Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Digital Knowledge Economy Index: Mapping Content Production, Sanna Ojanperä, Mark Graham, Matthew Zook

Geography Faculty Publications

We propose the construction of a Digital Knowledge Economy Index, quantified by way of measuring content creation and participation through digital platforms, namely the code sharing platform GitHub, the crowdsourced encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and Internet domain registrations and estimating a fifth sub-index for the World Bank Knowledge Economy Index for year 2012. This approach complements conventional data sources such as national statistics and expert surveys and helps reflect the underlying digital content creation, capacities, and skills of the population. An index that combines traditional and novel data sources can provide a more revealing view of the status of the world’s digital …

Open Educational Resources And Research Data Management: A Very Brief Overview, Adrian K. Ho

Library Presentations

This is a brief overview of open educational resources and research data management. It also addresses the increasing importance of these services in academic and research libraries.

Maternal Work Hours And Childhood Obesity: Evidence Using Instrumental Variables Related To Sibling School Eligibility, Charles J. Courtemanche, Rusty Tchernis, Xilin Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

This study exploits plausibly exogenous variation derived from the youngest sibling’s school eligibility to estimate the effects of maternal work on the weight outcomes of older children. We first show that mothers’ work hours increase gradually along both the extensive and intensive margins as the age of the youngest child rises, whereas mothers’ spouses’ work hours do not appear to be responsive. We develop an instrumental-variables model that shows that mothers’ work hours lead to larger increases in children’s body mass index z-scores and probabilities of being overweight/obese than those identified in previous studies. Subsample analyses find that the …

Toward An Understanding Of Behavioral And Sensory Experiences When Living With Dementia And Related Disorders: An Environmental Gerontology Perspective, Elizabeth K. Rhodus

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia create challenges for those living with neurodegenerative cognitive impairment and their care partners. Pharmacological approaches for treatment of challenging behaviors seen in dementia have limited success and serious side effects. Because of this, nonpharmacological approaches are being investigated with increasing frequency. Of particular interest are nonpharmacological approaches involving environmental stimulation to change behaviors. Success of such approaches relies on sensory processing systems, personal preferences, and environmental congruence. There is limited evidence describing behaviors of persons with cognitive impairment in relation to these components. Currently, there is no guiding model for implementation of environmental and …

Using Social Network Analysis To Assess Professional Network Development Among AgeSw Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program Participants, Rebecca L. Mauldin, Jennifer C. Greenfield, Nancy Kusmal, Noelle L. Fields, Staphanie P. Wladkowski, Allison Gibson

Social Work Faculty Publications

Professional networks are important for the success of doctoral students and early career faculty members, yet there is little research about what types of experiences help emerging scholars develop these networks. Social network analysis may be an ideal method for studying the effectiveness of training programs in nurturing network development among emerging scholars. We describe one application of this method, which was used to examine the professional networks formed through participation in the Association of Gerontological Education in Social Work (AGESW)’s Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program (PDFP). Alumni (n = 12) from the first three cohorts of the program (2010–2012) reported …

A Not-So Beautiful Mind: A Review Of The Genetics Of Schizophrenia, Lydia Pack

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

Schizophrenia is often called “the cancer of the brain” because of the lifelong, horrendous implications of the disease. Though research has been conducted on schizophrenia for a century or more, it has just recently been realized how large a role genetics may play in the development of the disease. This review will discuss why research on schizophrenia genes has been difficult, what genes have been found, how the current treatments are being revolutionized, and how to progress in this field. The difficulty in research is due in part to the complex genetics behind the disease as well as possible environmental …

Investment In Human Capital And Labor Mobility: Evidence From A Shock To Property Rights, Christopher P. Clifford, William C. Gerken

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

We show that the assignment of property rights to client relationships affects employee behavior in the industry for financial advice. Our identification comes from staggered firm-level entry into the Protocol for Broker Recruiting. The protocol effectively transfers the ownership of the client relationship from the firm to the employee. We document that entering into the protocol increases employee labor mobility among member firms. Further, we find that upon protocol inclusion, employees are less likely to generate customer complaints and more likely to invest in their own general human capital, but less likely to invest in firm-specific human capital. We use …

Evaluating Water Management Policy In Saudi Arabia Using A Bilevel, Multi-Objective, Multi-Follower Programming Approach, Jawad Alhashim

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Over the past five decades, the Saudi government has adopted many agricultural policies aimed to: achieve self-sufficiency of food, increase the participation of the agricultural sector in the economy, and reduce the consumption of irrigation water. Due to conflicts among government objectives and the incompatibility of farmers' objectives with those of some agricultural policies, the government has not been able to fully achieve its objectives.

To accomplish its goals the government, or decision maker needs to understand the farmer, or follower, reaction when s/he adopts a new decision. The dissertation aims to build a model that achieves government goals of …

Special Problems In Agricultural Economics, Alexander Ogden Swartz

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

According to the USDA Economic Research service, farm-level prices are on the decline. This decline in prices particularly hurts smaller scale operators with many needing to rely on off-farm income in order to ensure they remain in operation. This thesis studies two problems of key interest to the Southeast region and the State of Kentucky by investigating dairy management practices and the environmental benefits of hemp production. As dairy prices have been on the decline and dairy co-ops have tightened their restrictions on somatic cell count (SCC) levels, dairy farmers and farm managers must decide the best course of action …

Two Essays In Fertilizer Management For Improved Profitability, Shelby Dawn Wade

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Corn production in the United States has become increasingly efficient over the years. The use of nitrogen fertilizers has played a substantial role in this efficiency. Nitrogen drives biomass production which leads to increased yields. Unlike other nutrients, nitrogen is more mobile making it easier to lose through leaching and volatilization. The first part of this analysis uses an econometric model to examine the relationship between nitrogen usage and weather data. This relationship leads to farm management decisions to reduce nitrogen fertilization expenses. In addition to the use of nitrogen fertilizers, farmers in Kentucky take advantage of an abundance of …

Tanglewood Trail Walking And Voucher Program, Kelci Marie Mchugh

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Rural Appalachian populations have greater rates of obesity and chronic diseases attributed to lesser consumption of fruits and vegetables (F/V) and physical inactivity. Barriers to F/V consumption and physical activity include poor access and affordability. To help overcome these barriers, a community-initiated walking and farmers market F/V voucher program was implemented.

Participants were encouraged to walk (1.2 miles roundtrip) to the local farmers market to redeem a $10 voucher which could only be spent on F/V. The 16-week program (June – Sept) included 121 participants. Data was analyzed by creating two groups, low-engagers and high-engagers that differed significantly in the …

Social Networks, Identity, Health, And Quality Of Life Among Older Gay And Lesbian Individuals In Rural Environments, Marc Aaron Guest

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

The goal of this dissertation was to explore aging lesbian and gay individuals living in rural communities, in terms of their social networks and the relationships between these networks, identity, health, and quality of life. Guiding the study were three overarching questions. Using a multi-method design, the research was grounded within a socio-ecological context and focused on how structural systems create pathways for health and are affected by social position (intersectionality). Participants (n=25) were recruited from Kentucky (n=20), West Virginia (n=3), and Tennessee (n=2). Thirteen participants self-identified as gay and twelve as lesbian. Findings highlight the complexity of the aging …

The Drugs/Violence Nexus: Theory Testing And Behavioral Health Factors Among Justice-Involved Appalachian Women, Grant Victor

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

This study examined the relationship between drug use and violence among justiceinvolved women in Appalachian Kentucky. Goldstein’s (1985) conceptual framework was used as a theoretical guide in formulating the drugs and violence relationships. Therefore, three types of drug use and violence relationships were explored, including: 1) psychopharmacological violence; economic-compulsive violence; and 3) systemic violence. Although these drug-related violence typologies have been investigated, little research has been devoted to rural justice-involved women. Moreover, to date no studies have examined how these drug/violence relationships might be associated with behavioral health factors. Ergo, there were three aims of the current study. First, to …

Reducing Survey Hypothetical Bias Through Revealed Behavior Priming: A Case Of Student Preference For Beef Served By University Dining, Gaby De Nascimento Mandlhate

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Economists are still searching for methods to reduce/eliminate Hypothetical Bias (HB). Different methods have been previously applied some with success and others without. In this study, we aimed to further test the cognitive dissonance approach (CD) through a learning design method to estimate the WTP for five beef attributes: Non-quality, Kentucky Proud, Appalachian, Grass Fed and a mix of 25% Non-quality and 75% Kentucky Proud, using a one and one half bounded model. To test the CD, 881 participants from the University of Kentucky, were randomly assigned to a real/hypothetical market for a battery recycling project at first and afterwards …

Economic Impact Of Ethanol Biorefineries In The U.S. Midwest From 2001 To 2015: A Quasi-Experimental Approach, Scott W. Hall

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the economic impact of newly operational ethanol biorefineries on rural counties in the U.S. Midwest region for the period 2001 to 2015 using a quasi-experimental approach. Rapid growth in the ethanol industry expanded the number of ethanol plants located in the U.S. Midwest from 54 in 2001 to 173 in 2015. Out of the counties with 119 new ethanol biorefineries, 97 counties met the general treatment criteria defined in this dissertation, but only 56 of those counties qualified for the rural treatment criteria. Counties with ethanol biorefineries that qualified for treatment were …

Efficient Identification Of Function: A Comparison Of Different Implementers During Functional Analyses, Katelyn E. Nicklow

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Functional analyses (FAs) are a common tool used in the assessment and treatment of severe problem behaviors and often occur in the context of clinical settings with unfamiliar, trained staff. Previous research suggests that inconsistent outcomes can emerge when caregivers with an existing history of seeing their child’s challenging behavior are trained to implement the assessment in place of clinical staff. The purpose of the current study was to expand on existing literature by comparing FA implemented by clinical staff and caregivers in the context of a clinical setting. Results demonstrate that efficient identification of function and differentiated rates of …

Defining Infidelity And Identifying Offending Spouses, Yabin Tang

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Research on infidelity has suffered from inconsistency in how infidelity has been operationalized across studies. This study was designed to advance methodological considerations for defining infidelity and identifying offending spouses. A subjective definition of infidelity was obtained from each respondent via both closed- and open-ended items. The open-ended responses were applied to explore the definition of infidelity. Additionally, an indirect questioning method was adopted to identify offending spouses according to their own subjective definitions of cheating and test the effectiveness of this approach relative to direct questioning for identifying offending spouses. Furthermore, gender differences in acknowledging infidelity through both direct …

Speaking Their Truth: Black Women's Perspectives On Executive-Level Administration In Higher Education, Tanja N. Bibbs

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

While Black women have etched a place for themselves as leaders within colleges and universities, few have advanced to the most senior levels of postsecondary administration and they remain underrepresented in those type of roles (Gamble & Turner, 2015; Jackson & Harris, 2007; West, 2015). Scholarly research has explored Black women’s experiences as institutional leaders (Davis & Maldonado, 2015; Smith & Crawford, 2007; Waring, 2003); yet the phenomenon of executive-level higher education administration, specifically as it relates to Black women’s perspectives, is not well known (Enke, 2014; Jean-Marie, Williams, & Sherman, 2009). Moreover, research that directs attention to Black women’s …

Effects Of Naltrexone On Alcohol And Nicotine Use In Female P Rats, Usman Z. Hamid, Sarah E. Maggio, Meredith A. Saunders, Kimberly Nixon, Mark A. Prendergast, Richard L. Bell, Michael T. Bardo

Posters-at-the-Capitol Presentations

The objective of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of the opioid antagonist naltrexone at reducing the consumption of EtOH and nicotine in female alcohol-preferring (P) rats. P rats have been selectively bred to have a genetic predisposition for alcohol abuse, which allows them to be used as an animal model of alcoholism. P rats readily self-administer i.v nicotine (Le et al., 2016), have EtOH consumption during adolescence that is similar to that seen in adulthood, and operantly respond for EtOH until they are impaired/intoxicated (Bell et al., 2006). Thus, P rats are a useful model for studying …

Effects Of Shifts In The Local Tax Base On Economic Outlook, Shelby Buckman

Posters-at-the-Capitol Presentations

In Kentucky, local governments can impose taxes on property and income. Tax options and maximum rates are limited by the classification of the city, which is loosely based on population size. In the summer of 2017, the City of Henderson, Kentucky’s City Council passed an ordinance that lowered real estate tax rates and raised the occupational payroll tax rates. This shift is forecasted to be net neutral for city revenue, which raised the question of how changes in the local tax burden affect a Kentucky city’s long run economic outlook.

In a theoretical model, the businesses and population would move …

Can Credit Rating Agencies Affect Election Outcomes?, Igor Cunha, Miguel A. Ferreira, Rui C. Silva

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

We show that credit rating agencies can have a significant effect on election outcomes. We identify these effects by exploiting exogenous variation in municipal bond ratings due to Moody’s recalibration of its scale in 2010. We find that incumbent politicians in upgraded municipalities experience an increase in their likelihood of reelection and their vote shares. These rating upgrades improve voters’ opinions about the incumbent and produce positive wealth effects through voters’ holdings of local municipal bonds. In addition, rating upgrades cause an expansion of local governments’ debt capacity that allows the incumbent to increase spending and improve local economic conditions.

Ambulance Service Ownership And Management: How It Affects Quality Of Service Delivery For Medicare Patients, Sookti Chaudhary, Kenneth R. Troske, Suzanne Troske, Alison Davis

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

This study investigates how ownership and/or management affects ambulance services across the United States. We investigate whether ambulance quality, measured by patient transportation time, varies by organization type. We estimate the effect of ownership structure on response time variables using data from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) for the years 2010–2015, the most comprehensive data set on emergency medical services. Focusing on ground transportation (as opposed to air and water transportation) and on Medicare-eligible (age 65 years and older) patients, we find that, on average, ambulance services owned by fire departments respond faster than those managed by other types …

Live Ambience And Homestead Away From Home: Social Media Use And Dependency By Visiting Chinese Students In The United States, Zixue Tai, Jue Lu, Fengbin Hu

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

This study investigates social media dependency relations among Chinese college students during their three-month study abroad sojourn in the United States. Data were collected using a multimethod approach of ethnography, field observation, and in-depth interviews. Inspired by the lens of media system dependency (MSD) theory, the analysis focuses on the diverse goals and motivations that drive student behavior in social media engagement, as well as various contextual factors leading students to adapt and transition to the U.S. social networking sites (SNS), and the subsequent outcomes. The findings indicate that task-driven and assignment-centered goals dominate social media use, and that multidimensional …

Fraud Detection Protocol For Web-Based Research Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Development And Descriptive Evaluation, April M. Ballard, Trey Cardwell, April M. Young

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Internet is becoming an increasingly common tool for survey research, particularly among “hidden” or vulnerable populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). Web-based research has many advantages for participants and researchers, but fraud can present a significant threat to data integrity.

Objective: The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate fraud detection strategies in a Web-based survey of young MSM and describe new protocols to improve fraud detection in Web-based survey research.

Methods: This study involved a cross-sectional Web-based survey that examined individual- and network-level risk factors for HIV transmission and substance use among young MSM …

Effects Of Methamphetamine Isomers On D-Methamphetamine Self-Administration And Food-Maintained Responding In Male Rats, Michael T. Bardo, Emily D. Denehy, Lindsey R. Hammerslag, Linda P. Dwoskin, B. E. Blough, A. Landavazo, Jack Bergman, S. J. Kohut

Psychology Faculty Publications

Rationale Methamphetamine (METH) abuse is generally attributed to the d-isomer. Self-administration of l-METH has been examined only in rhesus monkeys with a history of cocaine self-administration or drug-naïve rats using high toxic doses.

Objectives In this study, the ability of l-METH and, for comparison, d-METH to engender self-administration in experimentally naïve rats, as well as to decrease d-METH self-administration and food-maintained responding, was examined.

Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in 3 separate experiments. In experiment 1, the acquisition of l- or d-METH self-administration followed by dose-response determinations was studied. In experiment 2, rats were trained to self-administer d-METH (0.05 …

Distinction For The Library Profession: Taking A Page From The Business Playbook, Antje Mays

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

Library and information professionals have much to offer the world-at-large, yet are often under-recognized beyond the sphere of librarianship. Looking beyond traditional library advocacy, this second article in the "Mayflower: Ode to New Beginnings" presents theory and practice of recognition-building strategies from the business world -- strategies applicable to librarianship: The article looks to the business playbook for building connections with the broader community and thereby enhancing the profession’s exposure.

More Than Meets The Eye: A Look Into Representational Issues In Advertising, Elizabeth Ann Langlois

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Representation has become a buzzword in the advertising industry. With more consumers asking for brands to represent more diverse people in advertisements, this study examined cases when representation in advertisements received negative feedback. By examining three cases where brands received negative feedback after the release of an ad, the researcher explored perceptions and reactions toward the representation of Black people in advertisements. This study conducted a thematic analysis of popular press and trade publications to look for themes among the three cases. With the use of Critical Race Theory and Image Repair Theory, the researcher aimed to fill a gap …

Developing And Validating A Quality Of Delivery Scale And Assessing Adult-Trainees’ Cognitive Load, Motivation, And Compliance, Kelsey P. Moore

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Effective communication is crucial for successful behavior change. However, despite much research in training and development, instructional communication, and public health surrounding communication, it is still unclear what constitutes such effective delivery behaviors, especially for an adult learner population (those over 25 years old). Using cognitive load theory and cognitive-affective theory of learning with media as theoretical frameworks, this dissertation proposes a quality of delivery scale for measuring effective communication across instructional settings with an adult learner audience. Informed by public health, training and organizational communication, as well as adult education and instructional communication, the final valid and reliable QD …

A Multidimensional Approach To Interorganizational Communication Via Emergency Management Organizations And Their Twitter Accounts, Lauren Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Using an adaptation of O’Connor and Shumate’s (2018) theoretical propositions, this research examines interorganizational communication through the lens of multidimensional networks. Twitter data was crawled from a selection of emergency management organization accounts to measure affinity, representational, flow, and semantic networks. These data included the organizations’ followed accounts, retweets, replies, and mentions. A thematic analysis of the organizations’ mission statements was also conducted in order to inform the examination of the semantic networks. The results show a significant relationship between the number of accounts an organization follows and the likelihood of having its message shared. This research provides a further …

Shyness In The Classroom: A Study In Nonverbal Communication Codes, Nora E. Radway

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This study examined the experiences of shy, introverted, and apprehensive students in the college classroom. This study was framed by multiple goals theory to discover how these students use nonverbal communication to achieve their task, identity, and relational goals in the classroom. Shy, introverted, and apprehensive students face challenges in the classroom especially when asked to verbally participate or give presentations that their more outgoing classmates may not face. Participants (N = 16) participated in focus groups where they discussed their experiences, perceptions, and feelings about participation in their college courses. Results showed that these students do experience apprehension …