Digital Commons Network^™

Conspiracy Theories, Cass R. Sunstein, Adrian Vermeule

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Many millions of people hold conspiracy theories; they believe that powerful people have worked together in order to withhold the truth about some important practice or some terrible event. A recent example is the belief, widespread in some parts of the world, that the attacks of 9/11 were carried out not by Al Qaeda, but by Israel or the United States. Those who subscribe to conspiracy theories may create serious risks, including risks of violence, and the existence of such theories raises significant challenges for policy and law. The first challenge is to understand the mechanisms by which conspiracy theories …

The Future Of Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions: An Experimental Investigation Of Two Hypotheses, Donald Braman, Dan M. Kahan, Paul Slovic, John Gastil, Geoffrey L. Cohen

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper reports the results of an experiment designed to test competing conjectures about the evolution of public attitudes toward nanotechnology. The rational enlightenment hypothesis holds that members of the public will become favorably disposed to nanotechnology as balanced and accurate information about it disseminates. The cultural cognition hypothesis, in contrast, holds that members of the public are likely to polarize along cultural lines when exposed to such information. Using a between-subjects design (N = 1,862), the experiment compared the perceptions of subjects exposed to balanced information on the risks and benefits of nanotechnology to the perceptions of subjects exposed …

Ot 820 Research Methods In Old Testament Interpretation, Bill T. Arnold

Syllabi

Course description A seminar in which participants explore through readings, practice, and critical discussion the range of methods employed in contemporary Old Testament study. The entire research process – from “getting into the conversation” and specifying a “thesis” to the presentation of one’s research – will be discussed, modeled, and practiced.

Ecn 3100 : Global Threats And Problems, Economics

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

A Follow-Up Study Of Marketing Education Graduates From Old Dominion University 2001-2007, Meghan Dowd

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem in this study was to evaluate graduates of the marketing education program at Old Dominion University to determine the program's effectiveness in preparing them to enter the teaching profession.

The Perception Of Homeless People: Important Factors In Determining Perceptions Of The Homeless As Dangerous, Amy Donley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study uses two quantitative and two qualitative data sources to determine if homeless people are viewed as dangerous and if they are what factors contribute to this perception. Areas examined are respondent's characteristics, media affects and the perceived rights of homeless people to urban space. Actual levels of perpetration among the homeless are examined to allow for comparisons between perception and reality to be made. Findings showed that race plays a major role in the perception of homeless peo-ple among whites, while gender is more influential among blacks. There was no rela-tionship between media and perceptions. A negative relationship …

Relational Transgressions In Romantic Relationships: How Individuals Negotiate The Revelation And Concealment Of Transgression Information Within The Social Network, Melissa A. Maier

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined how individuals negotiate the revelation and concealment of information following an act of infidelity within the social network. Research has shown that individuals experience a tension when deciding to reveal and/or conceal information regarding a relational transgression (Baxter, 1994, Baxter & Braithwaite, 2007). Drawing on dialectical tensions (Baxter, 1990), relational transgressions (Roloff & Cloven, 1994), and support networks (Cutrona and Suhr, 1992; Klein & Milardo, 2000), this project posed a number of research questions. Interviews were conducted with 22 participants regarding their communication following the discovery of an act of infidelity. Participants were asked to discuss who …

Differences In Methamphetamine Users And Crack Cocaine Users, Kilby Erwin Raptopoulos

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses basic differences between crack cocaine users and methamphetamine users. The sample consisted of stimulant users who tested positive for either crack cocaine and/or methamphetamine from three rural counties in eastern Arkansas. This study seeks to further existing knowledge concerning drug use by examining demographics, drug use patterns, criminal histories and parental substance abuse. The study used Respondent-Driven Sampling to accumulate a sample size of 211 participants. Data was obtained through self-reported demographic information, drug use, criminal histories, and parental substance abuse problems during individual interviews, which were also matched with the results from a urinary analysis to …

Set Linear Algebra And Set Fuzzy Linear Algebra, Florentin Smarandache, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy, K. Ilanthenral

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this book, the authors define the new notion of set vector spaces which is the most generalized form of vector spaces. Set vector spaces make use of the least number of algebraic operations, therefore, even a non-mathematician is comfortable working with it. It is with the passage of time, that we can think of set linear algebras as a paradigm shift from linear algebras. Here, the authors have also given the fuzzy parallels of these new classes of set linear algebras. This book abounds with examples to enable the reader to understand these new concepts easily. Laborious theorems and …

Chinese Neutrosophy And Taoist Natural Philosophy, Florentin Smarandache, Jiang Zhengjie

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Botany

No abstract provided.

The Academic Achievement Of African-American Students In Orange County Public High Schools, Athena Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted to determine the disparity between the academic achievement of African American students and the academic achievement of white American students in the state of Florida, and more specifically, in five high schools in Orange County Public Schools. The term "African American" included all students who self-identified as that race upon enrollment into an Orange County public school. The study included male and female African American students from different socio-economic levels. The term "differences in academic achievement" is most commonly referred to as "achievement gap." Additionally, this study sought to determine the relationship, if any, in the …

Altruism And Perception Of A Common Humanity In The World Value Survey Waves 2 And 4: A Quantitative Analysis, Suzanne Hodge

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This paper seeks to understand the motivation of those who take time from their lives to help others. The research will look at altruistic attitudes and behaviors around the world and determine whether individuals exhibiting these behaviors believe in a common humanity. It will consider what the individual says he believes and how or if he chooses to act on those beliefs. The statistics used for the analysis of the World Values Survey Waves 2 and 4 in this paper are cross tabulations, factor analysis, including assigning factor scores to each observation, Pearson’s correlation, linear regression, and an independent samples …

An End To The Deadbeat Dad Dilemma? - Puncturing The Paradigm By Allowing A Deduction For Child Support Payments , Reginald Mombrun

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Approaching Comparative Company Law , David C. Donald

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Shadowy Aesthetics: The Cultural Front, Literary Judgments And Perceptions Of Mass Entertainment, Graham Barnfield

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Michael Denning's The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century was published in late 1996. There are numerous ways of reading its contribution to American cultural studies. Simply put, the book pursued a reading of US cultural history using the "Birmingham School" cultural studies approach developed in Britain in the 1970s to which Denning himself was a contributor. Simultaneously, it sought to recover a home-grown analytical and radical tradition, by looking at the early contributions of loosely analogous intellectual tendencies situated in the US labor movement in the quarter century or so after the …

Undergraduate Catalog, 2008-2009, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Sexuality Education For Youth In Maharashtra: Yes Or No?, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips)

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Serious reservations have been expressed in Maharashtra about the sexuality component of programs intended to build awareness of safe and healthy behaviors for school-going youth. This policy brief answers: Is there a need for sexuality education in school and out-of-school in Maharashtra? Are the concerns expressed supported by evidence? Evidence was obtained from the Youth in India: Situation and Needs study conducted in Maharashtra, which explored young people’s awareness of sexual and reproductive matters, sexual experiences of youth, parent–child communication on sexual and reproductive matters, and experience and acceptability of sexuality education programs. Parents were asked whether they had discussed …

No Justice, No Peace? National Reconciliation And Local Conflict Resolution In Cambodia, Mneesha Gellman

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is expected by many in the international community to bring a sense of reconciliation to a nation still grappling with the aftermath of more than thirty years of civil war. Yet the gap between national and local reconciliation initiatives tests post-conflict reconstruction efforts to meet the needs of Cambodian citizens who feel unconnected to the tribunal. This article inquires into the interrelationship between national reconciliation processes and grassroots peacebuilding in the form of conflict resolution trainings. Noting that retributive justice processes cannot take the place of restorative justice, genuine reconciliation in Cambodia will need to incorporate …

Exploring The Relationship Between Patients' Health Locus Of Control And Perception Of Physician's Support, Maria F. Ricci Twitchell

HIM 1990-2015

This study explored the relationship between patients' Health Locus of Control and their perceptions about the nature of their physician-patient relationship. The Locus of Control Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale were implemented to measure the degree of personal control individuals attribute to their health. The Health Care Climate Questionnaire was used to measure the perceived physician support. The predicted result of the study was that patients who exhibit a higher degree of internal health locus of control would report better relationships with their physicians. This hypothesis was confirmed; there was a positive relationship between Internal health …

University Of Central Florida Ir 2007-2008 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida

Historical Fact Book and Enrollment

Historical fact book and enrollment data for the University of Central Florida.

Improving Dimension Reduction Via Contour-Projection, Hansheng Wang, Liqiang Ni, Chih-Ling Tsai

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Most sufficient dimension reduction methods hinge on the existence of finite moments of the predictor vector, a characteristic which is not necessarily warranted for every elliptically contoured distribution as commonly encountered in practice. Hence, we propose a contour-projection approach, which projects the elliptically distributed predictor vector onto a unit contour, which shares the same shape as the predictor density contour. As a result, the projected vector has finite moments of any order. Furthermore, contour-projection yields a hybrid predictor vector, which encompasses both the direction and length of the original predictor vector. Therefore, it naturally leads to a substantial improvement on …

Men Who Have Sex With Men And Recruit Bareback Sex Partners On The Internet: Implications For Sti And Hiv Prevention And Client Education, Christopher W. Blackwell

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Men who have sex with men (MSM) frequently use Internet-based Web sites to recruit sex partners. Although many MSM users of such sites advocate for safe sex practices in their personal profiles, some users actively recruit sexual partners who wish to participate in anal sexual intercourse without the use of condoms, also known as "bareback" sex. Participating in this sexual practice places both sexual partners at higher risk of HIV transmission. In addition, data indicate this behavior is associated with other high-risk activities such as drug use and communication of other sexually transmitted infections. This article summarizes the literature assessing …

The Gendered Altar: Wiccan Concepts Of Gender And Ritual Objects, Jesse Sloan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many ethnographic accounts within the annals of anthropological literature describe the religious beliefs and magical rituals of peoples throughout the world. Fewer scholars have focused on the relatively young Neo-Pagan religious movement. "Neo-Pagan," explains Helen Berger in Voices from the Pagan Census (2003), "is an umbrella term covering sects of a new religious movement, the largest and most important form of which is…Wicca" (Berger et al. 2003: 1). This thesis examines the relationship between practice and ideology by analyzing the material culture of Wiccan altars as used by Wiccans in Central Florida, USA. Particular attention is paid to beliefs …

Collaborative Dispute Resolution In Superfund Enforcement:Does The Resolution Approach Vary By Community-Level Sociodemographic, Mary Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines environmental dispute resolution as applied to Superfund site cleanup and how the use of collaborative dispute resolution approaches, in particular Alternative Dispute Resolution and Community Involvement, are related to a community's socioeconomic and demographic profile. It examines the sociodemographic characteristics of residents living in census tracts containing Superfund sites in relation to the type of dispute resolution technique used. I hypothesize that collaborative dispute resolution techniques, as opposed to traditional settlement and/or litigation, are less likely to occur in Superfund communities with high poverty levels and high minority populations than in those with low poverty levels and …

The Cost Of Being Me: Assessing The Consequences Of Compliance With Perceived Pressure To Assimilate In Work Roles, Tangela Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation refers to the process of change and adaptation that occurs between members of cultural groups, especially when one or more minority groups merge with the majority (Berry, 1980). In order to effectively manage diversity, organizational leaders are beginning to realize the importance of understanding the dynamics associated with cross cultural interactions in the workplace. This dissertation focuses on the acculturation mode of assimilation relative to the experiences of 101 African Americans employed in faculty and staff positions in colleges and universities located in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, the moderating role of ethnic identity on the relation between perceived …

Case Studies Of Reading Performance Of Male Students And The Single-Sex Classroom, Eric Basilo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data from standardized test scores shows boys are falling further behind in literacy each year. Thanks to countless hours of research, we can pinpoint some of the causes for this decline. The major challenge educators face is how to keep boys interested in reading while placed in classrooms not necessarily designed to meet their needs. One option being explored is the use of single-sex classrooms. For over 160 years in the United States, public school single-sex classrooms have existed. The thought is that by separating boys and girls for academic classes, certain distractions will be eliminated, the environment can be …

The Relationship Between School Culture And Third-Grade Fcat Reading Proficiency In Seminole County Public Elementary Schools, Kelley Novak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to determine the relationship between school culture and student achievement. Elementary school teachers (N=574) from 27 schools in suburban Seminole County, Florida completed the School Culture Triage Survey to generate a school culture score. The participating schools were ranked and placed in categories representing the top 33% (N=9), middle 33% (N=9), and bottom 33% (N=9) of the population based on their culture score. School culture data were analyzed and correlated with third grade student achievement data, as measured by the 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading to determine if there were any relationships between (a) school …

Effects Of Discussion And Writing On Student Understanding Of Mathematics Concepts, Joseph Roicki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For this action research project, I wanted to examine my practice of teaching mathematics. Specifically, I encouraged students to improve their communication skills during my math class through daily discussion and writing tasks. After establishing a class set of sociomathematical norms, the students solved problems provided by the Every Day Counts: Calendar Math program and used verbal and written formats to describe their problem solving methods and reasons. My study showed the effects of using discussion and writing to help students develop their conceptual understanding of mathematical ideas. Focus was placed on the quality of daily discussions and written tasks …

Evaluation Of The Antecedents Of Cultural Competence, Mary Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The threefold purpose of this research is to identify the essential antecedents of cultural competence as identified by international nurse researchers, to compare the content of the extant cultural competence instruments to these antecedents and to potentially identify gaps in their conceptualization. A secondary aim of this research is to initiate validation of Harper's model of ethical multiculturalism. Conceptual Basis: The model of ethical multiculturalism depicts the attributes of ethical multiculturalism as the fulcrum of a balance between two ethical philosophies of fundamentalism and relativism. The attributes of moral reasoning, beneficence/nonmaleficence, respect for persons and communities, and cultural competence …