Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Policy Assessment & Observation (Epao) In Daycare Centers: Does The Daycare Provider And Environment Matter?, Jenna Ciotti

Public Health Theses

Abstract

Background: Prior to the development of the Activity Begins in Childhood (ABC) Trial, no cluster-randomized control trial has investigated the effectiveness of a physical activity intervention with daycare providers in Canada.

Rationale: Educating daycare providers about the importance of improving their preschooler’s gross motor skills, physical activity, and reducing sedentary time in their daycare environments is an important step toward diminishing the rates of childhood obesity and overweight across Canada.

Method: A total of N = 15 daycare centers were enrolled in the ABC trial and equally randomized to: Intervention 1, Intervention 2, or a Comparison Group. Intervention providers …

Safety Climate And Healthcare Worker Injury Rates, Jacqueline Cook

Public Health Theses

BACKGROUND: Safety climates that support safety-related behavior are associated with a fewer work-related injuries, and prior research in industry suggests that safety knowledge and motivation are strongly related to safety performance behaviors; this relationship is not well studied in healthcare settings. METHODS: We performed analyses of survey results from a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Safety Barometer employee perception survey, conducted among VHA employees in 2012. The employee perception survey assessed six safety program categories, including management participation, supervisor participation, employee participation, safety support activities, safety support climate, and organizational climate. We examined the impact of safety climate from the survey …

Confusion In The Marketplaces: A Qualitative And Experimental Assessment Of The Decision-Support Tools Used By Northeastern State-Based Health Insurance Exchanges, Taylor Robert Daily

Public Health Theses

The state-based exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act are not passive marketplaces that merely offer health insurance plans; they also endeavor to provide support to consumers in selecting those plans that best fit their healthcare needs. This paper examines the method by which six state-based exchanges (Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) attempt to accomplish this goal using their online shopping infrastructure, also known as a decision-support tool. First, these decision-support tools are qualitatively compared in order to access the design choices made by policymakers and relate those design choices to how they may impact consumer …

Gleaning In The Cedar Valley: A Post-Evaluation Study, Dylan Thomas Hillyer

Honors Program Theses

Gleaning is a term describing the act of either picking, cleaning or sorting produce that would otherwise be wasted. It is a practice long known to Europe, and in the past thirty years has gained immense popularity among non-profit organizations throughout the United States. The Cedar Valley Gleaning Program (CVGP) had its pilot-year in the fall of 2014. This thesis seeks to improve the efficacy of the CVGP through examining both the pilot year, and a qualitative study of gleaning operations worldwide, to answer the question: How can gleaning become an effective tool for communities in the Cedar Valley.

The Pura Belpré Award And The Portrayal Of Disability, Zoe Houser

Honors Program Theses

The Pura Belpré Award is one of the lesser known literary awards. Because other literary awards have been around longer and received a large amount of attention, there has been much research done over the other literary awards, including how the award books portray disabled characters within their pages. However, there is a lack of research about the portrayal of disability in books that have been awarded or honored by the Pura Belpré Award.

This paper will address the question of how many Pura Belpré Award winning books include prominent characters with disabilities and if they are portrayed positively or …

Investigating Educational Quality At One Comprehensive University, Blake Thurston Findley

Honors Program Theses

President Obama has called for increased access to higher education and simultaneously wants greater educational quality from our colleges and universities. Comprehensive universities in particular, due to their high enrollment of underserved populations, need to ensure they are providing the highest quality education possible. The current study investigated educational quality at a comprehensive university by examining research-supported behaviors related to educational quality as well as perceptions of educational quality of faculty and students. The study found that faculty play a tremendous role in comprehensive universities, yet are underappreciated by their administration. Additionally, comprehensive universities are trying to be everything to …

Juror Misperceptions Of Eyewitness Evidence : Impact On Expert Testimony And Credibility, Tiffany M. Anderson

Honors Program Theses

The criminal justice system generally assumes that jurors have a base knowledge and understanding of the issues surrounding memory evidence. On some occasions, however, experts are brought in to testify and explain these issues to jurors. Though jurors (along with judges and attorneys) like to believe they are knowledgeable about the variables that may affect eyewitness memory, the reality is that they have a very limited understanding. However, there is little research on what misperceptions exist among laypeople regarding eyewitness memory. This is problematic because expert testimony may be more useful if it specifically addresses common misperceptions rather than just …

Effect Of Exercise Vs. Attention-Control On Depression Symptomatology In Ovarian Cancer Survivors: The Women’S Activity And Lifestyle Study In Connecticut (Walc), Meghan B. Hughes

Public Health Theses

Background: With no effective screening tool, ovarian cancer survivors often suffer from unpleasant treatment-related side effects that influence quality of life. Increased physical activity has been associated with lower depression scores in ovarian cancer survivors. However, to date, no randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of exercise on depression has been conducted in this population. The Women’s Activity and Lifestyle Study in Connecticut (WALC) was a randomized trial examining the impact of exercise vs. attention-control on quality of life, body composition, and cancer biomarkers in ovarian cancer survivors. This analysis examined the effect of exercise on depression scores.

Methods: We …

Charter Eviction: Litigating Out Of House And Home, Margot Young

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The case of Tanudjaja v Attorney General (Canada) takes up the cause of housing rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in a novel and complex way. The government actions and inactions cited as constitutional breaches and the broad remedial requests reflect the “pixelated” picture of housing concerns necessary to understanding Canada’s housing security crisis. In dismissing the challenge at a preliminary stage, the Ontario Superior and Appeal Courts risk rendering the Charter irrelevant to the deep social justice concerns that cross our country. More specifically, formulaic judicial invocation of concerns about positive rights and justiciability leave the …

The Right To Housing In France: Still A Long Way To Go From Intention To Implementation, Claire Lévy-Vroelant

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The goal of this essay is to examine the implementation of housing rights in France. Legislation adopted in March 2007 opened the possibility of an enforceable right, which can be asserted before a court. However, it also created new inequalities before the law. Indeed, the conditions required to access that right exclude people who do not have permanent residence or a valid temporary resident permit. The implementation of this right is also limited due to the lack of available housing, especially at Ile-de-France, and to competition between people with priority entitlements. The horrible fire at a furnished Parisian hotel in …

Do Us Proud: Poor Women Claiming Adjudicative Space At Cesr, Emily Paradis

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Claiming Our Rights was a feminist participatory action research project based at Sistering, a Toronto drop-in for women facing homelessness. At weekly meetings over the course of eighteen months, members learned about social and economic rights, gave testimony on their lived experiences, and undertook actions to claim their rights. Among other initiatives, the group—which members named FORWARD—contributed a report on women’s homelessness to the 2006 review of Canada by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This paper draws upon observations of the group’s process and in-depth interviews with participants to assess this human rights education methodology. …

General Anesthesia: A Literature Review - Induction, Mechanism, Agents, And Effects, Sylvie Yaacoub

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Interventions In The Enhancement Or Preservation Of Motor Skill Learning In Those With Mild Dementia, Dinah Hudson

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The aim of this research is to provide a resource on current available data regarding methods used for enhancing or preserving motor learning in those with Alzheimer's dementia (AD). A decline in motor skill learning is associated with increased morbidity in the AD population. The implementation of interventions such as multisensory environments (MSE), physiotherapy, and physical activity may prove beneficial in stalling the inevitable degeneration of motor skills in this population. These interventions then may indirectly increase levels of activities of daily living, autonomy, and the quality of life of AD patients. The importance of familiarizing individuals with this knowledge …

Relationship Between Honors College Membership, Student Satisfaction, And Personality At Eastern Michigan University, Caitlin Baumer

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Student satisfaction is a high priority for universities across the nation, as high levels of satisfaction have been correlated with higher enrollment and retention rates. There are an infinite number of things that can potentially influence a student's level of satisfaction with a college or university, making it increasingly difficult for the institution to maintain high levels of satisfaction across their diverse populations of students. Factors such as academic advising, registration effectiveness, instructional effectiveness, and campus climate have been shown to influence student satisfaction, and thus impact an individual's college experience. It was predicted that students who are members of …

"Microfinance As A Determinant Of Domestic Violence In Bangladesh: Who Is At Risk?", Alvin Christian

Dissertations and Theses

This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor …

Gendered Political Economy: The Economic And Social Factors That Affect Women’S Political Participation, Ginger Albertson

Dissertations and Theses

There is a prevailing attitude that increasing women’s economic participation leads to their empowerment, or increases their agency in influencing decision making. This is despite large data evidence to the contrary and acknowledgement by financial institutions that a link cannot be established. This thesis examines what impact labor participation has on women’s influence in their community and their political participation, how non-income related skills like advocacy increases women’s self-confidence and agency, and the role non-formal training and networks play in increasing women’s participation in decision making and political participation. I find that when conducting a data comparison there does not …

Why Are Grimms' Fairy Tales So Mysteriously Enchanting?, Ana Neophytou

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Paradoxes Of Female Authorship In Samuel Richardson‘S Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded, Jane Austen's Emma And Henry James' The Portrait Of A Lady, Ewa Barnes

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Colonialism In Moll Flanders And The Belle’S Stratagem, Tamara Kathwari

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Can Gender-Stereotyped Depictions Of Occupations In Primary School Textbooks Help Shape Students' Career Choice In The Dominican Republic?, Hurtado Pérez Nohemí

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

I See You Do That, But Do I Think I Can Do That?: Fieldwork And Self-Efficacy, Julia Zak

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Face Of The Market, Thomas Woodcock

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reviews the effect on economic openness that can be established by the presence of strong Global Compact local networks. The work identifies three measures of openness and four sets of domestic conditions in which the Global Compact operates, respectively: (1) prevalence of trade, (2) measures of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment and (3) policy indicators of openness, in respect to democracies with (a) strong local networks or (b) weak local networks, as well as autocratic regimes with (c) strong or (d) weak local networks. A comparative study follows, looking at twenty-three years of data across fifty …

Empirical Investigation Of Samhsa’S (Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration) Model Of Wellness, Dipanjana Das

Dissertations and Theses

The quest to operationalize the construct of wellness has been elusive. Part of the difficulty resides in the way wellness has been conceptualized in the literature, using different non-overlapping models. Another drawback is that many existing models are not based on solid empirical evidence. The current study addressed these limitations by assessing the empirical validity of SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) model of wellness. We created an instrument to assess wellness based on a thorough review of the literature that serves as the basis of the SAMHSA model that can be used to assess wellness. Findings revealed …

The Will To Change: The Role Of Self-Consciousness In The Literature Of Metamorphosis, Michael Giovanniello

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Cultural Identity And Attenuated Psychotic Experiences, Aleksandr Tikhonov

Dissertations and Theses

Empirical research has shown an increased prevalence of psychosis among immigrant groups living in Westernized contexts. Cultural identity has been researched as a risk/protective factor for psychosis; however no consistent result has emerged. Cultural identity captures an individuals’ sense of belonging in a particular cultural group (s), including one’s ethnic group (i.e. ethnic identity), and/or mainstream society (i.e. national identity). While previous research has considered both immigrants’ ethnic and national identity in relationship to psychosis, current research has not looked at whether the relationship of one identity to the other impacts psychosis. Bicultural identity integration (BII) describes the degree to …

Citizens Electoral Behavior In Autocratic Regimes, Venezuela, Turkey, Russia, Marta Diaz Fernandez-Lomana

Dissertations and Theses

This study offers an explanation of why voters repeatedly choose leaders who came to power democratically at some point but will not abandon it when they ought to. Research shows leaders will employ any and every mechanism to remain in power, from restricting liberties to turning to violence as a method of repressing dissidence yet voters continue to vote them back into power. Why? Through an examination of the current situations in Venezuela, Turkey and Russia, the thesis reveals that economic performance provides the key explanation. If the country provides welfare to its citizens, they will be willing to overlook …

Factors Which Prolong Civil Conflict In Africa: The Case Of Angola, Liberia And Sierra Leone, Ntesang Lorraine Molemele

Dissertations and Theses

It has been a long journey for this thesis accomplishment and now finally it is accomplished. First and foremost I thank God for my mother, Seskhutshwe, who has always wanted her children to accomplish through education. It would not have been possible of course without my dad, Judge and my little sister Ikey. My 9 year old daughter, I also thank her for always making sure she did not disturb me whenever I had to concentrate on this project. Above all, I wish to express my gratitude to my exceedingly patient Professor and supervisor, Jacqueline Braveboy. I have probably been …

Gender Based Violence As A Continuum Of Human Rights Violations In Russia And The Czech Republic, Alena Lebron

Dissertations and Theses

Gender-based violence can take various forms – physical, sexual, psychological, and economic. Violence against women is a global public health problem and not only violates human rights, but also hampers productivity, reduces human capital, and undermines economic growth. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, human trafficking for sexual exploitation and domestic violence have become a significant problem in post-communist countries. The fall of the Soviet Union also shaped national gender policies in post-communist countries. Despite the common challenges they face, success in implementing anti-trafficking procedures and measures against domestic violence varies from country to country.

According to …

Civilian Protection: The Imperative Role Of Civil Society, Collen Kelly

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Protofeminist Women In Bronte’S Jane Eyre And Braddon’S Lady Audley’S Secret, Allison Wong

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.