Measuring Friendship Maintenance In Gay Men, Eliah Reding

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the existing friendship maintenance literature to develop a psychometrically sound scale for the measurement of friendship maintenance among gay men. Existing friendship maintenance research does not adequately capture the uniqueness of gay male friendship. Utilizing DeVellis’s (2016) steps of scale development, this dissertation constructs a new scale, the GayFABS, to assess the unique aspects of friendship maintenance in gay men. Unique in this dissertation is the use of a focus group to establish content validity rather than the traditional approach of expert review. An exploratory factor analysis is conducted to structure the scale and its component subscales. …

A Presidential Leadership Process For Higher Education In Small, Rural Institutions And Settings, Teresa Caplinger Spaeth

Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative research study was conducted to explore leadership competencies of presidents of public universities with enrollments of less than 7,000, located in small rural communities and distant locations in the Upper Midwest. The context of higher education is constantly evolving. Internal pressures from faculty and students, as well as external factors such as finances, new technologies, and stakeholder demands play a role in determining the future of academic institutions and the success of their leadership.

Much literature has been written regarding higher education leadership, best practices for success, and future changes that should be made to maintain sustainable institutions, …

Global Capital Flows, Time Varying Fundamentals And Transitional Exchange Rate Dynamics: An Ms-Var Approach, Süleyman Hilmi Kal, Ilhami Gunduz

Publications and Research

This paper studies whether dynamic relationship between exchange rate and economic and financial fundamentals vary depending on exchange rate is overvalued and undervalued with respect to its fundamental value. To achieve this, we implement two-state Markov Switching Vector Auto Regression (MSVAR) model with time varying transition probabilities to investigate whether the relationship among exchange rate, interest rate and inflation dynamics depend on overvaluation and undervaluation of exchange rates for the pre-crises period between years 1972-2009. We govern the transition between the undervalued and overvalued states by using Sharpe Ratios of debt and equity investments of the currency to assess whether …

Novel Maximum Entrophy Method For The Average Survival Time Differences Between Two Groups, Joscelyne Guzman - Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

We suggest a Maximum Likelihood estimator for the Average Survival Time Difference between two groups, based on the extra time in which should be added to one group to produce the maximum entropy of the result. The estimator is calculated only from time to event data, does not assume hazard proportionality and provides directly the magnitude of the clinical differences between the groups. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that, even at low sample numbers the estimator is a reliable predictor for the clinical differences between the groups, and therefore can be used to estimate from preliminary data whether or not …

The Negative Impact Of Copy-Pasting Within Memoranda: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Army's Sharp Program Memoranda, Lionell Manlutac

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research used the framework of the coding system of grounded theory to analyze the United States Army's Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program memoranda. A rhetorical analysis framework was used to point out the need to incorporate social justice into technical communication. The analysis of the copy-pasted information shows that the author lacks an authorial voice and writing to a general audience, which creates a lack of exigency in creating a safe and healthy work environment.

Born Again With Trump: The Portrayal Of Evangelicals In The Media, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

Since Trump’s ascendancy in American politics and his subsequent election, a number of articles have surfaced in the media trying to explain evangelical voters’ support of Trump. This paper analyzes common descriptions and conceptions of evangelicals by identifying recurring descriptions of evangelicals in 110 online articles published in a two-and-a-half-year period surrounding Trump’s presidential campaign and election. The results indicate that the answer to the question as to why evangelicals support Trump resides not so much in their theology, but in their aspirations for America and assumptions of what America should be like. This paper argues that it is crucial …

Law Is Not Enough, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

In this Carhart Memorial Lecture, Professor Neil Siegel seeks to explain why, over the past several years, many Americans of diverse ideological commitments have been emphasizing the importance of constitutional norms. It is because they understand that law is not enough to sustain the American constitutional project. Why is law not enough? Because the vitally important purposes that Americans ascribe to the U.S. Constitution require more than legal fidelity for their vindication. Constitutional norms are constitutional in the sense that they are closely tied to the purposes, or spirit, of the Constitution. They are constitutional in the sense that it …

Aligning Best Practices In Student Success And Career Preparedness: An Exploratory Study To Establish Pathways To Stem Careers For Undergraduate Minority Students, Kimberly D. Kendricks, Anthony A. Arment, K. V. Nedunuri, Cadance A. Lowell

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Undergraduate minority retention and graduation rates in STEM disciplines is a nationally recognized challenge for workforce growth and diversification. The Benjamin Banneker Scholars Program (BBSP) was a five-year undergraduate study developed to increase minority student retention and graduation rates at an HBCU. The program structure utilized a family model as a vehicle to orient students to the demands of college. Program activities integrated best K-12 practices and workforce skillsets to increase academic preparedness and career readiness. Findings revealed that a familial atmosphere improved academic performance, increased undergraduate research, and generated positive perceptions of faculty mentoring. Retention rates among BBSP participants …

Poverty Simulation Participation: Transformative Learning Outcomes Among Family And Consumer Sciences Students, Sally E. Arnett-Hartwick, Tamra S. Davis

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent participating in a poverty simulation effectively increase a student’s understanding of life in poverty among human development and family sciences (HDFS) and teacher education students in family and consumer sciences (FCS). Using a mixed-method design, a convenience sample of junior and senior undergraduate students (N=57) in FCS from a Midwestern state university participated in a modified version of a poverty simulation. Using a pre-post questionnaire, the quantitative results indicated overall scores moved in a favorable direction in attitude improvement toward the poor and the qualitative responses provided support for …

The Revolution Won’T Be Live Tweeted: On Jen Schradie’S “The Revolution That Wasn’T: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives", Emily Drabinski

Publications and Research

Review of Jen Schradie's "The Revolution That Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives"