Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Eating, Nutrition And Of Health Diagnostic Of The Elementary Schools Of The Communities Of Guambo And The Rinconada, Province Of Imbabura 2002-2001, Ruth Muriel

Theses and Dissertations

The rural communities of the province of Imbabura present multiple problems of environmental, educational, and economic kind. Previous studies show that the rural communities of the Ecuadorian population present serious problems of health and nutrition, among those that excel are: poliparasitosis, respiratory infections and diarrheal, malnutrition, deficiency of micro nutrients, sanitary deficiency, scarce economic resources and low level of instruction. All these factors have caused a decrease in the productive capacity of the country and affected their level of development. In addition, delay exists in size in the students, which leads to a decrease in the capacity for physical work, …

Fame And Latter-Day Saint Youth: Value Conflicts And The Interpretive Audience, Shellie M. Frey

Theses and Dissertations

Fame is a paradoxical issue: a phenomenon that is both embraced and shunned simultaneously in American culture and particularly within many religious institutions. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), for instance, discourage its members (particularly the youth) from seeking out fame as well as famous individuals as role models. Yet they also incorporate positive rhetoric about fame as well in terms of famous LDS people, landmarks or groups. Furthermore, various aspects of the LDS Church (worldwide televised conferences, widely distributed books written by Church leaders, etc.) are highly mediated, thus, integrated with a public venue …

Religiosity And Delinquency: A Test Of The Religious Ecology Hypothesis, S. Cory Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

Research testing the relationship between adolescent religiosity and delinquent behavior is inconclusive. Some studies show a significant negative relationship while others indicate no relationship. Stark (1996) asserts that the relationship between religiosity and delinquency is a function of community religiosity as opposed to personal religiosity. Thus, in areas of high religiosity, there will be a strong relationship, while areas of low religiosity will show no relationship. This study looks at the relationship between religiosity and delinquency of LDS youth in four different religious ecologies: Utah County (high religious ecology), the East coast (moderate religious ecology), the Pacific Northwest (low religious …

Service Learning In Business Schools: What The H.E.L.P. Honduras Story Teaches About Building, Sustaining, And Replicating International Initiatives In Graduate Programs, Lisa Mali Jones

Theses and Dissertations

This document outlines the foundation and first year results of the H.E.L.P. Honduras organization, which was formed as a student-based, student-governed international outreach initiative at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Specifically, in its first year the organization focused on providing microcredit and service relief to victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras.

After studying the case of H.E.L.P. Honduras, readers should conclude that educators interested in sponsoring sustainable student-run service learning organizations at private universities must address three primary issues: the problem of student selection and turnover, the need for administrative and faculty endorsement, and the need …

An Interview Study Of Educational Success Among American Indian Doctoral Recipients, Linda L. Neuerburg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to better understand the successful educational experiences among Native American doctoral recipients and why they succeeded where so many others have failed to reach that level of education. The participants' individual experiences were recorded during the in-depth interviews. Their own voices have indicated their path to success.

Qualitative research methods were used in the study including interviews, participant observation, and follow-up telephone interviews. Data were analyzed for themes and results were discussed in reference to the literature. Recommendations for parents, teachers, school administrators, mentors, faculty, and college administrators were provided.

The study allowed the …

Participant Reference In Narrative Discourse: A Comparison Of Three Methodologies, Stephen A. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years several linguists have developed quantitative methods for analyzing and describing how speakers of languages refer to activated participants in narrative discourse. One of the first of these was Talmy Givon, whose method (referred to by some as the Recency/Distance method) measured three factors in participant reference: referential distance, potential interference, and persistence. A few years later, Russell Tomlin proposed an alternative model, which he labeled the Episode/Paragraph method. He felt that Givon's method fails to account for the fact that the thematic paragraphs or "episodes" found in narrative texts largely determine the amount of coding material used. …

Cognitive Inhibition And Impulsivity In Adult Children Of Alcoholics And Controls, Louise A. Weller

Theses and Dissertations

The genetic transmission of a pattern of impairments associated with alcoholism has been supported by research literature (Dawson, Harford, & Grant, 1992; Schuckit, 1986). No single factor appears to cause the development of a substance abuse problem, but a family history of alcoholism may be one predictive factor (Goodwin, 1985). The offspring of alcoholics are more likely to display disinhibited behavior and impulsivity (Pihl, Peterson, & Finn, 1990) and are more likely to develop drinking problems than the general population (Goodwin, 1971). Researchers have found patterns of cognitive deficits (Tartar, Jacob, Bremer, 1989) and neuropsychological differences (Gabriella & Mednick, 1983) …

The Academic Achievement And Psychological Functioning Of College Students With A Family History Of Alcoholism, Rachel M. Dodd

Theses and Dissertations

Fifty adult children of alcoholics (ACAs) and 50 non-ACAs in an undergraduate college student sample were compared on standardized measures of emotional functioning, alcohol consumption, academic achievement, and cognitive ability. A 2 (parental alcoholism status) X 2 (gender) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed on each of the four categories of dependent variables. The MANOVAs were followed by univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to determine which variables contributed to the multivariate effect.

With respect to emotional functioning, differences between ACAs and non-ACAs were found for males but not females. Male ACAs reported significantly more current anxiety and long-standing anxiety …

Y2000 Alcohol And Drug Survey: An Examination Of University Of North Dakota Students, Michael A. Seredycz

Theses and Dissertations

National and regional substance use studies suggest that college students are frequent users of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. This study examines substance use at UND, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, examining the predictive power of Hirschi’s social control theory in response to collegiate substance use. This research will provide a profile of student activities and beliefs associated with use or non-use, as well as the prevalence of use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

Three focus groups were used to increase reliability and validity of the sample before a quantitative self-administered survey was administered to a convenient sample of students. …

Seismic Adjustments: The Influence Of Inconvenience And Efficacy Perceptions, State Of Residence, And Demographic Factors, Nicole Elise Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that peoples' perceptions of household seismic adjustments, in addition to their perceptions of earthquakes themselves, should predict the likelihood that seismic adjustments are performed. However, little research has been done to address this issue. While recent research has found peoples' perceptions of the effectiveness of household adjustments to influence adjustment levels, people's perceptions of inconvenience of household seismic adjustments - namely the cost, time effort, required cooperation and required knowledge involved in making these adjustments - have been found to not influence seismic adjustment. However, this study did find that the higher the perceived inconveniences …

Getting Out: A Feminist Psychoanalytical Analysis Of Intimate Violence, Aili Marie Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In my thesis I examined various forms of physical and psychological violence within the text Getting Out by Marsha Norman. Getting Out is filled with disturbing visual images of intimate violence. Utilizing various feminist psychoanalytical theorists and critics, I explored the realm of intimate violence. This included paying particular attention to the feminists Rhoda Unger & Mary Crawford in Women in Gender: A Feminist Psychology and Tony Martens in The Spirit Weeps: Characteristics and Dynamics of Incest and Child Sexual Abuse. My exploration focused specifically on the act of violence found in the drama. Not only did I relate these …

Eating Disorders: Prevention, Identification And Treatment In Elementary And Secondary Schools, Marcella I. Stickney

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the responses of elementary and secondary school counselors to students with symptoms of eating disorders. A survey was sent to 1000 school counselors in the upper Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) during the spring of 2000. The survey contained 1 of 4 vignettes which describe either a male or female student presenting with/without symptoms suggestive of disordered eating patterns. The gender of the student in the vignette was randomly assigned. School counselors were asked to report the classification they would designate, assessment procedures they would utilize, and interventions that they …

Changes In Counselor Intentions After Empathy Training, Dominic J. Barraclough

Theses and Dissertations

Using Hill and O'Grady's (1985) model of assessing counseling intentions, this study examined the effects of a two-hour empathy training component in an introductory counseling methods course, as well as the relationship between intentions categories and the intention of being empathic. Participants also completed the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) as a pretest measure, again immediately preceding the empathy training, and finally as a posttest measure. Due to unequal distribution within the control and treatment groups, gender was also examined. The results indicated that men responded more than women during role-play sessions as well as had more intentions. There was also …

The Effect Of Biculturalism On Depression In Northern Plains Native American College Students, Alan H. Storey Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of biculturalism on depression in a propsed sample of 52 Northern Plains Native American College students (32 female, 20 male). This study tested the applicability of the Orthogonal Theory of Biculturalism (Oetting and Beauvais, 1992). Subjects completed the Northern Plains Biculturalism scale (NPBI) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Second edition (BDI-II). A descriptive analysis, Pearson product moment correlational analysis, independent t-tests, and multiple regression analysis were performed. The multiple regression utilized the two-culture orientation subscales of the NPBI as predictor variables and the total score of the BDI-II as outcome …

The Effects Of Rumination And Distraction Tasks On Psychophysiological Responses And Self-Reported Mood In Dysphoric And Nondysphoric Individuals, Kristin S. Vickers Douglas

Theses and Dissertations

According to the response style theory of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987), the way in which individuals respond to depressed mood affects the severity and duration of that mood. Prior laboratory studies of response style have not included psychophysiological measures or investigated the relationship between ruminative response style and the conceptually-related constructs of worry and neuroticism. Dysphoric (n = 84) and nondysphoric participants (n = 86) were randomly assigned to either a rumination task (i.e., self-focused attention) or a distraction task (i.e., other-focused attention). In addition to the pre-task and post-task mood ratings used in prior response style studies, the present study …

The Impact Of A College Wellness Course On Wellness Knowledge, Attitude, And Behavior, Marion L. Askegaard

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a college wellness course resulted in an improvement in knowledge, attitude, and behavior relating to physical activity, nutrition, and stress management.

Three hundred forty-eight students enrolled in the Wellness course at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, took The Wellness Knowledge. Attitude, and Behavior Instrument during the first class period (pretest) and last week (posttest) of the course.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), with repeated measures on one factor, was conducted to determine whether there would be statistically significant differences between the pretest and posttest wellness knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores. Three-way …

Reputation Management: The Effect Of Ceo Behavior During A Crisis, Ellen J. Shockley

Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this thesis was to study how CEO behavior during a crisis impacts the organization's lasting reputation.

A thorough review of relevant publications, as well as intercept surveys, content analyses and email surveys, was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Fifty intercept surveys were conducted over two weekends to discover opinions about the issue. Respondents appearing to be age 25 or older were randomly selected. A content analysis was conducted using articles from Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal to determine the media's tone on the CEOs of Odwalla, Jack in the Box, Dow Coming and Exxon. A total …

The Influence Of Media Type On Sexually Impositional Behavior, Sheila A. Mulligan Rauch

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual aggression and rape are pervasive and serious problems in the United States. One factor which has been associated with sexual aggression and rape is the perpetrator's use of sexually explicit material, especially sexually violent pornography. The current study examined the effect of exposure to different types of media depictions, including sexually violent, violent, sexual, and general arousing conditions on men's expression of sexually impositional behavior toward women using a laboratory analogue. Participants viewed one of four, 45 minute clips from the above categories. Then, they chose one of four short clips (negatively arousing, sexual clip; a negatively arousing, nonsexual …

Adults With Autism Speak Out: Perceptions Of Their Life Experiences, Karen S. Hurlbutt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the perceptions of three high functioning adults with autism about their life experiences. After a review of the literature, I determined that there is a lack of information regarding adults with autism, especially those at the high end of the spectrum. There is a great deal of information regarding the educational needs of individuals with autism; however, there are few studies available which address the unique needs of the adults. I wondered “What can we learn about adults with autism that we did not know before? What can they tell …

Taking Writing On-Line: The Intersections Of Rhetoric, Technology, And Community In The Composition Classroom, William C. Archibald

Theses and Dissertations

Discourse constructs individuals in community and by analogy constructs students (and teachers) in the networked-writing classroom. This work of constructing subjects moves us alternately toward the group (centripetal) and away toward becoming more individual (centrifugal). In order to understand this coordinate but opposite movement within on-line communication, the dissertation brings together the two strands (within the social) of technology and rhetoric. This rhetoric of technology is defined as the invention, arrangement, and delivery of computer-mediated language for the purpose of evoking action upon the part of an audience. The dissertation presents—among others—the discourse theory of Patricia Bizzell, Joseph Harris's ideas …

A Resident Teacher Program: Perceptions Of Those Involved, Sara Beth Vinje Triggs

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the experience of master's students in an elementary education resident teacher program The experience of the resident teachers was generally defined as how resident teachers made meaning of a resident teacher program through the perceptions of the resident teachers themselves. The resident teachers' perceptions and experiences were studied from January 1999 through the completion of their teaching experience in May 1999.

Qualitative research methods were used in this phenomenological study, including a brief period of observation, analysis of mentor/resident teacher communications journals, and interviews with participants in the Resident Teacher …

Occupational Therapy Treatments And Upper Extremity Motor And Self-Care Outcomes Of Patients Post-Cva, Jan E. Stube

Theses and Dissertations

Cerebrovascular accident (or stroke) afflicts approximately 550,000 Americans per year. It is estimated that three million U.S. citizens live with the disabling effects of strokes, which can limit function in one or more of the following areas: mobility, basic activities of daily living, bowel or bladder control, cognition, emotional functioning, among other disabling conditions (Gresham et al., 1995). Occupational therapists, as rehabilitation professionals, provide sensorimotor and basic activities of daily living assessment and intervention to promote recovery of function post-stroke. Upper extremity neuromuscular electrical stimulation is one strategy that may be used to promote motor recovery.

This study's purpose was …

Faculty Interests - Faculty Needs: Creating Meaningful Critical Thinking Training, Patricia Wilber

Theses and Dissertations

Helping students improve their critical thinking and writing abilities is a challenge for university instructors. Although they are experts in their specific disciplines, most of them struggle when it comes to developing appropriate and successful critical thinking activities for their students. They have limited knowledge of instructional methods that improve student thinking, and often rely on professional development programs on their campuses to assist them. The Writing Across the Curriculum Program at a mid-western university offered assistance to faculty and provided a place to examine this process.

A qualitative study employing workshop observations and follow-up interviews was used to determine …

Assessment And Grading Practices Among High School Band Teachers In The United States: A Descriptive Study, Edward G. Simanton

Theses and Dissertations

The recent movement in academic reform and accountability has brought assessment and grading to the forefront in most academic disciplines. While assessment and grading appear to be important topics in music education professional journals, little is known about actual practice or local satisfaction with current practices. Findings from a few small regional assessment and grading studies indicated that assessment practices tended to diverge from currently understood best practices; for example, attendance was the primary source of grading information.

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine current assessment and grading practices in American high school bands, (b) gauge local …

An Evaluation Of Coastal Community Response To Sea Level Rise On The Delmarva Peninsula, Timothy Villanueva

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the response of coastal community comprehensive plans to the threats posed by sea level rise. The communities evaluated are Chincoteague, VA, Ocean City, MD, and Rehoboth Beach, DE. The results of the evaluations illustrate to what extent these communities are prepared to deal with sea level rise and provide a basis for recommendations to improve plan quality. The level of community risk and the components of the individual comprehensive plans are evaluated using new models created for this project. Risk level is measured using computer disaster simulations, topographic and demographic data. The …

Airline Reputation: Customer Service In Crisis, Mary Catherine Demarco

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to show that listening to customer concerns can improve the reputation of the airline industry. The results show through quantitative and qualitative research that the airlines are experiencing a decline in customer service and may be on the verge of a reputation crisis.

A content analysis of articles from The New York Times and USA Today was done to show the type of message the media is sending to the public. Results show that the media is reporting on the airline industry in a negative light. The media is warning that the decline in …

The Power Of One: The Effect Of One Athlete's Behavior On A Sport, Jennifer L. Field

Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of whether or not the effects of one athlete's behavior are broad enough to be felt throughout a sport. The researcher focused on three athletes whose behavior was thought to have left a permanent scar on the three sports involved. The athletes were: (1) Pete Rose, who was part of the Philadelphia Phillies 1980 World Series team and later became the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, who was accused of betting on baseball games, (2) Mike Tyson, former undisputed heavy weight champion of the world, who was convicted of rape and bit the ear of opponent …

A Case Study Of Three Cities: Revitalization Through Public Relations, Rebecca Acevedo

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine if public relations played a vital role in revitalizing major cities. It also tested which tactics were implemented in public relations campaigns to create awareness and draw tourism to the revitalized area. The study used Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh as its case studies.

The study involved a review of related secondary research of articles and interviews with public relations professionals who worked for various cities. Primary research involved a content analysis of random articles from 1989 through 2000 from the major papers in each city, in-depth interviews with public relations directors, and intercept surveys …

The Efficacy And Application Of Cause-Related Marketing Techniques, Ralph S. De Simone

Theses and Dissertations

This study determined what was the attitude of the general public and public relations practitioners toward three distinctive cause-related marketing techniques (event sponsorship, product sale donations, and licensing). The study required 203 telephone surveys of the general public and 23 interviews via phone, electronic mail, and in-person with public relations and marketing practitioners involved with cause-related marketing. This researcher proved that both the general public and the causal marketing practitioners prefer or favor event sponsorship over licensing and product sale donations, and females favor the three techniques and causal marketing more than males.

The Efficacy Of Public Affairs In The Federal Courts, Jacqueline Todd

Theses and Dissertations

The federal courts are undeniably one of the most important institutions in our society, yet we know little of this nebulous entity since the federal court system does not directly communicate to the public. The judiciary relies solely on the media to disseminate court decisions and information to the public.

The purpose of this study was to underscore the need for a public affairs office in the federal court system. This researcher held that a court public affairs office would serve to educate the public about the judiciary, as well as correct media accounts of court decisions that exhibit negative …