Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Dancing Through The Pain: Dance As A Psychotherapeutic Outlet, Courtney Douglas

Honors Projects

Dance has become a popular sport and hobby in more recent years. Many schools now provide options for dance classes, and universities have created degrees in dance. Dance may provide a therapeutic factor as well. This study aimed to identify the age at which participants began to dance as an outlet for positive or negative emotions. This study also examined whether being a life-long dancer, as compared to someone who has recently started dancing, has effects on the general well-being and depression levels of the dancer. Results show that the average age participants found dance as a useful outlet for …

Retirement Reboot: A Website Redesign, Christina Gillen

Honors Projects

A website could be created with the latest technology, but after a few years it will still need to be updated. This is what happened to Swanton Health Care and Retirement Center’s website. This project is designed to remedy the problem by creating an entirely new website with updated content, images, and interactive features to bring Swanton Health Care’s online presence back to life.

Behavioral Effects Of Envrionmental Enrichment Devices Of Tursiops Truncatus, Stephanie Maiorano

Honors Projects

Many studies on environmental enrichment devices have been conducted throughout the years on both terrestrial and marine animals in captivity. However, little is known on the effect that submergible enrichment devices have on cetaceans in captivity. This study examines two male Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Kaiko’o and Nalu, at Sea Life Park, Hawai’i and their interaction with the Magic Box: a device consisting of a submergible vegetable crate weighed down with a weight, flipped upside down with fish underneath. A total of 7 trials were conducted, with data collection on their surfacing behavior before and after the …

A Wilderness And Art Therapy Program For Children With Social Concerns, Ashlynn C. Wardle

Honors Projects

For my honors project, I created an alternative therapy program for children with special needs. Activities were designed to support children with varied needs such as children with autism, ADHD, or learning disabilities. The program utilizes the most successful factors from the fields of art therapy, wilderness therapy, special education, applied behavior analysis, and speech and language therapy the program to form age appropriate, educational, and fun art and wilderness opportunities.

Economic Opportunity And Young Adult Mortality: Variations By Race/Ethnicity And Gender, Jocelyn Mineo

Honors Projects

This study examines the relationship between economic opportunity and adolescent and young adult mortality in the United States. In addition, this study explores other variables, such as social support and rurality, and their link to young adult mortality rates. First, we examined the link between economic opportunity and all-cause mortality rates for youth ages 15 to 34 in the United States. Given the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of America’s youth, we pay particular attention to race/ethnic differences. We also examine the differences in mortality by gender.

Relocating Pictures: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of Transnational Islamic Images, Mary S.W. Campbell

Honors Projects

This paper and accompanying photo series analyze and discuss Western images of Islamic migration. Incorporating a variety of disciplines, they evaluate the emotional responses of Americans towards images of Muslim migrants and transnational issues. Through surveying and literary analysis, they demonstrate the need for new images of the Muslim migrant that allow for greater emotional engagement that leads to action. My photographs, taken in Spain and Morocco, are a first step at discovering what is needed in these new images.

The Long-Term Strategic Influence Of Russia In The Dprk From 1946-1999: An Evolution With Leadership, Emma Wendt

Honors Projects

The purpose of this thesis is to show a correlation between change in Soviet-Russian leadership and the actions reflecting variance in Russia’s strategic influence in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) from 1946-1999. As part of applying the strategic perspective in this analysis, an argument for the rationality of the Kim regime is included. The analysis is approached using a structured, focused comparison with process-tracing to expose within-case variance.

A direct, measurable relationship between the change in Russian leadership and variance in Russia’s strategic influence in the DPRK is found as a result of this analysis. Because this finding …

Open-Minded Religiosity: Investigating The Link Between Religious Commitment And Thinking Style, Carl W. Sallee

Honors Projects

This study examined the relationship between religious commitment and thinking styles. Participants (n = 195) completed self-report measures of religious commitment, contextualism, Authoritarianism-Conservatism-Traditionalism (ACT - conceptualized as social attitudes/beliefs), and Open-Minded Cognition (OMC - conceptualized as a cognitive style). A marginally significant direct link was observed. Furthermore, when controlling for Contextualism, the strength of the negative link between SRF and OMC increased non-significantly. When controlling for ACT, mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between SRF and OMC was more indirect (via shared variance with ACT) than direct. Moderation analyses did not reveal significant results. Results tentatively suggest a negative …

Restoring Ubuntu: Ecosystemic, Biopsychosocial, Afrocentric Networks For The Trauma-Healing Of Sexual Violence Survivors In Eastern Congo, Summer D. Downs

Honors Projects

The purpose of this paper is to propose that trauma healing in the Congo should be directed by the agency of Africans, characterized by an ubuntu-based systems epistemology, and facilitated throughcreative, multi-modal networks.

Thinking Past Tomorrow: An Analysis Of Policy Efforts To Reduce Homelessness In King County, Washington, Andrew R. Bell

Honors Projects

Homelessness and housing have become central issues in King County, Washington in recent years. This paper analyzes policies across multiple levels of government, and discusses the ways in which they have impacted homeless people in King County. This paper finds support for the idea that geographical disparity in resources has contributed to some of the challenges that King County and Seattle have experienced in their attempts to reduce homelessness.

Height In Politics: The Role Of Height In Electoral Success In The State Of Washington, Joseph Wayne Rebbe

Honors Projects

Throughout the history of American presidential elections, the height of candidates has proven to be a statistically significant factor relative to success. This analysis examines whether the same trend applied to Washington State elections over the period 1994-2014. Ultimately, the data shows that Washington electoral results are not subject to change on the basis of candidate height – Washington elections do not reflect the presidential election trend.

Measuring Foreign Aid Effectiveness: Elite Capture Of Foreign Aid Funds, Alyssa M. Ortiz

Honors Projects

In an attempt to better understand where foreign aid is most effective for developmental purposes and poverty alleviation, this study takes a focused look at the correlation between democracy and corruption. High democratization is tested alongside corruption in foreign aid usage to determine if an inverse relationship exists. The implication is then that low levels of foreign aid corruption will be tied to increased effectiveness of development interventions. This increased effectiveness will then result in an increase of overall development. The research examines three African countries – Ghana, Zambia, Swaziland – through comparative case studies to test the democratic institutions …

The New Liberalism Of International Relations In Context: An Analysis Of Andrew Moravcsik's 'Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory Of International Politics', Zachary R. Zellmer

Honors Projects

This paper summarizes the liberal theory of international politics offered by international relations theorist Andrew Moravcsik, and its development in relation to the insights of key liberal thinkers from the republican and commercial traditions. A discussion of the current status of a liberal paradigm of international politics is followed by a summary of the basic structure of Moravcsik’s theory. Moravcsik’s insights and their origins are then explored through the political philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Kant’s impact on the development of the tradition of republican liberalism into a liberal theory of international relations is evaluated and its language is compared to …

Bowling Green High School Branding Plan, Michael Wenig

Honors Projects

The Bowling Green High School athletic department intends for their brand to be perceived a certain way by consumers. Consumers perceive the athletics department brand in a variety of ways, but questionnaire results show consumers perceive the athletics brand in three key areas that the Bowling Green High School intends for their brand to be. The following marketing plan discusses how the high school can strengthen their brand in the three areas of congruence with target consumers.

Impacts Of Environmental Quality On The Demographics Of Three Nations, Emily Hummel

Honors Projects

This study will examine how the correlation between air and water quality and the population demographics of India, South Africa, and the United States. India is a country with a growing population, increasing income inequality, and gender roles that reflect its status as a developing nation. South Africa is much smaller in area and the population is beginning to level off, but South Africa’s income inequality is growing much faster than India’s and gender inequality is less of an issue in South Africa. The population of the United States is decreasing and gender roles are fairly equal, despite income inequality …

Multicultural Advertising And Updated Branding For Wedding Photographers, Kaitlyn Wimmers

Honors Projects

A traditional image of a couple getting married includes one man, one woman, who are young, white, and do not have children. Yet, demographics of prospective couples have become more diverse in terms of age, race-ethnicity, sexual orientation, and family composition. This project examines the extent to which these changes toward diversity in prospective couples are reflected in wedding photographers’ marketing strategies, using content analysis of photographs (N = 960) from photographers' Wedding Wire profiles, personal photography websites, and professional Facebook pages. Eight photographers were chosen from the Midwest (Chicago and Indianapolis) and the West Coast (Los Angeles and San …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Electroencephalogram (Eeg) Asymmetry, Alexandria Hudeck

Honors Projects

This study examines the effects of a brief 20-minute single-session mindfulness meditation session on electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, as well as the positive and negative affect scale (PANAS). It was hypothesized that mindfulness meditation would significantly decrease negative emotions through an increase of alpha band wavelengths to the right hemisphere and thereby resulting in greater left hemispheric activity. The results from the experiment using 10 Bowling Green State participants demonstrated that there was no significant difference between the mindfulness condition and the comparison condition in any of the dependent variables. Strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.

The Relationship Between Teacher Perception And African American Male Students’ Iep Referral Rates, Christina Steward

Honors Projects

African American male students are overrepresented in special education services. This study was conducted under the framework of Bandura's social cognitive theory, and it used surveys and teacher case studies to evaluate the relationship between teacher perception and African American male students' IEP referral rates. A demographic survey, Ronsanna Bakari's Teaching African American Students Survey (TAASS), and an open ended questionnaire were completed by 24 Ohio teachers. The study's hypothesis was that teachers' negative perceptions of African American students were related to and a predictor of African American male students' high IEP referral rates. The study did not have enough …

Healthcare Leadership Institute, Jayna Clemens

Honors Projects

The Healthcare Leadership Institute is a program designed to offer high school sophomores an opportunity to develop leadership skills, a professional mentorship relationship, and a better understanding of the variety and diversity of professions in the healthcare field. The Healthcare Leadership Institute also includes a 10-day international immersion trip after the completion of the classroom curriculum. In total, the program lasts the duration of one academic year, with the 10-day immersion trip taking place at the beginning of summer break before they begin their junior year. The international immersion trip will not only allow the participants an opportunity to apply …

Educating Managers On How To Manage Introverted Vs. Extroverted Employees, Madison Hays

Honors Projects

While personality types are a popular topic in society today, many don't really understand what they mean and what implications they can have. This project combines the disciplines of both management and psychology, seeking to educate managers on how the two personality traits of introversion and extroversion can impact their ability to effectively manage employees in the workplace. It is presented in the form of a blog, each post identifying and answering an anticipated question that a manager would have while integrating personality considerations into their job practices. Also included are reviews on popular non-fiction books that are recommended for …

Applying Gis Technology In Airport Management, Eleanor Clark

Honors Projects

This honors project involved applying two disciplines to aid in advancing the efficiency of airport management at the Toledo Express Airport. I utilized my geography and aviation knowledge and geographic information system (GIS) skills to create a GIS, a webmap, and a 3-in-1 map-based program that had the capabilities of executing Part 139 Self Inspections, asset management, and work orders. The GIS system and webmap were successfully created to aid in management, cohesiveness, and efficiency within the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, the managing entity of the Toledo Express Airport. For the 3-in-1 map-based program, I worked closely alongside a programmer …

Exploring The Unique Experiences Of Biological Children In A Foster Family, Alana Marsh

Honors Projects

:The purpose of the following research was to identify the experiences and needs of biological children in a foster family. An online survey was sent to licensed foster families from a private agency. The survey included questions about the experiences, both positive and negative, of biological children before foster youth enter the home, during their stay, and after they exit the home. Analysis of 21 survey answers and thorough review of literature indicated significant lack of available resources for foster parents to utilize when preparing their biological children for this family change. Results also showed that children held damaging misconceptions …

Snowboarding Experiences And Lessons: Snowboarding Through The Years, Matt Bryker

Honors Projects

Professional snowboarding lessons are expensive. They can cost up to a thousand dollars a day for a private lesson at a high quality mountain. Many people are not willing to put that much of an investment in a sport that they might not even enjoy. For this reason, many people seek out knowledgeable friends in order to learn the sport. By receiving help from a friend it can be a more enjoyable experience as well as a substantially cheaper one. The problem with this system is that many of these friends do not know where to start when teaching snowboarding. …

Giving On The Margin: The Power Of Donor Recognition, Jordan W. Richmond

Honors Projects

This study develops a controlled laboratory experiment to examine the effects of personal recognition on charitable giving. I find evidence that both the possibility of acquiring prestige and the desire to avoid shame motivate individuals to give in recognition situations. Furthermore, I show that the possibility of being recognized is more important than the distinguishing value of that recognition, suggesting that an offer of recognition has greater power to increase charitable contributions when a larger proportion of donors will be recognized.

The Rising Tide Of Indigenous Mobilization: Identity And The Politics Of Refusal In Mexico And Ecuador, Kelsey J. Freeman

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

College Of Business Dean's Advisory Council On Diversity & Inclusion, Marjorie Williams

Honors Projects

Dean’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODI) is compromised of students, faculty, and staff who work together to ensure that the College of Business Administration (CBA) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is using best practices for a culture of diversity and inclusion. DACODI creates and evaluates the CBA’s strategic goals and missions related to diversity and inclusion to achieve the best possible business outcomes for students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the CBA.

DACODI was inspired by research done by Catalyst on the better business outcomes produced by gender diverse businesses. To leverage the gender, ethnic, and age …

Perceptions And Knowledge Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) In Physician Assistant Practice, Travis Shamery

Honors Projects

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a category of medicine that falls outside the realm of traditional western medicine. Types of CAM may include acupuncture, natural products, and meditation, among others. The central focus of this paper will be to assess current Physician Assistants (PA) students attending the GVSU’s PA program and examine the perceptions of CAM as well as CAM education. A survey will be conducted to these students and it will ask questions about if/how CAM is taught in their program, how important they think it is in the daily practice of a PA, and it will also …

Modeling And Testing Consumer Engagement In The U.S. Organic Food Market, John L. Anderson

Honors Projects

This study specifies the types of consumers that participate in the U.S. organic market and investigates their revealed preferences. I propose three theoretical consumer types – indifferent consumers, informed organic food lovers, and uninformed organic food lovers – and conduct cross-sectional and time-trend analyses utilizing organic fruit purchase data compiled by The Neilsen Company. The cross-sectional analysis is estimated with a two-stage Heckman selection model, while the time-trend analysis uses simple descriptive statistics and a differenced OLS regression technique. Households are most likely to participate in the organic fruit market if they have a well-educated white or Asian head, are …

Looking Ahead With The World In Their Hands: The Postsecondary Aspirations Of East Island Youth, Abby E. Roy

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Fact Vs. Faction: Polarization In The Information Age, Noah Finberg

Honors Projects

How can individuals in the contemporary media and political environment form better political beliefs? In chapter one, this thesis considers what it means to say American politics is polarized. It evaluates the extent of polarization in American politics. And it presents original evidence that suggests that just as the public and members of Congress have polarized, so too has American political discourse. Through the lens of political psychology, chapter two investigates how America’s polarized politics has influenced the quality of individuals’ beliefs. Chapter three explores the role that the media plays in encouraging or minimizing the biased information processing practices …