Digital Commons Network^™

Racial Capitalism And The African American Experience Entering The Cannabis Industry, Ayoka Medlock-Nurse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The cannabis industry in the United States is a competitive 16.9-billion-dollar industry built on private ownership, access to resources, operation for profit, and racism. However, under current cannabis policies, African American entrepreneurs are not benefiting from ownership and employment within the cannabis industry. Though some policies claim that the current medicinal and adult recreation laws will rectify racial disparities in arrest and ownership regarding cannabis sales, thus far, there are no sufficient increases to ownership, employment, or effective equity programs in place that accurately address racial disparities and the public policy barriers that keep African Americans excluded from the cannabis …

An Interrupted Times Series Of The Personnel Security Section's Method To Address The Periodic Reinvestigation Case Backlog, Lathaniel F. Mills

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem of periodic reinvestigation case backlogs faced by the personnel security section of the Transportation Security Administration was explored in this study. Specifically, a quantitative, quasi-experimental, interrupted time series methodology was employed to examine the effectiveness of the periodic reinvestigation team creation by the personnel security section to mitigate the case backlog. The administrative study was needed because the case backlog prevents the organization from following government guidance on periodic reinvestigation case processing. Organizational change theory was the conceptual framework that guided this study. Data gathered from the Integrated Security Management System helped answer the central research question regarding …

Evaluating Compliance With The Produce Safety Rule And Managing Mycotoxins, Yvette May Molajo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Foodborne diseases are the cause of many illnesses that occur from foods that contain mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are produced from fungi and are environmental and carcinogenic agents that contaminate agricultural foods during preharvest and postharvest conditions. While researchers have conducted many studies on mycotoxin occurrence and production, there is a significant gap in the current literature regarding which environmental factors could put farmers’ ability to remain in compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule at risk. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate which environmental factors could put farmers’ ability to remain in compliance with …

Relationship Between Trust, Race, And Health Care Information Sources Among African American Men, Uzochukwu Onukogu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAfrican American men have not been sufficiently at the center of research studies, especially when it comes to health. Most researchers have explored African Americans as a whole, and few have looked at African American men specifically, especially when it comes to their perceptions and ability to trust sources of health information. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between race and trust in health information sources, including the relationship between prostate cancer health outreach done through the internet and the acceptance of such information outreach among African American men. The theory of planned behavior …

Program Evaluation: Assessing A Housing First Initiative, Caitlin Pennicooke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Housing First is a nationally recognized approach to solving homelessness, but literature does not account for the unique characteristics of geographic locations that are isolated and have high cost of living. This study examined one such city and benchmarked it against another. To protect the identities of these cities, the alias Island City (IC) for the city under examination and Sun City for the benchmark. This research explored IC’s Housing First program related to mitigating homelessness. The purpose of this study was to benchmark IC’s Housing First program against Sun City’s program using the context, input, process, and product (CIPP) …

The Impact Of Financial Education On The Lives Of Cherokee Nation Citizens, Ron Pense

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial literacy is something that is important for financial well-being for individuals, but it is lacking, leading to problems such as inadequate saving and poor financial decision making. This research was conducted to examine the impact of financial education for citizens of Cherokee Nation on saving and financial decision making and was grounded in prospect theory and quasi-rational economics. Accordingly, the research questions focused on the extent of differences between individuals with and without financial education for decision making and saving as well as the extent demographic factors play a role. The research design was non-experimental causal comparative with financial …

Coping Strategies And Relationship Satisfaction Among Dual-Military Married Army Couples, Leila Powell-Disola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, millions of U.S. military personnel have deployed overseas. Military deployment can be a tremendous stressor on military families and negatively impact the marital relationship. Few previous studies and interventions have considered the effects deployment can have on dual-military married couples. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine what coping strategies dual-military couples used during deployment and whether use of these strategies affected their relationship satisfaction (RS). The theoretical framework for this study consisted of the social exchange theory and the exchange-based dual-military marriage model. A sample of 103 dual-military Army spouses, male or female, was recruited …

Counselor Experiences With Clients Who Bring Emotional Support Animals To Sessions, Jennifer Reynolds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractLimited research on emotional support animals (ESAs) has led to distorted viewpoints of ESAs and how they are used; many individuals are not utilizing ESAs appropriately, and heightened awareness of the negative uses of ESAs in media and other public sources. ESAs can be an effective intervention when working with clients during counseling sessions, but due to the limited research and the negative stigma media this intervention may not be adequately represented. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of counselors who allow their clients to bring ESAs to counseling session, the goal of reducing …

Strategies For Increasing Information Technology Employee Work-Life Balance, Kimberly D. Seymour

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small to medium enterprise (SME) information technology (IT) managers’ lack of strategic planning initiatives in creating a work life balance environment has created personal and financial concerns for some employees in the United States. Managers must develop and implement strategies that increase profits and productivity as well as create work life balance. Grounded in Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies SME IT business managers used to develop and implement an employee work-life balance environment. The participants were three IT managers and two human resources business managers. Data were collected from semistructured …

Social Media Marketing Strategies For Increasing Customer Engagement, Joe Nwachukwu Umunna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some business leaders are not using social media to improve customer engagement resulting in a potential loss of profit. Ineffective social media marketing strategies can negatively impact customer engagement. Grounded in the networking, representation, engagement theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore social media marketing strategies business leaders use to increase customer engagement. The participants comprised of six business leaders located in the northeast region of the United States who effectively used social media marketing strategies to increase customer engagement. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: marketing …

Risk Factors For Foodborne Illness Outbreaks In Retail Food Establishments, Brendalee Viveiros

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite policies and interventions over the last two decades, foodborne illness remains a significant public health concern. According to the CDC’s Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, 60% of reported foodborne illness outbreaks involved food that was prepared at a restaurant. Reducing foodborne illness outbreaks that occur at restaurants would have a significant impact on the overall number of foodborne illnesses that occur each year. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the differences in risk factors in food establishments that have had a foodborne illness outbreak compared to food establishments that have not. This study used Reckwitz’s theory …

Play Lu Interactive Technology And Standardized Mathematics Scores, Oguz Yildiz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology-based learning tools provide new opportunities to engage students in learning academic content. This study focuses on one such tool, Play Lu Interactive Technology (PLIT), and analyzes how students’ math achievement on standardized test scores differs between students who have used PLIT and students who have not. PLIT is designed to improve students’ communication and teamwork skills in addition to math skills. The data were collected from seventh-grade students at a public school in the state of New York that used PLIT to support students’ academic achievement in math. Due to scheduling limitations, only half of the seventh-grade students used …

Mss0079. John Wilton Collection Finding Aid

Special Collections Finding Aids

Manuscript musical compositions and arrangements of civil engineer, John Wilton, 1847-1922, Memphis, Tennessee.

Mss0112. G.B. Adamson Collection Finding Aid

Special Collections Finding Aids

The collection comprises reporters’ dispatches and telegrams sent to Dr. Greenberry Adamson in Jackson, Tennessee, with news of Civil War battles and other stories from June to November 1864.

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Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: Education & Public Schools, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Education & Public Schools

About one in four (26.1%) of respondents reported having a school-aged child/children, and 17.7% of those parents indicated they had a school-aged child with a disability. Those with school-aged children were asked where/how their children attended school in the spring of 2021 given COVID-19 conditions. Similar percentages of parents reported that their child attended public school with only virtual classes (44.4%) or attended public school with at least some in-person classes (44%). Another 10.6% indicated that their child was home-schooled and 8.7% indicated that their child/children attended private school with …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #3: Health & Experiences With Covid & Vaccines, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 – Health & Experiences with COVID & Vaccines

More than 72% of respondents rated the quality of their own health as excellent (17.9%) or good (54.4%). This is lower than previous years, which is not surprising given ongoing pandemic conditions. Further, the percentage of respondents rating their health as excellent or good has been declining over recent years (e.g., from 82% in 2017).

Feminist Praxis Of Comparative Rhetoric, Mari Lee Mifsud

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Why is a feminist praxis necessary for a comparative study of rhetoric? What would a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric do? mean? be? What can we come to know with a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric? Offering first a critique of the idea of a comparative approach through feminist theories challenging binary epistemology and metaphorical meaning making, this essay proceeds to theorize a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric. This feminist praxis engages the study of histories and theories of rhetoric across cultures by analyzing along intersectional lines of power exposing injustices and exploring potential for equity, decolonizing knowledge, and deconstructing …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #7: Perceptions Of Flooding, Hurricane Evacuation, & Sheltering During Covid-19, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

Life in Hampton Roads 2021 - Flooding, Hurricane Evacuation, & Sheltering During COVID-19

The changing climate and rising sea levels touch nearly every aspect of life in Hampton Roads, with some neighborhoods and communities experiencing it more acutely. But, overall, how persistent is recurrent flooding as perceived by Hampton Roads residents? This year’s survey finds that nearly 23% of respondents state that recurrent flooding is a problem in their neighborhood, a number broadly consistent with the responses seen since this question was first asked in 2013 when 23% of respondents also indicated that recurrent flooding was a problem in their …

Mss0284. Hopkins Family Papers Finding Aid

Special Collections Finding Aids

The collection is correspondence primarily between husband-and-wife, David and Sara Hopkins, née McCleary, from the Great Lakes region. Included are other correspondences with Sara Hopkins and material associated with the couple.

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Wakondah Pond 2021 Water Quality Highlight Report, Amanda Mcquaid, Robert Craycraft

UNH Cooperative Extension

A Water Quality Highlight Report by UNH CE Lakes Lay Monitoring Program for Wakondah Pond in Moultonboro, NH in 2021.

Transcriptional Regulation Of Duox-Dependent Reactive Oxygen Species Production Against Bacterial Infection In The Gut Of Cat Fleas (Ctenocephalides Felis)., Ryne W. Maness

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Fleas (Order Siphonaptera) are opportunistic blood feeders that parasitize a wide variety of mammals and birds. They also transmit bacterial pathogens that cause diseases in humans (e.g., murine typhus, flea-borne spotted fever, cat scratch disease, and plague). Because they acquire infectious pathogens while blood feeding, the flea gut is considered to be the initial site of infection. While immune responses have been well documented in other disease vectors, few studies have identified the immune mechanisms involved in defense of the flea gut. In other hematophagous insects, the synthesis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the immediate immune defense mechanism against …

The Significance Of The Automobile In 20th C. American Short Fiction, Megan M. Flanery

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Midcentury American life featured a post-war economy that established a middle class in which disposable income and time for leisure were commonplace. In this socio-economic environment, consumerism flourished, ushering in the Golden Age of the automobile: from 1950 to 1960, Americans spent more time in their automobiles than ever before, and, by the end of the decade, the number of cars on the road had more than doubled. While much critical attention has been given to the role of the automobile in American novels, less has been given to its role in American short stories. The automobile has been featured …

Firefighters Self-Efficacy Of Injuries And Willingness To Report Injuries Within The Southeast Region Of The United States, Marissa Villafuerte

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

CONTEXT: Firefighting is a dangerous profession often leading to minor and severe injuries. Injuries range from basic first aid to fatalities. Over a third of injuries linked to muscular-skeletal injuries (MSKI). To address MSKI, the fire service has turned to preventative and rehabilitation care such as on-site health care professionals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was 1) to understand rural firefighters' self-efficacy of injury care and willingness to report MSKIs, 2) compare on-site preventative care fire departments to traditional fire departments and 3) describe the influence of on-site self-efficacy of MSKI care and willingness to report injuries based on …

Cannot Afford To Publicly Surrender: The Public's Influence On Ronald Reagan's Strategic Relationship With South Africa, Jessica P. Forsee

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Reagan’s administration used the policy of constructive engagement to bring gradual reform to the apartheid system and build peace in the southern African region. The coordination of anti-apartheid activist organizations and members advocating for harsher economic pressure on South Africa successfully raised US public awareness and shifted public opinion against constructive engagement’s gradualist policies. As a result, leading Reagan staffers like Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker recalibrated constructive engagement’s focus to quicken regional peacebuilding maintain stability and control of US foreign policy in the public eye. This thesis analyzes the early influences on constructive engagement and …

Injury Reporting Barriers Amongst Aviation Soldiers, Morgan Stanwood

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

There is a high prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries in the U.S. military which poses a major threat to military readiness. However, recent research indicates that Soldiers do not seek medical care for nearly half of their injuries. PURPOSE: Identify barriers in injury reporting using the Theory of Planned Behavior within a U.S. Army special operations aviation population. METHODS: This descriptive study utilized a self-report survey to explore injury rates, reporting rates, and perceptions of reporting behaviors. RESULTS: Of the 108 Soldiers who completed this study 77.8% experienced a MSKI in the previous 12 months and 69% sought medical care (reported …

(Un)Qualified Immunity: An Analysis On Qualified Immunity And Civilian Sentiments, Guy Hodge Ii

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recent events involving the deaths of unarmed, African American citizens have brought forth an increased attention to the application of qualified immunity to law enforcement. This study aims to gain a civilian perspective on qualified immunity. Qualified immunity, as defined by the Supreme Court case Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800 (1982), grants government officials performing discretionary functions immunity from civil suits unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Through a national-level survey, this study captures an overall favorability of qualified immunity as well as …

Passing The Baton: An Integrated Approach To Succession Planning For Local Health Departments, Isabella M. Hardwick

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Succession planning is a process that requires more than just an organizational chart illustration of who holds what position within the organization. The process also requires developing and implementing guidelines and best practices to identify and address current and future workforce development needs. Succession planning contributes to an organization’s success by providing a mechanism that ensures a talent pool of replacements has been suitably groomed and equipped to fill critical vacancies when retirements occur or on short notice. It can generate operational efficiencies for the field of public health that is faced with chronic budgetary pressure and an impending mass …

Do The Age And Drama Type Of Individuals Affect Their Perceived Social Status?, Bradly A. Mcginnis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Drama is a type of performative, interpersonal conflict where traditional victim/aggressor dynamics seen in most types of bullying does not always appear. Different personalities display different types of drama, which may have different levels of usefulness across development. I am interested in discovering whether the level of target social status changes for different drama types across the lifespan. This interaction between target social status and drama type was analyzed by a 2 x 3 design with an expected 2 x 2 interaction. Overall, there were non-significant main effects and a non-significant interaction in the 2 x 3 between subjects ANOVA. …

Deschooling Schooled Minds: Speculative Essays, Kelly Graziano

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation is a collection of speculative essays (Schubert, 1991) that explore the "why" of schooling and possible alternative educational arrangements (Illich, 1970/2002; Reimer, 1971; Goodman, 1962; Holt, 1972; Gatto, 1992/2017; Giroux, 2000). As one who has been schooled (in "educational" institutions and those like it, e.g. abusive relationships), I have developed a passion to bring awareness to the destructiveness of schooling and to learning from the world rather than what others want us to know and believe about it. Incorporated with autobiographical narrative, I trace both the historical and current reasons behind the establishment and maintenance of mass …

A Research Assistant's Perceived Skillset When Utilizing Deception, Ahmad Sarris

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The use of deception in research has been a long-debated topic for several decades. Generally, research on deception has concerned its justifications, common methods, controversies, and uses inside and outside the broad field of psychology. Although the bulk of this research is typically concerned with exploring the potential drawbacks and controversies of deception on participants, the potential advantages and disadvantages to those implementing it has not been explored. More specifically, there are unanswered questions about what skills can be gained or perceived to be gained by research assistants utilizing deception. The present study explored whether deception utilization and/or the presence …