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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comparison Of Self-Reported Depression And Anxiety Scores Between U.S. Households With And Without Children At Early And Later Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hanan Mohammed Eissa Jamali Jan 2023

Comparison Of Self-Reported Depression And Anxiety Scores Between U.S. Households With And Without Children At Early And Later Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hanan Mohammed Eissa Jamali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parents in particular, are disproportionately affected by the 2019 coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns that followed. Parents had to find a way to balance work, teaching, and taking care of their kids when schools were forced to close for safety reasons. While changes in parents' mental health have been the subject of a number of studies, there have been no studies comparing the level of depression and anxiety experienced by parents with and without children below the age of 18 years in the United States. Data for this study came from Households Pulse Survey (HPS) (week 2 N = 41,996; …


“By Following Them, I Was Able To Identify Things I Shared With Them” : Conceptualizing How Social Media Use Influences Genderqueer Identity Development, Margeaux Gaiani Jan 2022

“By Following Them, I Was Able To Identify Things I Shared With Them” : Conceptualizing How Social Media Use Influences Genderqueer Identity Development, Margeaux Gaiani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among young genderqueer people, social media can be used as a tool for gender exploration, building support systems, and identity validation. However, literature on how these processes are linked together over time to curate a holistic sense of identity is limited. Using a grounded theory framework, this study seeks to construct a model explaining how gender identity development is linearly influenced by social media use among young genderqueer (transgender, non-binary, genderfluid, etc.) individuals. 20 indepth interviews were conducted with genderqueer participants ranging in age from 18- 26 years old. Participants were recruited through personal contact, referrals, and social media posts. …


Interrogating The Socio-Ethical Dilemmas Of Precision Agriculture Technologies, Ayorinde Ogunyiola Jan 2021

Interrogating The Socio-Ethical Dilemmas Of Precision Agriculture Technologies, Ayorinde Ogunyiola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Farming has moved into a digital age where data and information are available to farmers to make informed agronomic and financial on-farm decisions. The development of precision agriculture (PA), such as big data technologies and machine learning algorithms is transforming the agricultural food production system in diverse ways, economically, environmentally, and socially. Despite benefits afforded by PA to agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability, these technologies can raise unintended societal challenges that can also limit their adoption among farmers. PA is changing how farming is done, reconstructing farmers’ social identities, and influencing relationships between farmers, agronomists, and technology developers. This dissertation …


What Am I?": Navigating Running Identity During Covid-19, Joshua Yeager Jan 2021

What Am I?": Navigating Running Identity During Covid-19, Joshua Yeager

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempted to answer how collegiate student-athlete runners navigated their running identity through the COVID-19 pandemic. This international health crisis served as an identity threat to the participants in this study as it cancelled outdoor track and field season in the spring of 2020. The main goal was to investigate how student-athlete runners navigated their athletic identity during COVID-19 and the social and psychological costs associated with said navigation. Utilizing in-depth semi-structured interviews, I collected data from five male and five female collegiate distance runners, from the same university. With grounded theory approach and identity theory as a theoretical …


Estimating The Impacts Of Acculturation On The Health Of Immigrants In The United States, Tingting He Jan 2021

Estimating The Impacts Of Acculturation On The Health Of Immigrants In The United States, Tingting He

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The growth in the immigration population in the U.S. has transformed American demographic profile and has led to magnification in health disparities in the United States. The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between acculturation and health behavior, mental health outcomes, and access to health care service among immigrants in the U.S. Relying on the acculturation framework, the dissertation intends to increase the understanding of health disparities and health patterns among immigrants. The dissertation utilizes the secondary data from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to examine the effects of acculturation on health of immigrants. Measures …


Predictors Of Faculty Retention And Turnover Intent In State System Institutions: An Institution's Work Environment (Organizational Structure) Impacts On Faculty Gender Composition And Intention To Leave Or Stay, Joyce Eduful Jan 2021

Predictors Of Faculty Retention And Turnover Intent In State System Institutions: An Institution's Work Environment (Organizational Structure) Impacts On Faculty Gender Composition And Intention To Leave Or Stay, Joyce Eduful

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retaining high-quality and competent faculty members requires academic institutions authorities to understand the institutional factors that determine faculty retention and turnover intent to help implement sound policies and practices to maintain these faculty members in academia. This research examined the institutional work dimensions related to faculty job satisfaction and intention to leave or stay, particularly in state system institutions. Survey data were garnered as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE PLAN-IHE grant project and were administered through various institutions' representatives of the NSF ADVANCE PLAN-IHE grant program and were commissioned to work with their provosts to distribute the …


Ethnicity And Migration ─ The Concentration And Dispersion Of Foreign-Born Asians And Hispanics In The United States, Shuang Li Jan 2020

Ethnicity And Migration ─ The Concentration And Dispersion Of Foreign-Born Asians And Hispanics In The United States, Shuang Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Immigration from Asia and Latin America has rapidly changed the race and ethnic composition of the non-White population in the United States. This dissertation examines the question of race/ethnicity, nativity, and how acculturation and socioeconomic characteristics impact residential outcomes for Asian and Hispanic immigrants, a process often termed as residential assimilation. It also tests the effectiveness of spatial assimilation, segmented assimilation, and resurgent ethnicity theories for understanding residential segregation across metropolitan neighborhoods. Three sets of analyses are presented in this dissertation. The first set of analyses studies the nativity difference in residential segregation levels between Asians and Hispanics from non-Hispanic …


Rednecks And Hillbillies: A Thematic Analysis Of The Construction Of Pride And High Self-Esteem Exhibited By Southern Characters, Casey R. White Jan 2020

Rednecks And Hillbillies: A Thematic Analysis Of The Construction Of Pride And High Self-Esteem Exhibited By Southern Characters, Casey R. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine television shows portraying redneck and hillbilly culture from 2010 to 2017 to examine the limitations of focusing on traditional stereotypes about southern culture when understanding the complexities of redneck and hillbilly society. According to a literature review, redneck and hillbilly characters have historically been associated with poverty, have been used as comedic symbols to portray southerners in the lower classes as jokes, and the terms have been used as insults. A thematic analysis was conducted analyzing redneck/hillbilly themed television shows from the years 2010 through 2017 to examine them for the presence …


Understanding South Dakota Farmers’ Intentions To And Adoption Of Conservation Practices: An Examination Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Edem Avemegah Jan 2020

Understanding South Dakota Farmers’ Intentions To And Adoption Of Conservation Practices: An Examination Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Edem Avemegah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation agriculture practice is a sustainable farming method based on three principle: crop diversification, minimal soil disturbance or movement and permanent or semi-permanent of soil cover. Government and stakeholders within the agricultural sector in the United States are promoting conservation farming practices but limited voluntary adoption still exists among producers at the farm level. This research study investigated the factors that influence the adoption of conservation practices among producers in the eastern and central parts of South Dakota (SD). A modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used as a framework alongside socioeconomic and demographic indicators to understand farmers’ current …


Understanding The Relationship Between Perfectionism And Health: Mediational Effects Drug Use, Sarah Nelsen Jan 2019

Understanding The Relationship Between Perfectionism And Health: Mediational Effects Drug Use, Sarah Nelsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Past research has provided evidence on the consequences of perfectionism. One particular consequence of perfectionism is that of general health. Research has suggested that perfectionism type influences general mental health. Using the 3-cluster perspective of perfectionism by Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby (2001), the current work investigates the mediating effects of drug use on the relationship between perfectionism clusters and general mental health, in the context of Conservation of Resources Theory (COR; Hobfoll, 1989). Adaptive perfectionists had higher general mental health compared to non-perfectionists and maladaptive perfectionists. However, the three clusters of perfectionism did not differ in drug use …


Exploring Educational Journeys, Barriers, And Motivating Factors Of Tribal College Students Through Capabilities Approach, Francis Arpan Jan 2019

Exploring Educational Journeys, Barriers, And Motivating Factors Of Tribal College Students Through Capabilities Approach, Francis Arpan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational attainment and success have often been linked to an increase in opportunities in life and when viewed from the lens of lifelong earnings, the greater an individual’s educational attainment, the greater the lifelong earnings. As a population, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of all racial categories in the United States at 26.2% (Economic Policy Institute 2016). When looking at the connection between education and poverty, it is vital to note that only 14.1% of Native Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or above (US Census 2015). This lack of educational attainment falls well …


Diversification And Its Implications For South Dakota Farmers’ Identity As Farmers: Wind Farm Diversification As A Case Study, Abdelrahim Abulbasher Jan 2019

Diversification And Its Implications For South Dakota Farmers’ Identity As Farmers: Wind Farm Diversification As A Case Study, Abdelrahim Abulbasher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have been conducted in the last three decades to examine the impact of the ongoing economic changes that encourage farmers to adopt nonconventional practices (such as crop diversification, on-farm recreation, and wind farming) to diversify their income. Limited research, however, has been conducted to examine the impact of on farm diversification practices on farmers’ identity as farmers (growers of food, feed, and fiber) including their role, self-conception, and family history/legacy. Using social identity and socio-ecological systems theories, this study seeks to understand how farmers construct their identity, the symbolic meanings they attach to their daily practices, and the influence …


The Impact Of Location Characteristics On Population Distribution In The United States, Shuruq Alsharif Jan 2019

The Impact Of Location Characteristics On Population Distribution In The United States, Shuruq Alsharif

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States is one of the most mobile countries in the world. This paper examined a couple of questions not previously addressed in the literature, namely the research questions of how the distributional patterns and associated factors, especially locational characteristics could be different between two types of internal migrants: native-born and foreign-born. The central hypothesis that guided the analysis was that income is often the primary push factor and key contributor to population growth in a county for both types of internal migrants, as they would be more likely to live in a county with a good economic conditions …


Investigation Of Intergroup Bias In Two Neuromaturationally Distinct Age Cohorts: An Erp Study, Reuven M. Hanna Jan 2019

Investigation Of Intergroup Bias In Two Neuromaturationally Distinct Age Cohorts: An Erp Study, Reuven M. Hanna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently, sociological investigation of adolescent behavior focuses on the intersection of biography, history, and structure to explain adolescent risk-taking, reward-seeking, impulsivity, novelty-seeking and peer-salience. However, the preponderance of the evidence points away from social ecology and to a significant neuromaturational restructuring event between the 12th and 25th years of life as the root of adolescent behavioral tendencies. As a result, sociological social psychology can benefit from engaging in basic research using neuroscience methods. The present study expands the dual systems model of brain development to account for maturational changes in the social brain network as a way to explain social …


Organizational Forms For Community Collaboration To Confront Homelessness, Suzanne Smith Jan 2019

Organizational Forms For Community Collaboration To Confront Homelessness, Suzanne Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Homelessness is a complex social problem that touches many different sectors of a community--not only housing, but also healthcare, education, criminal justice, workforce, and more. Because of these complex interrelationships, homelessness as a social problem lends itself to collaborative governance where service providers across sectors come together to address the problem. This research examines homeless service provision as an example of how local government, nonprofit organizations, community funders, and other stakeholders collaborate and what knits those networks together. This research project encompasses three major efforts: a comparative case study of six different communities and how they have organized to confront …


Acculturation And Belongingness: The Keys To International Student Satisfaction, Semehar Ghebrekidan Jan 2018

Acculturation And Belongingness: The Keys To International Student Satisfaction, Semehar Ghebrekidan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore if acculturation in conjunction with belongingness, affected international student satisfaction. With the changes in immigration, the political climate as a whole and college campus demographics, it was important to evaluate what stress factors international students faced while being undergraduate students at a Midwestern University. In addition to using secondary research, primary research was conducted in the form of 4 interviews and 59 electronic surveys. The independent variables that were measured were reorganized into 2 categories: the students’ religious beliefs and the country where the student is from. Themes that came across throughout …


Extending The Utility Of Public Use Microdata, Eric A. Guthrie Jan 2018

Extending The Utility Of Public Use Microdata, Eric A. Guthrie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Applied demography employs population studies in the effort to answer real world questions and provide insights for the problems that business and civic leaders face on an ongoing basis. To answer these questions the applied demographer sometimes performs primary research, but more often they attempt to leverage and extend the use of publicly available data to answer the questions presented in an efficient and timeconstrained manner. The work described here looks at a problem presented by the Michigan Department of Education and the solution presented by the Michigan State Demographer. The problem required estimates for a single-year age group at …


“The Problem With The Haitians Is Their Language”: Language As Color-Blind Racism, Ruthie Wienk Jan 2018

“The Problem With The Haitians Is Their Language”: Language As Color-Blind Racism, Ruthie Wienk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the mechanisms of exclusion and oppression of a Haitian population in a rural community in South West Florida. The analytical approach taken is an analysis of the social field and habitus as dispositions and embodied culture. Language has been identified as a tool to marginalize the population in the general social order. Through this process, language operates as a form of color-blind racism which justifies the exclusion of the Haitian community but is insufficient in explaining their overall social outcomes. Qualitative data were collected for this project in the form of unstructured interviews, focus groups, photographs of …


Assessment Of The Impacts Of Marijuana Legalization In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Michael Lynch Jan 2018

Assessment Of The Impacts Of Marijuana Legalization In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Michael Lynch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As marijuana legalization expands in the United States, communities that are shifting rapidly from prohibition to legalization are impacted greatly. As South Dakota remains one of the only states in the nation that has not engaged the marijuana reform movement in any manner, it is vital to assess potential impacts marijuana legalization might have on the state. Although there are several marijuana impact reports that analyze potential health and economic impacts of legalization, few address political and criminological implications that impacted areas undergo as a result of this policy change. Subsequently, there is a need to analyze the impacts of …


Successes And Challenges In Services For Victims Of Sex Trafficking: An Organizational Analysis, Annelieke Sinnema Jan 2018

Successes And Challenges In Services For Victims Of Sex Trafficking: An Organizational Analysis, Annelieke Sinnema

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the organization Calltofreedom, located in Sioux Falls South Dakota, works to rehabilitate victims of sex trafficking and how, what this organization offers fits with the needs these victims have. Secondly, this study looks at memorable messages clients of Calltofeedom receive that prevents or encourages them to heal after getting out of a trafficking situation. Sex trafficking is not only an international problem but a home-grown problem in the United States. Awareness about sex trafficking and needs of victims, especially in rural places, is still lacking. With this comes a lack in organizations that can help empower …


Understanding City Parks As New Common Pool Resources: A Case Study Of The Dakota Nature Park, Keahna Margeson Jan 2018

Understanding City Parks As New Common Pool Resources: A Case Study Of The Dakota Nature Park, Keahna Margeson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines public parks as New Common Pool Resources through a case study of the Dakota Nature Park in Brookings, South Dakota. I identify the formalization and bureaucratization processes experienced by the governing body of the park. These processes occurred as a capped landfill was repurposed and collaboratively managed to serve the community by providing native, natural space and affordable recreational opportunities. The governing structure is assessed using Elinor Ostrom’s (1990) Eight Principles of Common Pool Resource Management, Weber’s (1964) ideas of status and authority and Berger and Luckman's (1966) phenomenological theory. I use three major research strategies: (1) …


Dual Enrollment And Its Impact On College Freshman Persistence: A Modification Of Tinto's Model Of Student Departure, Douglas L. Simon Jan 2017

Dual Enrollment And Its Impact On College Freshman Persistence: A Modification Of Tinto's Model Of Student Departure, Douglas L. Simon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which dual enrollment programs directly or indirectly influenced persistence behavior at a small, public liberal arts university in the Midwest. Dual enrollment in this study broadly refers to high school students who take college courses for college credit. The second purpose was to explore the underlying processes whereby dual enrollments programs serve as a transition bridge for matriculating students. This study employed a longitudinal case study using two survey questionnaires, four focus groups, and institutional data collected by the college. The subjects that participated in the study were first-year …


Rail Rebound: The Impact Of Freight Rails On Regional Development In The United States, 1970-2010, Bishal Bhakta Kasu Jan 2017

Rail Rebound: The Impact Of Freight Rails On Regional Development In The United States, 1970-2010, Bishal Bhakta Kasu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Railroads have played a critical role in economic growth and development, and they exert a tremendous impact on the distribution and redistribution of the population. However, the impacts of railroads, especially freight rails, on population change and socioeconomic development are not well understood. This study fills the gap in the literature by examining the demographic and socioeconomic impacts of freight rails using county-level data in the continental United States from 1970 to 2010. The demographic and socioeconomic changes are measured by eleven dependent variables. Of those eleven, six are demographic (population, young, old, White, Black, Hispanic) and five are socioeconomic …


Funding Of Higher Education: Variations In State Funding, Impacts Of State Funding On Differential Tuition, And Variables Impacting Differential Tuition, Michael Holbeck Jan 2017

Funding Of Higher Education: Variations In State Funding, Impacts Of State Funding On Differential Tuition, And Variables Impacting Differential Tuition, Michael Holbeck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public higher education in the United States has seen many changes since the Morrill Act of 1862. Specifically, the funding of higher education has changed greatly over the last half century, from very low tuition and relatively high state subsidies to an increased reliance on tuition to fund higher education. While this funding change has been the national trend, the impact on specific states and universities has varied greatly. This study examines the funding variation between university peers, normalized using state general funds per resident student FTE, to analyze the variation of state funding between states as well as the …


Explaining The Gender Wage Gap In Rural And Urban China, Wei Gu Jan 2017

Explaining The Gender Wage Gap In Rural And Urban China, Wei Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gender wage gap is a long-standing and worldwide issue. Since the equality sense towards gender role are difference between rural and urban China, this paper will (1) compare the gender wage gap in rural and urban settings; (2) examine how the associated factors (such as education, occupation, and housework involvements) affect the wage; (3) assess and compare gender discrimination in the rural and urban labor markets. This paper utilizes the survey data from China Health and Nutrition Survey in 2011. The methods of descriptive statistics, correlation, and stepwise multiple regression models are applied in analyzing the data. The results …


The Transformation Of An Agriculture-Based Economy To A Tourism-Based Economy: Citizens' Perceived Impacts Of Sustainable Tourism Development, Debra P. Laville-Wilson Jan 2017

The Transformation Of An Agriculture-Based Economy To A Tourism-Based Economy: Citizens' Perceived Impacts Of Sustainable Tourism Development, Debra P. Laville-Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers have explored the perceptions and impacts of tourism development. However, no studies have included the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis where tourism has replaced agriculture as the primary driver of the islands’ economies. Furthermore, recent studies have not explored demographic factors that determine people’s perceptions of the impacts of tourism development in these islands. The purpose of this study was to investigate if citizens’ perceptions of the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and community impacts of tourism development vary by demographic factors such as age, education, gender and geographical location in relation to tourist areas. Nineteen research hypotheses …


Gesi Mainstreaming In Nepal: Representation Of A New Concept Or Re-Presentation Of An Old Concept In A New Package?, Umit Shrestha Jan 2017

Gesi Mainstreaming In Nepal: Representation Of A New Concept Or Re-Presentation Of An Old Concept In A New Package?, Umit Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a process analysis of a newly implemented Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) mainstreaming process within Ministry of Urban Development in Nepal. The study aims to understand GESI mainstreaming process within theoretical underpinnings of gender mainstreaming and framing. In understanding, the implementation of the GESI mainstreaming process the research also aims to understand the location of the process within different approach towards gender and development. The study analyzes how does GESI Mainstreaming process differs from previous approach in gender and development by understanding whether it creates a new standard for men, women and other vulnerable groups of …


Government Policy And Initiatives On Maternal Mortality Reduction In Nigeria, Enifome U. Eto Jan 2016

Government Policy And Initiatives On Maternal Mortality Reduction In Nigeria, Enifome U. Eto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is a case study of the decline in Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio from 1990 to 2013. The goal was to examine the reasons behind the decline. Using a combination of ideas from Eager (2004) and Nathanson (1996) as the theoretical framework, this study explained the factors that resulted in the decline. Both theorists focus on the processes of normative change relative to public health outcomes at a societal or international level. Available secondary or documentary data were used for this study. Data sources include: Nigerian government reports on maternal health interventions; nongovernmental reports on maternal health interventions; reports …


Coping And Adjustment Of Spouses Of International Students At South Dakota State University, Elizabeth Nayebare Jan 2016

Coping And Adjustment Of Spouses Of International Students At South Dakota State University, Elizabeth Nayebare

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated acculturation of female spouses of international students to life in Brookings, specifically, how they cope and adjust. It was guided by the following questions: what are the socio-economic and cultural attributes of female spouses, and how do they impact their ability to cope and adjust to life in Brookings; what strategies and activities do spouses of international students rely on or develop in order to adjust and cope with life in the United States (Brookings); and what are the processes and experiences of coping and adjustment among spouses of different professional and cultural backgrounds? The investigation was …


Understanding The Factors Associated With Engaged Scholarship: A Case Study Of Sociologists In The University Of Cape Coast, Ghana, Rebecca Maame Ahima Tachie Jan 2016

Understanding The Factors Associated With Engaged Scholarship: A Case Study Of Sociologists In The University Of Cape Coast, Ghana, Rebecca Maame Ahima Tachie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although initially established for the purpose of training teachers and management staff for the formal education sector, one of the major objectives of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) is to establish partnerships with both local and international communities and organizations in ways that simultaneously enhance academic scholarship and socioeconomic development. For this reason, this study examined the significance of university policies on community engagement and the practice of public sociology. Specifically, the influence of epistemological dispositions and perceptions concerning disciplinary, institutional and social demands on engaged scholarship are addressed. The challenges associated with the practice of engaged scholarship and …