Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

Predicting The Pebcak: A Quantitative Analysis Of How Cybersecurity Education, Literacy, And Awareness Affect Individual Preparedness., Annie Goodman

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This essay explores the relationship between individuals' cybersecurity education, literacy, awareness, and preparedness. While cybersecurity is often associated with complex hacking scenarios, the majority of data breaches and cyber-attacks result from individuals inadvertently falling prey to phishing emails and malware. The lack of standardized education and training in cybersecurity, coupled with the rapid expansion of technology diversity, raises concerns about individuals' cybersecurity preparedness. As individuals are the first line of defense and the weakest link in cybersecurity, understanding the influence of education, literacy, and awareness on their adherence to best practices is crucial. This work aims to survey a diverse …

Geological Mapping Of Ferric And Ferrous Irons In The Apache Hills, New Mexico: Applying Landsat 8 (Oli), Spectrometry, And Geographic Information System (Gis) Methods, Sergio Gerardo Macias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mineral discoveries are typically tangible on surface studies. Previous research describes mineral deposits of ferric and ferrous irons in the lithology, structures, and alluvial fans in the Apache Hills in southwest New Mexico. The research for this thesis combines and models four methods for validating and mapping the presence of Ferric and Ferrous Irons developed in weathered zones above mineral deposits. A beneficial steppingstone before exploration and discovery begins with extensive research. This study began with data acquisition and reviewing previous research and was essential for the project methods. The study combines four techniques: spectral geology (e.g., remote sensing and …

The Intersection Of Urban Heat Islands And The Cdc Social Vulnerability Index In Two Border Cities, Ileana Morales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Opportunities And Challenges From Major Disasters Lessons Learned Of Long-Term Recovery Group Members, Eduardo E. Landaeta

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Natural hazards caused by the alteration of weather patterns expose populations at risk, with an outcome of economic loss, property damage, personal injury, and loss of life. The unpredictability of disasters is a topic of concern to most governments. Disaster policies need more attention in aligning mitigation opportunities with disaster housing recovery (DHR). The effect of flooding, which primarily impacts housing in coastal areas, is one of the most serious issues associated with natural hazard. Flooding has a variety of causes and implications, especially for vulnerable populations who are exposed to it. DHR is complex, involving the need for effective …

Developing A Risk Assessment Instrument For Immigration Cases Under Federal Supervision, Mayra Eydie Pacheco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Hispanic Human Capital And Financial Aid Application In The West Census Region, Benjamin Lundy-Paine

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As of 2021, very few Hispanic residents in the United States held a college degree in comparison to non-Hispanic residents. Research has shown that, particularly for Hispanic students, financial aid increases college persistence. Hispanic Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submission rates rank among the lowest, preventing many Hispanic students from receiving financial assistance. This issue is most prevalent West Census Region (WCR), where there is the highest concentration of Hispanic residents. To understand what barriers may be preventing Hispanic submission in the WCR this Capstone used logistic regression models to analyze student-level data from the National Center for …

Gentrification And Crime In The Twin Cities: Insights And Challenges Through A Statistical Lens, Erin G. Franke

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

Gentrification is a complex process of urban redevelopment that typically involves an in-migration of educated people to neighborhoods experiencing a period of disinvestment. While gentrification is widely regarded for its potential to displace long-time businesses and residents of the neighborhood, its impact on crime is highly controversial. There is not a consensus on the relationship between gentrification and crime across criminological theory and past statistical studies have also shown contradictory results. Measuring gentrification on the tract level with census data, we seek to understand gentrification’s relationship with violent crime and theft in the Twin Cities. Using a Poisson model with …

Predicting High-Cap Tech Stock Polarity: A Combined Approach Using Support Vector Machines And Bidirectional Encoders From Transformers, Ian L. Grisham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The abundance, accessibility, and scale of data have engendered an era where machine learning can quickly and accurately solve complex problems, identify complicated patterns, and uncover intricate trends. One research area where many have applied these techniques is the stock market. Yet, financial domains are influenced by many factors and are notoriously difficult to predict due to their volatile and multivariate behavior. However, the literature indicates that public sentiment data may exhibit significant predictive qualities and improve a model’s ability to predict intricate trends. In this study, momentum SVM classification accuracy was compared between datasets that did and did not …

Experimental Methodologies In Assessing Ceramic Shrinkage In Residual Fingerprints For Archaeological Application, Luke Aaron Burnor

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research evaluates the extent of ceramic shrinkage using a natural clay source that was locally available and known to be used by native populations in the American Southwest. The experiment took into account variables of temper mixture and firing temperature to assess the extent and potential need for shrinkage calibration in archaeological biometric research (specifically fingerprints). An experimental design was employed to test shrinkage rates while accounting for natural temper materials found frequently in the archaeological record including sand, grog, and quartz. The experiment evaluated whether shrinkage rates may have skewed data collected in previous studies regarding sex and …

Resale Hdb Price Prediction Considering Covid-19 Through Sentiment Analysis, Srinaath Anbu Durai, Zhaoxia Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Twitter sentiment has been used as a predictor to predict price values or trends in both the stock market and housing market. The pioneering works in this stream of research drew upon works in behavioural economics to show that sentiment or emotions impact economic decisions. Latest works in this stream focus on the algorithm used as opposed to the data used. A literature review of works in this stream through the lens of data used shows that there is a paucity of work that considers the impact of sentiments caused due to an external factor on either the stock or …

Generative Stresnet For Crime Prediction, Ba Phong Tran, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this work, we combine STResnet (Zhang et al., 2017) with VAE Kingma & Welling (2013) to generate crime distribution. The outputs can be used for downstream tasks such as patrol deployment planning Chase et al. (2021).

Learning-Based Stock Trending Prediction By Incorporating Technical Indicators And Social Media Sentiment, Zhaoxia Wang, Zhenda Hu, Fang Li, Seng-Beng Ho, Erik Cambria

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Stock trending prediction is a challenging task due to its dynamic and nonlinear characteristics. With the development of social platform and artificial intelligence (AI), incorporating timely news and social media information into stock trending models becomes possible. However, most of the existing works focus on classification or regression problems when predicting stock market trending without fully considering the effects of different influence factors in different phases. To address this gap, this research solves stock trending prediction problem utilizing both technical indicators and sentiments of the social media text as influence factors in different situations. A 3-phase hybrid model is proposed …

Rattus Norvegicus As A Biological Detector Of Clandestine Remains And The Use Of Ultrasonic Vocalizations As A Locating Mechanism, Gabrielle M. Johnston

Master's Theses

In investigations, locating missing persons and clandestine remains are imperative. One way that first responder and police agencies can search for the remains is by using cadaver dogs as biological detectors. Cadaver dogs are typically used due to their olfactory sensitivity and ability to detect low concentrations of volatile organic compounds produced by biological remains. Cadaver dogs are typically chosen for their stamina, agility, and olfactory sensitivity. However, what is not taken into account often is the size of the animal and the expense of maintaining and training the animal. Cadaver dogs are typically large breeds that cannot fit in …

Consumer Reaction To The Use Of Artificial Intelligence Chatbot On Distribution Of General Insurance In Singapore, Lai Hing Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

As technology rapidly permeates all aspects of our lives, it is not unusual to question and even challenge the rationale on why certain industries are slower to adapt to the new digital age. Insurance is a business that is under scrutiny given its traditional ways of selling and legacy challenges. Why is technology investment in insurance companies lagging others? One emerging technological disruption is artificial intelligence (AI). It is the science of designing and building intelligent systems that can complete tasks traditionally performed by humans. AI is expected to fundamentally transform today’s marketplace, for businesses and consumers alike. However, because …

Individual Differences In Vulnerability To Phishing, Fake News, And Vishing, Jeff Black

All Theses

Digital deception, such as phishing emails, scam phone calls, and fake news, poses a threat to anyone using digital devices. Research on digital deception often points to individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, and digital literacy, but has only investigated different types of digital deception independent of each other. Therefore, it is unclear whether users vulnerable to one type of deception are also vulnerable to others, and why. The present research examined relationships between vulnerability to different types of deception, and how this vulnerability is associated with common individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, digital literacy, and gullibility, and exploratory …

Algorithms, Leadership, And Morality: Why A Mere Human Effect Drives The Preference For Human Over Algorithmic Leadership, Jack Mcguire, David De Cremer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Algorithms are increasingly making decisions in organizations that carry moral consequences and such decisions are considered to be ordinarily made by leaders. An important consideration to be made by organizations is therefore whether adopting algorithms in this domain will be accepted by employees and whether this practice will harm their reputation. Considering this emergent phenomenon, we set out to examine employees’ perceptions about (a) algorithmic decision-making systems employed to occupy leadership roles and make moral decisions in organizations, and (b) the reputation of organizations that employ such systems. Furthermore, we examine the extent to which the decision agent needs to …

The Solidarity Manifesto: A New Network For Future Change, Sofia Calicchio

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Colonialism is a scheme of standpoint; colonizer versus colonized, West versus East, good versus bad. When put in the foreground, the value of what we see heavily relies on our perspective and knowledge. When learning to dissect, deconstruct, and decolonize spaces, we need to start utilizing decolonial thought as an historical tool rather than a true depiction of reality. Decolonizing spaces and recognizing Western colonization practices means challenging the normative structures in colonial history, thus breaking the cycle of oppression through building community and fostering solidarity. Drawing on theories exploring access to public spheres, representation, protection, permanence, cultural displacement and …

The Terroir Of Swiss Cheese: A Temporal And Geomorphological Investigation Of The Martian Co2 Sublimation Pits, Racine D. Cleveland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Observations by NASA Mars Global Surveyor showed evidence of rough topography on the South Pole of Mars. The topography is the result of CO2 sublimation processes that occur through the changing seasons on the red planet. These sublimation areas are known to scientists as Swiss Cheese Features (SCF). SCF are erosional degradation pits that have been studied for over two decades. Studies show that these SCF increase in area over time, but these values are collected by hand on a per feature basis. Models for the pit evolution have also played a part in understanding these SCF. This work is …

Test Of Scientific Literacy Skills (Tosls) Indicates Limited Scientific Thinking Gains As A Result Of Science And Mathematics General Education, Pamela M. Propsom, William M. Tobin, Jacqueline R. Roberts

Interdisciplinary Faculty Scholarship

A number of instruments designed to measure scientific literacy exist, but none has been used to assess improvements in undergraduates’ scientific thinking over their college career. This study utilized the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in a longitudinal fashion to measure scientific thinking gains of over 800 students from matriculation to graduation at a small liberal arts college. We found the TOSLS to be a useful assessment instrument. Our results indicated rather small benefits of science general education overall, though there were larger improvements for some demographic groups (i.e., women, first-generation college students). STEM majors showed much greater development …

Shop Less, Shop Better: Ethical And Sustainability Concerns Throughout The Fast Fashion Supply Chain, Natali Ann Hoeg

Pacific Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference (PURCC)

My capstone project is a series of short essays that describe how fast fashion is having negative impacts on local environments, communities, and supply chains. This research is a review of technical sources describing manufacturing of clothing and certification processes for alternative, sustainable textile production. Additionally, this review incorporates perspectives from journalists and documentarians, visiting and describing farms and factories that are involved with fast fashion production. This project was carried out over the course of a semester, as an independent study. The essays focus on the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion. Each of the six essays approaches …

The 2015 Ncaa Cost-Of-Attendance Stipend And Its Effects On Institutional Financial Aid Packages, Sara Greene

Honors Theses

In 2015, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) allowed “Cost of Attendance” (COA) stipends to be offered to athletic recruits for Division I schools. These stipends are intended to allow schools to grant aid to student-athletes beyond a full-ride scholarship to cover additional costs imposed on student-athletes. These stipends created an opportunity for the “Autonomy” Power 5 programs to utilize a competitive tactic to try to win over the top recruits. There is evidence that these COA stipends have caused an increase in the estimated cost of attendance reported by the university. This paper examines if the COA stipends have …

The Parental Labor Gap: The Impact Of Daycare Access On The Parental Labor Force During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Acacia Wyckoff

Honors Theses

In the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the landscape for work has shifted dramatically. Many companies and employers switched to telework when the pandemic hit, and many still do not require workers to come into the office. Research suggests these COVID-induced changes have led to a closing of the gap in childcare duties between men and women in households. Comparing parents in positions with telework eligibility versus in-person positions, Heggeness and Suri (2022) found that while telework improved the labor participation rate of mothers slightly, there was still a major gap in labor force participation between mothers and …

A Stable Isotopic Profile Of Atmospheric River Precipitation Impacting Northern California, Erika Clarise Ornouski

LSU Master's Theses

Atmospheric river (AR) storms are an integral part of California’s hydrologic cycle, providing 30–50% of the state’s annual precipitation. However, “too much of a good thing” can swell

rivers beyond capacity leading to widespread flooding, erosion, and environmental damage. Northern California’s steep topography coupled with its seasonal Sierra Nevada snowpack puts this region at risk for floods and extreme weather hazards that can be triggered by strong ARs. Identifying AR contributions in the water cycle is crucial for informing water resource and emergency management decisions Stable isotope analysis provides a means to understand the movement of precipitation based on fractionation …

Blind Fighter – A Video Game For The Visually Impaired, Avery Wayne Harrah

ATU Scholars Symposium

Blind Fighter is a video game made to be playable by anyone, regardless of any visual impairments the player may have. The game relies on auditory queues to allow players to understand what is happening in the game without ever having to see the screen. The project’s goal is to serve as a proof of concept that video games can be made inclusive with a few additions during development, without sacrificing overall quality. To do this, the game features full graphics in addition to testing many strategies for visually impaired players, including direction-based audio, unique sound effects for each game …

Balancing Interests In Forest Governance In Brazil And Indonesia, Annabel Mccormick Baldy

Environment and Sustainability Honors Papers

Forests play a major role in reducing levels of Greenhouse gasses which are a major contributor to global warming. Conversely, deforestation is a major contributor to climate change. This study examines the concept of good forest governance, dispelling notions that resource use needs to be a zero-sum game. Rather, it identifies local collective agreements as espoused by Elinor Ostrom in Governing the Commons as the best means of balancing the undeniable economic potential of converting forests to other uses (grazing, farming, and mining) with the more sustainable approach of protecting forests for their environmental benefit. For Ostrom, these collective agreements …

Teaching About The Global Refugee Crisis, Melissa Kafer

Honors Projects

Around the world, there are more than 30 million refugees (UNHCR, 2023) facing language barriers, cultural differences, prejudice, racism, and xenophobia. The number of admitted refugees in 2022 has more than doubled since 2021 (Duffin, 2022), and yet, many Americans do not know or understand the global refugee crisis. There are misconceptions in America that cause lack of empathy, bias, and prejudice towards refugees. Through the creation of four lesson plans, this research project aims to discover Americans’ misunderstandings regarding refugees and teach them about the crisis to remedy the misconceptions. This study includes a literature review detailing appropriate teaching …

Two Sample Statistical Test For Location Parameters, Narinder Kumar, Arun Kumar

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A class of distribution-free tests for the homogeneity of location parameters is proposed and compared with different competitors in terms of Pitman asymptotic relative efficiency. A numerical example is provided and a simulation study is made to check the performance of the tests.

The Santa Clara, 2023-04-21, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

The Bellarmine Bee Bed: Organizing A Native Plant Garden Using Feedback From The Local Community, Kate Moran

Undergraduate Theses

Animal pollinators are the cornerstone of healthy ecosystems. Their survival is essential for the persistence of entire food chains: from the flowers they cross-pollinate directly, to the animals who depend on those plants for nutrition. The establishment of pollinator gardens—particularly ones that consist of native plants—is an effective way to enhance their biodiversity, abundance, and well-being.

The main goal of this thesis is to construct a pollinator garden that maximizes the benefits for animal pollinators using feedback from local gardeners. A survey was used to gather information about the popularity and preferences of 40 flowering plants, and after analyzing the …