Digital Commons Network^™

Unique Features Of Identity Development In Transnational Adoptions, Minori Haga Stefon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Identity formation has been defined as the process by which an individual develops a coherent self-definition of one’s uniqueness (Erikson, 1968). Arnett (2000; 2014) proposed the concept of emerging adulthood (between ages 18 and 29) as the developmental stage of later adolescence at which an individual is both cognitively and psychologically best suited for identity formation. Emerging adults who had been adopted transnationally as children often struggle to articulate their ethnic identity as a dimension of their broader individual identity (Schwartz et al., 2013) because they have characteristics that do not fit into those of the majority (Adams & Marshall, …

Stories From The Old West End Of Boston: An Analysis Of Evaluative Devices In Oral Narrative, Melanie N. Platt

Honors Theses and Capstones

The following presents an overview of various evaluative devices found in a series of oral narratives from former residents of the West End of Boston, Massachusetts. In working with an archivist at the West End Museum, I was able to read through interviews, each conducted with residents that were displaced from the West End after the urban renewal project of the late 1950s. These interviews were recorded for the purpose of collecting each resident’s experience growing up in the neighborhood. After reading through each interview I found several instances of narrative speech. I conducted a narrative analysis, based on Labov …

Current Practices For Product Usability Testing In Web And Mobile Applications, Spencer W. Black

Honors Theses and Capstones

Software usability testing is a key methodology that ensures applications are intuitive and easy to use for the target audience. Usability testing has direct benefits for companies as usability improvements often are fundamental to the success of a product. A standard usability test study includes the following five steps: obtain suitable participants, design test scripts, conduct usability sessions, interpret test outcomes, and produce recommendations. Due to the increasing importance for more usable applications, effective techniques to develop usable products, as well as technologies to improve usability testing, have been widely utilized. However, as companies are developing more cross-platform web and …

Criterion-Related Validity Of The Children's Occupational Performance Questionnaire, Kelsey Zukowski

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examined concurrent, criterion-related validity of a new measure of occupational performance for children, the Children’s Occupational Performance Questionnaire (COP-Q). The COP-Q is completed by caregivers of children to measure performance in five areas of occupation: Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Social Participation, Play/Leisure, and Education/Work. Scores from a sample of children ranging in age from birth to 18 years were correlated with scores from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II (VABS), a well-established assessment tool of adaptive behavior that measures similar functional areas as the COP-Q. The results indicated that the COP-Q correlates highly and …

The Influence Of Movie Reviews On Consumers, Jacob R. Pentheny

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Grand Alliance: From Necessity To Suspicion, Development To Decline, Robert M. Umholtz

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis analyzes the development and decline of the relationship among the members of the Grand Alliance during World War II. The primary questions I answer are: what led to the creation of the Grand Alliance, and what caused the alliance to begin to decline at the peak of its effectiveness? To answer these questions, I begin with the events that took place prior to the war and describe how world leaders addressed Hitler’s aggression as individuals in lieu of an alliance; thereby showing the importance of an alliance after the war began. The study then proceeds chronologically, analyzing the …

The Benefits Of Recreational Fishing In Adolescence, Sarah Elaine Leonard

Master's Theses and Capstones

Little attention has been given to how different leisure activities affect adolescents. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate how one specific leisure activity, recreational fishing, can provide potential benefits to adolescents. Youth attending a one week fishing camp at the 4-H Barry Conservation Camp in July of 2014 were surveyed on multiple dimensions of well-being. Results indicate significant improvements in resilience, optimism, and self-esteem following the fishing camp experience. Youth reported that while fishing they engaged in a number of skillful activities (patience, self-discipline, etc.), many of which are beneficial to the positive development of youth. The …

Using Servqualto Identify Gaps In Quality Care For Patients With Cystic Fibrosis: A Hospital-Based Quality Improvement Project, Alisha M. Nadeau

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Care Centers were established to centralize and integrate the knowledge and skills of pulmonary medicine, nutrition, gastroenterology, nursing, respiratory therapy, social work, and genetics to efficiently provide care for people living with CF. The high quality, specialized care that is given at CF Care Centers has led to the improved length and quality of life for people living with CF.

Aim: The aim of this quality improvement project was to identify any gaps in providing effective, high quality care to patients with CF to reduce the variability in nursing practices and improve their quality …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Input To Toddlers In Early Intervention: A Pilot Study, Tanya Jean Willey

Master's Theses and Capstones

Caregivers interacting with young children in natural settings have been found to provide language input that is in tune with the child's output in terms of mean length of utterance (MLU). Previous research suggests that caregivers provide language input within the child's proximal zone of language development, that is 2.0-3.0 morphemes ahead of their child's MLU. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate whether speech-language pathologists (SLP) working in early intervention tailor their input in the same way.

Communication interactions between six speech-language pathologists and their toddler aged clients between the ages of 28 and 33 months were …

Strengthening The Role Of Universities In Addressing Sustainability Challenges: The Mitchell Center For Sustainability Solutions As An Institutional Experiment, David D. Hart, Kathleen P. Bell, Laura A. Lindenfeld, Shaleen Jain, Teresa R. Johnson, Darren Ranco, Brain Mcgill

New Hampshire EPSCoR

As the magnitude, complexity, and urgency of many sustainability problems increase, there is a growing need for universities to contribute more effectively to problem solving. Drawing upon prior research on social-ecological systems, knowledge-action connections, and organizational innovation, we developed an integrated conceptual framework for strengthening the capacity of universities to help society understand and respond to a wide range of sustainability challenges. Based on experiences gained in creating the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions (Mitchell Center), we tested this framework by evaluating the experiences of interdisciplinary research teams involved in place-based, solutions-oriented research projects at the scale …

Parental Conversation Styles And Learning Science With Preschoolers, Emily A. Stone

Honors Theses and Capstones

Preschool children participated in a science-learning event about light in their own classroom. The same day as the event, parents or caregivers were instructed to converse with their children at home in the evening about either the science learning event or another ‘special or fun’ event that happened to them recently in whatever way was natural for them. One week later, a researcher interviewed children to examine what they remembered about the science-learning event. Analyses focused on the impact of the topic and degree of elaboration of parent-child conversations on children’s memory for the science-learning event a week later. The …

Be Seen And Heard Being Clean: A Patient-Centered Approach To Hand Hygiene At Concord Hospital, Ashley Pinkham

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: Regular hand washing is recognized as the most effective means to combat the spread of infectious illness; however hand washing behavior amongst health care workers (HCW’s) is inconsistent. Furthermore, measurement of hand washing behavior is subject to bias.

Aim: This quality improvement project aimed to remove the Hawthorne effect and improve the behavior of HH at Concord Hospital.

Methods: A quasi-experimental, pre-posttest design was used to evaluate HH rates on a 32 bed med-surge unit at Concord Hospital. Baseline data was collected for 30 days by asking patients if they had seen or heard staff cleaning their hands. Using …

The Moderating Effects Of Praise On The Relationship Between Autonomy And Work Motivation, Alyssa Washakowski

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study applied self-determination theory principals and the already existing links to work motivation to examine how praise would moderate the relationship between work motivation and autonomy. Previous literature has already stated that there is a positive relationship between autonomy and work motivation and also a positive relationship between praise and work motivation. A sample of 54 participants was used in a 37 question survey highlighting questions on work motivation, autonomy and praise. Our results yielded that there was in fact a significant relationship between praise moderating the effects of autonomy on work motivation. From this research it is evident …

Promoting Social Interaction Skills To Influence The Transition To Employment For Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Jennifer Susan Lange

Honors Theses and Capstones

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) affect one in 68 children in the United States and are characterized by deficits in social interaction. Decreased social interaction skills limit youth with ASDs’ ability to obtain and maintain a job. Acquisition of needed social interaction skills must occur during high school years as part of youths’ transition program. The Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to consider ways to facilitate social interaction to influence the transition to employment. The specific aims of the study were to explore strategies currently used to facilitate social skills, identify social skills currently targeted, and identify other …

A Culturally Appropriate Cognitive Assessment Screening For Bhutanese Refugees, Holly Milligan

Master's Theses and Capstones

Background: As the incidence of cognitive impairment continues to rise, timely and accuratediagnoses are essential. Aim: The aim of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the standard cognitiveassessment screening for Bhutanese refugees in a medical home, and compare an alternative,validated, and potentially more culturally appropriate tool. Also, an assessment of provider,nurse and interpreter satisfaction with the two tools was performed. Method: Mixed methods including qualitative observations and quantitative satisfaction surveysrelated to the implementation of a culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tool. Results: When assessed with the standard tool, all 10 people screened positive for cognitiveimpairment. However, when using the alternative …

Understanding Connections Between Rural Communities And Family Well-Being, Cynthia Fletcher

Carsey Publications

In this report, author Cynthia Needles Fletcher explores the role of "place" in shaping rural residents'-and in particular low-income residents'-futures. The analysis draws from interviews with residents and community key informants in Hampton, Iowa in an original study in 1997 and again in 2012-13

Levels Of Household Chaos Tied To Quality Of Parent-Adolescent Relationships In Coös County, New Hampshire, Corinna J. Tucker

Carsey Publications

In this brief, author Corinna Tucker examines Coös County adolescents’ reports of household chaos using data from the Coös Youth Study and discusses whether socio-economic and parenting differences are related to adolescents who experience household chaos. Tucker reports that household chaos—characterized by high levels of environmental noise, crowding, disorganization and instability—is generally low in Coös County, but there is variability in the extent of adolescents’ experiences with chaos. Household chaos was greater in households with lower socio-economic status than those with average and higher socio-economic status. The finding that household chaos was related to adolescents’ reports of lower quality relationships …

Generational Inversions: 'Working' For Social Reproduction Amid Hiv In Swaziland, Casey Golomski

Anthropology

How do people envision social reproduction when regular modes of generational succession and continuity are disrupted in the context of HIV/AIDS? How and where can scholars identify local ideas for restoring intergenerational practices of obligation and dependency that produce mutuality rather than conflict across age groups? Expanding from studies of HIV/AIDS and religion in Africa, this article pushes for an analytic engagement with ritual as a space and mode of action to both situate local concerns about and practices for restoring dynamics of social reproduction. It describes how the enduring HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland contoured age patterns of mortality where …

A Systematic Review Of Effective Youth Prevention Education: Implications For Internet Safety Education., Lisa M. Jones, Kimberly J. Mitchell, Wendy A. Walsh

Crimes Against Children Research Center

ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades, a wide array of internet safety education materials and programs have developed to increase positive youth behavior and safety online. Although it is a new area of prevention, programs should incorporate practices that prior prevention evaluation studies tell us work best. To inform internet safety education, 31 youth prevention education meta-analyses across a wide range of youth prevention (substance abuse, risky sex behavior, delinquency, etc.) were coded to identify prevention program characteristics shown by research to be most effective. The review identified that active, skill-based lessons, focused on research based causal and risk factors, …

A Content Analysis Of Youth Internet Safety Programs: Are Effective Prevention Strategies Being Used?, Lisa M. Jones, Kimberly J. Mitchell, Wendy A. Walsh

Crimes Against Children Research Center

ABSTRACT: Almost half of youth in the U.S. report receiving internet safety education (ISE) in their schools. Unfortunately, we know little about what educational messages make a difference in problems such as cyberbullying, sexting, or online predators. To consider directions for improving effectiveness, a content analysis was conducted on materials from four ISE programs. Results indicate that ISE programs are mostly not incorporating proven educational strategies. Common ISE messages have proliferated without a clear rationale for why they would be effective. It is recommended that program developers and other stakeholders reconsider ISE messages, improve educational strategies, and participate in evaluation. …

Manchester On The Move, Kim Wall

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Change, Katharine Webster

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

What Teaching Teaches, Phyllis Wentworth

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 104 [105], No. 18 (Nov. 14, 2014), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 104, but it is the 105th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Understanding The Role Of Technology In The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children: The Perspective Of Law Enforcement., Kimberly J. Mitchell, Dana Boyd

Crimes Against Children Research Center

This exploratory study was conducted to better assess how technology can be used in criminal investigations; it is important to get a better understanding of how technology is currently employed in child sex trafficking as well as the approaches and needs of law enforcement. 144 investigators from Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and affiliate agencies responded to an online semi‐structured survey, including 45 investigators with experience conducting investigations of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) that involved technology. Participants included investigators working in local, county, and state law enforcement agencies in the United States. The discussion suggested …

The New Hampshire, Vol. 104 [105], No. 13 (Oct. 28, 2014), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 104, but it is the 105th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 104 [105], No. 12 (Oct. 21, 2014), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 104, but it is the 105th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Unh Welcomes New Lecturers, Tracey Bentley

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Worth A Thousand Words, Tracey Bentley

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 104 [105], No. 07 (Sep. 30, 2014), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 104, but it is the 105th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.