Digital Commons Network^™

Training Comparison: 95%Vo2peak Vs. Race Pace Intervals, Laura Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

INTRODUCTION: Interval training intensities are typically based on percentages of VO2max, heart rate max, or lactate threshold. Interval training based on current race pace has not been evaluated. PURPOSE: This study examined intervals at 95% VO2peak compared to race pace intervals on VO2peak, ventilatory threshold, time trial performance, peak power output, and vertical jump height in recreationally active subjects. METHODS: 34 subjects were randomly assigned to one of four training groups (TM-95%, Cycle-95%, TM-RP, Cycle-RP). Pre- and post- study, all subjects performed a ramped protocol test to exhaustion on a treadmill or electronically braked cycle ergometer for determination of VO2peak …

Traps: Stories And A One-Act Play, James Blanks

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A collection of five short stories and a one-act play.

Untapped Resources: How Underdeveloped Gender Empowerment Constrains The Development Potential In Bangladesh, Taylor Michelle Cook

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Gender empowerment is an oft-cited result of microfinance participation. However, research to verify this outcome continues to produce ambivalent results implying that microfinance programs are not maximizing their potential impact. While gender empowerment may be a desirable end to development, it is less often used as a means to achieve development goals. This paper tests the hypothesis that gender empowerment improves microfinance program performance using data from the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and a theoretical framework based on prevalent institutional ideologies. The results show that empowered clients have a higher likelihood of attaining desirable program outcomes. These results can …

Understanding Parental Motivation To Home School: A Qualitative Case Study, Nolen Ben Olsen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Comparatively little educational research has focused on home schooling. Since most students are educated in public schools, parents’ choice of other educational alternatives is often perceived as a deviation from the societal norm. Friends and neighbors of parents who home school rarely understand their motivation for doing so. This study addresses the following question: why do parents remove their children from traditional, public school programs to initiate home schooling, and how well do public school personnel understand this motivation? Using qualitative case study methodology, the researcher confined the study to a specific concentrated population of home schooling families. Phenomenological data …

Shame, Guilt And Society's Conception Of Sex, Hailey M. Magsig

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a dominant conception of sex in American society that has profound effects on our sexual lives. Often this can be a negative influence because our society’s conception is distorted. My thesis considers how this skewed view on sex and sexuality results in the presence of shame and guilt in our sexual lives. I first define society’s conception of sex and present it visually through fashion advertising. Each of the pornographic elements (objectification, submission, hierarchy and violence) utilized in advertising are explained. The advertisements are meant to provide a visual portrayal of society’s conception of sex, which is relevant …

Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta Splendens) Show Self-Control For Access To A Mirror, Christopher Matthew Collins

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Self control is defined as choosing a larger, delayed reinforcer over a smaller, more immediate reinforcer with the opposite defined as impulsivity. In general, results from self-control research involving avian and non-primate mammalian subjects have shown a strong to moderate impulsive choice bias whereas studies using adult humans and non-human primates have shown a strong self-control bias. While the non-human self-control literature is rich with studies using select avian and mammalian species, there is very little self-control literature on the choice behaviors of fish or social reward. The present experiment assessed preference in male Betta splendens using an immediate/2 sec …

Why Take The Risk?: Women's Interpretive Repertoires For Choosing Home Birth, Laura Ann St. Clair

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this project was to use a social constructivist approach to understand the perception of risk by mothers making the choice to give birth at home in Missoula, Montana. Social constructivism assumes that knowledge about risk is filtered through “social and cultural frameworks of understanding” (Lupton and Tulloch 2002, 321). The information gained from participants in this study was interpreted as a representation of the individual’s culture, including their beliefs, values and upbringing, as well as the influences of the individual’s social network which can include family members, spouses, friends, and community members. Various phenomena, elements or constructs …

Interpretive Technology In Parks: A Study Of Visitor Experience With Portable Multimedia Devices, Lee Gregory Rademaker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The GPS Ranger is a new portable technology that provides visitors to Cedar Breaks National Monument (CBNM) with interpretive information specific to a location. The GPS Ranger uses a built in global positioning system to trigger video, audio, or slideshows that are displayed on a 4 inch display. The GPS Ranger is new to natural area parks like CBNM. Technological advancements have enabled devices like the GPS Ranger to be used in many new places. Researchers have a history of investigating and publishing literature on park visitor experiences with interpretive media. However, no exploration of the experiences visitors have with …

An Evaluation Of Visitor Decisions Regarding Alternative Transportation In Glacier National Park, Melissa Lynn Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2007, Glacier National Park implemented a free, voluntary shuttle bus system along the Going to the Sun Road. The first year of implementation of the transit system at Glacier National Park presented a unique opportunity to evaluate visitor behavior in national parks. One way that transportation mode choice has been understood is through the theory of planned behavior, which characterizes social behavior as the result of conscious, deliberate thought processes directly related to the behavior in question. This study examined the intersection of national park visitors' recreation experience preference and their decisions toward shuttle use in a national park. …

Perceived Discrimination And Depressive Symptomatology Among Native American Older Adults, Rita Haidle Billow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recent studies have recognized discrimination as a stressor that is linked to psychological distress for those who experience such discrimination. The present study investigated the role of cultural identification as a moderator of the relationship between a global measure of perceived discrimination and depressive affect for a sample of older Native American adults, a group that has essentially been ignored in the empirical literature. The data were collected through surveys mailed to tribally-enrolled Native American adults aged 50 and older residing on a reservation in the Northwest. Multiple regression analysis was performed to test the moderating role of cultural identification. …

Exploring The Experiences Of The Certified Athletic Trainer And The Athlete Post-Surgery, Sarah G. Cummings

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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An Analysis Of Alberta's First Nations, Metis, And Inuit School-Community Learning Environment Project, Kelly Burke Thomas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The First Nations, Métis, and Inuit School-Community Learning Environment Project was one of the programs through which the Aboriginal Branch of Alberta Education attempted to increase the academic success rate of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students. Sixteen school jurisdictions in Alberta were asked to choose one school within their district on which to focus the resources offered by the Project. These resources included a large amount of money and print materials prepared by the Aboriginal Branch. The schools were asked to consult with the school community and area residents, including elders, to prepare strategies they believed would fulfill the …

Development Of The Secondary Conditions Among Adolescents With Disabilities (Scaad) Instrument: An Exploratory Study, Marie Middleton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of secondary conditions, explore the reliability and validity of the measure, and explore the relationship between secondary conditions and participation among adolescents with disabilities. This research collected ratings of limitation due to secondary conditions, and ratings of participation for 24 adolescents with Intellectual/Developmental Disability. Data show that the participants experience an average of 11 secondary conditions during a three-month period as reported by families. The inter-rater agreement between parents and Family Support Specialists was .73 on a point-by-point comparison, and .85 when comparing whether or not limitation was a concern. …

An Outcomes Assessment Of Two Therapeutic Group Homes Serving Children With Reactive Attachment Disorder In A Rural Community, Brooke Rose Spangler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archival data collected on 35 4-12-year-old children, each of whom completed treatment for reactive attachment disorder (RAD), was used to evaluate a treatment program in a rural northwestern community. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991) and Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (Y-OQ) (Burlingame, Wells, & Lambert, 1996) were completed by coding behaviors early in treatment and late in treatment from behavioral records. A correlational design was used, and t-test, repeated measures and fixed factor analyses of variance were conducted. Results showed that there was an overall decrease in the amount of maladaptive behaviors at the conclusion of residential treatment for attachment …

Adolescent Mothers: The Space Between What They Know And What They Do, Nicole Catherine Mccray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Although the current rate of teen pregnancy in the United States is at a historic low (Martin et al., 2007), there are a number of risk factors associated with early parenthood. Adolescent parenthood is often embedded in a larger context of risk such as poverty, single parenthood, low educational attainment, a history of physical and emotional abuse, and engagement in risky behavior (Hans & Wakschlag, 2000). As parents, adolescent mothers tend to be less knowledgeable about child development, less stimulating in interactions with infants, less tolerant, and more punitive with punishment (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986). The children of adolescent mothers …

Drug Use, Mental Health And Encounters With The Legal System In Missoula County, Samantha Renee Cumley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

It has been well documented in the criminological literature that drug use and crime co-occur (Eilliot, Huizinga and Ageton 1985, Goldstein 1985). Data from the Missoula Arrestee Drug Use Monitoring Study were used to investigate the relationships between drug use, treatment experiences, encounters with the legal system and amenability. It was hypothesized that substance use and dependence would predict encounters with the legal system. It was also hypothesized that treatment experiences would predict lower drug and alcohol dependency scores and fewer encounters with the legal system. Additionally, substance dependence and encounters with the legal system were expected to predict high …

Examining The Relationship Of Physical Activity With Inflammation And Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Coral Michelle Gubler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for 37.1 percent of all deaths in the United States. Physical activity is inversely related to both CV event risk and to many of the individual CVD risk factors. The inverse relationship between physical activity and CVD risk is well established. However, much dispute remains about the optimal physical activity intensity and duration related to health benefits and to lower CVD risk. The ability to objectively measure intensity and duration may clarify the inverse relationship between physical activity and CVD. The purpose of this collection of studies was to explore the association of physical activity with …

Expression And Regulation Of Emotions In Romantic Relationships, Makon Fardis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Romantic relationships are extremely important in people's physical and mental well being. One of the important determinants of the quality of romantic relationships is the expression and regulation of emotions. This study hypothesized that 1) expression of positive emotions is good for any relationship, 2) expression of negative emotions is good for only communal relationships, 3) expression of positive emotions is necessary alongside of negative ones to maintain a communal relationship, 4) in case negative emotions are expressed, providing explanations would help maintain the relationship, 5) suppression of emotions does not benefit communal relationship, and 6) expression of emotions correlates …

Finding Meaning In The Aftermath Of Trauma: Resilience And Posttraumatic Growth In Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Melissa Dawn Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite recent interest in resiliency and growth in victims of trauma (Ryff, Singer, Love, & Essex, 1998; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), very few studies exist that document resilient responses to intimate partner violence, and none exist that explore posttraumatic growth in the aftermath of violent relationships. The purpose of this study was to explore resiliency and growth factors in women who were interviewed for the Domestic Violence Project at The University of Montana, which comprises an archival dataset. Participants were 127 women who had been out of a violent relationship for a year or more. As interview questions did not …

Forests And Farming: An Analysis Of Rural Livelihood Programs For Poverty Reduction In Eastern Zambia, Garrett Kenneth Olson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper investigates the effectiveness of Joint Forest Management (JFM) and agricultural programs at reducing rural poverty in Zambia. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programs in Africa have been aimed at improving livelihoods, creating tangible benefits, and increasing incomes from forests and forest products through the sustainable use and conservation of forest resources. Agricultural programs have often had similar goals regarding improved livelihoods, benefits, food security, and income generation for soil conservation and reduced forest conversion due to agricultural expansion. With increased rates of deforestation and forest conversion, Zambia is in need of effective measures for the sustainable utilization and …

Resiliency And Risk In Native American Communities: A Culturally Informed Investigation, Annjeanette Elise Belcourt-Dittloff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper reviews recent research findings and empirically investigates resiliency and vulnerability factors within two Native American communities. The primary factors under consideration are related to American Indian psychosocial factors. This project is an exploratory investigation of pathology and wellness for understudied American Indians, and it examines the nature of resiliency and risk for American Indians. The factors under investigation include adversarial growth, spirituality, ethnic identity, communal identity, social support, historical trauma, stressors experienced, hope, quality of life, and general psychological status for American Indians sampled. Numerous statistically significant relationships emerged, providing empirical support for culturally embedded aspects of resiliency …

Resolving Employment Retention Barriers To Enhance Self-Sufficiency For Missoula County Tanf Recipients, Deborah Evelyn Holland

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined the issues of barriers and employment retention in a rural county welfare-to-work setting, the Missoula, Montana WoRC Program. Qualitative research (study one) was conducted, to interview clients regarding reasons why they had lost jobs in the past, and, to elicit their suggestions regarding new services the WoRC Program could offer to help with employment retention at future jobs. Study one results indicated that the primary barriers resulting in job loss were: family issues; medical problems; mental health disorders; work site difficulties; and other (i.e. boredom, attitude problems). Work adjustment proved to be an underlying barrier to employment …

Public Relations In Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide To Establishing Public Relations Programs In Nonprofit Settings, Megan Kate Gale

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Public relations has become an increasingly popular topic in the nonprofit community, and the demand for developing piblic relations as a core competency has increased as well. Since many nonprofit organization have limited time and resources for developing fuull-scale public relations programs, many rely on information obtained during one-day workshops or conference presentations presented by public relations professionals who have little or no experience with the concerns of the nonprofit setting. Using a program planning model, this paper describes how nonprofit organizations can increase the capacity and effectiveness of their public relations efforts by building relationships with key stakeholders.

Public Archaeology In Montana: A Sample Of University Of Montana Students' Perceptions Of Archaeology And Knowledge Of Local Sites, Helen Alexandra Keremedjiev

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeologists have an obligation to disseminate publicly their research and theories. To do this effectively, they need to know how each public perceives archaeology. A voluntary Institutional Review Board certified questionnaire was given to 606 University of Montana undergraduates and graduates. It included topics on the basics of archaeology and sites in Montana. After the results were tabulated, a website was created to show the overall results. Its location is at www.umt.edu/publicarchaeology. This online resource includes the questionnaire, the total raw results of all classes’ responses, and a discussion section. (See Appendix E for screenshot images of the website.) This …

A Grounded Theory Of Teacher Sensemaking Processes In A Climate Of Change, Dorothea Reynolds Wood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Teacher commitment and capacity are critical factors in school reform. However, school change models underestimate the complexity of teaching, which undermines teachers' ability to implement and sustain changes. This grounded theory of teacher sensemaking explored teachers' perceptions as they participated in school reforms targeting pedagogy.

A multi-site sample was purposefully selected and included 12 elementary school teachers from eight schools. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with each teacher and analyzed using inductive analysis. The three analytical coding procedures were (a) open coding, (b) axial coding, and (c) selective coding. Open coding analyzed the concepts emerging from the data and pursued …

A Modern Examination Of Marcus Goldstein’S Mexican Immigrant Population Data: Comparisons Of Mexican-Born And U.S.-Born Children And Adults Living In 1930’S America And Mexico, Amanda Katelin Gango

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Modern statistical methods were employed in order to test the statistical validity and conclusions of Marcus Goldstein’s (1943) original data consisting of nineteen different anthropometric measurements on two different groups of individuals, Mexican immigrants and their children residing in the San Antonio, Texas area and Mexican natives living in central and northern Mexico. Using independent samples T-tests, an analysis of covariance, and an RMET analysis, significant differences among variables compared between Mexican natives and Mexican immigrants and their U.S. born children were identified and interpreted. Variation was attributed to geographical location and length of time spent in the United States. …

Disrupted Conventions: Gender Roles In Mildred Walker's The Curlew's Cry And Winter Wheat, Pandora Andre-Beatty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis, I discuss the significance of gender in Mildred Walker’s novels The Curlew’s Cry and Winter Wheat. Walker wrote and situates both narratives in Montana, supporting my argument that literature of the American West remains a productive area for examining gender roles. The Curlew’s Cry is set at the closing of the American frontier in the early 20th century, while Winter Wheat is set during the settled agricultural era of the 1940s. I argue that instead of re-enforcing gender stereotypes commonly found in novels set in the American West during and after the white settlement of the plains, …

A Reanalysis Of Boas’S Hebrew Immigrant Data: Comparisons Of Foreign-Born And Us-Born Children Living In Early 20th Century America, Margaret Rose Kress

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research paper uses data observed on Hebrew immigrant populations collected by the anthropologist Franz Boas and coworkers between 1909 and 1910. Boas was asked by the United States Immigration Commission to write a report that examined how the influx of European immigrants into the United States might affect the morphology of the American population. Seeing this as a chance to undermine racial typologies, Boas took many measurements of immigrants and their children and concluded that observed changes between foreign-born and US-born children were a result of the move into a new environment. Recent research has demonstrated that the Hebrew …

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Type Of Parent Involvement And High School Student Engagement, Academic Achievement, Attendance, And Attitude Toward School, Carmen Philip Mombourquette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Parents are being encouraged to be actively involved in the educational lives of their children, including the lives of their adolescent high school students. Governments in both Canada and the United States are even mandating parent involvement as a means to achieve increased student performance. Type of parent involvement in the lives of adolescent high school students and its relationship to student performance factors of student engagement, academic achievement, attendance, and attitude toward school was studied so as to provide high school administrators with the knowledge set necessary to offer advice to the parent community.

This study found that there …

Achieving Environmental Justice For The Community Of Opportunity, Montana: An Assessment Of Superfund Concerns, Kathleen A. Hasenbank

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The community of Opportunity, Montana, is surrounded by an area many consider to be the largest Superfund site in the United States. The nearby Opportunity Ponds is a major consolidation area for mining-related contaminated wastes in the state of Montana, and Opportunity residents have voiced concerns about their well water, windblown dust, and other issues since at least the late 1990s. Furthermore, the community has been subjected to ongoing environmental injustices: they feel they have been left to bear an unfair environmental burden without compensation and feel left out of important decision-making processes that affect them. I have …