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Articles 5041 - 5070 of 8231

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Exploring A Potential Prejudice Against Theism In Social Psychology, Allen Sabey, Dr. Brent D. Slife Aug 2013

Exploring A Potential Prejudice Against Theism In Social Psychology, Allen Sabey, Dr. Brent D. Slife

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the world of psychological thought and theory, psychologists attempt to explain human behavior. In this attempt, biases and prejudices are crucial to identify and discuss. Prejudices and biases tend to distort or exclude interpretations or explanations that could be meaningful for certain people or certain situations. Slife and Reber (2009) have recently argued that an implicit and pervasive prejudice against theism exists in psychology. This prejudice prevents the inclusion of certain theistic explanations for the serious theist. This prospect of a pervasive implicit prejudice against theism is significant given that many psychologists and researchers hold a theistic world-view. Identifying …

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Tantruming And Talking: Measuring Treatment Outcome In Preschool Autism Treatment Programs, Jaime Ballard, Dr. Mikle South Aug 2013

Tantruming And Talking: Measuring Treatment Outcome In Preschool Autism Treatment Programs, Jaime Ballard, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

One in every 133 children in Utah has autism, a disorder characterized by poor social and communication skills (U.S. Autism Rate Soars Twentyfold in 20 Years, 2007). These rates are climbing across the nation. As more children are born with these disorders, schools and other educational facilities are struggling to develop proven programs to help these children function on a daily level. These programs, and the surveys designed to assess their effectiveness, often do not take into consideration which behaviors are most important to parents and teachers of children with autism. Parents and teachers are in the best position to …

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Analyzing The Gap Between Actual And Perceived Body Size And Its Association With Weight Control Among High School Aged Girls, Erin Moore, Dr. Renata Forste Aug 2013

Analyzing The Gap Between Actual And Perceived Body Size And Its Association With Weight Control Among High School Aged Girls, Erin Moore, Dr. Renata Forste

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My ORCA grant was used in a statistical examination using data from the 2001-2002 Health Behaviors in School-age Children, a nationally representative survey measuring children and adolescents on a variety of health-related behaviors and attitudes. With these data, I explored the effects of a discrepancy between actual and perceived body size on various types of weight control behaviors. I also took into account the influences of the sociocultural pressures of family, peers, and media, and also the influence of pubertal development. This examination focused on adolescent girls in 9th and 10th grade in the United States; it yielded a number …

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Appendix 4: Selected Putative Iranian-Perpetrated Extraterritorial Killings And Attempted Killings Of Non-Iranians, 1980-2012, Brian Champion, Lee Crowther Aug 2013

Appendix 4: Selected Putative Iranian-Perpetrated Extraterritorial Killings And Attempted Killings Of Non-Iranians, 1980-2012, Brian Champion, Lee Crowther

Faculty Publications

Appendix 4 documents selected attempts (successful or otherwise) made on the lives of non-Iranians outside of Iran for which some allegation was made that Iran itself, at an official or quasi-official level, was responsible. The appendix documents twenty incidents taking place between June 1980 and February 2012 targeting twenty-six individuals.

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Decision-Making Process Of Elected Officials, Bradley Masters Aug 2013

Decision-Making Process Of Elected Officials, Bradley Masters

Journal of Undergraduate Research

John Kingdon, in his famous book, Congressman’s Voting Decisions, said, “Because congressmen rely most heavily on colleagues within the house and on constituents for guidance as they vote, other actors in the system such as lobbyists and administration policy makers tend to work through these two gatekeeper sources” (Kingdon 1989, My work with this ORCA grant has helped to shed light on an important distinction that is not explored by Kingdon: some congressman will rely more heavily on colleagues within the house and some will rely more heavily on constituents.

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Evaluating The Relationship Between Middle Eastern Governments And Political Opposition Groups, Estee Ward, Dr. Donna Lee Bowen Aug 2013

Evaluating The Relationship Between Middle Eastern Governments And Political Opposition Groups, Estee Ward, Dr. Donna Lee Bowen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There is a growing consensus among scholars that “social science research on the Middle East has, as of yet, scarcely dealt with political opposition as an independent subject of analysis.” Most scholars consider the role of opposition as one way to facilitate the growth of democracy in developing states. They find a good starting point with the concept of alternance, which is defined as the expectation that in a democracy government and opposition compete to gain public support to form a government. In liberal democracies, alternance allows various parties the opportunity to become the higher authority through free and fair …

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Economy, Democracy And Its Reflection On Presidential Rhetoric, Damian Rosas, Dr. Darren Hawkins Aug 2013

Economy, Democracy And Its Reflection On Presidential Rhetoric, Damian Rosas, Dr. Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Political rhetoric in Latin America has reflected the trends that different countries in the region have experienced during their democratic history. There are several factors that may influence the contents and attitudes towards democracy of presidential speeches. The most influential factor is likely to be the economic situation of the country. In an effort to integrate the economic and political knowledge that I acquired as an International Relations major I developed my research project in an interaction of these two disciplines.

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Security In South Africa: The Perceptions Of Women, B. Macrae Mcdermott, Dr. Valerie Hudson Aug 2013

Security In South Africa: The Perceptions Of Women, B. Macrae Mcdermott, Dr. Valerie Hudson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I recently completed the data collection portion of the research project entitled “Security in South Africa: The Perceptions of Women.” With the aid of my faculty mentor, I developed a mixed method, ethnographic field study in order to gain a greater understanding of women’s perceptions of safety and security in South Africa. From May through November 2010, I lived in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa in order to conduct this study.

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The Effect Of Sex And Race On Letter Responses From The U.S. Congress And State Legislatures, Josephine Borich, Dr. Chris Karpowitz Aug 2013

The Effect Of Sex And Race On Letter Responses From The U.S. Congress And State Legislatures, Josephine Borich, Dr. Chris Karpowitz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Because of changing demographics in the United States, the way legislators respond to minority constituents and to women is becoming more important. My ORCA grant focused on the relationship between constituents who ask immigration related questions to federal and state legislators through letters.

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Does Donor Transparency Matter In Foreign Aid?, Zarchary Christensen, Dr. Daniel Nielson Aug 2013

Does Donor Transparency Matter In Foreign Aid?, Zarchary Christensen, Dr. Daniel Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Development scholars are currently debating whether or not the trillions of dollars given as foreign aid to developing countries have done any good. Some donors have heeded the contested advice from some scholars to reduce the amounts of aid they give to poorly governed countries. Now, many development advocates have begun challenging the quality of governance in donor agencies themselves. One of the biggest complaints is that donors are not transparent enough about their activities. My research seeks to measure the effects of donor transparency on recipient countries.

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An Observation Of Public Behavior Among Ecuadorian Orphans, Emily Miller, Dr. Charles Nuckolls Aug 2013

An Observation Of Public Behavior Among Ecuadorian Orphans, Emily Miller, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Identity within a social structure is easily analyzed when found in a culturally traditional setting. However, when physical and mental handicaps, parental figure transience, and varying levels of familial contact become factors the social structure and the roles within that structure are not as easily defined. Research for this study was performed at an Ecuadorian orphanage where many of the children have mental and physical handicaps and where the adults they interact with change quite frequently. Based on this study, it can be concluded that a child’s role within this society and the type of interactions that child has with …

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Aboriginal Cultural Resilience: A Community Ethnography In Utopia, Jaren Meldrum, Dr. Todd L. Goodsell Aug 2013

Aboriginal Cultural Resilience: A Community Ethnography In Utopia, Jaren Meldrum, Dr. Todd L. Goodsell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most rural indigenous communities in Australia have an abnormally high frequency of tobacco and alcohol use, domestic violence, and gambling, the prevalence of which can be seen as a result of an anomic loss of cultural identity in the postcolonial era (O’Connor 1984; Johnston and Thomas 2008). Decades of national-level statistics describe a shorter life expectancy, less education, and an overall decreased quality of life for indigenous Australians compared to their non-indigenous peers. Recently, the issue of Australian Commonwealth policy to close the “Aboriginal achievement gap” has gained increased attention, particularly due to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s 2008 landmark “Sorry …

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Community Development In Rural Mexico: Observations On Leadership And Community, Matthew Cox, Dr. Ralph Brown Aug 2013

Community Development In Rural Mexico: Observations On Leadership And Community, Matthew Cox, Dr. Ralph Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Within the field of community development, there are various opinions of what qualities or characteristics define a developed community. Each of these definitions varies depending on the academic or professional sector in which it is found. This research began based on the hypothesis inherent in Flora and Flora’s Community Capitals Framework (CCF), which posits that a community’s connections to resources such as people, organizations, and physical resources within seven capital areas endows it with greater potential for development. Therefore, this research attempted to outline the connections present in a handful of rural communities in central Mexico, in order to determine …

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The Growth Of Women’S Clinics And Hospital Based Women’S Services 1980-2000, Jessica Callahan, Dr. Marie Cornwall Aug 2013

The Growth Of Women’S Clinics And Hospital Based Women’S Services 1980-2000, Jessica Callahan, Dr. Marie Cornwall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The 1960s showed marked improvements in the realm of decreasing the inequality gap between men and women. However, in the area of healthcare, women felt that there was a disconnect between themselves and the way that their bodies were being treated. Doctors spent little time with their patients and did not believe in sharing vital health information with their patients; doctors often thought that if they did so, their patients would fantasize health problems that they did not actually have as side effects of treatment (Morgen 2002).

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Defining And Measuring Infant Habituation, Denise Free, Dr. Ross Flom Aug 2013

Defining And Measuring Infant Habituation, Denise Free, Dr. Ross Flom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Although we arguably know very little about the actual process of infant habituation, in assessing infant conditioning, controlled habituation is the procedure used most often. It may be that how infants habituate could vary as a function of their age. In addition a perceived “inability” at one age may reflect instead an incomplete period of familiarization or habituation. Most studies have used the same criterion for infants of different ages, and it may be more appropriate to vary the criterion of habituation or familiarization as a function of infant age.

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The Mediated Effects Of Moral Identity On Religiosity And Prosocial Behaviors, David Rackham, Dr. Sam Hardy Aug 2013

The Mediated Effects Of Moral Identity On Religiosity And Prosocial Behaviors, David Rackham, Dr. Sam Hardy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The proposed project sought to examine moral identity as a mediation of relations between religiosity and positive and negative behaviors among emerging adults. Upon receipt of the ORCA grant in February 2010, Dr. Hardy and I began the data analysis. The analysis was performed on a large (n=3,000) national data set of college age students. It was hypothesized that moral identity will be found to be a significant mechanism of religiosity and various outcome variables. Originally, structural equation modeling was going to be used to test a model whereby moral identity is a mediator of relations between religious commitment and …

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Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians And Midwives Compete For Patients, Angelyn Fairchild, Dr. Joseph Price Aug 2013

Market Defending Medicine: When Physicians And Midwives Compete For Patients, Angelyn Fairchild, Dr. Joseph Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Patients trust that their medical provider will help them receive the best care possible even when this may involve referring them to another provider. However, transferring patients to other providers represents a transfer of income between the health care providers, thus creating a strong profit incentive for physicians to retain patients in their care. In order to examine how physicians respond to competitive threats to their income, we exploit changes in insurance laws that increased competition in the market for labor and delivery by expanding policies to cover midwives as well as physicians.

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The Absent God: Do Implicit Biases Influence Current Prayer Research?, Chase O'Gwin, Dr. Brent Slife Aug 2013

The Absent God: Do Implicit Biases Influence Current Prayer Research?, Chase O'Gwin, Dr. Brent Slife

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In a recent article Dr. Slife and Reber (2009) make an argument that there is a pervasive bias against theism in psychological research. They state that in the effort to remain neutral towards religious thinking, including Christian theism, the science of psychology has become implicitly biased. This bias is masked by an attempt at neutrality; psychologists assume that God is not required in science, but if a theist wishes to insert a God, nothing is changed. The implicit bias against theism is made manifest because for the theist God is required in all things, and when science informs the theist …

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An Evaluation Of The Clinical Use Of Phenytoin For Preventing Early Post-Traumatic Seizures In Traumatic Brain Injury Patients, Sierra Debenham, Dr. Erin Bigler Aug 2013

An Evaluation Of The Clinical Use Of Phenytoin For Preventing Early Post-Traumatic Seizures In Traumatic Brain Injury Patients, Sierra Debenham, Dr. Erin Bigler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I evaluated the Montreal General Hospital’s use of the anti-seizure medication phenytoin in all traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients admitted to the hospital over the course of 2 years. I then evaluated the information to evaluate how effective the phenytoin treatment was in preventing early TBI.

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Medical Pluralism And Women’S Health: Ayurveda And Allopathy In A Changing Andhra Pradesh, Rachel Owen, Dr. John Hawkins Aug 2013

Medical Pluralism And Women’S Health: Ayurveda And Allopathy In A Changing Andhra Pradesh, Rachel Owen, Dr. John Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My research took place in Andhra Pradesh, South India, in Vishakhapatnam, or Visag, for short. I studied the interaction between Allopathy (Allopathy is one of the terms used to describe western medicine, or biomedicine) and Ayurveda(Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system used in India for over 2000 years). I was originally interested in how this interaction affected midwives and pregnant mothers in the small fishing village on the edge of the city. As with most ethnographic, qualitative research, my focus changed during the first few weeks as challenges presented themselves and I had to adapt based on the resources …

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We Are Widows, We Are Women: On The Oral Histories Of Low-Caste Indian Widows And How They Maintain A Sense Of Self In The Face Of Social Role Change, Suzanne Powell, Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls Aug 2013

We Are Widows, We Are Women: On The Oral Histories Of Low-Caste Indian Widows And How They Maintain A Sense Of Self In The Face Of Social Role Change, Suzanne Powell, Dr. Charles W. Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a student of anthropology, my ORCA grant enabled me to work on analyzing and writing up my results from a field study trip I took during the Fall 2009 semester to Visakhapatnam, India. My study focused on collecting oral histories of Hindu windows living in a fishing village just outside of the city limits. While there, I focused on understanding their lives previous to and after widowhood, what being a widow meant in that society, and how they felt about and reacted to the changes that came into their lives with the deaths of their husbands.

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Academic Salary Compression: Are You In Danger?, Jeff Sorensen, Dr. James Mcdonald Aug 2013

Academic Salary Compression: Are You In Danger?, Jeff Sorensen, Dr. James Mcdonald

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Salary compression is common in many fields with high demand for or low supply of a specific type of labor. In order to attract new recruits in such fields, employers sometimes must offer them wages higher than those of more senior employees. Unlike in most labor markets, there is evidence that returns to seniority for college professors are negative. Ransom (1993), along with many others, found a negative correlation between the number of years at the university and salary after controlling for total workforce experience, research activity, and other variables. He developed a model in which universities act as a …

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Evaluating The Impact Of Health Information Technology Resources On Quality Of Patient Care, Evans Thomas, Dr. Mark Showalter Aug 2013

Evaluating The Impact Of Health Information Technology Resources On Quality Of Patient Care, Evans Thomas, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

With issues ranging from controlling insurance availability and coverage to management of healthcare infrastructure and costs, healthcare is an inflationary topic of national debate today. Much of the publicized argument, such as the healthcare reform bill recently passed in Congress, has centered on how to restructure the reimbursement system in order to contain costs. However, within provider organizations the question also focuses on maintaining and improving patient welfare. Many in the healthcare industry believe that technological resources can also help healthcare providers to cut costs by automating complex, repetitive processes while improving quality of care. With this goal in mind, …

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Longitudinal Progression Of Frontal And Temporal Lobe Changes In Schizophrenia, Derin J. Cobia, Matthew J. Smith, Lei Wang, John G. Csernansky Aug 2013

Longitudinal Progression Of Frontal And Temporal Lobe Changes In Schizophrenia, Derin J. Cobia, Matthew J. Smith, Lei Wang, John G. Csernansky

Faculty Publications

Cortical abnormalities are considered a neurobiological characteristic of schizophrenia. However, the pattern of such deficits as they progress over the illness remains poorly understood. The goal of this project was to assess the progression of cortical thinning in frontal and temporal cortical regions in schizophrenia, and determine whether relationships exist between them and neuropsychological and clinical symptom profiles. As part of a larger longitudinal 2-year followup study, schizophrenia (n=20) and healthy participants (n=20) group-matched for age, gender, and recent-alcohol use, were selected. Using MRI, estimates of gray matter thickness were derived from primary anatomical gyri of the frontal and temporal …

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Financial Declines, Financial Behaviors, And Relationship Satisfaction During The Recession, Jeffrey P. Dew, Jing Jian Xiao Aug 2013

Financial Declines, Financial Behaviors, And Relationship Satisfaction During The Recession, Jeffrey P. Dew, Jing Jian Xiao

Faculty Publications

Using nationally-representative data collected during the summer of 2009 (N = 575), this study examines how reports of financial declines are associated with financial behaviors and how financial behaviors are associated with relationship satisfaction among cohabiting and married participants. Findings suggested that financial declines were only negatively associated with sound financial management behavior if participants also experienced feelings of economic pressure. Sound financial management behavior was found to be positively associated with marital satisfaction. Finally, sound financial management behavior also moderated the association between financial declines, economic pressure, and relationship satisfaction.

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Gender Differences In The Associations Among Body Mass Index, Weight Loss, Exercise, And Drinking Among College Students, Adam E. Barry Phd, Shawn Whiteman Phd, Anna K. Piazza-Gardner Ms, Alexander C. Jensen Phd Jul 2013

Gender Differences In The Associations Among Body Mass Index, Weight Loss, Exercise, And Drinking Among College Students, Adam E. Barry Phd, Shawn Whiteman Phd, Anna K. Piazza-Gardner Ms, Alexander C. Jensen Phd

Faculty Publications

Objective: To explore gender differences regarding weight management behaviors of college drinkers. Participants: Nationally representative sample of college students from the fall 2008 American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment II (N = 26,062 students). Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to examine potential gender differences in associations among exercise, weight loss behaviors, and alcohol use. Results: Critical ratio tests revealed that associations between exercise and weight loss behaviors were more strongly correlated among females as compared with males. For females, there was a small negative association between exercise and drinking behaviors; in contrast, for males, there was a …

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Reenvisioning Access Services: A Survey Of Access Services Departments In Arl Libraries, Duane E Wilson Jul 2013

Reenvisioning Access Services: A Survey Of Access Services Departments In Arl Libraries, Duane E Wilson

Faculty Publications

In spring 2012 a study was undertaken to investigate the current structure of Access Services in ARL Libraries and to understand current and future trends in departmental organization and cross-training. The survey determined that Access Services Departments in ARL Libraries typically contain a core set of services, though their structure is based on local needs. Most ARL Libraries have not experimented with combining reference and circulation functions and have only begun to consolidate traditional Access Services areas at single service points. The author recommends that Access Services be organized around a public services point instead of organizing the department around …

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Acceptance Of Disability In College Students, Brian Charles Carl Jul 2013

Acceptance Of Disability In College Students, Brian Charles Carl

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the findings of a study examining the following questions: How do students in a particular disability group differ from students in other disability groups in the degree to which they accept their disability? How are level of functional impairment and acceptance related? How are an individual's view of disability as a defining characteristic and acceptance related? How are functional impairment and the degree to which disability is seen as a defining characteristic related? Analysis using ANOVA indicated that there was not a significant difference in the level of acceptance between disability groups. Three Pearson's r correlation analyses …

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Dose-Effect Vs. Good Enough Level: A Comparison Of Treatment Length And Maintenance Of Treatment Gains At Follow-Up Using The Outcome Questionnaire-45, John M. Suyama Jul 2013

Dose-Effect Vs. Good Enough Level: A Comparison Of Treatment Length And Maintenance Of Treatment Gains At Follow-Up Using The Outcome Questionnaire-45, John M. Suyama

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines psychotherapy response in connection to treatment duration and maintenance of treatment gains. The dose-effect perspective (Howard et al. 1986) first proposed applying medical terminology to investigate a level of exposure to a dose of psychotherapy (in number of sessions) where individuals can expect to receive sufficient benefit (i.e., 48 -- 58% of clients can be expected to sufficiently benefit from therapy by 8 sessions). The proponents of the Good Enough Level (Barkham et at. 2006) argued that mere exposure to therapy is not an effective measure for client benefit, but rather that client responses to therapy vary. …

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Training Pre-Service Teachers In Response To Intervention: A Survey Of Teacher Candidates, Ann-Michelle Neal Jul 2013

Training Pre-Service Teachers In Response To Intervention: A Survey Of Teacher Candidates, Ann-Michelle Neal

Theses and Dissertations

Addressing training in Response to Intervention at the pre-service level has potential to reach educators during their formative years; preparing them to implement research-based practices upon entering the field and building the capacity to do so with more fidelity and less support. While the knowledge levels and perceptions of pre-service teachers are critical to the future success of RTI implementation, the level of training among pre-service educators is less understood relative to their colleagues in the field. This exploratory study was designed to examine pre-service general and special education teachers' perceptions of RTI, and self-efficacy in implementation. A survey, created …

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