Mormon Studies Commons^™

Utah And The Civil War Press, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

A discussion of how Mormons were treated in the national press during the American Civil War with an emphasis on polygamy, statehood requests, loyalty, and Brigham Young.

This chapter was originally published (and reprinted in "Civil War Saints" with permission):

Kenneth L. Alford, “Utah and the Civil War Press.” Utah Historical Quarterly 80, no. 1 (Winter 2012): 75–92.

Register Of The Camp Floyd Field School Records, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

The Brigham Young University Field School of Archaeology excavated part of Camp Floyd during the 1980s. College credit was offered to both university and high school students for participating in the field work. This Register contains an inventory of 4 boxes of materials from 1982 to 1992, including field school correspondence, field notes, laboratory notes, historical research notes, photos, copy orders, flyers, student information, budgets, artifact records, newspapers articles, journal articles, historical records such as enlistments, deaths, and supply inventories. The materials inventoried are housed in the Camp Floyd State Park Museum at Camp Floyd Stagecoach Inn State Park, 18035 …

A 17-Year Longitudinal Study Of Religion And Mental Health In A Mormon Sample, Jeremy D. Bartz, P. Scott Richards, Timothy B. Smith, Lane Fischer

Faculty Publications

In 1984, 1987, and 2001, data were collected on a religiously devout group of college students (N=53) in an effort to better understand the process of religious development and the relationship between religiosity and mental health. This study analyzes those data by examining the relationship between devoutness and psychopathology over time, the correlations between intrinsic religiosity and indices of psychopathology, the stability of religious motivations over the course of adulthood, and the stability of two different religious development styles that were identified in 1984. This study found that (1) these religiously devout individuals have consistently fallen within the normal range …

Mormon Media Studies Symposium - 2010, Sherry Baker

Faculty Publications

Website for the Mormon Media Studies Symposium year 2010.

Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, Sherry Baker

Faculty Publications

This timeline is a work in progress. It is posted currently as a PDF file in order to make it available in a timely manner to scholars who are working on Mormon media history, or any other scholarship for which it might be helpful and informative. It is anticipated that the timeline eventually will be reworked into media formats that will make it more accessible, and that will allow it to be updated, enhanced, and corrected over time. If you wish to comment upon this Mormon Media History Timeline, contact Sherry Baker at [email protected].

Chw Productions: A Study To Determine Market Potential For Missionary Videos, Shalayne Packer, Francisco Pascual, Jed Lloyd

Student Works

At the request of the CHW Productions, Shalayne Packer, Jed Lloyd, and Francisco Pascual, students of the Marriott School of Management located at Brigham Young University, were commissioned to determine the market potential for LDS missionary videos. PPL Consulting is comprised of Shalayne Packer, Francisco Pascual and Jed Lloyd.

The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints In National Periodicals, 1982-1990, Matthew E. Morrison

Theses and Dissertations

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has continued to receive exposure in national periodicals. This thesis will explore that image from 1982 to 1990. During those years, the church continued to grow in membership and expand its existing programs.

National periodicals can assist in assessing the public image of the Church because they help "mould public attitudes by presenting facts and views on issues in exactly the same way at the same time throughout the entire country." In this manner, they help to form the public opinion about the Church. They also reflect existing opinions because magazine publishers …

An Analysis Of The Newspaper Coverage Of Latter-Day Saint Temples Announced Or Built Within The United States From October 1997 Through December 2004, Kevan L. Gurr

Theses and Dissertations

President Gordon B. Hinckley, the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, excited the membership of the Church by increasing the number of temples available to members. He announced that the Church would construct smaller buildings – as compared with existing temples at the time – thereby allowing for greater numbers of temples to be built. He set a goal to build 50 temples in a two and half-year period: double the number the Church had ever attempted to build in any decade. Thirty-four of these temples were built in the United States, and newspapers – …

A Diabolical Disneyland In Zion: The Mormons And The Mx, Jacob W. Olmstead

Theses and Dissertations

In September 1979 President Jimmy Carter publicly announced his decision to support the deployment of the MX missile and mobile basing scheme in Utah and Nevada. Despite local opposition and the close proximity of the proposed base to its headquarters, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) remained silent until 5 May 1981, when the First Presidency issued a statement opposing the MX plans. The purpose of this work is to narrate the history of the development of the Mormon position regarding the deployment of MX missile in the Great Basin and evaluate the response to the statement …

Fathers' Religious And Family Involvement At Home; And Work And Family Outcomes, Roxane O. Whyte

Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes and confirms two new predictors of work and family outcomes, thus far unexplored in existing work-family literature: fathers' religious involvement at home and fathers' family involvement at home. It is the first study to date to document that these produce a crossover effect to positively influence work-related outcomes including work-family conflict, work-family fit and job satisfaction.
Data come from employed married fathers and their spouses participating in the 2001 BYU Marriott School of Management Alumni Work and Family Survey (n = 210), all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Findings are that …

Measuring Prejudiced Attitudes Toward Mexicans In Latter-Day Saint Missionaries During Missionary Service In The American Southwest, Jared A. Montoya

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the foundations of prejudiced attitudes toward Mexicans held by White Americans and to investigate a means of reducing it, paying specific attention to prejudice found within a subpopulation of White Americans. The origins of American prejudice toward Mexicans are outlined using both historical and psychological explanations. An understanding of these origins leads to the notion that increased favorable contact is the best method for reducing prejudice. A field study focusing on prejudice toward Mexicans among ecclesiastical volunteers demonstrated that missionary service can be considered a means of favorable contact. Eighty-one White American …

The Longterm Effects Of Television Mediation On Lds Young Single Adults: An Exploratory Study, Jennia Parkin

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines what Latter-day Saint young single adults remember about their parents mediating the television and its use, and how those recollections contribute to their current attitudes and values toward the media, as well as their media choices. A stratified random sample of 267 LDS young single adults across the United States and outside the state of Utah responded to a cross sectional mail or online survey. The three mediation styles established by Valkenburg, Krcmar, Peeters, and Marseille (1999)—Restrictive, Instructive, and Coviewing—were used as the independent variables while scales assessing television offensiveness levels, attitudes, orientation, and usage were …

Latter-Day Saints In Popular National Periodicals 1970-1981, Adam H. Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

The public image of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the product of several factors. This thesis investigates that image as presented in national periodicals from 1970 to 1981. During this time "Mormons" and "Mormonism" was a popular topic as the religion gained notoriety, and as an awareness of its peculiar beliefs and practices increased.

The rationale for using national magazines to assess public image is the assumption that they "reflect prevailing points of view" and help "formulate public opinion." Since popular attitudes are one of the factors that influence how the Church is accepted in the …

From The Individual To Individualism: A Critique Of The Helping Professions, Timothy B. Smith, Matthew R. Draper

Faculty Publications

Individualistic values characterize contemporary society and many popular approaches to mental health treatment. This paper critiques the individualistic values embedded in the helping professions that implicitly contradict the teachings ofJesus Christ, the surest foundation for mental health interventions. Members of AMCAP are encouraged to search out and replace problematic values that contradict gospel teachings which have been integrated into contemporary mental health practice.

Book Of Mormon Stories Diglot Reader On Computer, Neal S. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

This report describes the design, development, and evaluation of a computer-based diglot reader of the Book of Mormon Stories of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Di means two and glot means language, thus a diglot reader combines two languages into one reader in order to teach a person to read in a new language. The program, which runs on both Macintosh and Windows computer platforms, contains fifteen chapters of the Book of Mormon Stories and introduces about four hundred Spanish words. This report includes a literature review on the diglot method and related materials, a description of …

The Effects Of Computer-Based Metacognitive Strategy Training For Adult Second Language Learners, Heidi D. Hyte

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a metacognitive language learning strategy training program that was implemented into computer-assisted language learning (CALL) software on second language learners' independent use of metacognition and language learning strategies (LLS). Questions under investigation included what effect this metacognitive training had on learners' independent use of metacognition, the differences in use of metacognitive strategies between fast and slow language learners, and the effect of learners' perceptions of metacognition on their use of LLS and specific metacognitive strategies.

The subjects included 239 missionaries learning Spanish as a second language at the Missionary …

Time As Motivation: Selected Theories As Compared To Modern Revelation, Jill Judkins

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes that human beings by virtue of living in each new present moment are motivated to develop strategies to secure the best possible outcome in their lived experience. A personal account of the phenomenological experience of time is presented and a brief history is given. The implications associated with being thrown into the present moment make apparent the weaknesses of the current assumptions that the slices of the present moment form a continuity of past and future and create a coherent synthesis of life. The assumption that human beings are intentional, goal-directed, and prone to seek meaning in …

Balance And Conflict: Variation In Attaining Work-Family Fit Among A Homogeneous Population, Laura C. Koch

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of work-family fit has recently emerged in the work and family literature, comparable to work-family balance in that it represents interactions between work and family, and yet distinct from balance in its sense of universal ownership and responsibility. Using Barnett's (1998) model of the work-social system interface as a framework, this study explores the relationship between and predictive factors of work-family fit and work-family balance. Data are from a survey of Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management (MSM) graduate school alumni (n = 273). Findings indicate that fit and balance are indeed two separate constructs, with fit …

Motivations And Gratifications For Selecting A Niche Television Channel: Byu Television, Diena L. Simmons

Theses and Dissertations

The growth of direct broadcast satellite television distribution to the home as a viable competitor to cable and terrestrial broadcast has fostered the availability of special interest or niche channels and therefore provided greater choice to the viewer. This study, based on uses and gratifications theory, examined the relationships among ritual and instrumental viewing motivations and satisfactions, viewer religiosity, and viewing attentiveness as they related to the selection of a niche television channel, Brigham Young University Television.
The uses and gratification approach provides an appropriate framework for studying "media consumption, the interrelated nature of television user motives, and the relationships …

"Woman Arise!": Political Work In The Writings Of Lu Dalton, Sheree Maxwell Bench

Theses and Dissertations

In 1872, Mormon plural wife, educator, and suffragist Lucinda Lee Dalton began writing fiery political essays and insightful poetry for the Woman's Exponent from her small community in southern Utah. Through her writings Dalton endeavors to shape the opinions of Exponent readers by working within public discourse toward the goal of equality for women. At times both optimistic and troubled, she uses the rhetorical strategies of humor, irony, reason, identification, and persuasion to educate men and women on disparities and to encourage women to participate actively in their own emancipation. She often engages in a dialogical process with other writers …

Making Friends To Last A Lifetime: An Ethnographic Study Of Parasocial Relationships And Soap Opera Characters, Emmalee Elizabeth Haight Pryor

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to build theory about parasocial relationships and to examine what affect, if any, religion had on parasocial relationships. Using qualitative methods, the researcher watched the show three times with five women followed by an in-depth interview. The women chosen were LDS stay-at-home moms who had watched a soap opera for at least a year.
From this data came several surprising findings about religion and soap opera viewing. The women said they did not feel guilty about the content of the shows, rather the time required to watch. This guilt was alleviated by structuring their …

Religiosity And Delinquency: A Test Of The Religious Ecology Hypothesis, S. Cory Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

Research testing the relationship between adolescent religiosity and delinquent behavior is inconclusive. Some studies show a significant negative relationship while others indicate no relationship. Stark (1996) asserts that the relationship between religiosity and delinquency is a function of community religiosity as opposed to personal religiosity. Thus, in areas of high religiosity, there will be a strong relationship, while areas of low religiosity will show no relationship. This study looks at the relationship between religiosity and delinquency of LDS youth in four different religious ecologies: Utah County (high religious ecology), the East coast (moderate religious ecology), the Pacific Northwest (low religious …

Service Learning In Business Schools: What The H.E.L.P. Honduras Story Teaches About Building, Sustaining, And Replicating International Initiatives In Graduate Programs, Lisa Mali Jones

Theses and Dissertations

This document outlines the foundation and first year results of the H.E.L.P. Honduras organization, which was formed as a student-based, student-governed international outreach initiative at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Specifically, in its first year the organization focused on providing microcredit and service relief to victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras.

After studying the case of H.E.L.P. Honduras, readers should conclude that educators interested in sponsoring sustainable student-run service learning organizations at private universities must address three primary issues: the problem of student selection and turnover, the need for administrative and faculty endorsement, and the need …

Fame And Latter-Day Saint Youth: Value Conflicts And The Interpretive Audience, Shellie M. Frey

Theses and Dissertations

Fame is a paradoxical issue: a phenomenon that is both embraced and shunned simultaneously in American culture and particularly within many religious institutions. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), for instance, discourage its members (particularly the youth) from seeking out fame as well as famous individuals as role models. Yet they also incorporate positive rhetoric about fame as well in terms of famous LDS people, landmarks or groups. Furthermore, various aspects of the LDS Church (worldwide televised conferences, widely distributed books written by Church leaders, etc.) are highly mediated, thus, integrated with a public venue …

Learner Concerns At The Missionary Training Center In The Technology Assisted Language Learning Program, Elaine T. Lindsay

Theses and Dissertations

Chapelle (1997) states the following as a vital question to be asked with respect to computer assisted language learning, “How good is the language experience in CALL for L2 learning?” (n.p.) In order to truly answer this question, investigators need to look to the learner and his concerns. In planning curriculum or designing a program, teachers and administrators normally look toward learner needs. However, these educators are also known to fully implement a new program, at times, without consideration of learner concerns. This appears to be especially true with the use of technology in the second language classroom. Research is …

Dating Behavior Of Latter-Day Saint Male Returned Missionaries: A Process Of Managing Desires, Nancy C. Mclaughlin

Theses and Dissertations

Each year thousands of Latter-day Saint males return to their homes after serving a two year religious mission. According to Latter-day Saint doctrine and cultural beliefs, these young men are expected to resume a normal life including dating and involvement in romantic relationships. Research and Latter-day Saint doctrine related to the dating behavior of returned missionaries (RMs) is reviewed. Most previous research has emphasized the quantitative analysis of single aspects of RMs dating behavior such as dating frequency and social status. In an attempt to add to this field of research, this qualitative analysis explored the attitudes and experiences of …

Geographic Literacy Among Lds Returned Missionaries, Paul Cook Stahmann

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of male Ricks College students, while serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spend two years living in geographically unfamiliar environments. This thesis compares the geographic literacy of those Ricks College males who have served LDS Church missions with those who have not. A test of geographic literacy was administered to 306 male Ricks College students. Returned missionaries demonstrated significantly higher knowledge of general cultural and physical geography than pre-missionanes. In contrast, returned missionaries demonstrated no greater ability to identify global places such as countries and cities. As expected, the returned missionaries possessed …

Representing Culture: Reflexivity And Mormon Folklore Scholarship, David A. Allred

Theses and Dissertations

When writing about a culture, ethnographers can convey important insights about society. However, ethnography can also misrepresent culture. To address this fact, reflexive ethnography attempts to influence both the methodology and the rhetoric of writing about culture. Reflexivity seeks to acknowledge the bias of the researcher. To include the voice of the cultural insiders, and to more closely represent the dynamics of cultures that always have an element of hybridity. However, reflexive ethnographies can also be unwieldy and impractical. Therefore, one must find a pragmatic application of reflexivity.

Reflexivity can have application to Mormon folklore studies. The most important Mormon …

Implementing A Context-Based Teaching Curriculum For French Learners At The Mtc, Stephanie Wallace Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

Two control groups and two experimental groups of missionaries and teachers participated in a study comparing a grammar-based method of teaching to a context-based method. The study lasted for two weeks during June 1997. Each classroom was recorded using a timing-based observation system that captured 13 missionary and teacher language behaviors. The behaviors were recorded in real time and later evaluated to determine in which classroom setting the most real communication occurred. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of teacher training with respect to teachers in the experimental group. Findings revealed that missionaries in the context-based classroom received …

Becoming Mormon Men: Male Rites Of Passage And The Rise Of Mormonism In Nineteenth-Century America, Bruce R. Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The evidence presented in this thesis supports a view of the first Mormon men as coming from the agrarian majority of early nineteenth-century American farmers and artisans who embraced a set of manly ideals that differed significantly, in many ways, from those embraced by their middle-class contemporaries. These men's life writings attest to boyhood experiences of working alongside their fathers as soon as they were physically able, and subsequently of acting as substitute farmers and breadwinners as well as being put out to work outside the direct supervision of their fathers. Such experiences enabled them to frequently follow in the …