Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Economic Implications Of Anti-Americanism, Brenda Jennifer Bee

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This capstone project is a multidisciplinary investigation into a problem that has surfaced with the rise of globalization. It explores the negative sentiments in Europe towards Americans, their recent history, and future implications. It was designed to be multidisciplinary because of the complexity of the issue at hand. It stretches from political to anthropological, both in the context of communications and economics and finally their synergistic affect in fostering certain feelings in different European nations about the American way of life. I show how certain negative feelings can change behavior and preferences for American goods and services and how it …

America In Recovery: Tracking And Analyzing The Obama Stimulus During 2009, Gregory Cassel

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper tracks and analyzes the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, better known as the Obama stimulus plan during the 2009 year. As one of the most expensive public policies in history, the ARRA was designed to turn around an ailing economy by creating and preserving jobs, investing in key areas, providing relief to States and individuals, and tax cuts. Thus, it is important and useful to track the policy in order to see if it is doing what it is supposed to. Using federal agency Financial and Activity Reports, I create detailed graphs showing where the …

Chinese Job Growth And Workers’ Injury Compensation In China, Ann O'Neill

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Over the past decade, the PRC has made dramatic changes to its labor contract laws, corporate laws, and social welfare system in an effort to improve workers' wellbeing and decrease the impact of rights violations on the public healthcare system and national budget. This paper seeks to determine the effect of changes in social welfare policy made in 2003 on workplace injuries and illness in light of the domestic job growth that took place at that time. In 2003, changes in marketplace behavior, corporate law, and enterprise management policy led to a trend break in employment, wages, and insurance coverage …

The Influence Of New Medications On Prescribing Behavior By Practice Type: A Regression Analysis, Rita M. Pattarini

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Objective: To determine whether the type of practice to which physicians belong influences the types of medications they prescribe

Methods: The study used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) to conduct a series of regressions for two pairs of medications. The first pair was for the treatment of high cholesterol. Advicor was the new medication and Lovastatin was the competitor. The second pair was for the treatment of arthritis. Humira was the new medication and Remicade was the competitor. For each pair, there were two sets of regressions that consisted of an unrestricted regression with all patients …

Homo Economicus: Alive And Diversified In The Economic Research Program, Bradley R. Turner

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper seeks to (1) offer a conceptual overview of the methodology of science research programs (MSRP) of Imre Lakatos; (2) apply the framework of that methodology to the neoclassical theory of Gary S. Becker; and (3) explore a quantitative-driven, atheoretical alternative, which challenges the view that there can be or should be any body of theoretical economics. The MSRP framework is used in an instrumental manner in the pursuit of a lucid and interesting historical analysis. The pros and cons of Becker’s approach are presented in the tradition of instrumentalism, and in light of recent discussion of economics imperialism. …

The Interrelation Of Box Office Results How Does One Weekend’S Movie Attendance Affect The Next?, Drew Sullivan

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In this paper, I attempted to determine the relationship between a movie’s box office success and the immediate timing of its release. Considering the large investment that needs to be made in producing and distributing a major motion picture, a full understanding of the factors that affect its success is vital. One factor that has been historically underexplored is the impact of movies that are directly competing with each other at the box office. This has been due to limitations in data. However, using publicly available data I was able to put together a dataset that looked at box office …

Do Ct Scans Help Prevent Cancer-Related Deaths?, Auyon J. Ghosh

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This paper uses a region-level estimation approach associated with medical procedures to identify the effectiveness of X-ray Computed Axial Tomography (CT) scans as a diagnostic tool in preventing cancer-related deaths. In order to measure the effects of the CT scan on cancer-related deaths, I use data from both the National Health Interview Survey and the Vital Statistics of the United States. For all four regions, we observe an increase in CT scan use after 1979 or, as illustrated specifically in the figure, from 1975 to 1980. All four regions exhibit marked increases in lung cancer-related deaths, very little fluctuation in …

The Effects Of Winning A Basketball National Championship On Admission Factors, Daniel Weistrop

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Collegiate sports attract a lot of attention and money. Many universities are sponsored by high powered sportswear and equipment companies including Nike and Adidas. Furthermore, CBS, Fox, and Disney participate in multimillion dollar media deals to exclusively cover a variety of sporting events featuring mainly collegiate basketball and football.

This is best demonstrated by the television coverage that respective sports receive. For example, CBS is in the midst of an 11 year, $6 billion contract that will pay the National Collegiate Athletic Association approximately $545 million per year to carry the NCAA basketball tournament. The NCAA basketball tournament is held …