Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Communication Cues To Action Prompting Central Appalachian Women To Have A Mammogram., Kathryn Bond Mcneill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, mammography screening is the best method of detection for breast cancer, yet many women have never been screened and underprivileged, minority and rural women have lower screening rates then other populations. The purpose of this study, through individual interviews(N=88), was to understand the cues that women perceive to have received spurring them to participate in mammogram screening. The Health Belief Model guided this research. Media influence, Health Care Practitioner recommendation, social networks, and symptoms were the cues to action explored in this research prompting compliance to mammography screening. All four of these cues were found to influence women in …

A Durkheimian Sociobiology?, Jason Oliver Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As conceived by Durkheim, social facts set parameters on what is of sociological interest, and subsequently how social phenomena are explained. This thesis reworks this theoretical concept to allow for biological explanations of some social phenomena. It by no means, asserts that all social phenomena can be explained by biology, but it recognizes that biological explanations of human behavior are available and are of sociological interest. The argument agrees with the main thrust of Durkheim's defense of social facts, but his critique of utility, while insightful, is considered unnecessary to negate individual causality.

Willingness To Accept Forgiveness In Various Religious Targets., Meridith Ann Brewer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three scenarios regarding a target man's moral behavior were used to examine 'religious halo' 'religious boomerang', and a 'halo recovery' effect. Initially, participants rated a male target in response to his religious affiliation. Secondly, participants rated the male target following an act of infidelity. Finally, participants provided ratings of the male target with the knowledge that the target received forgiveness from significant others. Results indicated that participants did not discriminate based on knowledge of the target's religious affiliation but did reject the target following an act of infidelity. New to this research, however, was discovery of a 'halo recovery' where …

Resiliency Factors Associated With Adaptive Conflict Tactics., Jacquelyn Leanne Driggers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined witnessing domestic violence as a child as a predictor of violent conflict tactics in adult dating relationships. A supportive sibling and a close relationship with the mother were examined as resiliency factors. Participants were 129 men and 256 women enrolled in classes at East Tennessee State University. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a mother-father conflict resolution form of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), The Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS), The Index of Brother and Sister Relations, and a revised form of the CTS that assessed violence in the participants' dating relationship. Analysis of variance was conducted to assess …

Variants Of Volunteerism Among Mature Adults Within Communities Of Northeast Tennessee., Martha Wilcox Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A purposive study conducted among mature adults aged 55 and older in Northeast Tennessee examined variants of volunteerism as well as volunteer needs of agencies and organizations and what percent of volunteers in those agencies fall within the specified age group. Mature volunteers in the region match profiles of other studies -- predominantly white, married, homeowners, who are protestant, females with educational levels beyond high school, and who have income levels above the regional average. Findings show that most volunteers attend religious services at least once each week but found no association between gender and informal volunteerism, between health and …

Under The Influence: Adolescent Girls' Compliance In Competitive Softball., Cory Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how and why young female athletes participate in the competitive organized sport of softball. Based on participant observation and interviews with coaches and players of Team Z, this study examines how parents and coaches influence females to participate in athletics through incentives and punishments. This thesis also examines the cultural assumptions about work that organized sports introduce to female athletes. Furthermore, the study discusses how parents and competitive sports organizations perpetuate the existence of male domination in sports and in society more generally.

Chocolate Plantation: A Geophysical And Archaeological Examination Of A Sea Island Cotton Plantation On Sapelo Island, Georgia, Christopher William Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chocolate Field, the area containing the ruins of Chocolate Plantation, was occupied from the Late Archaic through the antebellum period into the 20th century. A complex overlay of architectural remains generated during the operation of the plantation by everyone from French nobles to 20^th century millionaires is buried at the site. A four- instrument geophysical survey in conjunction with test excavations provides data which make it possible to delineate the extent of the site, determine structure function, and separate the plantation into occupational phases. These results will ultimately serve to help link the Geechee/Gullah community presently living on Sapelo …

The Digital Divide: A Study Of The Intra-Ethnic Divide Within The African American Population In Johnson City, Tennessee., Sonja E. Schreckenberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how much access African American adults 25 years and older, living in Johnson City, Tennessee had to computers, and the factors that most influenced such access. Data was collected from 271 persons living in the area. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software to determine how certain demographics would contribute to the level of computer access.

Results from the study revealed that a digital divide existed within the African American community, with income being a strong determinant of access to computers. The highest level of access for the sample was in the salary range of $50,000-74,999. Computer …

Bridging The Gap Between Medical Science And Communication: An Interpretive Analysis Of Messages Portrayed On Endometriosis Websites., Lakesha Nichole Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined women's health messages found on ten endometriosis websites. Qualitative research methods were used to investigate messages available via Internet media about causes and treatments of endometriosis, particularly as they relate to the suggestion that hysterectomy and pregnancy are effective treatments. Messages about infertility, physician-patient communication, and accessibility were also examined. Findings indicate that the websites provided similar messages regarding the symptoms, causes, and treatments of endometriosis; results pertaining to infertility were mixed. Little information was available on methods of improving physician-patient communication. Most websites provided additional low-cost information while requiring minimal technological competency or additional software of …

Image Quality Analysis Using Glcm, Dhanashree Gadkari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gray level co-occurrence matrix has proven to be a powerful basis for use in texture classification. Various textural parameters calculated from the gray level co-occurrence matrix help understand the details about the overall image content. The aim of this research is to investigate the use of the gray level co-occurrence matrix technique as an absolute image quality metric. The underlying hypothesis is that image quality can be determined by a comparative process in which a sequence of images is compared to each other to determine the point of diminishing returns. An attempt is made to study whether the curve of …

Do You Have A Friend?: The Impact Of Personal Knowledge Of Someone With Aids On Attitudes Towards Aids, Leith Leonce Lombas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of attitudes towards those with AIDS is relatively recent. Most studies have examined attitudes concerning health and medical concerns. Little research has focused on attitudes toward social and behavior concerns. The few that have focused on such attitudes have employed relatively small samples collected primarily out of convenience. The studies that have used national samples have primarily addressed public policy issues. Using national data from the 1988 General Social Survey, this paper examines the effects of personal knowledge about the AIDS virus and other attitudinal variables on four dimensions of social and behavioral concern for those with AIDS …

Nursing Leadership Characteristics: Effect On Nursing Job Satisfactio, Sandra Swearingen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to determine the degree to which a positive experience with nursing leadership increases nurse's job satisfaction. The different values and norms of the generational cohorts result in each cohort perceiving leadership characteristics differently. Factors such as length of exposure to leadership, location, shift worked, clinical versus non-clinical positions and the presence or absence of Servant-Leadership, all have the potential to impact nursing satisfaction. Nursing satisfaction, or dissatisfaction impacts retention, further modifying nursing leadership practices. Conflict, Cohort, Servant-Leadership, and Self-Discrepancy theories were utilized to identify the relationships of generations to each other and to the …

Critical Digital Infrastructure Protection: An Investigatoin Into The Intergovernmental Activities Of Information Technology Directors In Florida Counties, Joah Nicole Devenny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As cyber attacks become more sophisticated, the risk to all networked computer systems increases. Whether public or private, whether federal, state, or local, the threat is equally real. Consequently, local governments must respond accordingly to understand the threats, take measures to protect themselves, and determine how to respond in the event of a system breach. Additionally, since cyber criminals do not respect geographic or administrative boundaries, local leaders must be prepared to instantly interact with other governments, agencies, and departments to suppress an attack. Guided by the theory of intergovernmental management (IGM), this exploratory research investigated how Information Technology (IT) …

Improving Comprehension Of Capital Sentencing Instructions: A Bias Reduction Approach, Charles W. Otto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that judicial instructions on the law are not well understood by jurors tasked with applying the law to the facts of a case. The past research has also shown that jurors are often confused by the instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial. Social scientists have used two different methods to improve juror understanding of legal instructions, psycholinguistic rewrites and bias-reduction techniques. Psycholinguistic rewrites of legal instructions have been shown consistently to improve juror comprehension of general legal instructions and instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial, however, there has …

Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital texts present significant challenges to technical communicators in terms of genre and persona. Because of the ubiquity of electronic media, we increasingly embrace digital formats over print-based documents. As a result, technical communicators must now devise the means to cue audiences to the purposes of digital documents in any given discourse community. We can only convey meaning to our Internet audiences through the use of appropriate standards and elements recognizable generic forms and rhetorical cues that we designate as conventions in specific digital discourse. Just as we use file and folder office metaphors for information stored on computers, digital …

Techniques For Assessing And Improving Performance In Navigation And Wayfinding Using Mobile Augmented Reality, Brian Goldiez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Augmented reality is a field of technology in which the real world is overlaid with additional information from a computer generated display. Enhancements to augmented reality technology presently support limited mobility which is expected to increase in the future to provide much greater real world functionality. This work reports on a set of experiments that investigate performance in search and rescue navigating tasks using augmented reality. Augmentation consisted of a spatially and temporally registered map of a maze that was overlaid onto a real world maze. Participants were required to traverse the maze, answer spatially oriented questions in the maze, …

The Combined Effects Of Frequency Of Satisfaction And Domain Equity On Relational Satisfaction, Amanda Dawn Coho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Romantic relationship research has yet to identify the relationship between conflict, an interpersonal variable, and equity, an intrapersonal variable. The current study represents the first attempt to understand these variables’ contribution, separately and interactionally, on individual partner’s feelings of relationship satisfaction. A total of 106 undergraduate and graduate participants completed questionnaires gauging their frequency of conflict and perceptions of equity across each of five relational domains: Love, Status/Power, Money, Services, and Sex, in addition to reporting general levels of relationship satisfaction. Data were interpreted in three separate relationships: conflict and satisfaction, equity and satisfaction, and the interaction of conflict and …

The Effects Of Psuedo-Altruistic Behavior On The Likelihood Of Reciprocity And Perceptions Of The Source, Reagan Rule

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the roles of expectancy disconfirmation and pseudo-altruistic behaviors as communication strategies to increase receiver compliance, and their effects on perceptions of the source, including credibility and likeability ratings. While adding to the previous research, this investigation examines the effects on compliance when pseudo-altruistic practices are employed in a sales situation. Additionally, subjects’ compliance responses in the treatment groups are analyzed for relationships between compliance and several possible mediators, including participant’s evaluations of the source, and feelings of obligation and guilt. A focus group was held to discuss the face validity of the scenarios. Additionally, a pilot …

Tractor-Trailer Simulation And The Assessment Of Training Scenarios For City-Driving: Skill Building In The Area Of Left And Right Turns, James Whitmire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A simulated inner-city training scenario was found to increase skills in the area of turning when compared with a simulated off-track training scenario. To answer this question, two groups of ten participants (5 women and 5 men) were tested using three scripted scenarios focusing on left and right turns. The first training scenario (control group) is an off-track training scenario, which consists of a large asphalt lot and the use of orange cones; the second training scenario (experimental group) is an inner-city training scenario without the presence of vehicular traffic; and the third scenario (test scenario) is an inner-city scenario …

Determinants Of Financial Condition: A Study Of U.S. Cities, Lynda Dennis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How well a local government is able to provide for the needs and preferences of its citizens generally depends on the financial resources available; and, how such resources are allocated, distributed, and managed. Demographics, size of local government, supply and age of infrastructure, financial position of the government, and the local economy represent a few of the factors affecting what public goods and services citizens prefer. Internal systems of accounting and control affect the allocation, distribution, and management of financial resources. As such, these internal systems significantly affect the provision of public goods and services. The research outlined in this …

Camera System Support For Highway Transportation Using Mobile Devices, Le Minh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the very fast growing technology in wireless, advancement in hardware and the dramatically falling cost of mobile computing devices such as PDA, handheld device, People nowadays can have a personal device that fits in their hand but has computing power as a desktop did few years ago. The same device now is able to communicate over a wireless network and view office document at the same time. The combination of size, power and flexibility makes the personal devices increasingly appear in many aspects of life. In this proposal, we focus on a simple yet useful application of mobile devices …

Female Sexual Offenders-An Underexamined Population, Creaig Anthony Dunton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex crimes are considered to be among the most damaging and heinous forms of social deviance in existence. Besides the acts perpetrated by the offenders, the social stigma attached to being victimized is often just as injurious to the victim. Society sees males as the sole perpetrators of acts of sexual abuse, but this is not the case. The extant literature shows that women, while fewer in number, also perpetrate acts of sexual abuse and assault against other adults and children. This thesis is a preliminary typology that classifies female sexual offenders based upon the acts perpetrated, using cases presented …

Effects Of Voluntary Control On Performance Response Under Stress., Christina Shawn Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent stressful environments within military and non-military domains are producing a new challenge for the lab-based study of stress on task performance, one that requires knowledge of underlying cognitive-motivational and goal orientation factors. Results of recent stress on task performance research traditionally employ metaphorical explanations (i.e., resource theory) in order to rapidly apply stimulus-response outcomes to the real world counterparts. This dissertation provides an alternative perspective about these metaphorical, or black box, interpretations and reveals how they may be confounded with respect to the intended real world counterpart. To examine how voluntary human control can influence traditional stress/no-stress research findings, …

Facade Democracy: Democratic Transition In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Robin Nicole Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the reasons behind the stagnation in the transition to democracy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to their constitutions, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are democracies. In actuality, however, there is little evidence to support that these are democratic systems. These states' post-Soviet constitutions outline them as democracies - yet they lack a free press; freedom of association is suppressed; religious freedom is limited; and free speech is constrained as well. While these two countries hold popular elections, much of their electoral processes are under the control of the executive branch of government - calling into question whether or not …

Communication Modality And After Action Review Performance In A Distributed Immersive Virtual Environment, Jason P. Kring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological innovations in data transfer and communication have given rise to the virtual team where geographically separate individuals interact via one or more technologies to combine efforts on a collective activity. In military, business, and spaceflight settings, virtual teams are increasingly used in training and operational activities; however there are important differences between these virtual collaborations and more traditional face-to-face (FTF) interactions. One concern is the absence of FTF contact may alter team communication and cooperation and subsequently affect overall team performance. The present research examined this issue with a specific focus on how communication modality influences team learning and …

The Effects Of Differential Item Functioning On Predictive Bias, Damon Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relation between measurement bias at the item level (differential item functioning, dif) and predictive bias at the test score level. Dif was defined as a difference in the probability of getting a test item correct for examinees with the same ability but from different subgroups. Predictive bias was defined as a difference in subgroup regression intercepts and/or slopes in predicting a criterion. Data were simulated by computer. Two hypothetical subgroups (a reference group and a focal group) were used. The predictor was a composite score on a dimensionally complex test with …

Explaining Churn: Mass Society, Social Capital, & Community Churn, Delores Edelen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Population churn--the population turnover experienced by a community--can have differential effects on a community. Mass society theory suggests that because the churn rate experienced by communities can contribute to their uprooting, fragmentation, and isolation, churn is a potent threat to the stability of our modern day communities. Social capital theory, to the contrary, suggests otherwise. Social capital theory suggests that churn can have positive effects on communities by bringing new migrants with valuable human capital skills and experiences to communities. These migrants bring to their new communities the potential for creating new jobs, spurring economic development, and for initiating housing …

A Comparative Static Analysis For Invasive Species Management Under Risk Neutral Preferences, Pamela Safford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the optimal ex-ante mix of self-protection and self-insurance technologies employed to reduce the risk of biological invaders in the presence of exogenous variables within the probability and damage functions. This is accomplished by using a theoretical endogenous risk model that extends previously developed frameworks. This thesis contributes to the previous work in two ways. (1) Employing a general framework with simultaneous decision making over self-protection and self-insurance, this thesis analyzes how each parameter including income, the costs of each activity, an exogenous factor that affects only the probability of an invasion, and a separate exogenous factor that …

The Internet And The American Political System, Noah David, Gaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The past eight years have seen a great increase in Internet usage in American culture and politics. It would seem that, in our digital age, the Internet has exercised strong effects on political behavior and even on legislators. This thesis explores the variety and intensity of these effects, finding them to be substantial and growing, although not yet robust. The main influences the net has exerted on American politics take place predominantly within two areas: political campaigns and online political interest groups. Activists are certainly using the Internet for political causes, but this sort of Internet usage is really just …

George Liska's Realist Alliance Theory, And The Transformation Of Nato, Sergey Kireyev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many aspects, political theory forms a subjective structure of this abstract science. Perhaps, it is due to the fact that unlike natural sciences or mathematics, social sciences often lack the privilege of testing the theories in absolute and unadulterated conditions. Nonetheless, such nature of the science allows for a certain degree of flexibility, when applying political theories to real-world phenomena. Alliances and coalitions in international relations form the backbone of the theory, concerning IR scholars with two main questions: Why do alliances and coalitions form? And, what keeps alliances and coalitions together? As the core of my research, I …