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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Where's The Boss? The Influences Of Emergent Team Leadership Structures On Team Outcomes In Virtual And Distributed Environments, Marissa Shuffler Jan 2013

Where's The Boss? The Influences Of Emergent Team Leadership Structures On Team Outcomes In Virtual And Distributed Environments, Marissa Shuffler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influence of leadership on team success has been noted extensively in research and practice. However, as organizations move to flatter team based structures with workers communicating virtually across space and time, our conceptualization of team leadership must change to meet these new workplace demands. Given this need, the current study aims to begin untangling the effects of distribution and virtuality on team leadership structure and subsequent team outcomes that may be affected by differences in conceptualizing such structures. Specifically, the goals of this study were threefold. First, this study investigated how the physical distribution of members may impact perceptions …


An Anthropological Case Study On The Impact Of The "No Zero" Homework Policy On Teacher Culture In Two Central Florida Middle Schools, Mary Bolger Jan 2013

An Anthropological Case Study On The Impact Of The "No Zero" Homework Policy On Teacher Culture In Two Central Florida Middle Schools, Mary Bolger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top are Federal educational policies that have evoked criticism from teachers and administrators. Both policies extended the federal government’s reach into local education by tying federal funds to a school’s student growth and teacher effectiveness. With an increasing emphasis on economic mechanisms such as choice and competition, teachers’ effectiveness is now determined by standardized and quantifiable measurements. These policies have created a data driven and high stakes accountability culture within each school. Teachers are finding themselves in a new balancing act of recording quantifiable yearly progress for all students while trying to …


A Delphi Study To Construct A Script Concordance Test For Spiritual And Religious Competence In Counseling, Christopher Christmas Jan 2013

A Delphi Study To Construct A Script Concordance Test For Spiritual And Religious Competence In Counseling, Christopher Christmas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The need to address spiritual and religious issues is well established in the counseling literature and in accreditation standards, however, many graduates counseling students do not feel prepared to address these issues. In the United States, the vast majority of clients consider themselves to be spiritual or religious, so counselors who lack competence in addressing spiritual and religious issues in counseling are likely to offer ineffective or perhaps unethical care to clients. Counselor educators must improve education and assessment in this critical specialty area of counseling. Of primary concern is a student’s ability to demonstrate spiritual competence in counseling. The …


Visuo-Spatial Abilities In Remote Perception: A Meta-Analysis Of Empirical Work, Thomas Fincannon Jan 2013

Visuo-Spatial Abilities In Remote Perception: A Meta-Analysis Of Empirical Work, Thomas Fincannon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meta-analysis was used to investigate the relationship between visuo-spatial ability and performance in remote environments. In order to be included, each study needed to examine the relationship between the use of an ego-centric perspective and various dimensions of performance (i.e., identification, localization, navigation, and mission completion time). The moderator analysis investigated relationships involving: (a) visuo-spatial construct with an emphasis on Carroll’s (1993) visualization (VZ) factor; (b) performance outcome (i.e., identification, localization, navigation, and mission completion time); (c) autonomy to support mission performance; (d) task type (i.e., navigation vs. reconnaissance); and (e) experimental testbed (i.e., physical vs. virtual environments). The process …


Psychopathology And Functional Impairment In Adolescents With Social Anxiety Disorder, Franklin Mesa Jan 2013

Psychopathology And Functional Impairment In Adolescents With Social Anxiety Disorder, Franklin Mesa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although social anxiety disorder is most often diagnosed during adolescence, few investigations have examined the clinical presentation of this disorder exclusively in adolescents. Prior studies have demonstrated that some clinical features of SAD in adolescents are unique relative to younger children with the condition. Furthermore, the extant literature on daily functional impairment in this population is limited. In this investigation, multiple areas of functioning were examined in adolescents with SAD (n = 16) and normal control adolescents (n = 14): specific social skills, subjective distress and physiological reactivity during one speech performance task and one social interaction task; alcohol use …


Changes In Neolithic Subsistence Patterns On Flores, Indonesia Inferred By Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analyses Of Sus From Liang Bua, Jordon Munizzi Jan 2013

Changes In Neolithic Subsistence Patterns On Flores, Indonesia Inferred By Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analyses Of Sus From Liang Bua, Jordon Munizzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite an abundance of archaeological material recovered from sites in Island Southeast Asia, the timing and route by which cultigens first arrived in Wallacea remains unclear. Many of the staple crops now grown on these islands were domesticated in mainland Asia, and were deliberately introduced by humans at an unknown point during the Holocene, through several possible routes. In this study, the δ 13C, δ15N and δ18O values of subfossil bones and teeth attributed to Sus celebensis and Sus scrofa are analyzed. These materials, which span the last 5160 years at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia are used to determine if …


No Amotines El Gallinero: Domestic Worker Agency And Identity In Lima, Peru And The Daily Struggle, Janice Stiglich Jan 2013

No Amotines El Gallinero: Domestic Worker Agency And Identity In Lima, Peru And The Daily Struggle, Janice Stiglich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, indigenous women have been forced to labor in slave-like conditions as domestic workers in Lima, Peru. With neoliberal practices on the rise, Peru’s domestic labor informal economic sector struggles with sociopolitical representation. The downtrodden women of the household work economy exemplify the national perception of desconfianza, or distrust, as it trickles down from the wealthier individuals to those living in poverty. Although the nature of domestic work is a product of hegemonic colonial relations and, recently, violent social movements in the late 20th century, increasing attempts for government transparency and nongovernmental involvement, have created a slowly recovering broken …


Measuring Impact: The State Of Nonprofit Evaluation In The Greater Orlando Area, Sara Strickhouser Jan 2013

Measuring Impact: The State Of Nonprofit Evaluation In The Greater Orlando Area, Sara Strickhouser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that since the mid-1990s funders of the nonprofit sector have significantly increased the sophistication of their reporting requirements. Funders today want agencies to demonstrate beyond outputs and report on outcomes and the impact they have on the communities they serve. Funders are monitoring community impact by requiring more complex reports from the agencies they fund. These changes have meant that agencies must become proficient in data collection, management, and analyses practices in order to accurately respond to funders’ report requests. Nonprofits, however, find these requirements difficult to conceptualize and even more difficult to attain. Managing and analyzing the …


The Effects Of Diagnostic Aiding On Situation Awareness Under Robot Unreliability, David Schuster Jan 2013

The Effects Of Diagnostic Aiding On Situation Awareness Under Robot Unreliability, David Schuster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In highly autonomous robotic systems, human operators are able to attend to their own, separate tasks, but robots still need occasional human intervention. In this scenario, it may be difficult for human operators to determine the status of the system and environment when called upon to aid the robot. The resulting lack of situation awareness (SA) is a problem common to other automated systems, and it can lead to poor performance and compromised safety. Existing research on this problem suggested that reliable automation of information processing, called diagnostic aiding, leads to better operator SA. The effects of unreliable diagnostic aiding, …


Evaluation Of A Field Histology Technique And Its Use In Histological Analyses Of Mummified Tissues From Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Jennifer Branson Jan 2013

Evaluation Of A Field Histology Technique And Its Use In Histological Analyses Of Mummified Tissues From Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Jennifer Branson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Use of paleohistology to identify histological structures in mummified tissues can allow insight into pathological conditions such as parasites, cirrhosis and lung scarring. However, increasing concerns in archaeological sciences include restrictions on removal of human remains from their site of origin for scientific study. In the case of mummified remains, the use of a field paleohistology kit may be deemed useful for ‘point-of-care’ pathological assessment of preserved tissues. This study evaluates field paleohistology protocols for mummified soft tissue based on techniques used modern medical field missions. The application of this technique alleviates the need for export or removal of remains …


Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The First World Problems And Third World Success Internet Memes, Robert Chandler Jan 2013

Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The First World Problems And Third World Success Internet Memes, Robert Chandler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies the theory and method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the ideological components of the First World Problems (FWP) and Third World Success (TWS) Internet memes. Drawing on analytical concepts from CDA and related perspectives, such as multimodal discourse analysis and social semiotics, the paper analyzes the visual and textual elements of a sample of the FWP and TWS memes. The paper argues that the text and images featured in the memes are ideologically salient and discursively construct oppositional binaries between “us” and “them” in terms of wealth disparity.


Interracial Lesbian And Gay Couples: Navigating Private And Public Experiences, Anne Bubriski Jan 2013

Interracial Lesbian And Gay Couples: Navigating Private And Public Experiences, Anne Bubriski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the private and public experiences of Black/White interracial lesbian and gay couples. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory and intersectional feminism, this research focuses on how the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality influence relationship experiences and family processes in both private and public spaces for interracial same-sex couples. This study is based on 19 in-depth interviews with individuals in Black/White lesbian and gay relationships. Participants’ stories highlight intersectionality in terms of the ways interracial lesbian and gay couples navigate these interpersonal and public spaces. Participant experiences suggest that the dichotomy of private/public is …


The President's Party At The Midterm: An Aggregate And Individual-Level Analysis Of Seat Loss And Vote Choice In U.S. House Elections, David Macdonald Jan 2013

The President's Party At The Midterm: An Aggregate And Individual-Level Analysis Of Seat Loss And Vote Choice In U.S. House Elections, David Macdonald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of midterm U.S. House elections using a multi-level research design. At the aggregate-level, multiple regression analysis is used to examine the variables that affect seat loss for the president’s party. This integrates, updates and extends the extant literature of the topic, and offers a means of explaining and predicting seat losses by the president’s party in the U.S. House. To further probe the findings at the aggregatelevel, the thesis develops a pooled cross-sectional model of individual-level vote choice in midterm U.S. House elections using data from the American National Election Studies (1982- 2002) and …


Child Murder: A Re-Examination Of Durkheim's Theory Of Homicide, Melissa Tetzlaff-Bemiller Jan 2013

Child Murder: A Re-Examination Of Durkheim's Theory Of Homicide, Melissa Tetzlaff-Bemiller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines county-level characteristics and their impact on child homicide. This work uses Durkheimian theory and tests the concept of solidarity by using variables that constitute integration and regulation. In addition, some variables are drawn from other theoretical perspectives, mainly social disorganization and anomie theories, to better explore additional macro-level indicators. Data were obtained from multiple locations. Homicide data for children, from birth through five years, utilized in this work came from the National Incident-Based Reporting System. County level socio-demographics were obtained from the Census. Political party affiliation (Republican or Democrat) came from Politico, and religious data were …


Predictors Of Food Insecurity In 3 Central Florida Communities, Tangela Towns Jan 2013

Predictors Of Food Insecurity In 3 Central Florida Communities, Tangela Towns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the association between different socio-demographic factors and food insecurity in the Central Florida Communities of Maitland, Winter Park, and Eatonville. Data from the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Central Florida were utilized to analyze 3 main questions: In which community is food insecurity more prevalent? To what extent are food consumption, transportation, poverty, and unemployment associated with food insecurity? Does the association between food consumption, transportation, poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity remain when controlling for self-reported overall health, education, marital status, and race. The results revealed differences in predictors of food insecurities. …


Immortal Stalemate: U.S.-Iranian Relations & The Diversionary Theory Of War, Namdar Hosseinzadeh Jan 2013

Immortal Stalemate: U.S.-Iranian Relations & The Diversionary Theory Of War, Namdar Hosseinzadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plagued by diverging security interests, the United States and Iran have been unable to formally reestablish diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Since 1989, the political environment in Iran underwent drastic changes with the passing of Ayatollah Khomeini. For the next sixteen years Iranian presidents attempted to normalize relations with the U.S. through various political, economic and social initiatives. It appeared as though the hostile relationship between the two countries was slowly becoming friendly. With the emergence of controversial populist president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the years of diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran were quickly reversed. In this …


Social Skills And Social Acceptance In Childhood Anxiety Disorders, Lindsay Scharfstein Jan 2013

Social Skills And Social Acceptance In Childhood Anxiety Disorders, Lindsay Scharfstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the social skills and social acceptance of children with SAD (n=20), children with GAD (n=18), and typically developing (TD) children (n=20). A multimodal assessment paradigm was employed to address three study objectives: (a) to determine whether social skills deficits are unique to children with SAD or extend to children with GAD, (b) to assess whether skills vary as a function of social context (in vivo peer interaction Wii Task versus hypothetical Social Vignette Task) and (c) to examine the relationship between anxiety diagnosis and social acceptance. Parent questionnaire data indicated that both youth with SAD and …


Reevaluating The Late Classic Lu-Bat Glyphic Phrase: The Artist And The Underworld, Patrick Carroll Jan 2013

Reevaluating The Late Classic Lu-Bat Glyphic Phrase: The Artist And The Underworld, Patrick Carroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of hieroglyphic texts is vital to the interpretation of the ancient Maya and how their worldview contributed to their daily lives. Hieroglyphic decipherment has been an arduous undertaking and a wide variety of the Late Classic Maya writing styles has also been documented. When specific hieroglyphic phrases are not fully understood it has been necessary to utilize other sources of information to help increase the understanding of these texts. The “lubat” glyphic phrase has been utilized in multiple mediums throughout the Late Classic period and is described as an artist’s signature. This artist signature is directly related to …


Gender Differences And Fast Food Preferences Among U.S. College Students, Donald Persaud Jan 2013

Gender Differences And Fast Food Preferences Among U.S. College Students, Donald Persaud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this research is to examine the relationship of corporate fast food and health within the context of gender. It tests the hypothesis that Western perceptions of masculinity and femininity inform a differentiated pattern of food preference, which will correlate with health as measured by Body Mass Index (BMI). The targeted sample population for the study is the undergraduate community of the University of Central Florida, and fast food is a chosen dietary medium because it is an increasingly ubiquitous source of caloric energy in the American foodscape, representative of the mass production model applied to cuisine in …


The Hermeneutics Of The Hard Drive: Using Narratology, Natural Language Processing, And Knowledge Management To Improve The Effectiveness Of The Digital Forensic Process, Mark Pollitt Jan 2013

The Hermeneutics Of The Hard Drive: Using Narratology, Natural Language Processing, And Knowledge Management To Improve The Effectiveness Of The Digital Forensic Process, Mark Pollitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to protect the safety of our citizens and to ensure a civil society, we ask our law enforcement, judiciary and intelligence agencies, under the rule of law, to seek probative information which can be acted upon for the common good. This information may be used in court to prosecute criminals or it can be used to conduct offensive or defensive operations to protect our national security. As the citizens of the world store more and more information in digital form, and as they live an ever-greater portion of their lives online, law enforcement, the judiciary and the Intelligence …