Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Plaguing Militainment: Ideology, Metaphor, And Interpellation In Thq's "Homefront", Brendan G.A. Hughes

Masters Theses

Roger Stahl's book Militainment, Inc. has set the standard for studying the convergence of military culture and popular entertainment-otherwise known as militainment. This concept is easily discernible for rhetorical critics studying discursive texts in the late twentieth century, particularly after the start of the war on terror. This project examines a militainment text, the first-person shooter videogame Homefront. Produced by design company THQ and developed by Kaos studios, this game foreshadows the future of the United States should Kim Jong-Il's son succeed in unifying the divided peninsula and the American superpower crumble. After reviewing relevant literature and outlining three important …

Spaces Of Marginalization [Equal] Margins Of Resistance: Congolese Women's Testimonies Facilitate Rhetorical Agency, Saunnie Elizabeth Knotts

Masters Theses

US and Western European discourses tend to articulate women in the developing world within a Western context, perpetuating the image of women of the developing world as "third world" silent victims. Testimonies are a powerful medium for indigenous peoples to advocate for change and define experiences for themselves as well as for their communities (Smith, 2008). In this thesis, I draw on postcolonial feminist theories, theories on testimonio, vernacular rhetoric, and rhetorical agency to frame an analysis of multiple artifacts wherein Congolese women are shown speaking glimpses of their testimonies about the rape they endured. Other artifacts show women holding …

Technology Mediated Recruitment: An Exploration Of How Students Used Social Media To Choose College, Ashley Nicole Cooper

Masters Theses

This qualitative study explored the use of social media as a tool to recruit prospective college students. Social media was defined as any electronic media that serves as a networking tool with the ability to educate prospective and current college students about an institution of higher education (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc.). The researcher met with two focus groups comprised of current college students to discuss their use of social media during their college search process.

Recommendations were developed for student affairs professionals and for future research. General themes and categories from participant responses were evaluated. The findings suggest that …

Upper Level Administrators: Communication With Students Via Social Media, David Adam Arnold

Masters Theses

The present qualitative study was executed by interviewing five upper level administrators at a four-year public institution in the Midwest in order to explain their current understanding of social media technologies, and in what ways they were currently using social media to connect with millennial students. Previous research has been done on millennials' use of technology and social media in the university setting; however, little research has focused on way non-millennial upper level administrators are using social media in order to purposefully engage students in a meaningful way. Themes from categories identified during one-on-one interviews indicate that upper level administrators …

Role Of Rural-Urban Migration In Explaining Economic Growth: Evidence From The Least Developed Countries, Karun Gyawali

Masters Theses

Rural-urban migration plays an important role in affecting population and labor composition in a country. In the least developed countries, population moving from a relatively low productive, rural, agricultural sector to a more productive, urban sector can affect overall economic productivity.

This paper investigates the relationship between rural-urban migration and economic growth in least developed counties. Using Dao's 2002 paper on determinants of internal migration, the modified model for migration is formulated in this study. The result from the modified migration model is then used in the GDP growth model to study the effect of ruralurban migration on GDP growth. …

Trade Openness In North America: The Impacts Of Nafta, Mohammed Dawood

Masters Theses

The objective of this paper is to examine the impacts of the creation of NAFTA on trade openness in the North American region as a whole. We first assess these impacts of on NAFTA on individual member countries- namely, the United States, Canada and Mexico. Then we explore the impacts of NAFTA on North America as a bloc. Towards our goal we develop an empirical model that includes several independent variables to control, among others, for productivity, inflation, capital formation, per capita income, monetary policy and the existence of NAFTA. We collect annual time series data on all variables from …

Iron Bars Or Libraries: Which Will Reduce Crime More?, Kenneth Shepherd

Masters Theses

This study examines how government spending affects crime. Specifically, it is a longitudinal study of property crime in Illinois. The main model is: Property Crime = B1+B2(Deterrence spending)+B3(Other Social spending)+B4(Lagged Unemployment rate). Other Social Spending is Library spending, Hospital spending, and Higher Education spending by state and local governments in real per-capita form combined. Deterrence spending is the combined spending on police and corrections in real percapita form. The results from an OLS model on this equation showed Other Social spending was 50% more effective at reducing property crime than Deterrence spending. However, there was some multicollinearity and a time …

Inflation And Growth: An Estimate Of The Threshold Level Of Inflation In The U.S., Hio Loi

Masters Theses

The study examines the threshold level of inflation in the US during the period 1960-2011. The model suggests the threshold level of inflation in the US is 0 to 1.5 percent quarterly. Above that threshold level, inflation has a significant negative effect on real GDP growth. Below the threshold level, the effect of inflation on real GDP growth is ambiguous.

Coping Strategies In Parents Raising Children With Disabilities, Danielle Haaksma

Masters Theses

The current study examined how parents of children with disabilities use coping strategies to manage stress and mental health. A convenience sample of twenty-five parents completed a survey developed by the researcher. Findings showed that the coping strategies used the most included talking to family members, followed by purposeful planning, talking to friends outside the family and learning to accept the situation. In addition, the mothers in this sample used adaptive coping, talked to friends and utilized purposeful planning more often than the fathers did. Positive reinterpretation of the situation and escape avoidance were the only strategies that had a …

Evaluation Of Knowledge, Beliefs And Use Of Nutritional Ergogenic Aids Among Collegiate Athletes, Mekenzie Lewis

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the NEA knowledge and practices of collegiate athletes. Participants of the study included 152 Division I collegiate athletes from a small Midwestern university. Athletes were both male and female participants of rugby, basketball, baseball, soccer, swimming, and/or track and field during the 2011-2012 school year. A 14 item questionnaire was developed based on concepts associated with misconceptions or wide spread beliefs about these NEAs identified through review of sports nutrition peer reviewed research articles, published text books, and based on personal experiences with college athletes. Content accuracy was established by review of …

School Readiness: An Exploration Of Early Childhood Professionals' Perceptions And Practices, Lindsey Jenkins

Masters Theses

Early childhood experiences set a foundation for school and for life. Because so many children attend some type of early childhood program, it is important to understand the perceptions of those teach and care for young children before they enter kindergarten. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between perceptions and practices of early childhood professionals regarding school readiness based of five areas of child development. Sixty-one early childhood professionals completed the Kindergarten Readiness Survey, and descriptive statistics, constant comparison, and microanalysis were used to analyze the data.

Results of this study indicate that social-emotional development is …

Evaluation Of Menu-Labeling's Effect On Restaurant Patrons' Meal Choices, Sarah Elizabeth Knoll

Masters Theses

Background: Quick service restaurant food has been association with weight gain, increased waist size, and insulin resistance, that lead to increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. A resolution includes a public policy initiative mandating restaurants to list calories at the point <>f purchase. The purpose of this research was to determine if calorie menu labeling has an effect on individuals' decision to build a healthier combo meal, one lower in calories.

Methvds: A convenience sample was gathered. Participants completed an online survey asking them to build combo meals from quick st;rvice restaurants. Participants were randomly sorted into …

"Have You Forgotten Us?": An Analysis Of Resources For Non-Traditional Students, Theresa Lindsay

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine how supported the non-traditional student population at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) felt and to assess what campus resources and services they use and need. An online survey was developed by the researcher and administered to 285 current non-traditional college students. The findings indicated that overall, non-traditional students at EIU felt supported by the university and their instructors. However the participants also reported that they were not using all of the services and resources the university offered. In addition, several respondents noted that there are some services that are not currently offered at …

Barack Obama: The Inevitable Nominee, Bradley M. Forsythe

Masters Theses

The 2008 Democratic primary is often regarded as a once-in-a-lifetime political event. Democratic frontrunner and former first lady Hillary Clinton faced off against Illinois junior Senator Barack Obama. Despite a commanding position in national polling that led many pundits to declare the race Clinton's to lose, her campaign faltered during the primary, allowing Obama to find himself in a commanding position to be the Democratic Party's nominee for president. An exploration of the two campaigns, however, reveals stark differences in strategy, messaging, fundraising, and the use of technology.

In terms of strategy, Hillary Clinton's campaign was unprepared to contest the …

Foreign Aid: Addiction, Weaning, Recovery?, Peter Foster

Masters Theses

Africa has long been seen as a foreign world to the West. Early pioneers to the continent called it "the dark continent" and during the Scramble for Africa in the late 1890s, European countries divided largely unexplored regions of the continent between themselves. Many European colonists are today reviled for their colonial practices of racial segregation, exclusion of locals from the political process and the imprisonment of black leaders. Through conquest and regulation, majority black populations were taken advantage of by European powers which divided the continent and drew up their own boundaries, ultimately splitting or forcibly combining ethnic groups. …

Regional Voting Patterns In Contemporary Presidential Elections: The Effect Of Race, Income And Abortion Viewpoint, John W. T. Megson

Masters Theses

This study examines regional differences in the effect a voter's race, viewpoint on abortion and income have upon his or her vote in presidential elections. Using binary logistic regression and log odds, the results show that regional differences do exist. Whilst race still has the largest effect in the South, the effect in what scholars have termed the Non-South varies with the North Central region differing noticeably from the North East and the West. With regard to abortion attitudes the lowest observed effect was in the South, with attitudes playing a greater effect in the North Central and West regions.

Ir Theory And State Cooperation On Blood Diamonds, Holly Thomas

Masters Theses

Blood diamonds, or "conflict diamonds," have funded rebel movements and terrorist organizations worldwide. Bloodshed over these diamonds, the conflicts they prolonged, and the horrific human rights violations associated with the competition for this natural resource, resulted in an international effort to regulate rough diamonds, and has become an issue for states, institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs), media, and the public. Forums were held in 2001, known as the Kimberley Process, to discuss the threat of conflict diamonds. With the United Nations' support, state and nonstate actors devised the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a non-binding agreement to stop the import and …

Predicting Rumination From The Five Facets Of Mindfulness, Allen Creamean

Masters Theses

Mindfulness is defined as a process of paying attention to the moment-by-moment experience of thoughts and feelings. It is a non-elaborative, non-judgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted (Kabat-Zinn, 1990; 1998). The concept of mindfulness adopted in Western therapeutic contexts was derived from Eastern spiritual and philosophical Buddhist teachings. Since its introduction nearly 20 years ago, mindfulness-based treatments have evolved towards altering the relationship between the self and internal/external sensations to reduce multiple forms of psychological and physical morbidity (Bishop et al., 2004). Currently, it is used …

The Effects Of Body Positioning On Compliance Among Children, Andrea Merideth Delaney

Masters Theses

Noncompliance has significant implications for children in both home and educational settings. It can thwart learning and lead to increased levels of stress for parents. This study examined the effect of body positioning on the compliance rates of three children in the clinic setting. Results found that higher rates of compliance were experienced when caregivers issued commands in either the kneeling or bending positions rather than a standing position. For two of the three participants, a kneeling position yielded higher rates of compliance. No differences were seen pre- and post-intervention in regards to parenting style using the PAQ-R. Decreases in …

Effects Of Varied Meaningfulness On The Load Theory Of Attention, Hannah Mason

Masters Theses

The point at which selection of which stimuli in our environment to attend to is made has plagued researchers for decades. The load theory was developed as a compromise between the early and late selection theories. However, little research has been done on the effects of varied meaningfulness on the load theory of attention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects that varied meaningfulness has on both high and low attentional loads. Sixteen traditionally-aged college students were given a selection task in either high or low attentional load while being presented with distractors in the periphery. Mean …

Manufacturing Process And The Integration Process Needed To Create A Streamline Work Cell For Instruction At The University Level Course, Nicholas J. Savitzky

Masters Theses

Current manufacturing standards expect excellence in part utilization and timely delivery on production. The processes in which parts are manufactured play a pivotal roll in the potential success or failure of a business.

The software industry and the manufacturing sector have combined over the years to create a process of joining machining and computers. This alliance of two worlds enables the machinist to create a part with reduced scrap and low costs.

This research examined multiple programs in order to map out the best process in which to use to illustrate the manufacturing processes that are currently used in today's …

United Nations Military Interventions And Democracy: Factors For Success, Nathan M. Polak

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the effects of various military planning and target-state variables to determine what influences democratic change within a target state undergoing a United Nations military intervention. The variables found to be significant are further explored and refined in a case study of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Then, these refined indicators are tested in a comparative case study of the United Nations Interim Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). Ultimately, it is found that the desire and motivation of contributing states and that the deployments of UN troops in …

Nutrition Facts Panel Components: Utilization By Consumers, Caitlin A. Huth

Masters Theses

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) that resulted in the appearance of the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) on all packaged foods in 1994. With rising rates of obesity in the country, the Panel was intended to serve as a nutrition tool to help consumers make informed food and nutrition choices. Previous research has discussed the application and use of the NFP related to consumers' demographic features, dietary outcomes, such as diet quality, and consumer behaviors, such as purchasing decisions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of NFP components …

Knowledge, Application, And The Impact Of Nutrition Education Of Portion Sizes In Female Adolescents, Denise Fearday

Masters Theses

The rising rates of obesity in children and adolescents are a cause for concern and an opportunity to educate youth on prevention strategies regarding obesity. Studies have shown that adolescents carry their knowledge and habits of eating into adulthood, and therefore should be educated when young to prevent obesity at an older age. A nutrition education workshop was presented to a group of adolescent females to determine their knowledge and application of portion sizes. The workshop was designed as a pretest-intervention-posttest study with an objective of determining the impact of a portion size workshop on the knowledge and attitudes of …

Sources Of Media Bias In Coverage Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The 2010 Gaza Flotilla Raid In German, British, And U.S. Newspapers, Michael Neureiter

Masters Theses

This study examines (1) whether German, British, and U.S. media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is biased, and (2) if such a bias exists, what its sources are. Applying Dave D' Alessio's and Mike Allen's framework for measuring media bias to a sample of 240 newspaper articles on the 2010 Gaza Flotilla Raid, we find that British and especially German newspapers exhibit a significant anti-Israel bias, whereas the results for the United States are mixed. Testing five explanations of media bias commonly mentioned in the relevant literature, we find that a newspaper's political affiliation as well as a country's public …

The Development Of Horizontality And Verticality In Children With Visual Impairments, Rita E. Schnarr

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the understanding of the horizontal and vertical in children with visual impairments compared to children who are sighted. A raised-line drawing kit was used both for subject responses and for production of stimuli. To test the understanding of the horizontal, subjects felt pictures of a jar at four tilts and were asked to draw the water line. To test the understanding of the vertical, subjects felt pictures of a mountain at four slopes and were asked to draw a telephone pole. Subjects also completed haptic multiple-choice versions of the tasks. It was …

Dynamic Crisis Modifiers: Bp's Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Catherine G. Bocke

Masters Theses

When an organizational crisis emerges, crisis communicators must craft specific messages for their stakeholders and the public. While an organization is attempting to shape how the public perceives it during a crisis, the media work to frame the public's perception of the crisis through news coverage. Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) is a prescriptive theory that assesses a crisis situation to determine which crisis response will best protect the organization's reputation. Two factors, crisis history and severity, serve as modifiers that can affect the crisis situation, and ultimately influence the best response. BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill serves as …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Service Sector Transformation In Safta Member Countries, Md. Tanvir Pavel

Masters Theses

This paper makes an attempt to assess the transformation process of the service sector in South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFT A) by using a panel data over the period 1990 to 2010. Based on the regression analysis, the study investigates the existence and association between the output of the service sector and per capita national output by applying panel least squares along with fixed effects and random effects. The generalized least squares (GLS) approach with fixed effect estimation comes in handy in our analysis. The study reveals that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have a meaningful positive effect whereas …

The Relationship Between Dialectical Self And Hedonic, Eudaimonic, And Social Well-Being, Ayaka Hisanaga

Masters Theses

The present study examined the relationship between a dialectical self and three different conceptions of well-being: hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being. Dialectical self refers to the ability to recognize contradictions and changes in the self. The study was built upon previous research by Spencer-Rodgers and her colleagues (2004) that found a negative relationship between being dialectical and hedonic well-being (specifically selfesteem and life satisfaction). Although this previous study indicated that the more one perceives oneself as tolerant of contradiction and change, the more one would tend to experience life dissatisfaction and negative feelings (i.e., hedonic well-being), the current study predicted …

Instructional Technology Resistance Levels Among University Faculty, Katie Glaze

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to contribute to a better understanding of resistance to instructional technology among university faculty. Siegel's (2008) Resistance to Instruction Technology questionnaire was employed to full-time faculty members working at a mid-west regional state university. Results from 226 respondents (37% of population) reported low levels of technology resistance. Further, respondents gave insight to their perceptions, attitudes, and actual use of instructional technology. Finally, recommendations for practitioners related resistance to instructional technology were discussed.