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Masters Theses

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The Prevalence, Reasons, And Effects Of Hazing On Female Student Athletes, Danielle Steffa Jan 2014

The Prevalence, Reasons, And Effects Of Hazing On Female Student Athletes, Danielle Steffa

Masters Theses

The present study was designed to understand the prevalence, reasons, and effects of hazing on female student athletes at a midsized, Midwest institution. Hazing is defined as any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, or risks emotions and/or physical harm, regardless of that person's willingness to participate (Gersehel, Katz-Sidlow, Small, & Zandieh (2003). By using a modified survey done by Hoover (1999) and Allan and Madden (2008), the frequency, reasons why female athletes believe hazing happens, and any effects felt by these athletes was measured. Results showed there are many types of hazing behaviors that are …


Conditional Goal-Setting As A Mediator In The Relationship Between Mindfulness And Well-Being, Adam De Fina Jan 2014

Conditional Goal-Setting As A Mediator In The Relationship Between Mindfulness And Well-Being, Adam De Fina

Masters Theses

Mindfulness is defined as the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Current research on mindfulness has begun to focus on how mindfulness works by identifying the various mechanisms through which it facilitates well-being (e.g., Carmody, Baer, Lykins, & Olendzki, 2009; Coffey & Hartman, 2008; Hölzel et al., 2011). The present study examined if engaging less in conditional goal-getting (CGS) is one of the mechanisms of action of mindfulness. Conditional goal-setting (GCS) occurs when individuals have become highly committed to accomplishing certain concrete …


A Retrospective Study Of The Link Between Maternal Social Anxiety And College-Student Social Anxiety: Mediating The Role Of Maternal Cognitions & Behaviors, Kyung Won Kim Jan 2014

A Retrospective Study Of The Link Between Maternal Social Anxiety And College-Student Social Anxiety: Mediating The Role Of Maternal Cognitions & Behaviors, Kyung Won Kim

Masters Theses

Parental social anxiety is a well-established risk factor for child social anxiety. In addition to being passed along genetically, parental anxiety seems to be transmitted partially via environmental factors, such as parental cognitions and behaviors that convey negative expectations toward the child. This paper reviews the current literature linking maternal social anxiety, maternal cognitions, and offspring social anxiety. Using a retrospective design, a mediated model, examining the association between maternal social anxiety and later offspring social anxiety, with maternal cognitions and behaviors during childhood as a mediator was tested. Consistent with the hypothesis, maternal fear of negative evaluation served as …


Workplace Sleepiness: Causes, Consequences And Countermeasures, Neda Khalafi Jan 2014

Workplace Sleepiness: Causes, Consequences And Countermeasures, Neda Khalafi

Masters Theses

"Sleep deprivation is an epidemic problem in our society that adversely affects the quality and safety of our daily lives. At home and on the job, inadequate sleep is associated with considerable social, financial, and health-related costs, due to instability of waking functions. Research has shown that, sleep deprivation among workers, whether from sleep disorders, lifestyle or shift work, can hinder the proper performance, and in extreme cases may pose hazard to the workers themselves and their environment. Deficits in daytime performance can have profound effects in the processing industry where workers are often required to perform monotonous tasks that …


Adaptive Wavelet Discretization Of Tensor Products In H-Tucker Format, Mazen Ali Jan 2014

Adaptive Wavelet Discretization Of Tensor Products In H-Tucker Format, Mazen Ali

Masters Theses

"In previous work, the solution to a system of coupled parabolic PDEs, modeling the price of a CDO, was approximated numerically. Due to the nature of the problem, the system involved a large number of equations such that the parameters cannot be stored explicitly. The authors combined the data sparse H-Tucker storage format with the Galerkin method to approximate the solution, using wavelets for the space discretization together with time stepping (Method of Lines). The aforementioned approximation is of the linear kind, i.e., using a nonadaptive method. In this work, three methods for solving such systems adaptively are presented, together …


An Empirical Study On Symptoms Of Heavier Internet Usage Among Young Adults, Saipreethi Vishwanathan Jan 2014

An Empirical Study On Symptoms Of Heavier Internet Usage Among Young Adults, Saipreethi Vishwanathan

Masters Theses

"Understanding negative consequences of heavy Internet use on mental health is a topic that is gaining significant traction recently. A number of studies have investigated heavy Internet usage, especially among young adults in relation to online games, social media and email. While such studies do provide valuable insights, Internet usage so far has been characterized by means of self-reported surveys only that may suffer from errors and biases. In this paper, we report the findings of a two month empirical study on heavy Internet usage among students conducted at a college campus. The novelty of the study is that it …


Crime Pattern Detection Using Online Social Media, Raja Ashok Bolla Jan 2014

Crime Pattern Detection Using Online Social Media, Raja Ashok Bolla

Masters Theses

"In this research, we show online social networks can be used to study crime detection problems. Crime is defined as an act harmful not only to the individual involved, but also to the community as a whole. It is also a forbidden act that is punishable by law. Crimes are social nuisances that place heavy financial burdens on society. Here we look at use of data mining followed by sentiment analysis on online social networks, to help detect the crime patterns. Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to post brief text updates, also referred …


Analysis Of The Black Friday Consumer, Lori A. Logan Jan 2014

Analysis Of The Black Friday Consumer, Lori A. Logan

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.


Community College To A Four-Year Institution: Transition For Underrepresented Students, Sarah Adams Jan 2014

Community College To A Four-Year Institution: Transition For Underrepresented Students, Sarah Adams

Masters Theses

Many four-year public institutions are experiencing increasing enrollment of students transferring from community colleges. For this qualitative assessment, six underrepresented students who transferred from a two-year community college to a four-year public institution were interviewed to examine both support and risk factors that underrepresented students experienced during and after the transition process. Findings showed that underrepresented students' common influential factors were finances, location, family/parental support, motivation and preparedness. The data revealed that underrepresented students experienced support from family, friends, TRIO, faculty and counselors while transitioning from community college. Risk factors that were revealed for underrepresented students at community college and …


The Path Into Student Affairs: How Undergraduate Experiences Influence Students To Pursue A Career In Student Affairs, Bryce Jacob Reuer Gergely Jan 2014

The Path Into Student Affairs: How Undergraduate Experiences Influence Students To Pursue A Career In Student Affairs, Bryce Jacob Reuer Gergely

Masters Theses

The career field of Student Affairs is one that most individuals know nothing about until coming to college when they have the chance to interact with professionals in the field. How exactly do individuals come to be professionals in student affairs? This study looks to answer that question through the examination of nine individuals in various stages of the process into Student Affairs, analyzing their experiences throughout their undergraduate career. Special focus is given to experiences during participants' undergraduate education, influences on their decision to pursue Student Affairs as a career, and how interactions with Student Affairs professionals played a …


Emotional Intelligence, Coping Styles, And Psychopathology, Letizia Boin Jan 2014

Emotional Intelligence, Coping Styles, And Psychopathology, Letizia Boin

Masters Theses

Despite its relatively recent origins, Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's emotions, has been shown to contribute to a variety of outcomes, including academic achievement and relationship satisfaction. Considerable support has been gathered to implicate EI in the development of mental illness such as depression and social anxiety. It has been theorized that a potential pathway in which EI affects mental health is by contributing to the development of coping styles. Stress and coping literature reports enough empirical evidence to suggest that broadly speaking, problem-focused coping is 'adaptive' while avoidant coping is 'maladaptive.' …


Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Clusters, Rachel A. Maxwell Jan 2014

Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Clusters, Rachel A. Maxwell

Masters Theses

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing condition that involves a preoccupation with a perceived defect(s) in appearance. Despite the importance of early identification, it is often misdiagnosed. The literature suggests that issues with diagnosis may be because BDD is typically defined by the single symptom of dysmorphic concern (i.e., over concern with an imagined or slight defect in physical appearance). Dysmorphic concern is insufficient to fully characterize the disturbance. This study used exploratory factor analysis to identify symptom clusters from four well-known BDD measures completed by 457 undergraduate students. The extracted content suggested the following symptoms: (a) Dysmorphic Concern, …


The Perceived Benefits Of Participation In Living And Learning Communities: The Student Perspective, Sally Adams Jan 2014

The Perceived Benefits Of Participation In Living And Learning Communities: The Student Perspective, Sally Adams

Masters Theses

Students' experiences outside the classroom are important to their overall growth and development. Living learning communities (LLC) play a big role in helping to support these areas of growth. Students residing in an LLC are aware of the benefits of the LLC experience and can articulate how their residential environment can help them develop. Non-LLC members find it difficult to define the LLC experience and are not receiving the same benefits. Institutions and residence life often struggle in evaluating and assessing these communities because of the lack of direction and outcomes not clearly being stated. If institutions work to clearly …


Fear Of Negative And Positive Evaluation Across Social Evaluative Situations, Jarvis Howe Jan 2014

Fear Of Negative And Positive Evaluation Across Social Evaluative Situations, Jarvis Howe

Masters Theses

Fear of negative and fear of positive evaluation are both important in understanding social evaluative anxiety. Fear of negative evaluation has been linked with social anxiety, public speaking anxiety, and test anxiety; whereas fear of positive evaluation has only been linked with social anxiety. This paper reviews the literature on fear of negative and positive evaluation in relation to each of the social evaluative situations and then presents the findings of a study that will attempt to differentiate the three types of social evaluative situations. Fear of negative evaluation was correlated with each of the three social evaluative situations; whereas …


The Effects Of Existential Salience On State Anxiety, Joseph Morger Jan 2014

The Effects Of Existential Salience On State Anxiety, Joseph Morger

Masters Theses

Existential anxiety is theorized to result from one's knowledge of human existence. Four givens of life have been identified that result in existential anxiety: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness (Yalom, 1980). Terror management theory purposes the knowledge of one's own death to be a great source of distress. The theory posits that to cope with these distressing thoughts, one is motivated to adhere to a cultural worldview. Adhering to a cultural worldview allows one to view the world as a structured place, in addition to raising one's self-esteem. Terror management research has shown that making mortality salient results in harsher …


Incremental Validity Of The Learning Behavior Scale In Special Education Evaluation, Margaret Lakebrink Jan 2014

Incremental Validity Of The Learning Behavior Scale In Special Education Evaluation, Margaret Lakebrink

Masters Theses

The Learning Behavior Scale (LBS) was developed as a teacher rating scale to assess students' learning behaviors hypothesized to affect academic achievement. Research utilizing the LBS has primarily stemmed from the standardization sample. The present study attempted to examine the incremental validity of adding the LBS to standardized intelligence test scores in order to predict standardized academic achievement in students participating in initial evaluations for determining disability and eligibility for special education services. Due to difficulty obtaining a sufficient sample, reevaluation cases were also obtained in the sample of first to eighth grade students (N=40) in the study. Results provided …


Does Parent Management Of Past Childhood Sibling Aggression Predict Young Adult Emotion Regulation? A Retrospective Study, Joseph P. Berry Jan 2014

Does Parent Management Of Past Childhood Sibling Aggression Predict Young Adult Emotion Regulation? A Retrospective Study, Joseph P. Berry

Masters Theses

Childhood sibling aggression and its influence on an individual's ability to regulate emotions later in life have not been extensively studied at this point in time. Prior research indicates that repeatedly being the victim of childhood aggression can lead to concurrent social, psychological, and emotional difficulties (Crick, Bigbee, & Howes, 1996). This study used a retrospective approach to explore whether 139 college students' experiences of overt and relational childhood sibling aggression are related to current difficulties with emotion regulation in young adulthood. Overt sibling aggression or relational sibling aggression in childhood predicted difficulties in current emotion regulation. Beliefs about the …


Exploring The Relationship Between Self-Reported Religiosity And Alcohol Usage Among Undergraduate Students, Angelica Maria Bradley Jan 2014

Exploring The Relationship Between Self-Reported Religiosity And Alcohol Usage Among Undergraduate Students, Angelica Maria Bradley

Masters Theses

Alcohol usage is one of the greatest high-risk behaviors that institutions face today. In this study, 166 undergraduates were surveyed to explore the relationship between their religiosity and alcohol usage. The data revealed that religious students drink less than unsure or spiritual students, supporting the Social Identity Theory, which suggests that a group a student most identifies with influences them the greatest. The study also suggests that we should seek to understand this relationship, which can lead to a better understanding of why students use alcohol, and therefore, a step closer to helping them succeed where it matters most.


Parent Knowledge Of Child's Level Of Play: Implications For Early Childhood And Preschool Assessment, Jessie Shuemaker Jan 2014

Parent Knowledge Of Child's Level Of Play: Implications For Early Childhood And Preschool Assessment, Jessie Shuemaker

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine how accurately parents were able to report on their own child's play skills. Additionally, the study sought to examine if the addition of a parent interview used in conjunction with an observational play-based assessment would warrant a more comprehensive and accurate picture of a child's skills. A Spearman Rank Order Correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between a parent interview developed specifically for this study and an observational play-based assessment. Kappa Coefficients were also conducted to determine the level of agreement between the interviews and observations. Results suggested a weak positive …


Grief, Loss And Stress Burden Among Spouse Caregivers Of The Person With Young-Onset Dementia, Sharbari Ganguly Jan 2014

Grief, Loss And Stress Burden Among Spouse Caregivers Of The Person With Young-Onset Dementia, Sharbari Ganguly

Masters Theses

The effects of young/early-onset dementia are devastating not only for the person who has been diagnosed with young/early-onset dementia, but also for their primary caregivers (de Vugt & Verhey, 2013). The major aim of this study is to focus on the level of grief, loss, and stress burden that are associated with the partner or the spouse caregivers of someone with young-onset dementia. This study has used a previously unanalyzed set of data consisting of 55 partner or spouse young-onset dementia caregivers. Three instruments were used for data collection including the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MMCGI), the Zarit Burden Interview …


Milton‘S Feminized Satan: A Study Of Gender Imbalance In Paradise Lost, Kari Anne Wiest Jan 2014

Milton‘S Feminized Satan: A Study Of Gender Imbalance In Paradise Lost, Kari Anne Wiest

Masters Theses

Critics have observed how Satan‘s personality changes dramatically over the course of Milton‘s Paradise Lost, but what they have missed is that this transformation in his character is due to an identity crisis that spirals into a gender shift. There are no studies of Satan as feminine. Drawing upon feminist theory, I contend that it is important for readers to see Satan as a female voice in Paradise Lost and not as a positive one at that. In Milton‘s attempt to ―justify the ways of God to men‖ he, by necessity, must explain the character and purpose of Satan …


The Impact Of Race And Offender Status On Small Business Hiring Decisions, Elle Gray Teshima Jan 2014

The Impact Of Race And Offender Status On Small Business Hiring Decisions, Elle Gray Teshima

Masters Theses

This research explores the impact of race and offender status on the hiring decisions of small business hiring managers. Cover letters, resumes, and surveys were distributed by mail to small business hiring managers in the Grand Rapids area to assess their reactions to and opinions of prospective applicants with varying racial and criminal backgrounds. The null hypothesis was supported. Respondents did not demonstrate a strong overall preference for candidates of a particular race group or offender status. The largest concern with this study is a limited sample size despite a fairly strong response rate. Social desirability bias may also limit …


"God Made Me Thisaway": Mary Wilkins Freeman, Flannery O'Connor, And Religiosity As Challenge To Heteronormativity, Anna M. Worm Jan 2014

"God Made Me Thisaway": Mary Wilkins Freeman, Flannery O'Connor, And Religiosity As Challenge To Heteronormativity, Anna M. Worm

Masters Theses

The fiction of Mary Wilkins Freeman and Flannery O'Connor, especially Freeman's “A New England Nun” and “The Balsam Fir” and O'Connor's “A Temple of the Holy Ghost” and “Good Country People,” expose and challenge heteronormativity. Consideration of heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality, as well as religious themes demonstrates the way their works offer an avenue of challenge for characters struggling with societal forces that push them towards an unwanted or unfulfilling heterosexuality. Although Freeman's works suggest that a satisfactory life outside heterosexual norms is unrealistic, with community alienation the price for resistance, she envisions religion a valuable tool in such resistances. …


Assessment Of Contributing Factors To The Reduction Of Diarrhea In Rural Communities Of Para, Brazil, Lee Voth-Gaeddert Jan 2014

Assessment Of Contributing Factors To The Reduction Of Diarrhea In Rural Communities Of Para, Brazil, Lee Voth-Gaeddert

Masters Theses

"In developing communities the occurrence of diarrhea has been reported at elevated levels as compared to those communities in more developed regions. Diarrheal diseases were linked to over one million deaths in 2012 throughout the world. While multiple pathways are present for the transmission of diarrheal diseases, water has been the focus for many aid organizations. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment methods are a common tool used by aid organizations in efforts to provide potable water. The CAWST biosand filter is a POU tool that has shown removal effectiveness of pathogenic microorganisms ranging from 90-99%. However, minimal literature was found that …


Analysis And Modeling Of Resilience For Networked Systems, Kamlesh Ashok Joshi Jan 2014

Analysis And Modeling Of Resilience For Networked Systems, Kamlesh Ashok Joshi

Masters Theses

"A cyber physical system (CPS) has two main subsystems; a physical infrastructure that is responsible for managing and implementing physical tasks, e.g., generation and distribution of a physical commodity, and a cyber infrastructure that is used to support and enhance these physical operations through computing, communication, and control. Imperfect cyber control can lower the efficacy and even reliability of existing physical infrastructures. As such, justifiable reliance on CPSs requires rigorous investigation of the effect of incorporating cyber infrastructure on functional and non-functional aspects of system performance. One non-functional metric of note is resilience, defined as the ability of a system …


Are Supervisory Feedback Messages A Motivational Factor To Enhance Employee Retention?, Yang Yali Dec 2013

Are Supervisory Feedback Messages A Motivational Factor To Enhance Employee Retention?, Yang Yali

Masters Theses

Employee retention is one of most valuable resources in an organization. Feedback from supervisors provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal difficulty, improve job performance, and enhance job satisfaction. The present study is intended to investigate the role that supervisory feedback messages play in employee retention decisions. The participants took a three-session survey that aimed to examine their perception of supervisory feedback received through direction-giving messages, empathy-giving messages, and meaning-making messages, as well as the effect that each kind of message had on each participant's retention intent. The follow-up interviews were conducted to explore in-depth insights on the factors motivating …


"This Is Exactly Why We Sweep Things Under The Rug:" A Polite Approach To Abc's Modern Family, Andrea Fasciano Dec 2013

"This Is Exactly Why We Sweep Things Under The Rug:" A Polite Approach To Abc's Modern Family, Andrea Fasciano

Masters Theses

The sitcom has remained a popular choice for television viewers since its inception. They have evolved in their methods of entertaining their audiences, often depicting unlikeable characters engaging in antisocial behaviors. This study examines one such sitcom, Modern Family, through the lens of Brown and Levinson's politeness theory, and related concepts contributed by other theorists. These theorists maintain that a primary motive behind any interaction is the presentation and maintenance of a chosen identity or "face." Those actions that fail to maintain face, for either participant are called "face-threatening acts." This study attempts to determine if the characters behave in …


Still Siblings: The Perceived Importance Of Sibling Relationships For Foster Children, Jessica A. Church Dec 2013

Still Siblings: The Perceived Importance Of Sibling Relationships For Foster Children, Jessica A. Church

Masters Theses

This research was conducted to answer the question “Do children who are perceived to have strong relationships with siblings and more access to their siblings have fewer problems adjusting to their foster care placement as observed by child welfare professionals?” This qualitative research project was completed through semi-structured interviews with professionals who work with children in foster care in a variety of ways (and may have worked with children in more than one way during their career in child welfare), such as foster care workers, counselors, and sibling visitation supervisors. The snowball sampling method was used in this research. These …


Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of A Rat Agreement Based Reinforcement Procedure, Katherine B. Lalonde Dec 2013

Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of A Rat Agreement Based Reinforcement Procedure, Katherine B. Lalonde

Masters Theses

Since 2007, giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) have been used successfullyfor detecting Tuberculosis (TB) positive patients.The rats are trained to detect TB-positive sputum samples through the use of operant conditioning techniques, in which an indicator response is rewarded with food. If the rats are to be used for first line screening of patients reinforcement could not be provided because the true status of the sample would be unknown. The present study evaluated the effects of a reinforcement-for-agreement procedure that could be used to reinforce indication responses when the true status of the sample is unknown. Four rats evaluated 100 …


Comparison Of The Strength Of Harmony, Melodic Line, Rhythmic Variation, And Expressive Elements In Influencing Emotional Judgment In Music, Marilyn M. Moore Dec 2013

Comparison Of The Strength Of Harmony, Melodic Line, Rhythmic Variation, And Expressive Elements In Influencing Emotional Judgment In Music, Marilyn M. Moore

Masters Theses

Studies in the literature have been conducted that seem to establish that humans make consistent and similar emotional judgments when they are asked to describe an emotion that is being expressed musically. The present study targets four musical elements; harmony, melodic line, rhythmic variation, and expressive elements, to investigate which of these musical elements are most effective for influencing a listener to be able to recognize the composer's intended emotion of the music. There are eight original songs composed by the researcher, each song is assigned a specific intended emotional term. The eight songs are presented in five distinct conditions, …