Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Statistical Analysis Of The Residential Distribution Of Blacks In Nashville, Tennessee, Kenneth Szymanski

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to explain the temporal variations of the residential distribution of Blacks in Nashville, Tennessee. A stepwise regression model revealed that Black occupancy exhibits positive relationships with substandard units and overcrowded units and an inverse relationship with average monthly rent. While the quality of housing became more equitable in the period of 1950 to 1970, overcrowding increased in severity. During this period of Black population augmentation, residential expansion took place. One of the three areas of ghetto growth was chosen as a study area in which to simulate residential diffusion in the 1960 - 1970 …

Luke Pryor Blackburn: The Good Samaritan, Nancy Baird

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Luke Pryor Blackburn, Kentucky’s only physician governor, is one of the forgotten public health figures of the 19^th century. As health officer of Natchez in the 1850s he instituted the first effective quarantine used in the Mississippi Valley and became a strong advocate of its use as a preventive measure in the control of yellow fever. During his lifetime Blackburn also became well known for his unselfish aid to communities stricken with the disease.

In March 1878 announced his candidacy for governor of his native state. Local politicians scoffed at his chances for election, but his actions during the …

The Effects Of Small Growth Groups On Self-Concept As Measured By The Tennessee Self Concept Scale, Bruce Blythe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The specific problem investigated in the study was to determine the effects that small growth groups would have on the self-concepts of the participants. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was used as a measure. The experimental group (N=30) and the control group (N=30) were comprised of college students enrolled in Introductory Psychology classes at Western Kentucky University. The group members participated in ten sessions over a five week period. An analysis of variance of the split plot design was conducted to measure the hypothesized change in self due to the treatment. The conclusion of this study is that participants in …

The Rhetoric Of Laura Clay: A Southern Argument For Woman Suffrage, Margaret Wesolowski

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study focused on the persuasive efforts of Laura Clay (1848-1941) as they represented a particularly southern argument for woman suffrage as opposed to the northern, or National American Woman Suffrage Association, suffrage argument. As a Kentuckian, she believed she understood southern attitudes on the three major issues she encountered during her thirty-two years as a suffragist.

The three issues were those of woman's traditional role, the race question, and state versus federal legislation. The arguments of Miss Clay concerning these issues were premised on justice and expediency, which formed the rationale of suffragist rhetoric.

Her arguments, tailored to southerners, …

A Position Paper Of Environmental Education For Nelson County, Geneva B. Hunt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The results of a survey, concerning environmental education taken of the educators of the Nelson County School System, indicated a need for environmental education workshops and classes.

The status of environmental education in the nation and in Kentucky were studied and compared. A research was done of the status of environmental education in Nelson County, and implications were drawn for implementing environmental education in the Nelson County School System.

A tentative program for implementing environmental education in the Nelson Country schools was given, and a bibliography of resources and materials to be used in said program was included.

Kentucky Parole Officers: An Inquiry Into The Effect Of Residential Background On Their Works Styles, Virginia Cleveland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Using the population of Kentucky state parole officers as the focus of this thesis, work styles were studied. The work styles of twenty-eight rural parole officers were compared with the work styles of twenty-two urban officers. The Fisher Exact Statistical Test was used to test differences between these groups. Rural officers were significantly more likely than urban officers to go out of their offices to meet with their parolees. Urban officers had had a significantly greater number of parolees waiting in their offices at one time, than the rural officers had. The length of the average meeting did not differ …

The Beeson Farmstead: A Study Of The Functional Aspects Of A Black Farm In The Richland Community, Annelen Archbold

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study documents the lifestyle on a small, prosperous black farmstead in the Richland community of Butler County, Kentucky. It is based on extensive fieldwork and interviews conducted with Percy Beeson, owner of the farm for aver fifty years. The result of the fieldwork and interviews was the documentation of how this farmstead, maintained without mechanical farm equipment, worked as a functional unit on a year-round basis.

As a functional unit, the Beeson farmstead is described in terms of the Beeson family and their ownership of the farm and the breakdown of the property into two dependent units. In the …

The Protestant Ethic Effect With Children In Multi-Choice Environment, Linda Brunick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nineteen first graders were placed in a four-choice situation which allowed investigation of the "Protestant ethic effect" (PEE). The S's task was to obtain tokens which could be traded for toys and candy. Tokens were available from any or all of the following quadrants (Q): (Q₁) a location where the S was allowed the option to manipulate a toggle switch and/or obtain freely accessible tokens, (Q₂) a location at which tokens were freely accessible, and (Q₄) a work location in which the S received tokens contingent upon the operation of a toggle switch. A …

A Relationship Between The Bender-Gestalt & The Burks Behavior Rating Scale For Organic Brain Dysfunction, Judith Chenet

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sixty randomly selected first, second, and third graders were rated on the Burks Behavior Rating Scale for Organic Brain Dysfunction and were administered the Bender-Gestalt. The scores from each Burks category were compared to the Koppitz Developmental score on their corresponding Bender-Gestalt protocol. A Spearmar Rho indicated significant correlations (p<.05) between the total Burks score and the Koppitz Bender-Gestalt, the Vegetative-Autonomic scale and the Koppitz Bender- Gestalt, and the Perceptual -Discriminative scale and the Koppitz Bender- Gestalt. A nonsignificant negative correlation was found between the Burks Social-Emotional scale and the Koppitz Bender-Gestalt.

The Effects Of A Short Term Preacademic Total Approach Program On The Language Development Of Disadvantaged Children, Doug Richter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research tests a short term total academic language development program on the development of language delayed children. It was hypothesized that an increase in vocabulary and response length after a six week treatment program would be reflected on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Mean Length of Response Test. The treatment program utilized both the group and tutorial approach emphasizing the basic skills associated with listening, language, reading, writing and arithmetic. The subjects were nine-preschool Head Start children participating in a summer program at Western Kentucky University. A comparison of the performance on pre and post test revealed …

The Social Construction Of Professional Knowledge Illustrative Empirical Patterns In Social Work, 1956-1973, Danny L. Jorgensen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Traditional sociological conceptions of professions are examined in this thesis by refocusing attention upon knowledge and ideology as a key to understanding changes in professional reality and action. In a proposed transcending model of professional knowledge it is hypothesized that conflicts between certain ideological positions will result in the displacement of one position by an opposing position and thereby produce changes in the definition and meaning of specific aspects of professional knowledge. Furthermore, it is suggested that knowledge construction, ideological debate, and changes in professional meaning may be observed in the arena of professional communication which is represented by major …

An Analysis Of The Themes Of Guilt And Atonement In The Writings Of Tennessee Williams, James Curry

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The themes of guilt and atonement have been analyzed in selected writings of Tennessee Williams. Research concerning these two themes has been developed simultaneously with Williams’s concept of the universe and man. Many of Williams’s characters seek a form of atonement or purification for their guilt which has arisen due to their “incompleteness and unnatural desires.” Williams’s basic concept concerning the universe is that it is fragmented, a universe not completed by its Creator. Consequently, Williams envisions man and his nature to be likewise incomplete. It is this incompletion in man which causes him to have “unnatural desires,” labeled as …

A Comparison Of The Intellectually Gifted, Average, And Below Average High School Subjects On The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, Lyda Parker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between intellectual ability of 276 high school students and personality as measured by the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS) factors. The 10 GZTS traits utilized were: General Activity, Restraint, Ascendance, Sociability, Emotional Stability, Objectivity, Friendliness, Thoughtfulness, Personal Relations and Masculinity. The study was designed to test for the relationship between three IQ groups (high, middle and low) and each of 10 GZTS personality factors. A multiple groups design was used, in which the three groups of subjects were blocked across intelligence. Ten one-way analyses of variance were performed to determine if …

The Effect Of Locus Of Control, Influence & Awareness On A Verbal Conditioning Task, James Chudy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In a Taffel-tyne erbal conditioning task, the conditionabilitv of Internals (I's) and Externals (E's) was investigated under two types of influence (Hi vs. Lo) involving Ss who were either aware or unaware of the correct responsereinforcement contingency. A 2 X 2 X 2 X 7 repeated measures analysis of variance conducted on both the conditioning and extinction data revealed that aware Ss used the operant to a significantly greater degree during conditioning and significantly less during extinction. No significant differences in the rate of responding during conditioning and extinction were found for the main effects of locus of control or …

The Feasibility Of Annexation: A Cost-Revenue Approach For Bowling Green, Kentucky, Jeanne M. Dibble

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The United States is becoming a country of urban dwellers. Much of this urbanization is occurring outside of the legal city in what is called the urban fringe. Among the solutions advanced to deal with the problems of urban sprawl is the annexation of such areas by the central city. Before annexation can become a reality, its feasibility from a cost-revenue approach must be assessed. This was accomplished by dividing the urban fringe of Bowling Green, Kentucky, into nine study areas and investigating the costs incurred by the city for the provision of services associated with annexation as compared to …

A Comparative Study Of German And Kentucky Moon Beliefs, Katherine Martin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A body of moon beliefs from Kentucky was compared with a body of moon beliefs from Germany to discover similarities and dissimilarities between the two and to ascertain how well a body of beliefs (specifically moon beliefs) can be transferred from the Old World to the New World. The presence of a German culture in Kentucky was established and parallels were drawn between the structure, function, and esthetic aspects of both groups of beliefs. The Kentucky moon beliefs that migrated from 'Germany showed a surprising persistence, considering the move to America, change of language, and exposure to unfamiliar cultures. Some …

The Effect Of Life Experiences On Alumni Satisfaction With Undergraduate College, Wanda Monroe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis investigates the sociological determinants of the degree of satisfaction with undergraduate education expressed by alumni of Western Kentucky University. Subjects were selected by means of a random sample (h = 1759) of graduates from the years 1922 through 1962. The effects of two major types of independent variables upon alumni satisfaction are explored using Multiple Classification Analysis. The first group of explanatory variables are background factors which include father's educational level, parental income while the subject was attending college, sex, average college grade, and whether or not the subject's present occupation is in the same field as the …

The Fresh-Water Mussel Industry Of The Lower Tennessee River: Ecology & Future, Randall Grace

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The fresh-water mussel industry of the Tennessee River is nearing an end. Overharvesting, habitat alterations, and pollution are the major contributors to the depletion of the mussel resource, upon which the shell industry is based. A history of unconcern by shell harvesters and weak conservation enforcement by governmental agencies, has left the major waterways of the United States nearly void of commercial clams. The lower Tennessee River presently supplies the mussel industry with nearly all the important species of mollusks. If this industry is to be maintained in the United States, ways to preserve and propagate the mussel population must …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Spatial Distribution Of Substandard Housing In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Robert Harding

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to determine the degree and intensity of the factors affecting the spatial distribution of substandard housing in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A stepwise regression model revealed that straightline distance from the CBD, overcrowded units, average number of rooms per dwelling unit, renter occupancy and non-white occupancy accounted for only 37 percent of total explained variation. A filtering process based on blocks exceeding ten percent Black population was utilized to divide the universe. New analyses on Black and White sectors within the city did not increase the coefficient of determination. They did, however, reveal a great …

The Short-Run Economic Impact Of Iranian Land Reform (1962-1972), Nasser Sherafat

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Under the traditional land system in Iran there was little possibility for an increase in the agricultural output or a raise in the standard of living for the rural population; the land reform of 1962 brought change in the land ownership and in water rights. A ten-year period of the land reform may be divided into two separate phases: the first, the land reform of 1962-68 and the second, land reform corelated with agrarian reform 1968-72. Phase one established some social and economic independency for Iranian farmers, but since the technology applied by farmers did not change, the agricultural output …

Internal Versus External Locus Of Control & Religious Preference, Thomas Mcgloshen Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Members of adult Sunday School classes from seven churches in Bowling Green, Kentucky, were administered Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale. The seven churches were also ranked by ministers on a continuum of doctrinal closedness-openness. The hypothesis stated that there would be a difference among churches according to mean internal-external control scores. It was also hypothesized that the members of the more doctrinally closed churches would tend to score as more externally controlled. Analysis of covariance indicated that the churches did differ significantly on the internal-external control scale but the doctrinally closed churches tended to be more internal than the …