Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Analysis Of Body Type Preferences Among Young Adults, Khyati Maheshkumar Ganatra

Honors Theses

Based on a study conducted by Devendra Singh in 1993, it is believed that males prefer females with a lower waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7, as compared to higher ones. This may be due to the evolutionary advantage of these females being more fertile and able to reproduce. However, social media has been suggesting that thinner females are more attractive. One way society measures thinness is by a characteristic known as the 'thigh-gap' that many females strive to obtain. This study was conducted to discover whether or not a difference exists between males and females regarding their preference of the thigh-gap …

Do Sports And Public Relations Make A Winning Combination For Schools? - How Public Relations Is Utilized In The Ole Miss Athletics Department And That Of Four Other Universities, Lauren Mcmillin

Honors Theses

This thesis covers several areas of investigation. A majority of the information came from staff members in the Ole Miss Athletics Department and the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, including information from my own experiences working with both organizations. In researching other schools, I reached out to colleagues associated with the four other universities that I examined, interviewing them on different subject matters. Additional information was found in textbooks and online articles. From my research, I was able to discover the various methods that schools use to promote athletics programs. By employing the areas of public and media relations, marketing, social …

Gender Differences Associated With Memory Recall, Lee Morgan Gunn

Honors Theses

This study investigated whether a gender difference existed in the context of romantic relationships. Participants rated positively valanced words and negatively valanced words, that were related to a romantic relationship, on how relevant they were to realistic romantic relationships. Participants were then given a free recall task to recall any words that they rated earlier. The study found that a gender difference did exist in the context of negatively valanced words. Women were more successful in recall of negatively valanced words than men. These findings indicate that women encode emotional information differently than men encode emotional information and recall that …

An Analysis Of The Media's Coverage Of The Columbine High School And Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings, Mara Joffe

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of the current research was to determine what ethical challenges have evolved for journalists covering breaking news stories, focusing on the differences in print coverage between the 1999 Columbine school shooting and the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. A total of 435 news stories originating from the Denver Post, the Hartford Courant and the Chicago Tribune were used in the analysis, categorized by type, main point, length and tone of each article. Overall, several of the findings were consistent with the literature. Two results hold major implications for the journalism field. First, the increase in interpretive, opinion …

Payday Lending In America: Profitability And Regulation In The Payday Lending Market, Orion Wilcox

Honors Theses

Payday lending is a highly contentious form of credit. Consumer advocates often argue for strict regulation or complete banning of the industry based on the idea that payday lending rates are usurious. Providers of payday loans argue that their product offers access to credit that would not be available otherwise. In order to reconcile this debate, I analyze financial data on the largest payday lender in the country Advance America. Furthermore, I examine the 2008 Arkansas payday lending law to analyze the impact of the ban on bounced check fees, overdraft charges, and Non-Sufficient Funds charges at state chartered Arkansas …

The Effectiveness Of Basel Ii, Rachel Shaw

Honors Theses

The New Capital Accord, Basel II, was published in 2004. It features updated capital requirements and new ways to measure bank risk; however, the validity of these new standards was called into question during the financial crisis that began in 2008. The measures that intend to stabilize our banking system did not appear sufficient. Doubt was cast upon capital requirements, and the advantages of another system, such as contingent liability, can be seen. This thesis aims to test the effectiveness of Basel II, specifically its capital requirements, in reducing bank risk. After running a fixed effects model, one can clearly …

The Success Of An Ethnic Political Party: A Case Study Of Arab Political Parties In Israel, Samira Abunemeh

Honors Theses

Israeli Arab political parties are observed to determine if these ethnic political parties are successful in Israel. A brief explanation of four Israeli Arab political parties, Hadash, Arab Democratic Party, Balad, and United Arab List, is given as well as a brief description of Israeli history and the Israeli political system. The total performance as well as individual party performances is compared to the percentage of Israeli Arabs in Israeli society in order to determine that overall Israeli Arab political parties are not successful, although there are nuances to the term of success that the parties achieve.

Identifying Causes Of Variation Among Per Capita Incomes Of Sub-Saharan African States, Vinod Kannuthurai

Honors Theses

In this work, the author utilized a statistical analysis to assess variations in per capita incomes among sub-Saharan African states. The factors tested include education and healthcare investment, mineral and oil dependence, agricultural dependence, landmass size, population size, level of instability, economic freedom, and political freedom. Although the author found mineral and oil dependence to be the most statistically significant factor in determining variations in per capita income, there was still a great deal of variation among sub-Saharan African countries with mineral and oil dependence. Thus, the author employed a case-study involving Botswana and Zambia, two commodity dependent states with …

Liberté, Égalité, Laïcité?: Defining French National Identity, Elizabeth Adair Abbot

Honors Theses

The French notion of laïcité, or secularism, originating from the French Revolution, today is engrained in the sense of French National Identity. In modern French society, this idea of laïcité is especially important in classrooms, which are seen as public, secular spaces where national identity is transmitted. This has created many problems with the recent increase in immigrants to France from traditionally Muslim North African countries, as demonstrated by the controversial headscarf ban in 2004. This thesis further examines these tensions in analyzing the Charte de Laïcité, issued by the government to be posted in all French public schools in …

Exploring The Potential Effects Of Election Day Voter Registration In Mississippi, Adam M. Blackwell

Honors Theses

With recent Supreme Court decisions and state legislative initiatives, policymakers and scholars heatedly debate voting rights in America. The debate typically centers on policies that seek to affect the accessibility of voting. Election Day Registration (EDR) is one voting policy being discussed. Allowing voters to register on Election Day is a policy currently used in eleven states and the District of Columbia, and states with EDR rank highest in the nation's voter turnout rates. In this thesis, I analyze the voter turnout effects and Election Day Registration policies in North Carolina and Minnesota, as well as the political environments surrounding …

Validation Of A Recurrent Nitroglycerin Migraine Model In The Rat, Ainslee Johnson

Honors Theses

The present research sought to determine if repeated nitroglycerin (NTG) administrations elicited responses on clinically relevant behavioral endpoints of migraine in rats. Rats were given five saline, three NTG or five NTG administrations over a two-week period. After their fifth injection rats were evaluated using the rat grimace scale, modified light/dark box, thermal tail flick tests, elevated plus maze and forced swim test. Repeated NTG administration affected weight gain, movement in the modified light/dark box and photophobia. The thermal tail flick tests, elevated plus maze and forced swim test did not reveal treatment effects. Based on these findings, we conclude …

La Identidad De Los Carabineros De Chile: The Evolving Identity Of Chile's National Police Force And The 1973 Military Coup, Jeffrey O. Lamson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of Los Carabineros de Chile, Chile's national police force, from their origins under Carlos Ibáñez in 1927 until their involvement in the 1973 military coup against President Salvador Allende. Various presidencies primarily used this corps during this period as a weapon against popular mobilization and thus influenced the development of the Carabineros' institutional identity. To explore how this identity evolved, this thesis examines primary sources, mostly in the form of newspapers found in the National Archives in Santiago, Chile, that illuminate the Carabineros' relations with the public. The knowledge of the Carabineros' institutional identity contributes …

An Analysis Of New Performance Metrics In The Nba And Their Effects On Win Production And Salary, Daniel Rust

Honors Theses

In this study I perform statistical analysis on new metrics in the NBA designed to expose information about the inputs of basketball production. These input data were collected manually for every NBA player in the 2012-13 season, along with common advanced statistics. With these new metrics regression analysis is used to separately determine their effects on existing win production metrics and salary. In this analysis I control for team and position effects. Once these effects were determined, I was able to compare them and look for specific skills or strategies that may be undervalued or overvalued by NBA teams relative …

Legal Education Reform: An Analysis Of The Current State Of The American Legal Education System Post Maccrate, Matthew Todd Kiefer

Honors Theses

The legal education continuum in the United States is under scrutiny from external and internal forces. This thesis examines a wide range of legal reports that focus on the current state of the most important part of the continuum, law schools. It specifically asks the question whether there is need for significant and possibly comprehensive change in law schools and if so what those changes would need to be. The thesis first explores the history and formation of legal education in America and its regulatory associations. Then it focuses on the MacCrate Report as comprehensive tool for understanding the legal …

#Livetweetmylecture: A Look At Note-Taking Consolidation, Retention, And Test Performance In Students Using Twitter Vs. Traditional Typed Notes, Samra B. Ward

Honors Theses

This study investigated how different types of note-taking affect college students' retention of classroom material. In particular, this study looked at whether live-tweeting lecture material would result in better retention of the material presented in a lecture than traditional note-taking on a laptop. It was hypothesized that students who took notes via live-tweeting would have comparable results to those who took notes in the traditional computer format. In addition, it was also hypothesized that a person's familiarity with Twitter would likely affect his or her ability to use Twitter as an educational tool. In order to test this hypothesis, participants …

The Use Of Occitan Dialects In Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Virginia Jane Geddie

Honors Theses

Since the medieval period, the Occitan dialects of southern France have been a significant part of the culture of the Midi region of France. In the past, it was the language of the state and literature. However, Occitan dialects have been in a slow decline, beginning with the Ordinance of Villers-Coterêts in 1539 which banned the use of Occitan in state affairs. While this did little to affect the daily life and usage of Occitan, it established a precedent that is still referred to in modern arguments about the use of regional languages (Costa, 2). In the beginning of the …

Ncaa At The Crossroads: How O'Bannon V. Ncaa Could Change College Sports, Evan Brewster

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the current model of American college athletics and how football and basketball, specifically, have become extremely commercialized. This piece begins with an analysis of the current state of amateur college athletics and the changes that have taken place recently. O'Bannon v. NCAA signifies the one of the most recent challenges to NCAA power, attempting to change the unjust system that requires student-athletes to remain amateur while universities profit off the athletic contests. An evaluation of previous legal challenges to the NCAA help frame an assessment of the case itself thus far. To conclude, cases like O'Bannon and …

The Evangelical Church And Creation Care, J. B. Burt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which creation care is reaching and influencing the patrons in the pews of Evangelical Christian churches as well as to determine if Evangelicals will ever be prepared to take a strong and widespread stance on the environmental issues of our time. A mixed method research design was employed that consisted of three focus groups that served to directly inform the development of an online survey. Survey respondents consisted of 283 primarily Mississippi residents and students attending colleges and universities in Mississippi. Results illustrated that a majority of Evangelicals do …

Harnessing The Power Of Social Media: How Four Fortune 500 Companies Utilize Social Media, Mary Elizabeth Cronk

Honors Theses

Harnessing the Power of Social Media: How Four Fortune 500 Companies Utilize Social Media to Drive Increased Sales and Optimize Marketing. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how Fortune 500 companies use social media as an effective marketing strategy. The researcher interviewed social media managers and marketing professionals at the following four Fortune 500 companies in Atlanta, Ga.: The Coca-Cola Company, AT&T, United Parcel Service and Georgia Power Company. This case study found that executives at the four selected Fortune 500 companies maintain relevant social media websites and perceive company involvement as a powerful marketing tool. However, executives …

Reshaping The Message: Marketing The Quest For Marriage Equality In Mississippi, Nathaniel Weathersby

Honors Theses

The case for marriage equality is one that is becoming more and more prevalent in the States. Currently 17 states allow for the performance and recognition of same-sex marriages. The other 33 have constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. Of the 17 states that have same-sex marriage 3 of those made marriage constitutional through popular vote. This thesis sought to provide evidence and tactics for an Integrated Marketing Communications campaign that would advocate for the passing of a hypothetical ballot measure amending Mississippi's current status on same-sex marriage. This thesis compiles the research of multiple research institutions and polling services focused …

French Ideology Of English As A World Language And American Second Language Speakers, Sarah Price Wright

Honors Theses

French Ideology of English as a World Language and American Second Language Speakers compares French ideology of American English and French ideology of the American accent in French to investigate if the two correlate. The study seeks to answer the question: Is ideology linked to the speech community represented or is it linked to the language forms themselves? The study includes a literature review of previously published studies on the subjects of French ideology of English as a World Language, the competition between French and English as a lingua franca, French perceptions of second language speakers, and the American accent …

Modeling Nitroglycerin-Induced Migraine In Rats, Stephanie Staszko

Honors Theses

The present research sought to determine whether nitroglycerin (NTG) produced changes in clinically relevant endophenotypes of migraine. Rats were given a single injection of NTG or vehicle with the following dependent measures recorded: Rat Grimace Scale, hot and cold tail flick latency, Rotor-Rod performance, and photophobia and movement in traditional and modified light/dark boxes. NTG increased rat grimace scores but did not produce thermal allodynia nor photophobia. Further, NTG produced paradoxical increases in Rotor-Rod performance and movement. These results demonstrate that a single injection of NTG does not produce behaviors that parallel clinical symptoms of migraine.

The Currency Union Effect On Trade: The Role Of Financial Development, Walker Lee Messer

Honors Theses

The effect of currency union formation on trade growth may depend on an economy's level of financial development. Economies with lower levels of financial development have less capacity to hedge exchange rate risk, are susceptible to hysteresis, and have little to overcome the large fixed costs of entering foreign markets. These barriers may be partially overcome through the use of common currencies. Economies with high levels of financial development may already be capable of overcoming these barriers to trade and will likely not gain significant trade from common currency formation. This paper tests the hypothesis that the currency union effect …

What Variables Affect The United States Decision On The Level Of Involvement During An International Crisis?, Britany Higdon

Honors Theses

The question being researched is what variables can better explain the level of involvement by the United States in an international crisis? This research question will better explain why the United States decides to use military force in some international crises while in others, they are not involved in at all. Answering this question will help predict if the United States will use military force in future international crises. This research will also show the importance of domestic politics in decisions made on an international level. To test this question, there will be a set of variables used to compare …

An Intervention To Increase Ioa And Objectivity In Supervisors At Woodsedge Learning Center, Karli Silverman

Honors Theses

The purpose of my research was to increase interobserver agreement (IOA) and objectivity in supervisors at WoodsEdge Learning Center. We questioned whether or not designing and implementing a new grading sheet would lead to this outcome. Our methodology consisted of internet research regarding interventions to increase these measurements, followed by task analyses of the behaviors that should occur when tutors provided discrete trial training (DTT), surveys regarding the quality of feedback received at WoodsEdge, visits to various early intervention centers, and ended with the creation and multiple revisions of a new grading sheet. My involvement with this intervention ended before …

The Implication Of Patient-Based Interventions Leading To A More Effective Treatment Of Anticipatory Nausea & Vomiting In Cancer Patients, Katelyn Delaney

Honors Theses

In the last thirty years, greater attention has been drawn to the aggressive methods of cancer treatment and the aversive conditioned symptoms they come to elicit. Anticipatory nausea and vomiting is one such aversive conditioned side effect and is significantly prevalent in cancer patients who undergo treatments like chemotherapy. In response to the ineffectiveness of pharmacological interventions to control these symptoms, behavioral intervention methods have grown as a topic of research. The implications of these behavioral interventions (including cognitive/attentional distraction, meditation and systematic desensitization) have proven effective in the treatment of the anticipatory nausea and vomiting and reducing patient anxiety. …

Cattle Smuggling From India To Bangladesh, Elyse Malnekoff

Honors Theses

This essay examines the current trend of rustling and transporting cattle from throughout India for trade at the cattle corridors that lie along the border between India’s West Bengal and Bangladesh. An analysis of historical and cultural factors seeks to explain how this trade possibly began and increased. These motivators include the effects of the Mad Cow disease outbreak in the 1980s on international beef trade and the many economic uses for bovines and their by-products in Bangladesh. This research also looks at cattle-specific legislation in India that prohibits many of the practices employed by smugglers and details some possible …

The Importance Of Anger Management Programs In Elementary Schools, Brittany Esterline

Honors Theses

Anger is a universal feeling. Everyone feels angry at some point in their life, and maybe even on the daily basis. Although it is often described as a negative emotion, anger is actually a healthy and natural emotion that should be expressed. It is how one responds to their anger that often disguises anger as an unhealthy emotion. Children who never learn to cope with their anger in a healthy way often struggle physically, mentally, emotionally, and academically.

“According to information obtained by the Learning First Alliance, 15 percent of students are only able to fit into an academic environment …

Racial Differences In Self-Efficacy Expectations For Exercise, Selena P. Smith

Honors Theses

This project examined the link between race and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy pertains to an individual’s confidence in ability to complete or engage in a particular task or activity (Bandura, 1986). Prior research shows that self-efficacy has a great influence on exercise initiation and adherence (Bandura, 1986; Dishman, 1982; Rodgers and Sullivan, 2001). Research also supports that Caucasians are more likely to participate in exercise than African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000).

Participants included 51 females, 31 Caucasians and 20 African Americans, between the ages of 18 and 50 years old. The women were recruited from local fitness gyms, …

Damage Control: How Scrutinized Professional Athletes Use Twitter To Combat Negative Press, Jeffrey K. Haeger

Honors Theses

In recent years many elite professional athletes have been criticized in the media for questionable on and off the field behavior. How these athletes use social media to reframe or repair their public images was the focus of this research. Research on social media has grown in recent years, but still remains relatively shallow, making the strong correlation between social media and sport the ideal breeding ground for this exploratory research. This study confined social media use to the way in which two purposefully selected professional athletes - Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong - use Twitter to self-present and directly …