Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Spatial Statistical Approaches To Water Quality Modelling, Janardan Mainali

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation aims to advance the existing knowledge related to spatial modeling of water quality by exploring and introducing innovative approaches to different spatial conceptualizations for water quality modeling and incorporating upstream-downstream relations in geographically weighted regression. By carrying out a systematic literature review of four different classes of spatial models in Chapter One, this dissertation identifies the following major research gaps: lack of incorporation of multiscale processes, not enough emphasis on spatial weights matrices, and unavailability of upstream-downstream relationships in geographically weighted regressions. Chapters Two and Three were designed to address these gaps in the literature. In Chapter Two, …

Teachers’ Perspectives On Year Two Implementation Of A Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, Rachel E. Schachter, Erin E. Flynn, Amy R. Napoli, Shayne B. Piasta

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study we examined teachers’ perspectives regarding the second year of implementing a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). Using a mixed-methods approach, we focused on the administration process, the perceived benefits of the assessment, and how teachers used the assessment to inform instruction. We also investigated whether these differed by teacher and district characteristics and how KRA experiences were different in the second year of implementation. Research Findings: Teachers generally did not view the KRA as beneficial for instruction or for students, reporting administration difficulties, inadequate KRA content, and limited utility of KRA data for supporting instruction as ongoing …

Psu Futures Collaboratory: Final Report And Recommendations To President Percy And Provost Susan Jeffords, Laura Burney Nissen

Futures Collaboratory

The report provides an overview of the Futures Collaboratory, its efforts to consider possible futures, ways to expand the dialogue on a broad scale to make a stronger and more agile community that engages in future-contributing, learning, and co-creating.

Among Low-Income Women In San Francisco, Low Awareness Of Paid Parental Leave Benefits Inhibits Take-Up, Julia M. Goodman, Holly Elser, William H. Dow

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Paid family leave policies have the potential to reduce health disparities, yet access to paid leave remains limited and unevenly distributed in the United States. Using California administrative claims data, we examined the impact of the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance, the first in the US to provide parental leave with full pay. We found that the law increased parental leave uptake in San Francisco by 13 percent among fathers, but there was little change in leave among mothers. Data from a survey of mothers suggest that the limited impact may be partly a result of low understanding of …

Crafting A Closure And The Art Of Deconstruction: Lessons Learned From The Oregon College Of Art And Craft Library’S Final Days, Elsa Loftis, Dan Kelley

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

After the disheartening news of a full closure of the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2019, the librarian and partners had the unpleasant task of dismantling and distributing the library’s unique collection. This article outlines that process in the context of other library closures and offers ideas for best practices and project management procedures for other libraries to consider if facing such a situation. The article is also a tribute to the unique collection and space that needed to be disassembled and how the collection lives on to make contributions at other institutions.

Using Spoken Dialogue Technology For L2 Speaking Practice: What Do Teachers Think?, Veronika Timpe-Laughlin, Tetyana Sydorenko, Phoebe Daurio

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Often, second/foreign (L2) language learners receive little opportunity to interact orally in the target language. Interactive, conversation-based spoken dialog systems (SDSs) that use automated speech recognition and natural language processing have the potential to address this need by engaging learners in meaningful, goal-oriented speaking practice. However, these technology-based learning tools are often developed without input from teaching professionals. As part of a larger development effort, this study examined English as a second language (ESL) teachers’ perceptions regarding SDS-based speaking tasks, addressing the following research questions: (a) What do teachers think about the SDS-based tasks? (b) How would they use them …

Pre-Emptive Detection Of Mature Pine Drought Stress Using Multispectral Aerial Imagery, Nancy Grulke, Jason Maxfield, Phillip Riggan, Charlie Schrader-Patton

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Drought, ozone (O₃), and nitrogen deposition (N) alter foliar pigments and tree crown structure that may be remotely detectable. Remote sensing tools are needed that pre-emptively identify trees susceptible to environmental stresses could inform forest managers in advance of tree mortality risk. Jeffrey pine, a component of the economically important and widespread western yellow pine in North America was investigated in the southern Sierra Nevada. Transpiration of mature trees differed by 20% between microsites with adequate (mesic (M)) vs. limited (xeric (X)) water availability as described in a previous study. In this study, in-the-crown morphological traits (needle chlorosis, …

Employer-Reported Access To Paid Parental Leave: A Study Of San Francisco’S Paid Parental Leave Ordinance, Julia M. Goodman, Holly Elser, William H. Dow

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: A growing body of research finds that paid leave policies have significant population health benefits for workers and their families, but the lack of a national paid leave policy in the United States leaves most workers without access to any paid leave. In 2017 San Francisco implemented the nation’s first fully paid leave policy, mandating that covered employers provide up to six weeks of leave to care for a new child. The objective of our study is to examine how the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO) affected paid leave access, including among workers in low-wage industries. Methods: …

Exploring College Student Identity Among Young People With Foster Care Histories And Mental Health Challenges, Rebecca Miller, Jennifer E. Blakeslee, Chanel Ison

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Young adults with foster care histories experience unique barriers to success in postsecondary academic settings, including higher rates of mental health challenges. This study reports the perspectives of college students with foster care histories and self-identified mental health concerns (N = 18) about how these factors relate to their post-secondary academic experiences. Study participants describe managing their mental health amid other academic and life stressors, share their perspectives on campus-based support and help-seeking experiences, and highlight the need for acknowledgement of their foster care identities in conjunction with their developing college student identities. Participants make a case for programming to …

Addressing Substance Use Utilizing A Community-Based Program Among Urban Native American Youth Living In Florida, Rose Wimbish-Cirilo, John Lowe, Eugenia Millender, E. Roberto Orellana

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study was conducted in Florida among two urban Native American youth programs that are sponsored by urban Native American community organizations. Convenience and snowballing were used as a sample recruitment strategy. Assignment to the experimental condition (UTC) and the control condition (SE) was established by randomizing the two community youth program sites to the two conditions. Utilization of a culturally relevant theory, Native-Reliance, guided the intervention approach for the prevention of substance use among urban Native American youth. Results of this study provided evidence that a culturally based intervention was significantly more effective for the reduction of substance use …

Investigating Mentor Commitment In Youth Mentoring Relationships: The Role Of Perceived Program Practices, Alison L. Drew, Thomas E. Keller, Renee Spencer, Carla Herrera

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Highly committed mentors may be less likely to end their mentoring relationships with their mentees. Theory suggests commitment is predicted by relationship satisfaction, investment, and perceptions of available alternatives. Mentoring program practices may influence commitment, but little research has investigated potential mechanisms. Using data from 537 mentors representing 55 mentoring programs, this study examined a theoretical path model in which mentor perceptions of program practices, specifically setting expectations, prematch mentor training, and matching based on mentor preferences, predict mentor satisfaction, investment, perceptions of available alternatives, and ultimately, relationship commitment. As expected, commitment was associated positively with satisfaction and investment and …

Toxic Stress Among Black And African American Oregonians, Roberta Hunte, Margaret J.F. Braun

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Toxic stress is a reaction to ongoing adversity such as abuse, neglect, poverty, racism, discrimination, and exposure to violence; it is powerful enough to change brain chemistry and architecture. Toxic stress and associated changes to the brain can lead to poor health outcomes later in life. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), racism*, and discrimination can trigger toxic stress and have long term consequences for the health of many people, particularly those in the Black and African American community.

The current project examined toxic stress and its impact on the health of Black and African American Oregonians. We looked at two indicators …

Theater Over Textbooks: How A Neuroscience Outreach Group Utilizing Art In S.T.E.M. Provides Cost-Effective Strategies In Tackling The United States Education Gap, Camden Grant Howard, William Griesar

University Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to summarize the relevant research for the evaluation of a S.T.E.A.M.-based, grassroots, neuroscience outreach group called 'NW Noggin'. This paper discusses the benefits and skills of S.T.E.M. in learning, the benefits and skills of S.T.E.A.M. in learning, educational disparities within the United States, educational outreach groups how they are currently assessed as well as more innovative arts-based and inquiry-based alternative assessments of student knowledge. This paper then focuses on the nonprofit NW Noggin to discuss their goals and activities and possible options for program assessment. This thesis also discusses how they fulfill their civic …

Empirical Analysis Of Cbow And Skip Gram Nlp Models, Tejas Menon

University Honors Theses

CBOW and Skip Gram are two NLP techniques to produce word embedding models that are accurate and performant. They were invented in the seminal paper by T. Mikolov et al. and have since observed optimizations such as negative sampling and subsampling. This paper implements a fully-optimized version of these models using Py-Torch and runs them through a toy sentiment/subject analysis. It is weakly observed that different corpus types affect the skew of word embeddings such that fictional corpus are better suited for sentiment analysis and non-fictional for subject analysis.

Automatic Keyphrase Extraction From Russian-Language Scholarly Papers In Computational Linguistics, Yves Wienecke

University Honors Theses

The automatic extraction of keyphrases from scholarly papers is a necessary step for many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks, including text retrieval, machine translation, and text summarization. However, due to the different grammatical and semantic intricacies of languages, this is a highly language-dependent task. Many free and open source implementations of state-of-the-art keyphrase extraction techniques exist, but they are not adapted for processing Russian text. Furthermore, the multi-linguistic character of scholarly papers in the field of Russian computational linguistics and NLP introduces additional complexity to keyphrase extraction. This paper describes a free and open source program as a proof of …

"We Had To Rely On Each Other": Voices Of Latinx Foster Youth With Experiences In Care With Siblings, Isabella B. Ginsberg

University Honors Theses

Relationships between members of sibling groups have been found to impact well-being for children who enter foster care. Being placed in stranger foster care is often challenging and can be traumatic with children reporting confusion, worry, and loss of identity and sense of belonging. While there is some research that explores the experiences of siblings groups in foster care and others separately that examines Latinx children in foster care, there is very little information that looks into the potentially unique experiences of Latinx individuals who were in care with siblings that also accounts for cultural nuance.

This study used a …

Social Media In Business-To-Business Marketing And Sales: Review Of Literature & Research Recommendations, Daniel Bello Manjarrez

University Honors Theses

Social media usage in business to business marketing and sales has been steadily rising since its advent in the late 2000s. Similarly, research surrounding social media in this context has increased, with specific focus on its usage, influence, and adoption from B2B marketers and salespeople. This focus has resulted in gaps in the literature, especially when regarding small and medium B2B enterprises. This review of literature provides a systemic understanding of the research landscape by identifying the theory, methods, context, and results of twenty-one peer-reviewed business marketing articles concerning social media. This review also proposes five key recommendations to inform …

Exploring Perceptions Of Healthcare Quality In Oregon Male Prisons: Interviews With Individuals Recently Released From Long-Term Imprisonment, Rén Rosz

University Honors Theses

The healthcare that people who are imprisoned receive is inadequate and does not meet the requirements owed to them by the Eighth Amendment. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has repeatedly surveyed inmates about the health care that they receive (Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], n.d.). One of the most recent iterations, in 2004, showed that there were large gaps in the health care that prisoners received: not being able to see a healthcare provider after an injury, necessary medications being discontinued, and lab tests being restricted (Wilper, et al, 2009). The surveys were implemented to highlight policies needing correction and …

Socio-Emotional Learning As A Core Standard In Early Education: Producing Competent Adults, Talia Maras

University Honors Theses

A child’s foundational emotional proficiency is highly predictive of their academic success. It is therefore imperative that center-based, federally funded, public childhood education systems provide their students with a curriculum that facilitates the development of a strong socio-emotional baseline on which to build their cognitive, academic abilities. Drawing on government reports by the US Department of Education and empirical publications from an academic perspective, this paper reviews the nature of current efforts to reform the childhood education system, as seen through the implementation of the common core standards of learning. I review the quality of education that is provided by …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Clackamas County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different areas within Oregon counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Clackamas County is comprised of three types of areas: areas within Metro’s jurisdiction, UGB areas outside of Metro’s jurisdiction (Barlow, Canby, Estacada, Molalla, and Sandy), and areas outside of both Metro and those UGBs. In this report, we focus on Clackamas County as a whole as well as non‐ Metro sub‐areas.

Clackamas County’s total population has grown steadily over the last half century, with average annual growth rates exceeding 1 percent in every period except during Oregon’s deep 1980s recession and the …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Yamhill County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different areas within Oregon counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Yamhill County is comprised of two types of areas: its urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Amity, Carlton, Dayton, Dundee, the portions of Gaston within Yamhill County, Lafayette, McMinnville, Newberg, Sheridan, the portions of Willamina within Yamhill County, and the City of Yamhill) and the area outside of those UGBs.

Yamhill County’s total population increased during the 2000s, growing at an average of 1.6 percent annually (see Figure 1). Small sub‐areas in northeastern Yamhill County—such as Carlton, Gaston, Lafayette, and Yamhill—experienced faster population growth …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Washington County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different areas within Oregon counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Washington County is comprised of three types of areas: areas within Metro’s jurisdiction, urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas outside of Metro’s jurisdiction (Banks, Gaston, and North Plains), and areas outside of Metro and those UGBs. In this report, we focus on Washington County as a whole as well as non‐Metro sub‐areas.

Washington County’s total population has grown swiftly over the last half century, only slowing modestly during Oregon’s deep 1980s recession. Since 1990, average annual growth rates have slowed from above 3 percent …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Clatsop County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different sub‐areas within Oregon’s counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Clatsop County is comprised of two types of sub‐areas: urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Astoria, Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Seaside, and Warrenton) and areas outside of those UGBs. In this report, we describe demographic trends and forecasts for the county as a whole as well as its sub‐areas.

Clatsop County’s total population gradually increased in the 2000s (Figure 1). Some sub‐areas, such as Warrenton and Gearhart, experienced faster population growth, averaging between one and two percent growth annually. In contrast, Astoria lost population between …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Wasco County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different sub‐areas within Oregon’s counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Wasco County is comprised of two types of sub‐areas: urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Antelope, Dufur, Maupin, Mosier, Shaniko, and The Dalles) and areas outside of those UGBs. In this report, we describe demographic trends and forecasts for the county as a whole as well as its sub‐areas.

Wasco County’s total population has grown slowly over the last half century. The exception to this trend was the tumultuous 1980s, related to both the deep recession that hit Oregon and to the sudden appearance, …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Tillamook County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different areas within Oregon counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Tillamook County is comprised of two types of areas: its urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Bay City, Garibaldi, Manzanita, Nehalem, Rockaway Beach, Tillamook City, and Wheeler) and areas outside those UGBs.

Tillamook County’s total population gradually increased in the 2000s (Figure 1). Some subareas, such as Bay City, Manzanita, and Nehalem, experienced faster population growth than the county as a whole, averaging between one and three percent growth annually. In contrast, Rockaway Beach remained relatively unchanged between 2000 and 2010, and Garibaldi lost …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Hood River County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different sub‐areas within Oregon’s counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Hood River County is comprised of two types of sub‐areas: urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Cascade Locks and the City of Hood River) and areas outside of those UGBs. In this report, we describe demographic trends and forecasts for the county as a whole as well as its sub‐areas.

Hood River County’s total population has grown steadily over the last half century, with average annual growth rates exceeding 1 percent in every period except during Oregon’s deep 1980s recession and the Great Recession …

Coordinated Population Forecast For Columbia County, Its Urban Growth Boundaries (Ugb), And Area Outside Ugbs 2020-2070, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Nicholas Chun, Kevin Rancik, Paul Runge, Mac Cunningham, Deborah Loftus, Charles Rynerson

Oregon Population Forecast Program

Different areas within Oregon counties experience different growth patterns. Those patterns combine to collectively determine county‐level demographic changes. Columbia County is comprised of two types of areas: its urban‐growth boundary (UGB) areas (Clatskanie, Columbia City, Prescott, Rainier, Scappoose, St. Helens, and Vernonia) and areas outside those UGBs.

Columbia County’s total population steadily increased in the 2000s, growing at 1.3 percent annually (see Figure 1). Some sub‐areas—such as Columbia City, Scappoose, and St. Helens along the Columbia River Highway—experienced faster population growth than the county, averaging between two and three percent growth annually. In contrast, Prescott and Vernonia lost population, and …

Examining Employee Needs At Work And Home: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective, Dana Anuhea Auten

Dissertations and Theses

This research study utilizes self-determination theory (SDT) to examine employees' daily need satisfaction for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in work and nonwork domains and their association with work outcomes. Specifically, daily work-related need satisfaction and need frustration are theorized to represent resource-rich and resource-depleted states within employees that are associated with cognitive engagement or disengagement with work during nonwork time (i.e., psychological detachment, positive work reflection, negative work reflection), and subsequent next day work engagement and exhaustion. Furthermore, previous research indicates that need satisfaction and frustration exist in multiple life domains. Daily experiences of need satisfaction and frustration are therefore …

White ‘Alliahs:’ The Creation & Perpetuation Of The ‘Wise Indian’ Trope, Jessica Mehta

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine auto-fill features allows us to see how people search online, and the words they use, in real-time. Anonymous querying equates to anonymity, and by nature when we input key words or key phrases in search engines like Google we use succinct, brief, and to-the-point queries. What does this mean for how we search for Native American or “Indian” results? A 2019 SEO and keyword/phrase analysis revealed that the notorious “wise Indian trope” (similar to the “magical negro” trope) is still very prevalent today, particularly when comparing the keyword “wise” paired with non-Native races. …

The Role Of Perceptual Simulation In L2 Vocabulary Acquisition, Min Zhu, L. David Ritchie

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research in embodied cognition suggests that perceptual simulation may play a role in language comprehension. In this study we use a combination of experimental and qualitative research to explore the potential of simulation exercises to improve acquisition of esoteric literary English vocabulary by English majors at a Chinese University. Through quantitative analysis of the data from one pre-test and two post-tests of the experimental and control groups, and qualitative examination of the student feedback collected from an open-ended survey and face-to-face interviews, we find that most of the students in both conditions have simulations of the learned words whether based …