Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Intra-Individual And Cross-Partner Associations Between The Five Facets Of Mindfulness And Relationship Satisfaction, Katherine Allison Lenger

Masters Theses

Research has established that mindfulness may be useful to individual and dyadic wellbeing among both early-stage and long-term relationships. Nonetheless, it remains unclear which mechanisms of mindfulness are most relevant to relationship satisfaction among long-term married couples. Furthermore, although previous research suggests that an individual’s total mindfulness is not related to his or her partner’s relationship satisfaction, we have yet to determine whether any specific facets of mindfulness may evidence a significant cross-partner association with relationship satisfaction. The present study seeks to address these gaps in the literature using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Data were collected from 164 …

Understanding The Relationship Between Country Reputation And Corporate Reputation, Minsoo Kim

Masters Theses

Increasing attention has been paid to the relationship between country reputation and corporate reputation by both public and private sectors. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship by investigating the factors that influence and are influenced by country reputation. In particular, this study examines (a) the impact of country reputation on foreign consumers’ attitudes toward brand and product purchase intentions, (b) the relationship between corporate reputation on country reputation, and (c) the mediating role of product image. Key findings of the study include the positive impact of corporate reputation on country reputation, and the mediating …

A Morphometric Examination Of Cranial Vault Modification In The Middle Cumberland Region Of Central Tennessee, Gregory James Wehrman

Masters Theses

Cranial vault modification (CVM) is a physical manifestation of intersections between culture and biology. Cultural practices that apply pressure to the head during infancy result in significant reshaping of the skull and can be either intentional or unintentional. Occipital flattening is present among many Mississippian skeletal samples from the Middle Cumberland Region (MCR) of central Tennessee and is thought to be an unintentional result of childcare practices. Traditional methods for CVM classification have concentrated on visual assessment of location and means of flattening; however, this method is subjective. This thesis seeks to evaluate visual assessment of CVM through a morphometric …

Iraqi Refugee Mothers’ Perceptions Of Parental Involvement And Experiences Within School Systems, Bethany Deniece Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine Iraqi refugee mothers’ perceptions of their involvement in and experiences within their children’s schools. Research was informed by symbolic interaction framework, which views human behaviors in relation to their perceptions of and experiences with the world around them. Therefore, qualitative methodology was employed in order to ask participants specific questions related to their perceptions of parental involvement and their experiences with the local school system. Four participants were recruited, and recruitment of participants was facilitated through an organization that aids refugees as they resettle in the United States. The organization assisted …

Grounded Theory On China’S New Population Policy Reporting By The New York Times, Chen Hu

Masters Theses

The current thesis explores The New York Times’ coverage of China’s new population policy. On November 26, 2013, China updated its one-child policy to the selective one-child policy that allowed couples to have two children if one of the parents is single child. On October 30, 2016, China then erased the one-child policy, implementing the universal two-child policy that allowed all couples to raise two children. The New York Times, as an important western medium extensively covered China’s population policy.

This study collected 40 news articles from The New York Times, using grounded theory to explore the …

Testing A Model Based Approach To Selective And Flexible Attention, Anastasia Nicole Kerr-German

Masters Theses

A recent neural-process approach using dynamic field theory (DFT), put forth by Buss and Spencer (2014), demonstrated how a simple dimensional attention mechanism can explain the behavioral and neural data associated with the development of flexible attention and performance in the Dimensional Change Card Sorting task (DCCS). Taking a dynamical systems approach to the development of attention in executive functioning is critical as it allows us to further probe the underlying processes and mechanisms that give rise to later life success.

The goal of the current proposal is to generalize DFT in order to explain the development of selective attention …

Family Environment Variables And Adjustment Outcomes In Appalachian Youth: The Moderating Role Of Participation In Extracurricular Activities, Rebecca Lee Shorter

Masters Theses

Objective: Poor family functioning and parenting practices are often linked to poor adjustment outcomes for children and adolescents. We examined the association between relational and contextual family environment variables and adjustment outcomes in an understudied sample of rural Appalachian youth. Also examined was whether extracurricular involvement moderated the relationship between these variables. Method: Participants were 367 adolescents from multiple high schools (grades 9-12) in an Appalachian region of rural East Tennessee. Self-report measures were used to assess internalizing and externalizing problems, family relationships, extracurricular activity, and health risk behaviors; truancy data was collected from academic records. Results: As expected, family …

Impact Of A Positive Behavior Support System On Staff Behavior At The Boys And Girls Club, Brian Molina

Masters Theses

The present study sought to increase correct staff utilization of a positive behavior support system at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo. The intervention consisted of implementing a new club-wide positive behavior support program. The main components of the positive behavior support program were (a) training for staff on how to use the positive behavior support system, (b) staff teaching of the positive behavior support system to members, (c) the implementation of a token economy system for reinforcing positive behavior, and (d) a data collection/feedback system to inform supervisors on the progress of members and staff.

This study …

‘How Yoga Are You?’: Exploring The Contemporary Practice Of Yoga In The United States, Olivia Mclaughlin

Masters Theses

In 2015, to the United States, 21 million Americans claimed to be regular practitioners of yoga. Yoga has long been studied by psychologists, therapists, and medical scientists for its ability to affect positive change in people’s lives, particularly in regards to mental and emotional health and well-being. Within the field of sociology, yoga has gained an increasing amount of attention for its ability to help treat chronic eating disorders among women, becoming extremely popular within the subfields of sociology of the body and gender. Additionally, the cultural impact of the transmission of yoga has fascinated social scientists interested in studying …

The Effects Of Individual And Social Comparison Graphic Feedback On Incented Performance, Yngvi Freyr Einarsson

Masters Theses

This study examined whether graphic displays of individual performance and graphic displays of the individual performance of each group member would increase performance when individuals were paid monetary incentives. All participants were paid piece-rate pay and there were three conditions: (a) no feedback, (b) graphic display of individual performance, and (c) graphic display of the performance of each group member. Participants were 80 undergraduate students who performed a computerized data entry task. The main dependent variable was the number of correctly completed entries. A monotone ANCOVA was used to detect performance differences, using data from the first session as a …

A Location Allocation Model For Retention Basin Placement On Vacant Land In Detroit, Mi, Keith Chapman

Masters Theses

The principal objective of this research is to develop a location-allocation model for vacant lots in the City of Detroit, MI, to analyze for the suitability of retention basin placement. The model will place the retention basins in areas that will effectively reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that reaches the surrounding storm drains. Detroit needs stormwater mitigation to relieve the burden that is currently on the outdated combined sewer system (CSS). The Detroit Future City strategic framework suggests the use of blue infrastructure controls to alleviate the sewer system and reduce the number of combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The …

Examining Two Sides Of Food System Challenges: A Case Study Of The Potential Impacts Of The Food Safety Modernization Act On U.S. Produce Growers And A Descriptive Analysis Of The International Food Certification Industry, Kathryn E. Lynch

Masters Theses

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) represents a major change to U.S. food policy. Because several FSMA rules require that covered businesses comply with standards by 2019 at the latest, the legislation is expected to have considerable effects on the U.S. food system in the near future. This research examines potential challenges associated with two different FSMA rules. The first essay uses farm-level data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture to estimate the number of farms and acres covered by the FSMA Final Rule on Produce Safety in the California, the Northeast, and the entire U.S. Industry information and interviews …

In Theory, There's Hope: Queer Co-(M)Motions Of Science And Subjectivity, Cordelia Sand

Masters Theses

Given the state of the planet at present —specifically, the linked global ecological and economic crises that conjure dark imaginings and nihilistic actualities of increasing resource depletion, poisonings, and wide-scale sufferings and extinctions—I ask What might we hope now? What points of intervention offer possibility for transformation? At best, the response can only be partial. The approach this thesis takes initiates from specific pre-discursive assumptions. The first understands current conditions as having been produced, and continuing to be so, through practices that enact and sustain neoliberal relations. Secondly, these practices are expressive of a subjectivity tied to a Cartesian worldview, …

Thinking In Circles: A Systems Theory Approach To Public Participation In Planning, Stephen Meno

Masters Theses

In the field of planning, there is widespread consensus that the mechanisms in which most planners use to engage with the public are ineffective and exclusive. Although there has been much work done on the techniques planners can adopt to reach out to underrepresented segments of the community, few municipalities have adopted them. This thesis seeks to advance the conversation on public participation beyond the mechanisms and into a discussion of why only certain communities are implementing these more progressive, efficient, effective, and equitable measures. By depicting how public participation functions as a system of interconnected paths and feedback loops, …

River Herring Conservation In Freshwater: Investigating Fish Reproductive Success And The Educational Value Of Citizen Monitoring Programs, Meghna Marjadi

Masters Theses

Over the last century anadromous alewife (Alosa psuedoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), collectively called river herring, suffered drastic declines throughout their range from Newfoundland (Canada) to North Carolina (USA). A 2011 petition to include river herring in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was rejected, partly due to inadequate information towards identifying coast-wide population status. Additionally, knowledge gaps were identified with basic ecology of the river herring life cycle in freshwater, including species reproductive strategies. In Chapter 2, I investigated how body size, spawning arrival time, and sex influence river herring reproductive success. I collaborated with …

Improving Small Community Flood Resilience: The Multiple Strategies Of Watershed Partnerships, Nicole Gillett

Masters Theses

Flooding in New England is often seen as a coastal concern, but inland, in the mountainous rural communities of New England, river floods present serious threats to communities and livelihoods. Recent large storm events such as Tropical Storm Irene, and rising concerns over climate change, have catalyzed conversations over the vulnerability of communities across inland New England to flooding. This thesis examines two very different watershed organizations in New England; the White River Partnership and Deerfield Creating Resilient Communities. Both are working towards flood resilience in their communities. My approach is not to judge “best practices” or to evaluate what …

The Radicalism Plateau: Working Class Transformation, Housing Foreclosure And The Hegemony Of The American Dream, Aaron C. Foote

Masters Theses

Much research has been done to explain how the late 2000s housing bubble burst, but little work has been done to see how working-class people responded and are responding to the issue of foreclosure in their communities. City Resistance, a grassroots community organization, transforms working class people from passive actors going through foreclosure to militant activists seeking to stay in their homes. My two-year ethnographic study chronicles the meetings, civil disobedience, and everyday lives of an organization of 300+ members in a medium sized, declining city, in the Northeast. It seeks to understand the multiple processes by which primarily Black …

Patient-Therapist Convergence In Alliance And Session Progress Ratings As Predictors Of Outcome In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Alice E. Coyne

Masters Theses

The degree to which patients and their therapists align over time on their perceptions of therapeutic processes and intermediary outcomes has generally been regarded as an important element of effective psychotherapy; however, few studies have examined empirically the influence of such dyadic convergences on ultimate treatment outcomes. This study examined (a) whether early treatment convergences in patient-therapist alliance and session progress ratings were associated with subsequent worry and distress reduction (and final posttreatment level) in psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and (b) whether treatment type and the initial (session 1) levels of perceived alliance and session progress moderated these …

Planning [And] The Sanitary City: Understanding Implications Of Community-Based Ecological Sanitation Reforms In The U.S., Catherine K. Bryars

Masters Theses

Though most commonly regarded as a revolutionary public health invention, the introduction of conventional wastewater sanitation systems has a mixed legacy in the U.S. A growing body of research links sewage-based sanitation systems with nationwide ecosystem degradation and an unsustainable dependence on vast inputs of materials and resources. In addition to contributing to chronic problems across the country, today these wastewater infrastructures are in various states of disrepair. The EPA estimates that at least $270 billion must be invested in coming years to prevent massive sanitary failures, but municipalities are increasingly unable to fund these expensive (re)investments in buried water-carriage …

Factors Influencing Household Outdoor Residential Water Use Decisions In Suburban Boston (Usa), Emily E. Argo

Masters Theses

Water withdrawals for human use can reduce water in lakes and streams, with significant consequences for aquatic biota. Urbanization, particularly large lawn areas associated with low-density residential development, increases demand on freshwater resources. Outdoor water use accounts for the largest proportion of residential water use during the summer months, which corresponds to the lowest water levels in freshwater ecosystems. Prior studies have sought to understand property features associated with the highest water use; however, these studies do not consider other types of water use nor do they capture the decisions by residents that result in outdoor water use. Understanding these …

Functions Of Aggression And Peer Victimization In Elementary School Children: The Mediating Role Of Social Preference, Samantha Manring

Masters Theses

This study examined the longitudinal associations among functions of aggression, social preference, and peer victimization. Participants were 492 children (249 girls, 227 boys) in grades 2-5. Proactive and reactive aggression was assessed via a self-report measure and indices of social preference and peer victimization were assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data was collected during the fall and spring of two academic years. Results suggest that the relation between aggression, social preference, and peer victimization varied by the function of aggression and gender. For girls, reactive aggression was a significant negative predictor of social preference. Findings also revealed social preference …

Health Care Fraud Across Time And Delivery Systems: Assessing The Legal Impact Of The Affordable Care Act, Dana K. Bonnell

Masters Theses

Health care fraud is a crime that costs the United States billions of dollars each year. Health insurance fraud against government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare make up the majority of false claims. Government health care programs are particularly susceptible to fraud for three reasons: (a) high volume of claims; (b) recipient characteristics; and (c) a favorable ratio of reward to risk. Modes of fraud commission change depending on the health care delivery and payment model in use. In part, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 sought to dramatically reduce health care fraud. The Affordable Care …

Factors Influencing Product Liability Insurance Adoption Among Tennessee Fruit And Vegetable Farmers, Matthew Robert Edwards

Masters Theses

Foodborne illness outbreaks linked to the consumption of fresh produce expose fruit and vegetable growers to uncertain legal and compensatory costs associated with product liability actions. Product liability insurance protects farmers against the risk of financial loss from product liability actions and may create opportunities for market expansion, but insights from recent focus groups suggest that Tennessee farmers may perceive this insurance coverage as cost prohibitive. This study evaluates the factors influencing adoption of product liability insurance among Tennessee fruit and vegetable producers. Using data from a 2013 survey of Tennessee fruit and vegetable farmers, factors influencing the adoption decision …

Young Adults And The Consequences Of Precarious Work, Aaron Robert Lemelin

Masters Theses

Despite the appearance of affluence attained by the community’s economic growth, the prevalence of service sector jobs have altered the employment structure of South County. Within this thesis, it is my purpose to answer two questions. First, how are young adults limited in their economic security due to precarious work? Second, how has precarious work disempowered young adults and altered their ability to respond to their immiseration? In order to answer these questions I conduct qualitative interviews with young adults within a region of Hillsborough County, Florida. These interviews help me elaborate on young adults and their experiences with precarious …

Deeply Rooted: A Feasibility Study Testing The Potential For Ams Dating Through Paleoethnobotanical Recovery Methods At The Topper Site (38al23), Sarah Elizabeth Walters

Masters Theses

Archaeologists often make limiting operational choices that — though considered and logical — are (sometimes) necessarily selective in nature. One such a priori framework posits that costly paleoethnobotanical recovery and associated analyses are not worthwhile when working in sandy, acidic soils; as dateable organic remains are too rapidly destroyed by inherent chemical and mechanical processes to allow for differential preservation. This research demonstrates that these destructive processes are largely misunderstood. Indeed, the successful collection of significant paleoethnobotanical material is possible from certain types of sandy soils previously thought to be organically sterile. Moreover, such paleoethnobotanical recovery efforts can yield viable, …

Incentives For Best Management Practice Adoption Among Beef Cattle Producers And Effects On Upland Sediment Loss: A Case Study In Southeastern Tennessee, Laura Jane Medwid

Masters Theses

Federal programs incentivize livestock managers to adopt best management practices (BMPs), such as rotational grazing, water tank systems, stream crossings, and pasture improvement to prevent or reduce soil erosion. This thesis addresses the challenge of integrating socio-economic data on rotational grazing (RG) adoption behavior with hydrologic/biophysical models to analyze the association between incentives, BMP adoption, and changes in soil erosion. Using primary survey data of livestock producers in an East Tennessee watershed, the study estimates willingness to adopt BMPs among livestock producers. The propensity to adopt one or multiple management technologies, given an incentive, is estimated with a multivariate probit …

Social Capital: Helping Hand Or Source Of Friction? A Case Study Of Knoxville, Tn, Michael Davis Hodges

Masters Theses

Social capital is defined as the use of social substitutes for resources that usually must be purchased. Social capital can be an impetus for upward residential and social mobility or a source of friction that leads to stagnation. Social capital is often considered as a valuable resource with a potential to lift the urban poor out of poverty, putting them into more equitable housing situations. In low-income communities, however, this resource has the potential to suppress mobility as the quality of such social relationships is affected by fault lines of society like racism, gender disparity, and the increasingly unequal distribution …

Estimating The Economic Value Of Water For Agriculture And Other Industries In Tennessee, Stephanie Michaela Owen

Masters Theses

Tennessee’s currently abundant water resources could eventually become stressed as population continues to rise, climate change impacts water resources, and as agricultural producers continue to increase irrigation. These stresses could impact the productivity of the agricultural sectors and other economic sectors as competition for limited water resources increases. Farmers, policymakers, and researchers alike could benefit from quantifying the economic value of water to help formulate cost-effective and sustainable water use practices. This analysis establishes the water withdrawals (also referred to as “water use”) per dollar of output for competing economic sectors and uses those values in an Input-Output Linear Programming …

Regional Dynamic Price Relationships Of Distillers Dried Grains In U.S. Feed Markets, Matthew Fulton Johnson

Masters Theses

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is now a mainstream substitute in U.S. animal feed rations. DDGS is rich in fat and protein content and serves as a competitive feed source in livestock markets. The objective of this study is to identify dynamic price relationships among DDGS, corn, soybean meal, and livestock outputs in context of specific livestock sectors and their geographic location. Four locations associated with a predominant livestock sector are selected for analysis by measuring density and relative proportion of a livestock sector’s grain consumption at the county level. A vector error correction model is applied to post-mandate …

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of The Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival Website: A Cultural Criminology Of Peace- And Community-Building, Katie Marie Highbaugh

Masters Theses

Social settings that are low in interpersonal crime offer an opportunity to understand social control and, moreover, peace-making. Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival held each summer since 2002 in Manchester, Tennessee, is a contemporary example of a peaceable provisional community. To analyze the culture of Bonnaroo, I undertook a multimodal discourse analysis, which is as a systematic analysis of all texts and images (Fairclough 2013; Machin & Mayr 2012). I paid particular attention to how the website was able to foster community via what they communicated and how – through overall website design or visual semiotics, and images, as well …