Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Family Solidarity On Religious Participation And Religiosity Among College Students, Michael Collins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The objective of this thesis was to gauge the predictive effects of family solidarity on religious participation and religiosity among college students. The study was undertaken using the theoretical perspective that the function of religion has changed as society has become increasingly modern. A short questionnaire was administered in mid-October 1994 to students in a mid-sized Southern university. The final sample consisted of 299 students under age 25. Cross-tabular analysis, bivariate correlations, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Results suggest that student's level of family solidarity was an influential factor in determining both religious participation (measured by …

Hydrogeological And Hydrochemical Characterization Of The Matozinhos-Pedro Leopoldo Karst, Brazil, Augusto Auler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Matozinhos-Pedro Leopoldo limestone area is a tropical karst located near the metropolis of Belo Horizonte, East Central Brazil, in an area undergoing rapid urbanization and land degradation. Qualitative dye tracing experiments have determined the groundwater routes and catchment areas in the two major drainage basins in the area, Samambaia Basin and Palmeiras-Mocambo Basin. Other drainage basins were identified, but not traced due to the absence of related swallets. Fluorescein and optical brightener had a poor performance as tracers under tropical climate. Dilution due to the existance of lakes at some swallets prevented some dye traces. The water that flows …

An Investigation Of Visual Attention In Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Gayla Cissell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

What is known as Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) today has been known by other titles in the past such as minimal brain dysfunction and Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood. These label changes represented the change in knowledge and understanding of the disorder over time. Today, it is thought that a main component to the disorder is an attention deficit. The problem is that of yet, the cause of this deficit has not been identified. In an attempt to further understand this disorder, visual attention studies are being conducted. Following this lead, the Visual Attention Analyzer was used to investigate a link …

Core Communication Skills Requirements Manufacturing Plants In Kentucky, Dana Cosby

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this reseach project is to answer the question "What are the core communication skills needed for pre-hire training programs in Kentucky." To answer the question the researcher first examined the literature relative to the existing labor pool and then conducted a focus group with unemployed persons. The next phase of the research involved extensive field work, job analysis, and content analysis to determine what core communication skills were common in various Kentucky manufacturing companies. The researcher found strong evidence to establish a core set of competencies that pre-hire programs should address in developing the skills of unemployed …

Factors Influencing Career Choices Of African Americans In Academia: A Study Of Members Of The Black Caucus Of The Speech Communication Association, Carrie Thornton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of social, economic, occupational, cultural, educational, and demographic factors among African American communication professionals on their career choices. A quantitative research design was chosen for this research. The 300-member Black Caucus of the Speech Communication Association was chosen as the survey population. Each member was mailed a 17-item questionnaire. Of the 141 members who responded, 83 were African American; their responses were used in all data analyses. The major findings of this study are the following: (1) interest in or knowledge of the communication field was a significantly more important …

Face Saving At The Singles Bar: Effects Of Women's Perspectives Of Men And Their Performances On Women's Methods Of Rejection, Robert Mccracken

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Rejection of men by women in singles bars was examined using Erving Goffman's concepts of performance and face to help distinguish variables that influence a woman's decision to help a man save face. Each woman (N=2 0) was observed rejecting a man, then was interviewed about the encounter through a semi-structured interview. The subjects were asked to rate the men's personalities and physical appearances and to describe the encounters with the men to provide an understanding of the subjects' impressions of the men's performances. Subjects' rejections of the men were categorized according to the degree to which the responses offered …

An Analysis Of The Behavior Of The Risk Premium In The German Deutschemark Forward Market: A Comparison Of Pre- And Post-German Reunification Of 1990 Exchange Rates, Paul Newton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The German reunification of 1990 and the methods of economic integration exerted considerable pressure on both the German economy and the deutschemark. This thesis addresses the issue that the reunification undermined the stability of the deutschemark, detectable through a change in the implied risk premium. Emphasis is placed on the forward deutschemark in the context of interest rate parity in order to detect a change in the implied risk premium. By using three month U.S. and German bank Certificate of Deposit rates as the basis for the IRP calculations, a considerable shift in this implied risk premium was detected and …

The Concurrent Validity Of Three Preschool Screening Instruments, Shannon Batchelor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study l/the researcher sought to examine the correlational and classificational agreement (sensitivity and specificity) between two very popular screening instruments which have undergone recent revisions-The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) and the Denver Developmental Screening Test-ll (Denver-ll) and one more recently published new screening instrument on the market--The Early Screening Profiles (ESP). The sample for this study consisted of 60 preschool children attending two federally and state funded preschool programs in Western Kentucky. The children were of the correct age to enter kindergarten in the fall of 1993. Results of this study revealed that the …

Validation Of A Preschool Screening Measure: The Dial-R, Wendy Simmons-Watts

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The classification and correlational validity of the DIAL-R was investigated for an at-risk population of preschoolers. Fifty-four preschool children (mean age 60.87 months) were administered the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIALR) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence- Revised (WPPSI-R). The classification agreement between the DIAL-R and WPPSI-R was high (.89) and statistically significant (Chi-Square(l) =19.01); however, the DIAL-R failed to identify six children in need of services resulting in a sensitivity index of .40. The DIAL-R did not over identify any children resulting in a specificity index of 1.00. The DIAL-R was found to …

Children's Understanding Of The Emotions Of Victims And Victimizers: Developmental And Peer Status Differences, Michelle Scott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research has shown that children's standing in the peer group is an extremely valid predictor of later developmental problems. Children who are rejected by their peers and who exhibit aggressive behavior have a poor developmental prognosis; these rejected/aggressive children often have problems throughout development and into adulthood. The correlates of peer rejection include distinctive behavioral and social cognitive patterns. Research has shown that rejected/aggressive children's thinking about social situations with peers contributes to a pattern of antisocial behavior. In particular, rejected/aggressive children demonstrate deficits in each of the stages of the social information processing model proposed by Dodge (1986). Research …

Monetarism, Federal Reserve Policy And The Monetarist Experiment, Richard Cantrell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the period between the fourth quarter of 1979 through the third quarter of 1982 with respect to Federal Reserve policy. This period is known as the "Monetarist Experiment" because the Federal Reserve announced that it would be adopting monetarist principles in the implementation of its policy. Supporters of monetarism claim that this was not a true monetarist experiment because the Federal Reserve implemented policy incorrectly. Using statistical and time-series regression analyses, I address this question and conclude that the "Monetarist Experiment" was nothing of the kind. Federal Reserve policy never actually changed …

The Importance Of The Concept Of Conscience-Collective In Emile Durkheim's Thought: A Theoretical And Historical Analysis, James Ridenour-Jones

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

One of the most important contributions to the discipline of sociology was Emile Durkheim's theoretical discussion of the collective conscience. For Durkheim, it was the collective conscience—the common ways of defining the world, as well as the common moral bond between people—that provided the initial foundation for social solidarity. It was the glue that kept society organized and functioning. While Durkheim's discussion of the collective conscience is a landmark contribution to sociology, it is clear that the idea of collective definitions and representations predates Durkheim. One of the purposes of this theoretical study is to demonstrate how indebted Durkheim's thinking …

Scuds And Patriots: A Content Analysis Of Letters To The Editor In The Tennessean And The Washington Post During The Persian Gulf War, Donna Dorris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the content of 186 war related letters to the editor written to TheTennessean and The Washington Post during three time periods during the Persian Gulf War. The time periods included the week before, of, and after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the beginning of the air war, and the beginning of the ground war. Content analysis was used to document patterns of and differences in letter content between papers. A qualitative analysis based on symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology revealed symbol use and use of ethnomethods among writers. Almost 2 5% of the …

Aging And The Truth Effect In Validity Judgment, Sue Lindsey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is sometimes necessary to make validity judgments about information with which we are unfamiliar, because we have no factual knowledge about the event. Under these circumstances, subjective evidence, such as whether the statement has been seen or heard in the past, may be used to judge validity. Previous research has shown that the repetition of unfamiliar, but plausible statements increases the judged validity of the statements. In other words, the more one hears a particular statement, the more one believes it to be true. The present study has been designed to explore this "truth effect." The first experiment examined …

Hillbilly Music & Early Live Radio Programming In Bowling Green & Glasgow, Kentucky: Country Music As A Local Phenomenon, James Nelson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study, the author examines the development of country music in the area surrounding Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky, from approximately 1930 to 1960 and its relation to the newly emerging medium of radio. Emphasis is placed on several performers whose careers were linked to the radio stations which began to broadcast in Bowling Green and Glasgow during the 1940s.

In the past, country music scholarship has tended to focus on phonograph records as a source of material for study and as the primary means of musical transmission. As a result, the careers of many of the lesser known …