Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Social Media On The Grieving Process, Resa Ware

Masters Theses

In 2015 the Pew Research Center reported that 72% of adult Internet users are on Facebook and it continues to be the most used social networking site in the world (Duggan, 2015). Facebook is a source of social expression, connections, and support for others. It is becoming much easier to express feelings such as grief in an online setting. In fact, the online expression of grief has been found to empower individuals who feel that traditional grieving practices are ineffective (Carroll & Landry, 2010). The purpose of the current study was to explore the impact of social media (i.e. Facebook) …

A Quantitative Examination Of Alcohol Consumption Motivation Between Fraternity And Non-Fraternity Men, Brinton B. Vincent

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in motivation between fraternity and non-fraternity freshmen males. The researcher hypothesized that there would be no significant motivational factor to consume alcohol among the population and no significant difference between fraternity and non-fraternity freshmen males. To better examine differences, a quantitative study was conducted by surveying the population of freshmen males at a mid-sized, Midwestern, 4-year, public institution. The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) was used to measure four types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, external regulation, identified regulation, and amotivation. Out of the 58 participants, 48 surveys were usable (N = …

Examining The Effects Of Pornography On The Individual And The Family, Benjamin Scott Wilburn

Masters Theses

The expansion of technology, namely the Internet, has contributed greatly to the increase of available pornographic material (Cooper, 2009). This increase in material has created a platform to engage in discussion regarding the available forms of media the influence it has on individuals and family members consuming pornography. The purpose of this research was to examine the influence and attitudes of pornography on an individual and family members of individuals who use pornography. A mixed methods study with the following objectives was conducted: a) investigate the differences between recreational pornography use and addiction; b) identify the key attitudes toward pornography …

Accelerating Expertise To Facilitate Decision Making In High-Risk Professions Using The Dacum System, Ralph Kuchenbrod

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine whether the process of achieving occupational expertise could be accelerated enabling operators in high risk vocations to make effective decisions earlier in their careers. Scholars have hypothesized good decision making skills are largely a result of relevant experience within the specific domain. The rationale being that the greater the experience an individual has the more likely the operator has experienced similar situations and can apply solutions that have been successful in the past. Two distinct methods of decision making have been identified: traditional decision making and naturalistic decision making (NDM).

The ability …

The Relationship Between Softball Student-Athletes' Motivation, Self-Confidence, And Perception Of Coach Leadership, Jacquelyn M. Sernek

Masters Theses

This study advanced the understanding of relationships among coach leadership and collegiate softball players' self-confidence and motivation. The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a correlation between perceived coach leadership and softball player's self-confidence and motivation. Ninety-seven U.S. collegiate female softball student-athletes completed a Basic Demographic Survey, the Trait Sport-Confident Inventory (TSCI), Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS), and Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). Multiple linear regression analyses results indicated that LSS and SMS subscales explained 45 percent of the variance in TSCI scores. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed and significant moderate positive relationships were found between the …

Aggression Among Same-Sex Couples, Joshua Fourman

Masters Theses

Researchers have been studying intimate partner violence (IPV) since the 1970s but the majority of the research has focused on heterosexual couples. With little research on IPV among same-sex couples there is little knowledge, education, or resources among the people that are employed (or recruited) to assist victims of same-sex couple IPV. This means that social service and law enforcement agencies have not been able to properly meet the needs of the LGBT community.

A mixed-method research design using an online survey was used to gather data from a non-randomized convenience sample. Fifty-one respondents completed the survey. The findings showed …

What's Their Expiration Date? Age Discrimination In The Workplace, Bianca L. Tomlin

Masters Theses

Age discrimination, although illegal, continues to have a presence within organizations against older individuals. Previous research on age discrimination has determined that the social identity of those older workers discriminated against are affected. This project examines how older workers are being discriminated against, how age discrimination affects the dignity of an older worker, and how age discrimination affects the professional identity of older workers. This study focuses on eleven white-collar workers, age 45-65 who have experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Analysis revealed that older workers found themselves being fired from organizations, barred from entry into organizations, and denied training …

Aau Basketball - Participants' Perceptions Of Their Aau Experience, Hakeem R. Willis

Masters Theses

In the United States, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has become the focal point for college recruiters in searching for top talent amongst middle and high school basketball athletes. Financially, AAU basketball can be expensive, making it difficult for families to allow their children to compete. However, players feel that AAU participation is worth the investment because of the benefits, which includes collegiate exposure. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of former AAU basketball players' experience. The research question used to guide this study was: what are former AAU basketball players' perceptions of academic requirements, time/money, …

Shame On You: An Analysis Of Guilt-Based Advertising Strategies Directed At Parents, Jamie M. Alexander

Masters Theses

This thesis examines print advertisements in Parents, a popular parenting magazine, for a period of two years. This study uses critical discourse analysis to find meaning in these print advertisements. Through this analysis, three prominent themes were found in the two-year data collection period. The first of which is the #1 Recommended, a theme that highlights the cultural importance of using only products that have been recommended by medical professionals or hospitals, thereby emphasizing the social power of such persons or establishments. The second is comfort, care, and the good stuff, a theme that highlights a maternal desire to …

How The Internet Is Used By The Millennial Generation And Its Impact On Family Interaction, Kendra Myers

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine how Internet technology is used by the Millennial Generation and how it impacts family interaction. A questionnaire developed by the author was posted online and the final sample consisted of 92 participants, 13 men and 79 women. The average age of the participants was 27.97 (SD = 4.46). Findings showed that that the Millennial Generation used the Internet multiple times a day and for many reasons which were sorted into six distinct themes: 1) research/information seeking, 2) work, 3) social media/communication (besides email), 4) academics, 5) email, and 6) personal/entertainment. …

Is The Demand For Health Care Income Elastic? The Case Of 40 Sub-Saharan African Countries, Meron Masresha Nadew

Masters Theses

This paper uses panel data (1995 to 2011) from 40 Sub-Sahara African countries to analyze the income elasticity of health care expenditure along with some of the other theoretical determinants. The empirical results of the instrumental variable approach indicate that per capita income is a core and statistically significant determining factor of health expenditure. The value of the elasticity is about 0.48, suggesting that health expenditure as a commodity is a necessity for this region. In simple words, the goal of the system in this region is curative rather than caring. The percentage of population age 65 or older and …

Modeling The "Gravity" Of Foreign Aid: A Dyadic Panel Analysis On The Impact Of Bilateral Aid Commitments On Bilateral Immigration From 1994 To 2011, Miles D. Williams

Masters Theses

While research shows policymakers increase bilateral foreign aid commitments in response to an increase in bilateral immigration, supposedly as a means for reducing the demand for immigration, the effectiveness of this strategy is given only passing consideration in the literature. Many doubt this approach's success, but little effort has been made to empirically justify this doubt. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature and proposes a novel hypothesis. It is argued here that aid, more than simply failing to promote development quickly enough to reduce the demand for immigration, functions as a signal of donor wealth. When …

Does Foreign Aid Promote Growth? Evidence From Africa, Mai Abdulaziz Alghamdi

Masters Theses

Taking a panel of 54 African countries and employing pooled, GLS, and panel regression, this study investigates the impact of foreign aid, policies, and their interaction on economic growth. This study covers a period of 35 years from 1980 to 2015. The key variables of this study are aid, measured by the official amount of foreign aid as a percentage of GDP by the recipient countries and policy, measured by an index created using linear estimation of various policy variables associated with political, economic and fiscal freedom; the Sachs-Warner measure of openness and World bank's Country Policy and Institution Assessment …

Behavioral Patterns Of The Cannibalism And Sexual Taboos, Kayla R. Rice

Masters Theses

Previous research has suggested that there may be a connection between the cannibalism taboo and sexual attraction. Specifically, it appears that when forced to choose someone to cannibalize, people choose victims in a pattern that mimics who they would choose to be sexually intimate with. To confirm and explore this relationship, the current study measured sexual orientation and examined whether participants' preferences in who to cannibalize if forced reflected their desired sexual partner. Participants recruited from Amazon Turk responded to forced pair choices regarding either desired sexual partner or cannibalism victims. Targets included all combinations of three variables: Physical Appearance …

Evaluating Growth Slowdowns: Does Middle-Income Trap Exist?, Nusrat Farah

Masters Theses

Growth theories suggest that the factors affecting growth at low-income and high-income countries can be different. If countries struggle to graduate to high-income growth strategies, they may find themselves "stuck" at some middle-income level. This phenomenon can be termed as "middle-income trap". Using a panel of 145 countries over a period of 55 years, this study attempts to identify the existence of "middle-income trap" and its determinants. The aim of this study is to inspect whether the countries really get "stuck" at middle-income levels and if so, then pinpoint the factors associated with growth slowdowns. By employing panel probit estimations, …

Children With Special Needs And The Effect On The Family, Taylor N. Downey

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the family unit after the addition of a child with special needs. Additional stressors, positive and negative emotions were also explored in this study. The results of this study suggested that all families have different experiences with their child but they may feel similar emotions, feelings, and face the same characteristics depending on their child's diagnosis.

Yik Yak Posts: A Discourse Analysis, Snehal Ravindra Shirke

Masters Theses

"Anonymity and geolocation create a unique environment for users to communicate with each other. Discourse analysis was conducted to study the posts made on Yik Yak, an anonymous social networking mobile application to understand the communication patterns on an anonymous platform and the posts about taboo topics. The posts were analyzed specifically for patterns on taboo topics and how students interact on the anonymous platform on a particular campus (Missouri S&T campus). Student research assistants coded the collected posts into the pre-defined taboo categories namely sexual activity, non-sexual bodily functions, sexual orientation, mental/emotional health, and "other" taboo topics. I found …

Managing Risks Of Market Price Uncertainty For A Microgrid Operation, Sriram Raghavan

Masters Theses

"After deregulation of electricity in the United States, the day-ahead and real-time markets allow load serving entities and generation companies to bid and purchase/sell energy under the supervision of the independent system operator (ISO). The electricity market prices are inherently uncertain, and can be highly volatile. The main objective of this thesis is to hedge against the risk from the uncertainty of the market prices when purchasing/selling energy from/to the market. The energy manager can also schedule distributed generators (DGs) and storage of the microgrid to meet the demand, in addition to energy transactions from the market. The risk measure …

My Friendship Story: Tanzanians’ Tales Of Friendship Analyzed Through Knapp’S Relational Model, Dorcus Nakalembe

Masters Theses

From both theoretical and practical considerations, there is a critical need to study friendship development processes within different sociocultural worlds, because today’s world has become a crossroads for a diversity of cultures. To date, research in friendship development mainly addresses cognitive and psychological implications to the process and rarely gives attention to the stages/ processes individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds experience as they build friendship. The present study aimed at comparing friendship development in a non-Westernized group to the stages of relational development suggested by a Western psychological theoretical framework. Tanzanian friendship experiences were analyzed through Knapp’s Relational Model to …

Analysis Of Middle Level Trade Books With Gender And Sexual Minority Content, Jena Borah

Masters Theses

Middle school is often the time students become aware of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and in many schools, perceived nonheteronormative behavior is penalized through bullying. One way schools can reduce bullying and increase successful learning environments is to include trade books that feature gender and sexual minorities. State and national standards set expectations for social and emotional learning as well as critical analysis of high quality reading materials. This research analyzed trade books from the 2013 and 2014 Rainbow Lists which were chosen by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association as …

An Investigation Of The Nexus Between Poverty And The Informal Sector In Developing Economies: A Case Study Of Nigeria, Omotara Adeeko

Masters Theses

This paper examines the relationship between poverty and the informal sector in Nigeria. In order to achieve this objective both primary and secondary sources of data mostly spanning from 1980 to 2014 are utilized. The methodology follows three stages. First, the Granger causality test is performed to determine the direction of causality. Using that information, a baseline model, along with several variants, is built on the next stage. Lastly, a robustness check is completed to ensure that the results do not exhibit severe spuriousness problems.

Granger causality tests indicate that the informal sector causes poverty. Overall, nine models including some …

Athletic Identity And Emotional Regulation In Adolescents, Kellye Kohn

Masters Theses

The ability to regulate emotion is necessary for adolescents to cope with everyday stressors and major life events. Sports participation has been linked positively to the ability to cope and regulate emotion. Athletic identity is a concept that has been linked to anxiety, burnout and lower academic performance; its relationship to emotion regulation had not yet been researched. This paper reviews the literature on athletic identity, sports participation, coping ability and emotional regulation. The current study examines the link between sports participation and athletic identity in youth and their ability to cope with stress and regulate their emotions. One hundred …

Understanding Mentoring Relationships: The Black Male Graduate Student Perspective, Kwame R. Patterson Jr.

Masters Theses

Black males face many obstacles in higher education. They are disproportionately represented among students who are forced to withdraw, underperform academically, and report negative experiences. Despite the negative experiences Black males may encounter, many still have a strong interest in education, and mentoring plays a role in that interest. The purpose of this study was to explore the mentoring relationships and influence on the Black male graduate students experience. A qualitative study was conducted with Black males who received their master's degrees from a regional Midwestern institution. Research revealed that mentoring played a major role in Black male's graduate experience …

An Intersectional Analysis Of Male Student-Athletes' Meaning-Making About Masculinity, Michelle Lisack

Masters Theses

Men's athletics is often viewed as an environment where hegemonic masculinity is perpetuated, though some believe this environment provides a safe space for men to break away from hegemonic masculinity. This study was designed to gain an understanding of how male student-athletes experience masculinity and how the context of athletics influences meaning-making about masculinity. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher interviewed five male student-athletes and observed the practice sessions of two different teams. The participants were student-athletes of junior or senior status from the following sports: tennis, soccer, swimming, baseball, and basketball. Results showed that male student-athletes found it challenging …

Athletic Identity And Career Transitioning Of Former Collegiate Athletes, Cameron Jimenez

Masters Theses

The focus of this study was to try and advance the understanding of athletic identity (AI) and its specific effects on former athletes. Previous studies in the area seem to focus on the relationship between AI, exercise habits, career maturity, and career transitioning of professional athletes. For example: Erpič, Wylleman, and Zupančič, (2004) examined former professional Slovene athletes. While those are important aspects of life former athletes encounter, the primary investigator (PI) felt it was important to understand the effects AI presents upon employment status of collegiate athletes who did not play professionally. Eighty-five former collegiate athletes participated and completed …

Stress As A Moderator Of Visual Perception: Do Elevated Stress Levels Interfere With Visual Cognition?, Ashley Ebersole

Masters Theses

Stress is an unavoidable aspect of human life, and despite a large body of research on stress, the relationship between chronic or traumatic stress and cognition is not yet fully explained. One component lacking research is visual attention, an area of visual cognition which is an essential part of our ability to interact with the world around us. This is especially true in the context of trauma and stress related disorders, and having a better understanding of how traumatic stress impacts attention and perception can inform psychotherapy for these issues. The current study aims to conceptualize how stressors impact the …

The Effects Of The Caterpillar Game On Classroom Behavior And Teacher Stress, Amber Jacoby

Masters Theses

A single-case, multiple baseline design was utilized to evaluate the effects of the Caterpillar Game, a classroom management system, on disruptive student behavior, teacher praise, and teacher stress. Three classrooms were included in the study (preschool, kindergarten, and second grade). When the Caterpillar Game was implemented across the three classrooms, student disruptive behavior decreased and teacher behavior-specific praise increased. Disruptive behavior and teacher praise results remained similar to intervention two to four weeks later and teachers reported being highly satisfied with the Caterpillar Game. One of the three teachers reported a decrease in stress. This study adds further support to …

Examination Of Externalizing Behaviors Within General Education, At-Risk, And Special Education Preschool-Aged Classrooms, Rebecca A. Rader

Masters Theses

This study examined the natural occurrence of externalizing behaviors within six preschool classrooms (two general education classrooms, two at-risk classrooms, and two special education classrooms). Approximately 100 direct observation minutes were collected in each of the six classrooms to obtain measures of student off-task and disruptive behavior. No significant off-task differences were found across the three classroom types. However, a significant difference in disruptive behavior was found between special education and general education classrooms and also between special education and at-risk classrooms. The most commonly observed disruptive behaviors across all six classrooms were talking out, being out of area, and …

Examining The Effect Of Caffeine And Technology On Adolescent Sleep, Kaci D. Clark

Masters Theses

The current study expands upon existing sleep research by assessing adolescent caffeine consumption and technology use around bedtime and group differences in caffeine consumption and technology use in regard to sleep onset time, duration and quality, as well as symptoms of delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). Participants, ranging in age from 13 to 18 years, were recruited from two Midwestern high schools and one junior high school. Online survey software was used to capture adolescents' self-reported caffeine consumption, technology use, and sleep. Adolescents who drank more caffeine did not spend significantly more time using technology at night, nor did they …

An Investigation Of Reliability And Validity Of The Bully Participant Behavior Questionnaire In An Elementary Sample, Morgan B. Nesbitt

Masters Theses

The goal of this study was to investigate the factor structure, reliability, and validity for the Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire (BPBQ) in an elementary sample. Previous research provided preliminary evidence of reliability and validity of the BPBQ scores with middle school students (Demaray, Summers, Jenkins, & Becker, 2014). The BPBQ is a self-report survey that purports to measure participation in five roles of bullying. These roles include bully, victim, assistant to the bully, defender of the victim, and outsider. Another goal of the study was to analyze possible sex and grade differences in the bullying roles. The current sample included …