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Assessment Of Drinking Water Quality Management And A Treatment Feasibility Study For Brick By Brick Water Storage Tanks In Rakai Uganda, James V. Murduca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliable access to safe drinking water is one necessity for humans to live without concern for major health risks. The overall goal of this research is to improve the public health, through improved drinking water, for communities in the Rakai District in Uganda, directly, and other communities in the world, indirectly, via dissemination of knowledge. This study specifically assessed the knowledge of drinking water quality in regards to public health, their sanitation measures, and water treatment methods for users of Brick by Brick rainwater harvesting tanks in the Rakai District (N = 28) by using a knowledge, attitudes, and practice …

Self-Esteem, Motivation, And Self-Enhancement Presentation On Wechat, Xiao Qiu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to analyze whether self-esteem stability moderated the association between self-esteem level and the forms of self-enhancement strategies. Previous research has found that self-esteem level can predict the forms of self-enhancement, whereas the advances in the conceptualization of self-esteem recommend that the self-esteem stability is another essential variable in terms of analyzing the relationship between self-esteem and self-enhancement. Depending on the relevant researches on use and gratification theory, which indicate that people use social media for self-enhancement and fulfilling their inner needs. This research focused on examining the forms of individual’s self-enhance on WeChat …

Capacity Building, Environmental Justice, And Brownfield Redevelopment: A Case Study Of Harvest Hope Park, Tampa Bay, Fl, Gabrielle R. Lehigh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Harvest Hope Park is a brownfield redevelopment project for the University Area Community Development Corporation (University Area CDC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the sustainable redevelopment of north Tampa neighborhoods. While the project is still in progress, the University Area CDC has noted a lack of community engagement by local residents. The neighborhood, sometimes referred to as “suitcase city” because of the presumed transient nature of the population, has been plagued with poverty, blight, decay, high crime rates, and a lack of basic resources for decades (32 percent of the population in this area lives below the 2016 national poverty …

Cultural Adaptation And Maintenance: Chinese International Students' Use Of Facebook And Wechat, Mengni Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In terms of Uses and gratification theory, this study examined the relationships between the usage of social networking sites and acculturation among Chinese students who are studying in U.S. colleges (N=246). By comparing two different SNSs, American SNS (Facebook) and ethnic SNS (WeChat), it was discovered that Chinese students exposed differential needs and gratification achievement in these two SNSs. This study applied a quantitative method, and data were collected with an online survey platform "Qualtrics," which was carried out on February 2018. The present study found that the degree of Facebook gratification can lead to the increasing of use intensity. …

Food Insecurity And Age Of Menarche: Using A Biocultural Approach And Life History Theory To Assess Risks Of Food Insecurity Among Girls In Tampa Bay, Fl, Mecca Burris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using life-history theory within a biocultural perspective, this research explores whether household food insecurity correlates with early or delayed menarche among adolescent females in Tampa Bay, Florida. Early onset of puberty and menstruation is connected with numerous health consequences including growth stunting, obesity, type-2 diabetes, adult-onset asthma, reproductive cancers, increased risk for depression, behavioral problems, and early sexual activity which increases the risk for STIs and ovarian cancer. Early menarche also seems to disproportionally impact disadvantaged and minority groups. While there are many known factors that influence age at menarche (e.g.: genetics, diet), little is understood regarding the effect of …

Porter’S Bar: A Coastal Middle Woodland Burial Mound And Shell Midden In Northwest Florida, Kerri Knigge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis should serve as a comprehensive site report for both Porter’s Bar (8Fr1) and Green Point (8Fr11) mounds in northwest Florida. These prehistoric burial mounds and their associated village shell midden are determined to have been constructed during two different time periods, Middle Woodland and Early Woodland, respectively. This is the first time that all materials and data have been described and compiled for both sites, despite the fact that they were both originally recorded over a century ago and described differently later by multiple researchers.

The mounds served as an important ceremonial center along Apalachicola Bay some 1500 …

Collecting The Past: Using A Private Collection Of Artifacts To Assess Prehistoric Occupation Of The Chipola River Valley In Northwest Florida, Kelsey Kreiser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Chipola River Valley in northwest Florida is an area of extensive occupation by pre-contact peoples, dating as far back as the Paleo-Indian time period (approximately 11,000 BC). With such a rich archaeological history, it has enticed many local divers to explore river bottoms and collect artifacts. I worked with one local collector to study over 700 projectile points found in the Chipola River. The collector has taken great care to protect and preserve these points and, in many cases, documented the GPS coordinates from where they were collected. Using the GPS coordinates and ArcMap, I have been able to …

A Discourse Analysis Of Nursing Handoffs: Exploring Nurse-To-Nurse Interactions In Two Hospitals In Saudi Arabia, Abeer Mohammad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new realm of discourse research has started examining medical interactions in the crowded space – hospitals (Iedema, 2007). Beyond clinical settings and dyadic doctor-patient interactions, scholars have begun investigating doctors’ interactions in various hospital settings including Emergency Rooms and hospitals’ wards (e.g., Eggins & Slade, 2012; Slade & Eggins, 2016; Slade et al., 2015). Other investigations have expanded this scope of discourse research to include other health professionals, such as nurses (e.g., Staples, 2015). Drawing on discourse analytic approaches (Critical Discourse Analysis, Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, and Interactional Sociolinguistics), this study examined nurse-to-nurse handoff interactions in two hospitals in …

The Time To Love: Ideologies Of "Good" Parenting At A Family Service Organization In The Southeastern United States, Anna Davidson Abella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to understand definitions of what it means to be a “good” parent as described by parents and child development specialists at a family service organization in the Southeastern United States. Previous research on social reproduction and concerted cultivation have opened up pathways to understanding how social and economic inequality manifest in family life and the social structures of which they are a part. This ethnographic study is an effort to contribute to an anthropology of parenting by unveiling the ways that definitions of “good” parenting in middle-class and wealthy communities reflect time-intensive, attachment-based ideologies …

The Time To Love: Ideologies Of "Good" Parenting At A Family Service Organization In The Southeastern United States, Anna Davidson Abella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to understand definitions of what it means to be a “good” parent as described by parents and child development specialists at a family service organization in the Southeastern United States. Previous research on social reproduction and concerted cultivation have opened up pathways to understanding how social and economic inequality manifest in family life and the social structures of which they are a part. This ethnographic study is an effort to contribute to an anthropology of parenting by unveiling the ways that definitions of “good” parenting in middle-class and wealthy communities reflect time-intensive, attachment-based ideologies …

From Object To Other: Models Of Sociality After Idealism In Gadamer, Levinas, Rosenzweig, And Bonhoeffer, Christopher J. King

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers an account of the different ways in which putatively idealist and transcendental models of sociality, which grounded the subject’s relation to other human beings in the subject’s own cognition, were rejected and replaced. Scrapping this account led to a variety of models of sociality which departed from the subject as the ground of sociality, positing grounds outside of the subject. Hans-Georg Gadamer, Emmanuel Levinas, Franz Rosenzweig, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer represent alternative positions along a spectrum of models of sociality which reject the idealist concept of sociality.

The central argument of this dissertation claims that the responses to …

The Common Core State Standards And The Elementary Social Studies Curriculum: A Case Study Of Teacher Perceptions In Florida, Kacie M. Nadeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The most recent phase of curriculum reform in the era of accountability is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which have essentially reshaped the landscape of public education. Its objective of preparing K-12 students for college and career upon high school graduation have prioritized English language arts, mathematics, and science over social studies, which is not part of widespread high-stakes testing for elementary students. This qualitative case study investigated eleven intermediate elementary teachers’ perceptions of alignment between CCSS and the elementary social studies curriculum. Data gathering analysis included two semi-structured interviews and an archival analysis of the mandated curriculum. The …

"Beautifully Awful": A Feminist Ethnography Of Women Veterans' Experiences With Transition From Military Service, Kiersten H. Downs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As issues of gender inequality in the military are addressed, women will continue to fill jobs traditionally occupied by men, and ultimately take on a greater percentage of leadership responsibility. For these reasons, women will remain the fastest growing population within our active duty forces. An increased need for research, advocacy, and resources for programs and services designed specifically for women veterans is necessary in order to prepare for an upsurge in the numbers of women who will be seeking services in the years to come. This research utilized a feminist ethnographic approach for data collection and analysis. Data was …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Its Association With Cognitive Impairment In Non- Patient Older Population, Mohini D. Dutt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores cognitive impairment and its correlation to early- life adverse experiences in non-patient population between the ages of 50 to 65. This developmental approach and observational study design explores cognition in pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using a standardized neuropsychological instrument, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and clinically administered questionnaire, the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences), I hypothesized that participants with high ACE scores will inversely have low MoCA scores.

My goal was to use a multiple linear regression model with 3 covariates and 1 predictor of interest (ACEs). At 80% power, a sample size of 40 was calculated as …

Household Food Waste Prevention In Malaysia: An Issue Processes Model Perspective, Syahirah Abd Razak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste has been a worldwide concern for several decades but this problem is relatively new in the Malaysian context due to the increasing amount of food waste in recent years. Thus, the goal of the study is to provide the basic information of knowledge and involvement level, and their interaction in food waste prevention among households in Malaysia. This study seek to further mass communication research in the area of food waste. The Hallahan’s Issues Processes Model was used within this study in order to determine the relationship between knowledge, involvement, and food waste prevention behavior. The convenience sampling …

Water, Sanitation, And Citizenship: Perceptions Of Water Scarcity, Reuse, And Sustainability In Valparaiso De Goias, Brazil, Paola Andrea Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to reliable water and sanitation are two important goals to improve livelihoods around the world. Providing access to improved and safe water resources that are equitable and appropriate to local needs is important to improve sustainability long-term. In addition, framing access to water and sanitation as basic human rights is often used as a rationale in developing new water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions in developing countries around the world. But not all countries consider access to safe water and sanitation as a human right. In the thesis, the politics of improving and investment in water access and sanitation provision …

Diagnostic Divisions Of Eating Disorders: A Critical Analysis, Channah A. Leff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to critically examine the diagnostic divisions of eating disorders as proposed within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). I focus on Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED), although there were several new categories issued in 2013. Using person-centered ethnographic interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative data to highlight how disordered eaters perceive themselves and their behaviors in relation to their diagnoses. I recruited participants in Boston, MA from Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA), a decentralized network of support groups …

Measuring Trust In Post-Communist States: Making The Case For Particularized Trust., Nicole M. Ford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the literature on democracy and its relationship to trust provides little consensus regarding the role of trust, researchers have emphasized the importance of generalized trust over particularized in relation to democracy. This research marks a departure from this consensus, and exposes the neglected role of personal relationships in fostering successful democracy.

One of the key measurements of democracy in a country is social trust. There are three forms of trust: generalized, particularized and institutional. Previously, the measurement of social trust focused on the importance of generalized trust, that is, trust in those we do not know (Putnam, 1993; Fukuyama, …

Framing Genetically-Modified Foods Communication In China: A Content Analysis Of News Coverage Of People’S Daily And Southern Metropolis, Linqi Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Grounded in framing theory, this thesis presents a qualitative content analysis of newspaper coverage of genetically modified foods by two Chinese newspapers- People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis, in 2000-2017. The political, economic, public opinion and legal implications involved have made the reports of genetically modified (GM) foods present different framing, themes, and positions between People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis. This study aims to examine the various frames used in the coverage of GM foods in two major Chinese newspapers that operate within different media frameworks.

Results of the content analysis illustrated that significant differences existed in the newspapers in …

Grassroots Branding: An Exploration Of Grassroots Businesses Within The Florida Skateboard Community, Lawrence M. Shaw

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Why do original/grassroots branding efforts occurring on a local level continue to proliferate despite the existing market saturation created by larger corporate entities? Using existing theoretical frameworks associated with “do it yourself” (DIY) culture, this thesis explores cultures and themes associated with skateboarding, including the production and consumption of brands of skateboarding products; the use of space and spatiality by skateboarders; and, finally, changes in skateboarding. I conducted ethnographic interviews within a network of skateboard entrepreneurs in the Florida skateboard community, seeking to understand why they start brands, their perceptions of their entrepreneurial efforts, and how these businesses operate. Drawing …

More Than Just Empty Space: Integrated Geoarchaeological Investigations Of The Crystal River Site (8ci1) Plaza, Alexander C. Delgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crystal River (8CI1) is a Woodland period archaeological site on the west-central Gulf Coast of Florida, famous for its diverse suite of exotic artifacts typical of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, as well as its monumental shell mounds which surround a central plaza. Historically, these plazas are utilized as spaces for cultural expression, daily interactions between members of the community, economic exchanges, and discourse of all types. They also serve as a symbolic space, embodying social and political relations that are critical to the formation and maintenance of cultural identity. These spaces are challenging to study using conventional archaeological techniques since …

Re-Placing The Plantation Landscape At Yulee’S Margarita Plantation, Katherine M. Padula

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

U.S. Senator David Levy Yulee’s Margarita sugar plantation flourished from 1851 to 1864 in Homosassa, Citrus County, Florida. The plantation was abandoned in 1864 and memory of its precise location slowly faded, as the physical evidence of its existence deteriorated. Today, the only plantation structure known to be still standing is the sugar mill, preserved as part of the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park (CI124B). The remainder of the plantation, including its boundaries, remains unknown. Perhaps at least partly owing to this absence, the mill’s interpretive signage provides an unfortunate univocal historical interpretation of the site and lacking …

Understanding And Applying Emotional Intelligence: A Qualitative Study Of Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital Employees, Brenda Webb Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emotional intelligence (EI) has not been studied extensively within the Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA). The VHA is the largest healthcare organization in America with over 360,000 employees and the organization invests heavily in competency development. The Tampa VA is a level 1 facility with over 5,000 employees in the Tampa Bay area. The facilities Education office offers competency development through soft skills training, leadership development, and contracted courses that include emotional intelligence for leaders.

The purpose of this study was to better discern ten Tampa VA medical center employees understanding and application of EI competence within their personal and professional …

Documenting An Imperfect Past: Examining Tampa's Racial Integration Through Community, Film, And Remembrance Of Central Avenue, Travis R. Bell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the Civil Rights Movement in Tampa, Florida through documentary film to recognize an imperfect past and visually reconstruct Central Avenue as a physical and Thirdspace site of remembrance located at an intersection of race and community. Motivated by an ethnographic approach and through community engagement, Tampa Technique: Rise, Demise, and Remembrance of Central Avenue is a 54-minute film that explores Central Avenue’s rise to prominence through segregation, its physical and symbolic demise as a racialized site of communal space, and how it is remembered through collective and public memory in the location it once occupied. Documentary film …

Architectural Apprenticeship: A Case Study Of Exemplary Practice, Thomas Stephen Szumlic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to describe the nature of the architectural apprenticeship experience from a curricular, instructional, social, and transformative perspective to help interns move from novice status to entry-level expertise in architectural practice. The study examined the apprenticeship experience from a holistic perspective to develop a better understanding of the architectural internship program. To meet the study purpose and inquiry, a case study research design was used to explore and describe the nature of the apprenticeship experience from the perspectives of three stakeholder groups: the interns, the mentors, and the members of the community of practice (CoP). …

A Portrait In Black And White: An Analysis Of Race In The Adult Education Classroom, Tealia N. Deberry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult education is a reciprocal relationship between adult learners and adult education practitioners. As such, it is essential to understand the experiences of adult educators and adult education practitioners as they teach adults. This study focuses on how ideas about race and racism are examined in the graduate-level classroom and the adult learners’ experience as they focus on subject matter that challenges their assumptions and forces them to create new understandings about race. This study examines, through the portraiture methodology, the experiences of a White researcher and the adult learners engaging in dialogues about race in a CRT course.

The …

Problematic Participation And Educational Dilemmas: Ethnography Of The Educational Experiences Of Black Male Youth In Hillsborough County, Florida, Deneia Y. Fairweather

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the social sciences, research on black male youth (BMY) experiences in traditional academic settings has been limited to their failure to achieve due to their perceived dysfunctional family structure, gender and ethnic identity, social class, and social structural constraints. Characterized by the anthropological investigation into youth cultural, Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) framework, a theory of practice that includes an alternative framework of learning, and a mixed method approach with an emphasis on capturing the youth perspective through a PhotoVoice process, this research captures a dimension of BMY educational experiences by describing how exclusion from traditional academic settings is produced. …

Trade, Interaction And Change: Trace Elemental Characterization Of Maltese Neolithic To Middle Bronze Age Ceramics Using A Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, Frederick S. Pirone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The insular nature of the Maltese archipelago provides a unique opportunity to explore trade and cultural change from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages in the central Mediterranean. I hypothesize that, during the period in which the Maltese islands were experiencing a form of isolation—owing either to their distance from Sicily and other populated regions, to the collective formation of an inwardly-focused culture, or to a combination of these factors—it is unlikely that pottery played a significant role as either an import or export in the archipelago’s exchange relationships with other communities in the central Mediterranean. I accordingly propose that …

The Common Uncanny: Ghostlore And The Creation Of Virginia History, Alena R. Pirok

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ghost stories have a long and diverse history, they appeared in religious contexts, in secular traditions, in entertainment, and in therapy and healing. Few elements of human culture have been as dynamic as the idea that the dead return to the living world as immaterial beings. Since the late nineteenth century Virginians have used ghost stories to talk about, interpret, and understand the historical significance of place. This dissertation argues that Virginians have used ghost stories to identify and make meaning of historical sites since the turn of the last century. These historical ghost stories sought to highlight the presence …

Understanding Appointment Breaking: Dissecting Structural Violence And Barriers To Healthcare Access At A Central Florida Community Health Center, Paula Mead

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to healthcare is an important topic within medical anthropology, in part because access is denied or complicated through structural forces for many populations in the United States. Anthropological research explores the impact of lack of access to healthcare on the lives of at-risk populations, as well as the differing and unexpected ways that access is denied or limited (Adler and Newman 2002; Becker 2004; Becker 2007; Horton 2004; Horton, McCloskey, Todd, and Henricksen 2001; O'Daniel 2008). For low-income, rural and minority populations, research shows that access to healthcare is further complicated by a higher propensity to break appointments (Bean …