Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Age Is Nothing But A Number, Rebekah Mccloud

UCF Forum

I am one of 76 million children born in the United States between 1945 and 1964. I am a Baby Boomer and have reached the age when I am counted as a bona fide “senior citizen.” I received my AARP card nearly a decade ago amidst some grumbles and groans until I realized all of the discounts it afforded me.

Our Military Heroes, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Over the last few years, with the Vietnam War fading into history and the military draft a thing of the past, the relationship between the general population of the United States and the U.S. Military has changed considerably. A conscious effort is now being made to honor American military personnel for the sacrifices they make on behalf of their country. This has long been needed and is a welcome development.

The New Flavors Of The Century: Salsa And Guacamole, Maritza Martinez

UCF Forum

Not too long ago, being Hispanic in the United States was…no bueno.

Murray, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The words monumental, epic, unforgettable, and historic are thrown around with reckless abandon in our hyperbolic age that specializes in over-inflating the reality of mundane events. As a historian I am especially wary of the term “historic,” when describing a sports event. In the universe of high frequency television commentators, all of these words suffer from overuse.

When Do We Stop Caring About The Brands That Define Us?, Nathan Holic

UCF Forum

During the decade leading up to the birth of my son, I averaged 44 ounces of Diet Coke every single day, an amount equal to the volume of the original 7-Eleven Super Big Gulp cup. Forty-four ounces a day, though some days I went with BP or Mobil, anywhere with a soda fountain. Forty-four ounces a day, and that includes those days when I visited restaurants where only Pepsi was served, and sick days when I couldn’t leave bed or even swallow. In fact, when factoring in the number of “free-fills” scored at various eateries, 44 ounces is probably low-balling …

Wimbledon, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It has been some time since I have watched an entire tennis match. In point of fact my interest has drifted away from the sport. Somehow Wimbledon calls me back. The setting and tradition play a role, as does the fact that it is the only grand slam tournament I have ever seen in person.

Connecting The Dots: Defining Scholarly Services In A Research Lifecycle Model, Sai Deng, Andrew Todd

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Librarians at the University of Central Florida (UCF) Libraries have created a visual model depicting the cycle of research at an institutional level while embedding scholarly services into the flow. The Research Lifecycle is used as a basis to build a framework for the faculty research process and gain both support and funding for new infrastructure and services.

The UCF Research Lifecycle includes four sub-cycles: a planning cycle, a project cycle, a publication cycle and the 21st century digital scholarship cycle. In each cycle, supporting services are added to the research flow. Amid the existing services provided by different university …

We Must All Work To Solve Childhood Obesity, Lisa Barkley

UCF Forum

Obesity is a global epidemic. It is particularly affecting our children and adolescents. This new phenomenon of having a chronic medical condition affecting such a large proportion of those under 18 years old is unprecedented.

Research Lifecycle Toolkit, Bookmarks, Scholarly Communication

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Eresources: Getting Buy With A Little Help From Your Friends, Athena Hoeppner

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Value Of Social Science Research Often Measured By What You Don't See, Roberto Hugh Potter

UCF Forum

In early April, our UCF colleagues at the Florida Space Institute secured a $55 million grant to produce an instrument for space research. Congratulations!

An Ode To Florida’S Summer – And A Time To Remember, Carla Poindexter

UCF Forum

It is summer in Florida again, when I always think back to my first summers here and why I still love this time of year.

Distinctiveness, Challenges And Opportunities: The Research Lifecycle At The University Of Central Florida, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

U.S. Foreign Policy Can Be Only As Good As Public's Understanding Of World Affairs, David Houghton

UCF Forum

Poll after poll shows that most Americans are woefully ignorant about foreign policy and the rest of the world.

In Pursuit Of Articles: Investigating The Use Of Onesearch With Graduate Education, Athena Hoeppner, Linda Gibson-Young

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Counseling Students' Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Lgbtq Individuals And Relationships Between Psychosocial Factors, Samantha Mcharg

HIM 1990-2015

Attitudes and beliefs influence how counselors practice. This study explored four psychosocial factors and their correlation to the attitudes of graduate counseling students' (N = 28) toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. The four main psychosocial factors that were identified in previous research include knowledge level, religiosity, political affiliation, and previous experience with LGBTQ individuals. The hypothesis of this study was there are relationships between attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals and the aforementioned psychosocial factors. Students were invited to participate through emails sent by the Director of the Counseling Education program. The survey used to collect …

Alleviating Obesity Bias: Does Information Content Matter?, Kimberly Mendoza

HIM 1990-2015

Obesity bias has become the most acceptable form of prejudice in American society (Latner, O'Brien, Durso, Brinkman, & MacDonald, 2008). Stigmatization of the obese has tremendous social and economic costs both for the stigmatized population and for society as a whole. Few studies have been done to show effective ways to reduce obesity bias. This study looked to expand the research on effective ways to reduce obesity bias. Using a between-participants experimental design, the present study investigated whether multi-faceted information content about the causes of obesity (including psychological, social, and physiological causes) would be more effective in reducing obesity bias …

Examining Heterosocial And Social Anxiety In Pakistani American And European American Women A Comparative Analysis, Zehra Mirza

HIM 1990-2015

Also, a lower level of heterosocial anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with assimilation to U.S culture, which may have attributed to less heterosocial iv anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with assimilation to U.S culture, which may have attributed to less heterosocial anxiety in Pakistani women.; This present study will examine the psychopathology of Pakistani American females through the context of cultural means. Research in the past has shown that Asian Americans report higher levels of distress as well as higher levels of anxiety relative to their European American counterparts. Thus, social anxiety may manifest itself differently …

The Doctrine Of Self-Determination, Kelsey Moskovits

HIM 1990-2015

Poverty and underdevelopment plague millions of people in the world today. Interestingly, the 800 million people that are currently living on less than a dollar a day correlate very closely with the 750 million people who were under colonial subjugation in 1945. In an effort to understand how the disparities in development came about, the theory of self-determination will be defined and historically assessed. Through qualitative evaluation of the principle and history of self-determination and case studies on three key regions that have never known genuine self-rule, it will become clear that the doctrine of self-determination only ever existed in …

Sleeping, Napping And Staying Up: The Meanings Of Sleep Among College Students, Natasha Tate

HIM 1990-2015

Throughout public discourse, sleep, despite being a physiological function and an important facet of an individual's health, is frequently utilized as a rhetorical device to comment on an individual's productivity within society. As Antje Richter (2003:34) explains, to consider someone early to rise yet late to bed is less a comment on their sleeping behavior and more an assessment of their dedication to their business. Too often productivity is conveyed as existing in the absence of sleep, an idea that has contributed to the association of sleep with laziness (Yi 2003:60) and a general misuse of time (Richter 2003:36). The …

How Symptoms Of Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (Add) Or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Contribute To Students Self-Medicating Via Marijuana And Non-Medical Prescription Drugs, Maria Thomas

HIM 1990-2015

This study examines student's nonmedical prescription drug (NMPD) and marijuana use and whether anxiety, depression, ADD or ADHD symptoms are associated with their use and if students are self-medicating to alleviate symptoms. The method of obtaining this information was provided by a total of 278 college students who voluntarily and anonymously completed a Web-based survey. This study fills in the gaps of previous research and reveals the most frequent NMPD's used by students and their overall perceptions of their intended effects of the drug and answers why students do not seek professional help for their anxiety, depression and impulsivity symptoms. …

Social Work Students' Comfort With Gay And Lesbian Families, Jennifer Ackerman

HIM 1990-2015

Despite recent advancements in legislation and policies regarding gay and lesbian Americans, negative attitudes and perceptions toward this population still exist. Anecdotal information from social work classroom interactions suggests that biases against gays and lesbian families may exist among those being trained as helping professionals. This study examined social work student comfort with gay and lesbian families. The researcher used an exploratory-descriptive research design, with a sample of 85 Bachelors level social work students (BSW) and Masters level social work students (MSW) who completed the 52 item online questionnaire related to gay and lesbian parenting. The findings from the research …

The Reorientation Of Iranian Trade From West To East Since 1979, Leslie Bilger

HIM 1990-2015

Iran, with its attractive geographical position and its abundant natural resources, has had an undeniable attraction for the world's greatest powers over the history. Well before the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, this country established high level of economic interactions with a great variety of political partners. In recent years, the country's change of regime has had a crucial impact on those relationships. By analysing the trade data between Iran and Western countries (the U.S.A., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Italy) as well as the major Eastern countries (China, Russia, and India), it is possible to establish …

Improving Long Range Forecast Errors For Better Capacity Decision Making, Anisulrahman Nizam

HIM 1990-2015

Long-range demand planning and capacity management play an important role for policy makers and airline managers alike. Each makes decisions regarding allocating appropriate levels of funds to align capacity with forecasted demand. Decisions today can have long lasting effects. Reducing forecast errors for long-range range demand forecasting will improve resource allocation decision making. This research paper will focus on improving long-range demand planning and forecasting errors of passenger traffic in the U.S. domestic airline industry. This paper will look to build upon current forecasting models being used for U.S. domestic airline passenger traffic with the aim of improving forecast errors …

Stress And Performance In Uncertainty-Avoiding Individuals: An Introductory Literature Review, Kimberly Stowers

HIM 1990-2015

Uncertainty avoidance as a cultural construct has been known to affect worker stress and performance in organizations, but a review of these findings has not been done up until this point. In effort to clarify the relationship between uncertainty avoidance and stress and performance, a comprehensive literature search was performed. Findings from articles on this topic have been presented. In addition, organizational practices for accommodating uncertainty avoidance and other cultural dimensions have been explored. This review shows that uncertainty avoidance appears to be linked to higher stress, while its relationship to performance appears to depend on other factors. Best practices …

Time For Today's Lesson: Learn How To Ask Questions, Seek Answers, Richard C. Crepeau

UCF Forum

Time is a construct. There really is no such thing as absolute time. It is measured in a variety of ways and perceived in a multitude of ways. Is it relative? And if so, relative to what?

The Florida Jury Technical Evidence And Bias, Andrew Albaugh

HIM 1990-2015

The recent societal development of highly specialized evidence has brought new problems to the forefront of the jury system. Because of the constitutional right to jury trials citizens of the United States and Florida have, it is imperative that the problems facing juries be discussed and explored. The question of whether or not juries can be trusted to comprehend highly technical evidence must be answered for the Florida jury to move forward into modern era. The subsequent question of what biases regarding highly specialized evidence have arisen must also be examined and addressed. Furthermore, solutions designed to increase a jury's …

I Am A Critical Thinker: Exploring The Relationship Between Self-Concept And Critical Thinking Ability, Melissa Antler

HIM 1990-2015

Critical thinking is an academically coveted skill important to all areas of education (Halpern, 1998). The ability to think critically requires an individual to question and possibly reject accepted ideals and authorities. A strong self-concept may play an important role in this process. The present study hypothesized a positive relationship between total self-concept and critical thinking ability. An additional purpose of this study was to explore whether self-concept accounted for more of the variance in critical thinking than other correlates of the ability, such as metacognition (Halpern, 1998; Magno, 2010) and openness to experience (Clifford, Boufal, & Kurtz, 2004). The …

The Effects Of Music On Anxiety And Depression In Emerging Adults, Kendra Bartel

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of the current study was to observe how music affects the mood of those who suffer from anxiety and depression and those who do not. While previous research has examined this many of the previous studies have induced either physical pain or mood in participants in order to measure the impact of music. The current study, however, intends to examine how music affects mood without attempting to induce mood in participants. Six-hundred and seventy college students were given a questionnaire containing an anxiety questionnaire, depression scale, demographic questionnaire, and music listening questionnaire. Intercorrelations, ANOVAS, as well as linear …

Interpreting The Relation Between Immigrant Hostility And The Extreme Far Right In England, Tyler Black

HIM 1990-2015

The study of race relations in England developed in the modern era amongst conflict between races, political parties and local communities. England, consisting of a predominantly white population, is an interesting case of race relations in that immigrants of color seem to be in the center of many of the most controversial conflicts of the past century. Existing research on race relations in England suggests that the region is largely racist due to the conflicts of the past and the current political success of the anti-immigrant extreme right-wing parties (ERPs). But the times at which these parties have been successful …