Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Predictors Of Sexual Attitudes In College Students, Andrew Davisson

Honors Theses

History, especially within the last century, has been host to steadily evolving attitudes toward human sexuality. In conjunction with these evolving attitudes have come changes in beliefs about sexual gender roles, the acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, and connections between self-esteem and sexual well-being. This study examined the relationships of four predictor variables (gender, attitudes toward women's issues, attitudes toward homosexuality, and self-esteem) with general sexual attitudes. An ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between males and females in their sexual attitudes. Attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals were both significantly correlated with general sexual …

Co-Rumination And Depression In College Students, Maurita M. Burns

Honors Theses

Studies concerning depression consistently reveal higher levels in women than men. One explanation for this is that women and men cope with depressive emotions differently. While women tend to focus on their negative emotions and the causes and consequences of these feelings, men are more likely to engage in distracting, active behavior. The persistent self focus on negative emotions, rumination, has been found to prolong and exacerbate feelings of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). At the same time, women tend to have more intimate and close friendships characterized by self-disclosure than men. While such intimate relationships theoretically provide social support that can …

The Effects Of Single-Sex Student Leadership Positions On Leadership Style Used, Perceptions Of Effective Leadership, Self-Efficacy, Domain Identification, Intent To Lead In The Future, And Perceptions And Evaluations Of Leaders, Alyson Emrick

Honors Theses

Included in this paper are two studies, a survey study, and a vignette study. The survey research, Study 1, examined the effects of single-sex student leadership positions on leadership style used, perceptions of effective leadership, leadership self-efficacy, domain identification, and intent to lead in the future. It compared a group of male and female leaders of single-sex organizations, a group of men and women holding leadership positions in coeducational groups, and a group of male and female non-leaders. Male and female leaders reported using different leadership styles; men reported higher levels of the autocratic-task style while women reported higher levels …

The Impact Of Gender-Linked Tasks On Female And Male Leaders, Ashley Pyle

Honors Theses

Because gender inequalities still exist, research is needed to better understand the differences in leadership perceptions and preference between genders. This research examines the role of gender, sex role orientation, and gender-linked tasks in shaping leadership efficacy, perceived preference, and leadership persistence. It was predicted that men and women will have higher levels of leadership efficacy, perceive themselves as better leaders, have a stronger desire to attain leadership roles in the future and be more likely to persist in the leadership role for the gender congruent task than the gender incongruent task. I also predicted that sex role orientation will …

Political Differentiation In Consumer Preferences For Underdog Businesses : Does Everybody Love A Winner?, Kelly O'Connor

Honors Theses

In an exploratory study of the intersection between the worlds of social behavior and personal economics, this experiment will examine the links between political ideology and consumer preference for an ''underdog" business. The stereotypical image of the Mom and Pop comer store is romantic, but when we juxtapose this sentiment with the convenience and predictability of shopping at a giant retailer, it is unclear which store consumers will prefer, and why. This study tested the hypothesis that individuals with more liberal political orientations will be more likely to exhibit a preference for underdog businesses than individuals with conservative political leanings, …

Media Coverage And Disaster Relief: Is A Picture Worth A Thousand Words?, Jessica H. Minty

Honors Theses

This paper analyzes the effect of media coverage on donations made to relief agencies. Specifically, this empirical analysis examines the effect of the daily volume of domestic newspaper and television coverage devoted to the December 26, 2004 tsunami on daily web donations to U.S. relief agencies. Media coverage, as measured by daily newspaper word and picture counts and by daily total television minutes positively affects the amount of donations relief agencies receive. In addition, media coverage is found to have a greater effect on donations for some agencies than for others.

Macrofungi Of The Tennessee River Gorge, William D. Starrett

Honors Theses

Representative macro fungi of the Tennessee River Gorge were collected on the Tennessee River Gorge Trust (TRGT) property during 18 forays I conducted fom May to November 2004. This dramatically added to the baseline data on the macrofungi of the TRGT by adding 15 orders, 34 families, and 138 species to the existing list. These data were recorded in the herbarium of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga database. I converted the University's File Maker Pro fungi database into Microsoft Excel and Access, which allows it to be processed for introduction into the National Biological Information Infrastructure and onto the …

Young Singles: A Look At The Grocery Shopping Preferences Of A Unique And Underestimated Market, Survey & Analysis, Kelley Steinhofer

Honors Theses

Single person households make up a substantial percentage of the total U.S population. More than 102 million people aged 15 and over were not married in 2003. On a household basis, 48.5% of U.S. households were not headed by married couples. Some of these households are "nonfamily" which excludes single parent households according to U.S. Census Bureau definitions. Most studies that examine a specific demographic group have focused on households with children and mature consumers because their purchasing behaviors are highly predictable and easily obtainable. Very little research currently exists on the market of young, single adult consumers. This study …

A Comparison In Osteological Measurements Of Two Populations From East Tennessee, Corrine Vitek

Honors Theses

Forensic anthropology is the identification of skeletal remams in medicolegal death investigations. The foundation of forensic anthropology rests on "documented" skeletal collections, which provide a crucial repository of information from which experts can rely upon to make determinations about human skeletal remains. A "documented" skeletal collection is one in which the demographics (e.g., ancestry, sex, age, height) of each individual are supported by known facts about the decedent at the time of his/her death. A quantitative comparison between the Hamilton County Forensic Center's(HCFC) skeletal collection to the William M. Bass collection housed at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) …

An Analysis Of Service-Learning And Applied Anthropology, Danielle Nordbrock

Honors Theses

People think of others in comparison to themselves, and what they know. Anthropologists study a wide variety of things, this includes all different societies: simple and complex, ancient and modern, and in different locales. The perspective of an anthropologist tends to take on a unique cross-cultural nature, with comparisons oftentimes being central to the research. When anthropologists become engaged in a project and begin their fieldwork they experience a unique sense of understanding from living in such close proximity to another culture.

The Continuous Struggle For Representation In The Venezuelan State, Gabriel Reyes

Honors Theses

One definition of democratic participation is a process whereby citizens influence or control those who make major decisions affecting them. Throughout Venezuela’s history, citizens have suffered under governments that aimed to limit their participation in the state. This research argues that the current Chávez regime, though seeking to concentrate power for itself in the executive branch, has also forged a space for democratic participation through its Barrio Adentro program.

In its introductory chapter, this paper examines Venezuela’s political development through a comparative lens and aims to situate Barrio Adentro within the country’s unique history. First, it shows how the political …

Liberalization Of Village Banking In Guatemala: Structural Differences In Village Banking Institutions, Erica L. Hill

Honors Theses

The International Year of Microcredit in 2005 facilitates public awareness campaigns of microfinance initiatives. Village banking allows microfinance services to reach a wider geographic region, with particular emphasis on rural regions and the poorest sector of society. It attends to those marginalized by a history of repression and conflict. In Guatemala, ethnic diversity and its accompanying social divisions have deep roots. Guatemala is an important case for village banking because of its economic reliance on village banking, the size of the country, and the large number (9) of VBIs in the country. Recent literature calls for an increase in flexibility …

Extension Of National Membership: Government Promises, Immigrant Expectations And The Impact On The Foreign Population In Germany, Justin Dubois

Honors Theses

This study posited that the gap between the governmental goals and actual outcomes of the Reform to the Citizenship Law of 1999 was produced by a variety of factors, the most influential one being the institutions of the Federal Republic. Other suggested variables were domestic public pressure and a failure in policy implementation. The earlier chapters of this study concluded that these three factors did in fact contribute to the goals-outcomes gap of the citizenship reform.

Governmental Resistance In International Intellectual Property Rights, Emily Honig

Honors Theses

The field of intellectual property, roughly defined as "a product of the intellect that has commercial value," is one of the growing fields of international legal debate, as the economies of the world become increasingly interconnected and the world's corporations operate overseas with increasing frequency. The literature in the field of international law and intellectual property rights (IPRs) tends to suggest that states, for political or economic reasons, have little choice but to bow to the wishes of multinational corporations (MNCs) and provide increased protection for IPRs. However, there are a number of cases that show that under certain circumstances, …

The Politics Of Judicial Restraint : The Rehnquist Court And The New Federalism, Sarah J. Vinson

Honors Theses

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and the Supreme Court under his leadership have been charged, respectively, with leading and enacting a federalism revolution. From the beginning, Rehnquist, first as an associate justice and later as Chief Justice, has displayed a commitment to notions of constitutionalism, originalism, and federalism. In the years before Rehnquist joined the Supreme Court, the idea of federalism, what Felix Frankfurter described as "the happy relation of States to Nation," certainly underwent numerous transformations, altering it from what was originally intended into a doctrine far friendlier to the expansion of national power at the expense of the …

"I Respectfully Dissent" : Intellectual Leadership In The Nation's Highest Court, Alison M. Smith

Honors Theses

The right of an individual to dissent from the ideas of his or her peers, or even his or her government, has been one of the defining characteristics of American civil society. The United States itself was founded as a result of American colonists' dissenting from the British government, and our Constitution established a governmental system that would not only accommodate, but encourage a process of deliberative democracy in which the views of both the many and the few would be taken into account and considered thoroughly. A system of internal checks and balances between the legislative, judicial and executive …

Theoretical Mathematical Model Of Fishery Economics, Andre Garron

Honors Theses

The world population recently topped 6 billion people. Each person has the same need to eat, breathe, and drink. Unfortunately the world's limited resources imply a carrying capacity for the human race. As we approach this critical mass, the strain on our resources becomes increasingly severe. We have already begun to realize such disasters. Many of the world's fisheries have been destroyed, depleted to near nonexistence, or critically overfished. In some cases they only held on because the price of catching the final fish outweighed the potential revenue from catching it. This paper is an attempt to increase our understanding …

Power, Positionality, And Conceptions Of Stewardship And Ownership In The Cleanup Of Nomans Land Island, Massachusetts, Michael Greenberg

Honors Theses

One of the most pressing issues facing Indigenous groups today, especially in the intimate New Engl'and communilties of the northeastern United States, is their ongoing struggle to reclaim and preserve sovereignty on land they once cultivated as stewards but now live on under the encroachment of larger States. In recent years, the United States government has sought to deal with issues of Native American sovereignty through granting federal recognition to tribes, thus creating a relationship of "nation-to-nation status" between a tribal government and the national government. This relationship generates a complex power structure on global, national, regional, and tribal levels, …

Aiding At-Risk Students, Jeremy Baldwin

Honors Theses

Kalamazoo's Loy Norrix High School was the location of a study in conjunction with the institution's school-wide achievement process to aid at-risk students. Characterized by poor attendance, behavioral problems and/or failing two or more subjects, at-risk students are monitored more closely through school-wide efforts. According to the Michigan Department of Education, the effort to hep struggling students implicates the use of supplemental services before or after school to help students in the core subjects: math, science, social studies, and English. Norrix has successfully begun its own efforts to improve the overall academic success of the student body by employing the …

The Effect Of Female Server's Attractiveness On Restaurant Tipping, Anne M. Wisneski

Honors Theses

This paper presents the results of a field experiment designed to test the hypothesis that restaurant patrons (particularly men) would leave larger tips for an attractive versus unattractive female server. The author manipulated server attractiveness by varying her appearance before shirts as a food server at a popular restaurant. Contrary to the hypothesis, patrons (both men and women) left comparable sized tips in the attractive and unattractive server conditions. Explanations for this null effect are discussed in the contest of research on the effect of server attractiveness on tipping and perceived tipping norms.

Mom Or Manager?: How Social Factors And Personal Choice Affect The Work/Family Balance In The United States, Japan And Germany, Christine E. Mueller

Honors Theses

This report investigates the work/family balance based on two factors: social influence and personal choice. The first factor is significant because society dictates and enforces the prescribed roles for women. The degree of career progression a woman can achieve is partly bound by restrictions of society. The other factor, personal choice, is the factor that only each woman can determine for herself. A woman can only progress as far as her personal goals determine. In addition to the relationship between society and personal choice, this report examines the barriers to pursuit of a management career inherent in these factors.

Surveillance Of The Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry, Lindsay E. Gwyther

Honors Theses

The Balto-Finnic languages of northeast Europe are part of the larger Uralic language family. Today, there are seven Balto-Finnic speaking nations, two of which govern their own independent sovereignties (Finland and Estonia). The other five nations lie precariously within the territorial borders of Russia and Latvia for the most part. This paper examines the geographic expanse and status of these languages over time and through space and develops a series of maps to better illustrate these patterns. Historical research demonstrates that their distribution has decreased in area, but strengthened and centralized in certain regions, enabling their presence in a predominantly …

Potential Components Of Time Personality: A Literature Review, Jane Ackerson

Honors Theses

What is time? The simple yet puzzling question has been posed on numerous occasions generating various responses. Time can be described as quantifiable, structured, even having monetary value. Time can be viewed in a subjective or objective manner and can be influenced by internal and external factors. Time can create pressure, anxiety, or boredom. Time is what we perceive it to be. This perception is a potentially vital component involved in the makeup of time personality. Theoretically, time personality is shaped by many factors affecting the relationship an individual has with time. The objectives of the research were to identify …

Boundary Maintenance: An Examination Of Municipal Political Participation In Rural Bolivia, Spencer Fenniman

Honors Theses

On April 20, 1994, the Bolivian government promulgated Law 1551, the Ley de Participacion Popular (The Law of Popular Participation). This law was considered by policy-makers to be an innovative governance response to a history of rural exclusion from democratic procedures.Through the decentralization of many government functions to the level of the municipality, this new system of governance was heralded as the beginning to a new regime where there would be control social desde abajo-social control from below-and popular power in governance. The operating assumption was that through local control, rural populations would be able to effectively combat their own …

Building Morocco Through Literacy: Women's Participation In Development, Elizabeth L. Holmes

Honors Theses

This thesis examines what factors are important for successful literacy provision in the case of urban Moroccan women. Literacy programs should teach participants not only to decipher symbols on paper, but should provide information relevant to the everyday context of learners' lives. As a result, newly literate individuals should perceive changes in their levels of self-esteem, empowerment, economic status, and health conditions. In Morocco, the government launched a large-scale literacy campaign in May 2003 to lower illiteracy, which currently affects about half of the population. In conjunction with this campaign, the Moroccan government is increasingly cooperating with NGOs, the principal …

Evaluations And Project Effectiveness : An Investigation Into The Evaluation Processes Of Development Projects In Bolivia, Kristin Saucier

Honors Theses

This study attempts to answer the question, do formalized evaluation procedures contribute to increased project effectiveness? Project effectiveness is defined as the successful attainment of project goals and objectives. According to the literature, evaluations have the potential to improve a project's success by raising awareness of problem areas and offering ways suggestions for improvement. To test this theory, the evaluation systems of seven international development organizations that are currently implementing projects in Bolivia are examined: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Peace Corps, Project Concern International (pCI), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Sates Agency for International Development (USAlD), …

Wealth Effects On Consumer Spending In The Us Economy, Andriy Avramenko

Honors Theses

This paper investigates the effects of wealth on consumer spending in the United States. A traditional life-cycle model is estimated first. Although it does find a statistically significant wealth effect, its findings are unusable due to the presence of autocorrelation and non-stationarity. Variables in logarithmic forms are found to be cointegrated. Thus, a logarithmic model with the Stock-Watson adjustment and an AR(I) term is estimated instead. Three extensions to this model are offered. First, wealth is divided into stock market and non-stock market components, second into liquid and illiquid components. Finally, a new approach to the wealth division is introduced, …

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind? : American Citizens And The Genocide In Rwanda, Colette T. Connor

Honors Theses

As citizens of the most powerful country in today's global world, Americans can no longer make the excuse, "out of sight, out of mind." Ten years ago Americans betrayed Rwandans. Their betrayal was mild yet widespread, but had repercussions of tremendous human cost. Each individual American most likely did not feel responsible for the genocide, but the collective outcome of their bystander behavior contributed to the world's inaction. This sad truth can serve as an inspiration: this does not have to happen next time, as American citizens have the agency to influence U.S. foreign policy decisions.

Valuing Servants Ends : A New Theory Of Ethical Service, Patricia Grace Devlin

Honors Theses

Many of today's universities encourage students to develop an ethic of service. Administrators, faculty, and staff members accompany students in campus-wide service activities; a number of collegiate honor societies reward students who engage in community service; and some academic programs require students to volunteer with local non-profit organizations. At its best, service learning inspires students to make a general commitment to service. The current emphasis placed on service learning in today's educational system reveals an emerging academic perspective not only on the value service has as an educational device but also on the significant role service plays in society. For …

Women Leaders Combining A Career In Higher Education With Raising A Family : A Study Of Leadership, Anne Simmons Williamson

Honors Theses

Much of the research within the field of Leadership Studies focuses on whether men and women lead differently and whether women can break "the glass ceiling." This study will examine women leaders in higher education administration who have children and have already broken the glass ceiling, focusing on their work-life challenges and analyzing the structural and attitudinal issues in their organization and society that impact their leadership.

Virginia Schein (1995) identified the larger challenge for society by asking,

How can we restructure work in a society in which work and family no longer are separate, but interface?...It is when this …