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Honors Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Constellation Of Caring: The Dynamic And Fluctuating Nature Of Pediatric Cancer Care, Anne Friedrich Jan 2015

A Constellation Of Caring: The Dynamic And Fluctuating Nature Of Pediatric Cancer Care, Anne Friedrich

Honors Theses

This honors thesis explores the fluctuating and dynamic nature of pediatric cancer care. I discuss the ways in which pediatric medical providers make meaningful interactions both for themselves and for their patients by enacting a caring liminality that allows them to fight disease while also creating a more personal, relational, and social moment of care. Providers care and work in shifting landscapes of care, what I call carescapes. The carescapes of the built environment, of value, and of physical movement all make the provider’s liminality visible. Ultimately, I argue that care is a way of being in the world, …

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The Influence Of Normative Feedback On Stigma Of Mental Health, Carly A. Taylor Jan 2015

The Influence Of Normative Feedback On Stigma Of Mental Health, Carly A. Taylor

Honors Theses

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI; 2012) reports that the greatest barrier preventing college students from seeking help for a mental illness is stigma. Previous research has yet to develop an effective stigma reduction intervention targeting college students.Therefore, the purpose of the following research was to examine whether the administration of personalized normative feedback (PNF) could reduce personal stigma and correct the perception that others stigmatize mental illness. It was hypothesized that participants at baseline would expect others to hold more stigmatizing views compared to themselves. In order to correct this misperception and reduce stigma, half of the participants …

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Institutions, Distance, And Foreign Direct Investment, Charles Coffman Jan 2015

Institutions, Distance, And Foreign Direct Investment, Charles Coffman

Honors Theses

In this paper, I examine institutional differences between countries and the effect that those differences have on FDI flows using data from 193 countries and ten institutional indicators from the Index of Economic Freedom. I find a statistically significant result for five institutional distance variables. My results also support existing literature that claims that strong institutions increase FDI flows. I found that strong institutions are negatively associated with FDI inflows to low income countries, with the exception of trade and natural resources, suggesting that firms are investing in low income countries for natural resources and cheap production that can be …

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Investigating The Endogeneity Of Risk Attitudes: Experimental Evidence Involving Cooperation And Competition, Erik Solli Jan 2015

Investigating The Endogeneity Of Risk Attitudes: Experimental Evidence Involving Cooperation And Competition, Erik Solli

Honors Theses

Individual decision making is at the core of microeconomics. Rarely, however, are decisions made in environments without some element of uncertainty or even in isolation. While people may differ in their inherent willingness to take on risk, their preferences could change when new information is learned or a new relationship is fostered. I designed an experiment in which participants were asked to make investment decisions involving different levels of risk. The participants completed task between these gambles which allowed me to introduce competitive and collaborative relationships. I was interested in: (1) understanding the factors that are important to explaining risk …

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Sociological Effects Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne E. Barthold, Jeanne Barthold Jan 2015

Sociological Effects Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne E. Barthold, Jeanne Barthold

Honors Theses

Renewable Energy is an extremely important topic in today's energy discussions. In Maine, with the motivation of Governor Baldacci, there was a rapid push towards utilizing wind energy, starting with the Wind Energy Act in 2008. While the theory of wind farms and wind energy seems intelligent at a first glance, it is not an energy source that lacks issues. Many of the Maine wind farms constructed in the last ten years have had a large impact on human health, altered the beauty of Maine, created a change in wildlife habitats, and completely torn apart communities. Every new energy source …

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Reputation Effects And Hedonic Pricing At The Portland Fish Exchange, Kush Jadeja Jan 2015

Reputation Effects And Hedonic Pricing At The Portland Fish Exchange, Kush Jadeja

Honors Theses

The Portland Fish Exchange, founded in 1986, is America’s first all-display fresh seafood auction. The ability to observe each lot of fish before it is sold enables buyers to offer prices that reflect the perceived quality of the fish they bid on. As a result, the price per pound paid for lots of identical fish can vary can vary significantly on any given day, implying that some boats or sellers may benefit from a “reputation” effect for high quality fish. In this study I explore the factors that explain the price differentials paid for a given type of fish using …

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The Importance Of Fitting In: Drinker Status, Social Inclusion, And Well-Being In College Students, Molly B. Hodgkins Jan 2015

The Importance Of Fitting In: Drinker Status, Social Inclusion, And Well-Being In College Students, Molly B. Hodgkins

Honors Theses

These three studies examined the relationship between drinker status, well-being, and social inclusion in a college population, specifically seeking to discover why and how drinkers are happier than abstainers. In the first study, an existing longitudinal data set was used to compare the happiness of drinkers and non-drinkers, as well as ascertain if year in school was a factor. Drinkers were significantly happier than non-drinkers upon completion of their first semester freshman year, but this difference was not significant when the students were assessed one year later. Study 2 extended Study 1 by examining social factors as potential mediators of …

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The Dark Side Of Volunteering : When Helping Might Hurt, Emily Morse Jan 2015

The Dark Side Of Volunteering : When Helping Might Hurt, Emily Morse

Honors Theses

This paper examines the relationship between implicit theories of intelligence and social dominance orientation (SDO) in the context of volunteering. While there is still little research on the subject, it has been shown that un- and undertrained volunteers often do more harm than good in the community. Community-based learning courses that send students out into vulnerable communities are common at most colleges and universities today; so examining the reasons why students volunteer as well as how effective they believe volunteering to be is important in order to help them avoid causing harm to vulnerable populations. Survey data from 261 college …

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The Evolution Of Chinese Students' Motivations To Study Abroad In The U.S., Alison Elizabeth Bartel Jan 2015

The Evolution Of Chinese Students' Motivations To Study Abroad In The U.S., Alison Elizabeth Bartel

Honors Theses

Through interviews conducted in Nanjing, China during Fall 2014, this thesis sought to examine Chinese students' motivations to study abroad in the U.S. and how those motivations have changed over time in the context of Chinese and U.S. policy since reform and opening. Research showed that since 1979, Chinese students have more freedom of choice and economic means to expand their study abroad opportunities. Until now, the United States has been Chinese students' primary destination of choice, but according to modern-day Chinese college students, other similarly developed countries are beginning to draw more and more Chinese students, who may choose …

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The Effect Of A Neurotoxic Dose Of Methamphetamine On Attention And Response Learning In The Rat, Anja Kremer Jan 2015

The Effect Of A Neurotoxic Dose Of Methamphetamine On Attention And Response Learning In The Rat, Anja Kremer

Honors Theses

High doses of methamphetamine (neurotoxic doses) have been shown to have an effect on both attention and response learning. In previous literature, meth rats were found to have higher reaction times, and therefore, it has been concluded that meth may cause a deficit in response learning. Our study, using modal initiation time as a measure of response learning, found no effects of methamphetamine or training condition on mode. Studies have also shown positively skewed reaction time distributions, which have been defined as attentional lapses. Our experiment used DevMode to measure these lapses. Although meth did not, training condition did have …

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Integrated Marketing Communication Approaches On The Environmental Issue Of Recycling: A Collection Of Secondary And Primary Research To Analyze Trends In College Students Recycling Attitudes And Behaviors And The Conduction Of An Imc Campaign To Premote Recycling In Highland Square, Specifically, Cameron Ellen Klass Jan 2015

Integrated Marketing Communication Approaches On The Environmental Issue Of Recycling: A Collection Of Secondary And Primary Research To Analyze Trends In College Students Recycling Attitudes And Behaviors And The Conduction Of An Imc Campaign To Premote Recycling In Highland Square, Specifically, Cameron Ellen Klass

Honors Theses

Undertaking this thesis project was a task I was determined to fulfill with the upmost enthusiasm, positivity, and patience. When first deciding the topic of my research, I started with a list of criteria that had to be met: personal interest in the matter, hands on work with people and organizations within Oxford, and a way for me to impact the Oxford community for the better. Choosing to research college students recycling attitudes and behaviors both on and off campus and creating an integrated marketing campaign to raise awareness combined not only information accumulated through my academic years at Ole …

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Unemployment Insurance In A Post-2008 America: Lessons From Chile, Channing Lansdell Jan 2015

Unemployment Insurance In A Post-2008 America: Lessons From Chile, Channing Lansdell

Honors Theses

Unemployment Insurance (UI), in its many forms, has historically been a cornerstone of developed countries' social policy. However, since the financial crisis and following recession in 2008, the American schema of UI has experienced great strain and scrutiny. This undergraduate thesis explores the detailed intricacies of the United States's approach to UI in a post-2008 America, and looks to the Chilean Unemployment Insurance system as a source of potential reform ideas. The paper details the current operations and conceptual underpinnings of the two programs through in-depth case studies, and offers trans-national suggestions for reform. In the case studies, I explain …

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The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Legislative Action And The Future Of Transatlantic Trade, Zachery Newton Jan 2015

The Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Legislative Action And The Future Of Transatlantic Trade, Zachery Newton

Honors Theses

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a controversial free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, and is currently in negotiations as of the publication of this thesis. The TTIP seeks to remove both tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs) between the EU and the US, such as environmental and food safety regulatory divergences. This paper seeks to predict the outcome of negotiations, while considering the various cultural, economic, and political factors that play into the potential success or failure of the TTIP. To accomplish this, the paper takes a broad look at the …

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The Way I See It: An Exploration Of College Preparation And Student Aspirations In Mississippi Public High Schools, Christine Dickason Jan 2015

The Way I See It: An Exploration Of College Preparation And Student Aspirations In Mississippi Public High Schools, Christine Dickason

Honors Theses

The Way I See It, conducted with a peer, Kaitlyn Barton, explores college preparation and student aspirations in Mississippi public high schools. In order to gain a thorough understanding of college preparation and student aspirations in the state, we decided to split the thesis into three main components: 1) a survey, distributed to juniors at three high schools in Mississippi, to collect quantitative data; 2) a documentary film, to delve into the qualitative, human side of the issue; and, 3) the written thesis. In my written thesis, I focused on issues of college preparation. Overall, Mississippi high school students are …

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Apartheid In France: Galvanization Of Political Concern For The Role Of Ethnic Identities In French Society, Francesca Talley Diggs Jan 2015

Apartheid In France: Galvanization Of Political Concern For The Role Of Ethnic Identities In French Society, Francesca Talley Diggs

Honors Theses

The French state's colorblind policy prescription is the base of a contentious, current debate over whether or not the government should acknowledge ethnic and racial components of its citizens and collect such data from minority groups. An increasingly colorful population presents new questions to the framework of French identity, legally blind to ethnicity, and tests the durability of the French model. Has the role of ethnic identity in France become a legitimate political concern under President Hollande's administration despite legislation that outlaws ethnic data collection? Is the illegality of ethnic statistics detrimental to combatting discrimination and social fragmentation in France? …

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Is Positive Affect A Mediator Of The Association Between Emerging Adults' Relationship Quality With Mothers And Friendship Quality?, Nil Horoz Jan 2015

Is Positive Affect A Mediator Of The Association Between Emerging Adults' Relationship Quality With Mothers And Friendship Quality?, Nil Horoz

Honors Theses

The present study aimed to examine positive affect, an index of psychological well-being, as a mediator of the association between relationship with mothers and samesex friendship quality among emerging adults. Participants (N=394) were recruited from two small liberal arts colleges on the east coast of the United States. To be included in the study, participants needed to be the same sex, attend the same university and have been friends for at least four months. I hypothesized that positive affect was one possible pathway through which relationship with mothers predict same-sex friendship quality among emerging adults. Results replicated previous research and …

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Friendship Quality And Personality As Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being In Emerging Adults, Emma Gleckel Jan 2015

Friendship Quality And Personality As Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being In Emerging Adults, Emma Gleckel

Honors Theses

The present study investigated the relationship between personality, friendship quality, and wellbeing, among 394 emerging adults. The aim of the study was to examine whether friendship quality contributed to aspects of well-being (e.g. happiness, belongingness, and anxiety), when controlling for personality. Results showed that personality dimensions accounted for a significant amount of variance in each aspect of well-being. Moreover, friendship quality predicted happiness, belongingness, and anxiety, above and beyond the influence of personality. Results also revealed that only positive friendship features predicted variance in happiness and belongingness, whereas only negative friendship features predicted variance in anxiety. Findings indicate the importance …

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Spatial Cognition And Emotion Recognition As A Function Of Asd, Catalina Cumpanasoiu Jan 2015

Spatial Cognition And Emotion Recognition As A Function Of Asd, Catalina Cumpanasoiu

Honors Theses

Past research shows that although autism has among its particularities a tendency for lower results on cognitive tasks, especially on the executive functioning skills, people with ASD perform equally well, and sometimes even better than controls on tasks for visuo-spatial cognition. However, there is also evidence suggesting that people on the spectrum might have an impaired emotion recognition mechanism. In addition, there is research on spatial cognition and affect, looking at how emotions provoked by stimuli can change the way in which we perceive the space. In the current study, we will look at spatial cognition and emotion recognition as …

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Shifting Perceptions : Exploring With The Rubber Hand Illusion, Avery Harrison Jan 2015

Shifting Perceptions : Exploring With The Rubber Hand Illusion, Avery Harrison

Honors Theses

In two experiments, we explored the boundary conditions for evoking the rubber hand illusion (RHI). In the first study, we hypothesized that we could elicit more vivid RHI experiences using personal cell phones than using wooden blocks as external objects because we interact with our phones and they are familiar objects. The cell phone condition elicited a weak illusory experience but it did not significantly differ from the wooden block condition. In the second study, we hypothesized that manipulating the size of rubber hands used for the illusion would affect size estimates of objects. Participants who experienced a strong RHI …

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The Taylor Rule With Real-Time Data And An Analysis Of Its Impact On Historical Policy Analysis, Morgan Mckee Jan 2015

The Taylor Rule With Real-Time Data And An Analysis Of Its Impact On Historical Policy Analysis, Morgan Mckee

Honors Theses

The Federal Reserve system (the Fed) is the United States monetary policy authority and is mandated by Congress to pursue two goals: 1) maximum sustainable output and employment and 2) stable prices. Among the actions the Fed can take to achieve these goals is the ability to set the target federal funds rate. Simple policy rules that set the level of funds rate in response to changes in economic variables have gained attention as a means to more effective monetary policy. One of the most researched and cited rules is that proposed by economist John Taylor in 1993. Taylor’s rule …

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Reproductive Health Care Resources & Decision Making For Women In A "Delivery Desert" In Maine, Gianna C. Dejoy Jan 2015

Reproductive Health Care Resources & Decision Making For Women In A "Delivery Desert" In Maine, Gianna C. Dejoy

Honors Theses

This case study examines the reproductive health care resources available to women living in a “delivery desert” context in Maine, as well as the personal and cultural factors that influence their reproductive health behaviors. Through ethnographic methodology and in-depth interviews, I demonstrate how cultural influences converge with issues of quality health care accessibility to affect reproductive health outcomes. The island is isolated from reliable, quality biomedical care, with the nearest hospital offering labor and delivery services located over an hour’s drive away. I define this situation as a “delivery desert”, describing the phenomenon of centralizing maternity care which endangers pregnant …

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Implicit Theories Of Self-Regulation Among Adults With Adhd, Lauren Oddo Jan 2015

Implicit Theories Of Self-Regulation Among Adults With Adhd, Lauren Oddo

Honors Theses

Implicit theories of self-regulation were examined among adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in order to determine whether mindsets about self- regulation affect goal-attainment in the context of a self-regulation disorder. We conducted two studies in an effort to develop a deeper understanding of goal-related impairment among adults with ADHD. Study 1 was an exploratory study wherein we investigated general correlations between implicit theories of self-regulation, avoidance, negative emotions, and functional impairment in a community sample of adults with ADHD. Study 2 examined the incremental validity of implicit theories. In Study 2 we also examined whether implicit theories of self- …

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Soul Food: An Interpretation Of The History, Significance And Southern Roots Of The American Cuisine, Sarah Bracy Penn Jan 2015

Soul Food: An Interpretation Of The History, Significance And Southern Roots Of The American Cuisine, Sarah Bracy Penn

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of stories in which I explored several facets of soul food, the cuisine of the American South. It uses soul food as a prism to view the cuisine's connections to race, politics, economics, class, history and social consequences. Rather than write an academic paper, I presented my findings in a series of articles based on live interviews with food historians, culinary writers, entrepreneurs and chefs. I also examined various books, articles and blogs written by these culinary writers. This is not a comprehensive history of the cuisine, nor does it attempt to take sides with …

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That Awkward Moment When...: An Explanation Of How Britain Made The Modern Arab World Homophobic, Sequareah Sayles Jan 2015

That Awkward Moment When...: An Explanation Of How Britain Made The Modern Arab World Homophobic, Sequareah Sayles

Honors Theses

It is well documented that over the last decade, LGB individuals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have become more subjected to increased harassment, abuse and, perhaps, even torture at the hands of police officials. What is also well documented, but rarely mentioned is the prominence of homosexuality and its suggested acceptance in literature during the Islamic Golden Age (622-1258). So, what happened? Using an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis sheds light on the reasons for the attitudinal change regarding homosexuality between the Islamic Golden Age and contemporary Islamic states in the MENA region after 1918. These are …

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Catalunya No Es Espanya?: Examining Catalan Nationalism, Shiloh Jaggers Jones Jan 2015

Catalunya No Es Espanya?: Examining Catalan Nationalism, Shiloh Jaggers Jones

Honors Theses

Catalonia is one of a few European separatist movements that have real significance in the European political sphere. Separatism is new to Catalonia, however Catalan nationalism is not. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, this thesis explains that the reason the Catalan nationalist movement is so strong and demands the attention it is receiving in the Spanish national and international communities is the long-standing political, economic, and cultural foundations that have been building even before Catalonia was formed. Likewise, these foundations combined with the triggering events of the recession of the late 2000s and the Spanish constitutional court …

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Millennial Specific Techniques For Nonprofit Marketing Communications: A Messaging Study For World Relief, Taylor M. Davenport Jan 2015

Millennial Specific Techniques For Nonprofit Marketing Communications: A Messaging Study For World Relief, Taylor M. Davenport

Honors Theses

Nonprofit organizations are quickly catching up to for profit companies in their marketing communications endeavors. World Relief, a faith-based nonprofit organization that strives to empower the vulnerable, is one of those organizations. While they have made huge strides in recent years, they are missing the mark when it comes to reaching millennials. This thesis sought to research effective millennial specific messaging techniques and implement an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign using the findings. This thesis compiles research on millennials from the Pew Research Center and other sources as a background for primary research. A survey and focus group were conducted …

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Fueling The Dragon's Fire: China's Coal Policy, Taylor Malcolm Jan 2015

Fueling The Dragon's Fire: China's Coal Policy, Taylor Malcolm

Honors Theses

The last few decades in China have seen unprecedented economic growth. This growth, though good for the economy, has had extreme consequences on the health of Chinese citizens as well as the environment as a whole. A major factor of this increased pollution is the country's high consumption of coal, which has rarely comprised less than 70 percent of the country's energy during the past 50 years. Though the media portrays a China which is making enormous strides in the field of environmental protection, the energy and environmental policies of the country suggest that it will continue using large amounts …

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Parent And Administrator Perceptions Of A Parents As Teachers Program (Pat) In Petal, Mississippi, Victoria Roseanne Jones Jan 2015

Parent And Administrator Perceptions Of A Parents As Teachers Program (Pat) In Petal, Mississippi, Victoria Roseanne Jones

Honors Theses

This thesis is about the perceptions of the Parents as Teachers (PAT) Program in Petal, Mississippi. In order to gauge these perceptions, I developed a survey for the parents in the program and a survey for the parent educators (program administrators). The parent surveys were administered during home visits and the administrator surveys at a monthly staff meeting. I used thematic coding to analyze the qualitative data and SPSS for the quantitative data. I found that the administrators had accurate perceptions about the parents' income and marital status, but not their age. The parents and administrators were very satisfied with …

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The Chinese Inquisition: Xi Jinping's War On Corruption, Harriet E. Fisher Jan 2015

The Chinese Inquisition: Xi Jinping's War On Corruption, Harriet E. Fisher

Honors Theses

An integral part of Chinese political life is the rampant corruption that infests every level of Chinese government. China's current leader, Xi Jinping, has initiated a hardline anti-corruption campaign that, for the first time in history, has targeted both low-level officials (small flies) and high-level officials (big tigers). This thesis is concerned with the factors that have motivated Xi to initiate these unprecedented reforms. I have identified three potential motivations: office, policy, and legitimacy. The office motivation refers to Xi's attempt to consolidate his own power as leader of China, as well as the power of his political faction, represented …

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Insights For Marketers: College Student Consumer Trends, Jana Elisabeth Newcomer Jan 2015

Insights For Marketers: College Student Consumer Trends, Jana Elisabeth Newcomer

Honors Theses

This thesis will aim to examine the ways in which college students can best be reached by marketing efforts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 21 million students will attend college this year—a whopping 5.7 million more than in 2000. Considering the impact of their preferences and the billions of dollars of discretionary money spent by college students annually, this segment of the market is a critical one. College students are consuming social media constantly, embracing technological change, and desiring for brands and products to help define them. Through the use of quantitative and qualitative data, this thesis …

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