namely (1) direct experience of how deep-level team diversity affect team dynamics, (2) diversity education, (3) cultivation of …

A Hilbert Space Geometric Representation Of Shared Awareness And Joint Decision Making, Mustafa Canan

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Two people in the same situation may ascribe very different meanings to their experiences. They will form different awareness, reacting differently to shared information. Various factors can give rise to this behavior. These factors include, but are not limited to, prior knowledge, training, biases, cultural factors, social factors, team vs. individual context, time, resources, and technology. At the individual level, the differences in attaining separate actions by accessing shared information may not be considered as an anomaly from the perspective of rational decision-making. But for group behavior, reacting differently to the shared information can give rise to conflicts and deviations …

Exploring The Questionable Academic Practice Of Conference Paper Double Dipping, Krista B. Lewellyn, William Q. Judge, Adam Smith

Management Faculty Publications

We develop a conceptual framework and provide empirical evidence that helps to explain why management scholars submit the same paper to more than one scholarly conference, a practice referred to as "double dipping." Drawing from general strain theory,we find that certain features of the social and national institutional context in which these scholars are embedded provides motivation for and facilitates rationalization of engagement in the double-dipping practice. Specifically, our results show that the incidence of conference paper double dipping is greater for junior scholars and for those currently affiliated with research-intensive universities. We also find that authors who received their …

Sexual Orientation Differences In Treatment Expectation, Alliance, And Outcome Among Patients At Risk For Suicide In A Public Psychiatric Hospital, Martin Plöderl, Sabine Kunrath, Robert J. Cramer, Jen Wang, Larissa Hauer, Clemens Fartacek

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Sexual minority (SM) individuals (gay, lesbian, bisexual, or otherwise nonheterosexual) are at increased risk for mental disorders and suicide and adequate mental healthcare may be life-saving. However, SM patients experience barriers in mental healthcare that have been attributed to the lack of SM-specific competencies and heterosexist attitudes and behaviors on the part of mental health professionals. Such barriers could have a negative impact on common treatment factors such as treatment expectancy or therapeutic alliance, culminating in poorer treatment outcomes for SM versus heterosexual patients. Actual empirical data from general psychiatric settings is lacking, however. Thus, comparing the treatment outcome …

The Impacts Of Formal Training On The Motivation Of Middle-Aged Runners, Margaret Turley

Master's Level Papers/Projects

The problem of this study was to understand the motivational factors behind middle-aged adults who take up running, and whether or not formal training is used by this population to aid in meeting their training goals. To determine this, two surveys were distributed to running groups hosted on social media. The first survey was geared toward middle-aged runners, and the second survey was geared toward trainers and running coaches who train middle-aged runners. The results of the survey were 183 runner participants and one trainer participant. Due to the lack of sufficient data, the trainer survey was not used in …

Knowledge Of Assistive Technology And Services Available To Students With Disabilities, Mary J. Addison

Master's Level Papers/Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge of students and faculty regarding the assistive technology and services available to students with disabilities at a university in the southeastern United States. This study consists of 300 participants who were asked to respond to 8 questions which were designed to collect data aligned with the three research objectives. The findings may be used to determine if further education or communication is needed in order to better inform students, staff, and faculty of assistive technology and services available on campus.

Professional Bereavement Of Oncology Nurses: A Literature Review, Nicole Ho

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

The amount of resources for grief management for oncology nurses who experience professional bereavement is scarce. This review of literature found just four studies based on current solutions that have been provided for oncology nurses in addressing their patient related grief. All of the studies supported that providing resources to address bereavement helped in resolving grief, reflecting, expressing feelings, and healing. This thesis explores factors that exacerbate professional bereavement such as stressors within the work environment, the lack of supportive resources, and the scarcity of research pertaining to how oncology nurses process the death of their patients. Additionally, art therapy …

Art Therapy Assessment: A Study Of Males’ Bird’S Nest Drawings, Katherine A. Efimetz

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

Attachment patterns in childhood have implications throughout an individual’s life. Relationship quality with the primary caregiver is said to influence how people interact with others and the world. Studies by prolific researchers such as John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth set the stage for continued research on attachment theory, and thus have lead others into investigating this most heavily researched subject in psychology. Attachment patterns have been identified through several assessments. Art therapy assessments may prove to be useful in differentiating patterns of attachment via graphic indicators present in drawings. The Bird’s Nest Drawing, developed by Kaiser (1996), is such an …

Materials And Processes In Art Therapy, Gabrielle Irvine

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

This review of literature addresses the lack of literature concerning art processes and materials by synthesizing findings evaluating the effects of different processes and materials in the unpublished theses from the Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Art Therapy and Counseling Program. The theses evaluated the effect of the processes of clay work, printmaking, drawing, scribbling, and creating mandalas. The data contained in the theses address specific effects of various processes and materials on clients’ mental and physical states such as levels of anxiety, depression, stress levels, and heart rate. The samples studied vary from the adult inpatient adults to university students. …

Self-Study Of The Usefulness Of Visual Journaling To Facilitate Reflection On Personal And Professional Growth, Tanisha A. Leonard

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

The purpose of this retrospective qualitative self-study was to gain insight into the usefulness of visual journaling to facilitate reflection on personal and professional growth. I made daily entries in my visual journal throughout my husband’s deployment as a method of reflection about deployment, family, the graduate school experience, and professional identity. From over 150 entries, every ninth journal entry was designated data which were analyzed through basic content analysis methods. The themes that emerged from the analysis are Containment, Connection, Stress, and Acceptance of Deployment. Each theme that emerged had related subthemes. Themes and subthemes were illustrated with verbatim …

Exploring The Lived Experience Of Being A Spouse And Caregiver To A Combat-Wounded Veteran And An Art Therapy Student: An Art-Based, Heuristic Study, Alisa Marie Simmons

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

This qualitative, art-based, heuristic self-study was designed to explore the impact of my experience as a spouse and caregiver to my husband, a combat-wounded service member, on my personal self and on my professional development as an art therapist in training. Data from 13 weeks of artmaking and reflective writing revealed the following themes: (1) containment of difficult feelings (2) internal experience versus external expression, (3) effects of injury and caregiving on the marital relationship, (4) influence of personal experience on professional development, (5) effects of caregiving on personal well-being, and (6) the experience of reflective artmaking and writing over …

Working Through Unresolved Bereavement Through Fiber Arts And Reflective Writing: A Heuristic Study, Ashley S. Jenkins

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

The purpose of this art-based heuristic study was to explore unresolved grief through various fiber art processes and reflective writing. According to existing literature, there are several grief therapy approaches, in addition to bereavement support groups for bereavement. Furthermore, many art processes are described in the literature as being valuable in the grieving process in art therapy. However, there are gaps in the literature describing the benefits and effects of fiber art processes for processing bereavement. A nine-week heuristic self-study was proposed to identify the potential therapeutic benefits and applicability of fiber arts within art therapy for those dealing with …

Proceedings, Msvscc 2017, Old Dominion University, Department Of Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Engineering, Old Dominion University, Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

Proceedings of the 11th Annual Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Student Capstone Conference held on April 20, 2017 at VMASC in Suffolk, Virginia. 211 pp.

Factors Influencing Distribution Of Prosthetic Devices In Iran: An Economic Analysis, Sarah Tensen

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

An estimated 177,622 Iranians have suffered an injury resulting in amputation. Prosthetic devices in Iran are scarce due to wealth disparity, wars, and lack of vital resources. Without prosthetic devices, amputees face unemployment, homelessness, a lowered self-esteem and cannot fully participate in society. I examined economic factors influencing the distribution of prosthetic devices and reviewed articles that focus on healthcare costs, distributions and services, relationships between Iran and other countries, etiology of amputation to find a solution for the prosthetic distribution issues. I concluded issues resulted from high costs, unequal distributions of wealth and resources, unsafe conditions, and a deficit …

The Use Of Rhyme, Rhythm, And Melody As A Form Of Repetition Priming To Aid In Encoding, Storage, And Retrieval Of Semantic Memories In Alzheimer’S Patients, Faiz Plastikwala

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Treating Alzheimer’s disease, especially through non-pharmaceutical means, has become increasingly important over the past few decades. I examined the use of melody, rhyme, and rhythm as encoding mechanisms to aid in the retrieval of long term semantic information by juxtaposing previous experiments in the field. Melody, rhyme, and rhythm provide an organizational structure to facilitate the encoding of information. Specifically, chunking, the grouping of smaller units into larger ‘chunks’, helps facilitate long term encoding in patients, and is the byproduct of the organizational structure of a text. A major drawback of using these devices is the loss in the depth …

Social Awareness Campaigns: Raising Awareness On Human Trafficking In India, Neha Pondicherry

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Human trafficking is a persistent international problem that results in the subjugation of over 1 million people annually. The mass exploitation and abuse of humans for personal gain has taken many different forms over the span of history, including slavery, domestic servitude, labor bondage, etc. Many social media campaigns are not successful in India because they do not take into account the lack of education and minimal access to technology and other methods of communication. Rural villages actually respond most effectively to media use. In my research, I devised an entirely new social awareness campaign to be executed in India …

Depression In Low-Income Adolescents: Guidelines For School-Based Depression Intervention Programs, Gopika Hari

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Studies reveal that low income is a significant risk factor for depression and only roughly 25% of children with mental illnesses receive adequate help, the majority of which comes from schools. This study establishes guidelines for depression intervention programs in low-income high schools through a literature review of current practices. This study found that a multi-layered approach with screening, universal education, and high-risk intervention is most effective. Screening should be conducted with a modified PHQ-a test and timely clinical interviews by school psychologists. All students and teachers should receive universal depression education curriculum consisting of principles like depression literacy and …