Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Has The Valuation Of Technology Ipos Changed Since The Dot-Com Bubble?, Andrew Rush

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In my paper, I extended Aggarwal, Bhagat and Rangan’s “The Impact of Fundamentals on IPO Valuation”. I examine IPO valuations over three time periods: 2002-2006, 2007-2011 and 2012-2016. In these time periods, I analyze the first day returns these firms experience along with testing the significance of four variables on their valuations: Total Assets, Previous Year’s Sales, Previous Year’s R&D Expense, and Sales-to-Assets Multiple. The results point to a shift in valuation tactics from valuing in line with investors’ expectations in the early years to undervaluing them in more recent years. Also, Sales and R&D have statistical significance for firm’s …

The Effects Of Hegemonic Support Of Endangered Languages On Language Ideologies, Christy Box

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Endangered languages are those that are spoken by a very small percentage of the population and are at risk of disappearing with all the knowledge and diversity they contain. Endangered languages often become endangered because the speakers and the society perceive the language as low status or of little use, and a positive change in perception of the language could aid in revitalizing the language. Institutions such as governments, businesses, and universities have recently begun supporting endangered languages in several areas, and this support could greatly affect language ideologies, perceptions of and attitudes about the language. In this research project, …

A Formal Study Of Applied Ancient Water Management Techniques In The Present Water Crisis, Jesann M. Gonzalez Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Many areas of the world are experiencing the effects of the water crisis. The water crisis is a widespread phenomenon whereby many regions are experiencing a shortage of water, lacking access to clean potable water. This study uses existing literature to examine the ways in which the ecological knowledge of ancient civilizations can be applied to modern water management in attempt to address the current water crisis. The literature reviewed for this study, stemming from notable books and peer reviewed journals, were published between 1882 and the present year. As part of a purposive sample, the following civilizations were chosen: …

Views Of Reality: Perceptions Of Police Responses To Mentally Ill People, Kiara L. Gonzalez Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Society’s views about mental illness can influence their views regarding police-response strategies used with the mentally ill. The purpose of this study is to analyze the question: does mental illness impact perceptions of delinquent behavior and police responses? It is important to understand the effects of these interactions to better assist those affected by mental illness and avoid uncertain risks/injuries to the police and citizens involved in an incident. Labeling theory suggests that people may come to identify and act in ways that reflect how others label them as well as come to define mentally ill individuals in accordance with …

How Disgust, Physiological Activity And Moral Foundations May Predict Political Attitudes And Religious Beliefs: A Systematic Review, Kayla M. Mannion

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The goal of this research synthesis is to obtain evidence about a new and upcoming idea of how political ideology and religious beliefs may be predicted by disgust, moral codes and physiological activity. Previously, it was believed by some that politics and religion were a product of an individual's environment and influences of an individual's family and friend's beliefs. Current research is trying to explain how much a person's biology influences their beliefs. This thesis will aim to explain how it is possible to obtain these types of data and why this research is important.

The Colonial Legacies Of Trade Agreements With The European Union, Mia R. Warshofsky

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As European colonialism was the dominant system of long-distance governance and resource appropriation for centuries, its economic legacies are diverse albeit understated. The existing research looks mainly at the effects of colonialism on a former colony's internal development. This study broadens that scope, looking at which factors are correlated with the presence or absence of a trade agreement with the European Union as well as the number of restrictions to free trade within them. This was carried out through four large-n regressions. The first compared current former- and non-colony trading partners. The second narrowed the scope by comparing only former …

Real Loneliness And Artificial Companionship: Looking For Social Connections In Technology, Fernando L. Montalvo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Loneliness among older adults is a problem with severe consequences to individual health, quality of life, cognitive capacity, and life-expectancy. Although approaches towards improving the quality and quantity of social relationships are the prevailing model of therapy, older adults may not always be able to form these relationships due to either personality factors, decreased mobility, or isolation. Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs), virtual agents, and social robotics offer an opportunity for the development of technology that could potentially serve as social companions to older adults. The present study explored whether an IPA could potentially be used as a social companion to …

A Comparative Analysis Of The United States Supreme Court's Doctrine Of Selective Incorporation And Corporate Constitutional Rights Jurisprudence, Rebecca R. Fate

Honors Undergraduate Theses

With recent and contentious Supreme Court cases dealing with corporate constitutional rights, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), as well as with the appointment of a new justice, the time is particularly ripe for evaluations of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in this area, including predictions about the future of this line of cases. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a better understanding of the historical jurisprudential approach utilized by the Supreme Court to decide corporate constitutional rights by establishing the well-known doctrine of selective incorporation as an appropriate analogy. No other works attempt to frame …

A Contemporary Analysis And Comparison Of Kurdish National Movements: Syria, Iraq, And Turkey, Grayson Lanza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As commonly understood, and particularly espoused by Kurdish nationalists, the Kurds are by far the largest ethnic group in the world without their own nation-state. An estimated 2 to 2.5 million ethnically Kurdish people inhabit portions of Syria. There are approximately 6.5 million ethnically Kurdish people in Iraq, 7.6 million in Iran, and 16 million in Turkey. Overall, there are about 30 million Kurds in the world. In the broader context of the Kurdish nationalist struggle, this paper suggests that there is a growing bipolar hegemony for power over the control of Kurdish land and politics. Research was predicated around …

Do Different Personality Types Differ In Level Of Confirmation Bias?, Allison J. Long

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research study was to determine if there is a correlation between personality type and level of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the idea that people are more likely to agree with opinions already similar to their own and they will actively seek out that opinion. The NEO Five Factor Inventory was administered to determine the subjects’ levels in openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The Confirmation Inventory was administered to determine the level of confirmation bias. It was predicted that people high in openness will score low in confirmation bias; people who score high …

Does Lowering The Interest Rate Stimulate Economic Growth? An Analysis Of Current Macroeconomic Policy, Tomas Araujo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The effectiveness of monetary policy moving forward from the subprime mortgage crisis has come into question by academics and economists from around the world. The unconventional monetary policy tools implemented have left central banks in a tough spot in terms of an exit from these policies in an environment where economic growth and inflation targets still have not been reached ten years after the onset of the recession. One of the main criticisms by economists is the prolonged easy monetary policy implemented by central banks, which have left interest rates at near zero levels since the recession and are just …

The Relationship Between Sleep, Working Memory, And Decision Making In Young And Old Adult Populations, Melissa G. Merz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Sleep is known to influence basic tasks concerning working memory, reaction time and executive functioning (Silva, Wang, Ronda, Wyatt, & Duffy, 2010; Nebes, Buysse, Halligan, Houck, & Monk, 2009). However, the amount that sleep influences these functions varies from study to study possibly due to differences in age and task design. Aim 1A of this study is to determine if sleep quality affects working memory. Aim 1B of this study is to determine if age affects sleep quality and working memory in comparison of young and old adult populations. Finally, Aim 2 of this study is to determine if there …

Education Policy In Florida: Explaining County-Level Approval Of The 2002 Constitutional Amendments, Rachel M. Friant

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research analyzes county-level support for the 2002 Constitutional Amendments for Voluntary Universal Prekindergarten Education (VPK) and Florida’s Amendment to Reduce Class Size (CSA). Three regression models are constructed for each dependent variable (support for VPK and support for CSA): a bivariate model with political party, a full model with all theoretically identified variables, and a best model with just the independent variables that have the most explanatory power. A variety of socioeconomic, demographic and political independent variables are tested. Four independent variables had a statistically significant positive relationship with support for both VPK and CSA: Democratic registration, Hispanic population, …

Nurse Perceived Barriers To Effective Nurse-Client Communication, Sara J. Brandenburg

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Successful client care depends on effective nurse-client communication. It is essential in meeting clients' needs, providing quality care, and maximizing positive client outcomes. The intent of this thesis was to explore nurse perceived barriers to effective nurse-client communication. A literature review was conducted and nine articles were identified as addressing nurse perceived barriers to communication. Four major barriers were identified: nurse comfort and knowledge, environment, time, and culture and language. Research on interventions to address nurses' perceptions of barriers to effective nurse-client communication may provide a better understanding of communication barriers and address issues created by ineffective communication with clients.

Sexual Assault On College Aged Women: Intersectionality Matters, Dhaneen D. Comeau

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Sexual assault on college campuses is a pervasive issue that continues to affect women from a variety of backgrounds. Unfortunately, the narratives of women of color, especially black women are often marginalized even though data shows that they tend to be more susceptible to sexual assault. Using survey questions concerning traditional gender roles, and situations of sexual assault (while considering race and gender), this study will measure the attitudes of 300 college-aged individuals. Data will be analyzed using an ANOVA test to study the combined effects that race and gender may have on the respondents’ perception of victims. Historically, African …

Conflict Recurrence In Rwanda And Burundi, Kellan H. Ritter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis argues that the different reactions of the population and rival elites to executive attempts to extend term limits in Rwanda and Burundi reflect the different ways civil wars ended in these two countries. In Rwanda, a military victory resulted in institutions that placed less constraint on the ruling party, while in Burundi, a negotiated settlement placed comparatively greater constraints on the ruling party. As a result, the major party in Rwanda was more powerful than the major power in Burundi, and thus more capable to co-opt or coerce the opposition. This paper uses a most-similar case design to …

Calibrating A System Dynamic Model Within An Integrative Framework To Test Foreign Policy Choices, Carlos Kavetsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Political science uses international relations (IR) theory to explain state-actor political behavior. Research suggests that this theoretical framework can inform a predictive model incorporating features of systems dynamics (SD) and agent based (AB) modeling. The Foreign Policy Model (ForPol) herein applies Alexander Y. Lubyansky's (2014) SD model for macro-political behavior to represent behaviors between real systems and mental models. While verifying and validating the resulting SD/AB/IR holistic model requires an extensive comprehensive research agenda, the present work will take a closer examination at input parameter calibration and conducting typical runs of the SD portion of the model as a first …

From Tunnel Vision To Bird's-Eye View: The Development Of A Broad Harassment Construct, Lindsay Dhanani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research on workplace harassment has increased in recent years, resulting in a large body of evidence suggesting that perceiving harassment at work leads to a host of negative outcomes (Jones, Peddie, Gilrane, King, & Gray, 2016; Pascoe & Richman, 2009; Triana, Jayasinghe, & Pieper, 2015; Willness, Steel, & Lee, 2007). However, despite calls to broaden the conceptualization of workplace harassment, the dominant approach in the literature has been to study a single, discrete form of harassment in isolation. The current paper addresses this limitation by simultaneously assessing multiple forms of harassment (i.e., ethnic harassment, sexual harassment, age harassment, heterosexist harassment, …

Getting The Work Out Of Workouts: Evaluating The Effectiveness And Outcomes Of A Physical Exercise Motivational Intervention For Older Workers, Brandon Sholar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To mitigate their estimated $300 billion in annual health-related losses, many companies have instituted workplace wellness initiatives designed to promote physical activity among their employees, improving the overall health of their workforce. Though middle-aged and older workers may potentially enjoy the greatest physical, stress and cognitive benefits from regular exercise, workplace wellness programs have been less successful in attracting such employees. This study developed and tested a 6-week exercise motivation intervention designed to meet the needs of sedentary, older working adults and to determine what non-physical benefits might result from increased levels of physical exercise. The intervention, based primarily on …

Not Woman Enough Harassment: Scale Development And An Integrated Model From Antecedent To Outcome, Amanda Wolcott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise of research on workplace mistreatment in the past twenty years can be attributed to the realization that workplace mistreatment is associated with a host of deleterious outcomes for both the individual targets of the mistreatment and the organizations in which they work. However, the extant literature is failing to capture the full range of sex-based mistreatment that people may experience through a tendency to focus solely on sexual harassment and sex discrimination, which are very specific types of behavior based on one's sex and gender stereotypes. In this dissertation, I introduce the construct of Not Woman Enough Harassment, …

Flocks, Swarms, Crowds, And Societies: On The Scope And Limits Of Cognition, Zachariah A. Neemeh

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Traditionally, the concept of cognition has been tied to the brain or the nervous system. Recent work in various noncomputational cognitive sciences has enlarged the category of “cognitive phenomena” to include the organism and its environment, distributed cognition across networks of actors, and basic cellular functions. The meaning, scope, and limits of ‘cognition’ are no longer clear or well-defined. In order to properly delimit the purview of the cognitive sciences, there is a strong need for a clarification of the definition of cognition. This paper will consider the outer bounds of that definition. Not all cognitive behaviors of a given …

Panorama Of Popular Haitian Music And Folklore, Jean Wilner S. St Jean

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Haitian music has been influenced by the people who lived on the island from the native before the Columbus discovered Haiti to the United States occupation. This country is rich in culture which has impacted by the Creole identity. The overview of the different kind of Haitian music by categories and subcategories from the beginning to now. The government, the religion, the social class, and population play an important role in the popularity and acceptance of certain music.

An Examination Of Relational Bullying In Award Winning Newbery Books, 1996-2016, Kaysey N. Wann

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Relational bullying, although covert in nature and difficult for adults to notice and identify, is becoming increasingly prevalent among young children and teens. The success of bibliotherapy as preventative and intervention practices for bullying shows that portrayals of relational bullying in quality children’s literature would be effective in reducing and preventing it. However, relational bullying is rarely portrayed in children’s literature. My goal was to find quality children’s realistic fiction literature that portrays relational bullying in Newbery award-winning books, and to bring them to the attention of teachers.

After creating a table to determine what types of bullying, if any, …

Predictors Of Academic Achievement Of Non-Traditional College Students: Opportunities To Catch-Up And Succeed, Angela Bardwell-Owens

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Non-traditional students make up approximately 20% of the undergraduate student population nationwide and are one of few segments of the student population that are not provided with targeted programs and services. To help this cohort achieve their goals whilst universities can increase their retention rates, this research begins a review of the non-traditional student literature to gain an understanding of what this population faces as far as barriers to their education. The literature also provides recommendations and further information in retention efforts to support the student during their academic years. Next, an analysis of non-traditional student support services at 4-year …

Comparing Sexual Cognition And Risk By Gender, Jacquelynne Dauk

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The ways in which sexuality is perceived among members of society has substantial effects in regards to overall health and well-being. The current study investigates not only the nature of sexual cognition but also the differences in cognition in regards to participant genders. More specifically, this study seeks to investigate the differences in sexual attitudes and thoughts among different genders that may lead to different forms of sexual risk. In order to identify these differences, societal influences such as social roles, parenting styles, and sexual education are all examined in regards to gender. Factors such as age and demographics were …

What Impact Is Felony Disenfranchisement Having On Hispanics In Florida?, Angel E. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research produces original empirical estimates of Hispanics in Florida’s Dept. of Corrections (FDOC) and uses those estimates to measure the impact felony disenfranchisement is having on Hispanics in Florida. Research institutions find that data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, particularly in Florida, is either lacking or inaccurate. This research addresses this problem by applying an optimal surname list method using Census Bureau data and Bayes Theorem to produce an empirical estimate of Hispanics in FDOC’s data. Using the Hispanic rate derived from the empirical FDOC analysis, the rate of Hispanics in the disenfranchised population is estimated. The …

Political Ecology Of Medicinal Plant Use In Rural Nepal: Globalization, Environmental Degradation, And Cultural Transformation, Emily Dovydaitis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prior to the advent of biomedicine, rural communities in Nepal relied on phytochemically active compounds in medicinal plants as their primary source of medicine; however, ethnobotanical practices have shifted over time due to economic, environmental, and sociocultural stimuli. Findings from 2016 fieldwork conducted in Dumrikharka, Nepal and Tutung, Nepal are compared to existing literature to describe the political ecology of medicinal plants in rural Nepal.

Anthropogenic climate change threatens individual plant species and ecosystem biodiversity. Globalized markets unabated by weak conservation programs place increasing demands on medicinal plants. As indigenous plants become overharvested and more difficult to access, Nepalis incorporate …

Prevalence Of Dental Pathology In A Juvenile Population From The Ancient Maya Site Of Altun Ha, Lindsey D. Lefebvre

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The present research seeks to assesses the presence and prevalence of two distinct dental pathologies: linear enamel hypoplasia and caries in an ancient Maya juvenile subsample from Altun Ha, Belize spanning the Preclassic (ca. 600 B.C.) through the Terminal Classic (ca. 900 A.D.) periods. Teeth offer a remarkable wealth of information about the human experience in the past. Developmental and post-eruption pathology can provide insight into cultural and evolutionary processes by illuminating social and biological factors such as diet, weaning, illness, and overall health that manifest in observable changes to the composition of teeth. In addition, growth and developmental stages …

Leftovers Of A Dissolved Empire: Assessing The Political Stability Of The Former Soviet Republics Of Kazakhstan, Georgia, And The Ukraine, Taraleigh Davis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore why when compared to the former Soviet Republics of Ukraine and Georgia there is a measure of stability in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has made it a priority to slowly build a sense of its own nationalism after decades of Soviet control. In over 20 years of independence it has only known violence for an 18-month period. The Republic of Kazakhstan has gone from the leftovers from a dissolved empire to a stable regional power. Kazakhstan’s hegemony in Asia and peaceful ethnic-governmental relations has made it possible for Kazakhstan to have a multi-faceted foreign …

The Role Of Accounts And Apologies In Mitigating Blame Toward Human And Machine Agents, Kimberly Stowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Would you trust a machine to make life-or-death decisions about your health and safety? Machines today are capable of achieving much more than they could 30 years ago—and the same will be said for machines that exist 30 years from now. The rise of intelligence in machines has resulted in humans entrusting them with ever-increasing responsibility. With this has arisen the question of whether machines should be given equal responsibility to humans—or if humans will ever perceive machines as being accountable for such responsibility. For example, if an intelligent machine accidentally harms a person, should it be blamed for its …