Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reproductive Decision Making Among Lesbian Women, Misty Lynn Wall

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

A non-experimental, survey design was used to determine which factors influence a lesbian woman's decision to have, or not have, a child. Data was collected via the internet from 373 adult women, who self identify as lesbian. This study was guided by feminist theory and attempts to connect existing empirical literature regarding decision making with the experiences of lesbian women. Review of existing theoretical and empirical literature regarding decision making and lesbian headed families showed that six factors; family of origin support, extrinsic religiosity, perceived ability to parent, internalized homophobia, perceived impact of motherhood, and fear of prejudice and discrimination …

A Qualitative Study Of A Job Placement System For People With Disabilities: The Role Of The Family, Employer And Employment Agent In Monterrey, Mexico, Maximino Ramos

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This study explored the role of the family, employer and agent of employment as determinant to employment for people with disabilities in Monterey, Mexico. The main purpose of this study was to contribute to the equitable integration of people with disabilities into the labor force. The researcher used a case study approach that employed in-depth interviews of 27 participants and grounded theory procedures for data analysis. The key categories and themes that emerged and characterized each case study were cross-cased; the process contributed to the identification of key categories that formed the central tenets that influenced the job placement system. …

A Causal Analysis Of Developmental Assets, Behaviors And Delinquency Among Hispanic Youth In Texas, Jackson Nascimento De Carvalho

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

The purpose of this study was to identify the main predicting developmental assets for the prevention of juvenile delinquency among Hispanic youth in Texas by adopting advanced research methods. According to Benson (1995), and Lerner and Benson (2003), developmental assets are building blocks of development that help young people grow-up to be healthy, caring, and responsible. Grounded in extensive research (Benson, Galbraith, & Espeland, 1994; Benson, Galbraith, Espeland, 1998; Benson, 2001), the framework of developmental assets is a valuable tool to identify predictors for the prevention of juvenile delinquency among Hispanic youth, and serves as benchmark data to gauge community-based …

People Like Me : Analyzing Universal Themes Of The Holocaust Through A Culture-Specific Lens, Jennifer Corum

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustained academic and popular interest in the Holocaust depends largely on the ability of educators to communicate its universality. At Holocaust memorials around the world, educators make strategic rhetorical choices in pursuit of this imperative. However, as communicators present narratives, documentation, and visual rhetoric at memorials, they filter each message through a unique cultural lens. This unavoidable human tendency raises questions concerning the degree to which culture shapes Holocaust narratives. Given that Holocaust memorials may offer pivot insights into modern and future genocides, cultural influences on Holocaust rhetoric seem worthy of renewed evaluation. Burke's dramatistic pentad provides a valuable tool …

Parental Attributions Concerning The Causes And Controllability Of Adolescent Depression, Joan E. Mcdowell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between parental attributions concerning adolescent depression and levels of negative expressed emotion (EE) within the home by breaking down attributional beliefs into two dimensions: the etiology of the disorder and the controllability of the symptoms. This study included 154 parents of adolescents who filled out an online survey. Participants were predominantly female and identified themselves as White/non-Hispanic. Among the teens, each gender was relatively well-represented. Mean age of respondents was 44.7, and mean age of the adolescents was 16.0. Of the entire sample, 101 were identified as the clinical …

The Creative Job Pursuit: The Ability To Follow One’S Dream Fearlessly, Jennifer L. Newman

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The Creative Job Pursuit: The Ability to Follow One’s Dream Fearlessly. This project contains a resource guide that will assist students applying and exploring for jobs. The project also shows how divergent and convergent tools can aid in this experience and includes information on divergent and convergent tools such as Pluses, Potentials, Concerns, and How to overcome those concerns (PPCo), Brainstorming, and Storyboarding. These tools were needed in order to develop the risk-taking skill that was pertinent to this project. The tools and skill applied in this project allowed for the search for an ideal job that fosters and nurtures …

Utilizing Healing Crystals For Mental Health And Wellness, Erin M. Holt

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project is about using earth’s natural healing energy to boost mental health and wellness. It was a cleansing process for me to deal with my past and pave the way for my future. There were several pieces of jewelry created with healing stones and vivid descriptions of why each was chosen. There is evidence of healing in this project

May Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency” by Mahmood Mamdani. London Review of Books. March 8, 2007.

The Moral Vocabulary Of Violence, David L. G. Rice

Human Rights & Human Welfare

What is at stake in labeling a particular incidence of large-scale violence “genocide”? Mahmood Mamdani rightly argues that “genocide” is an insufficient description of the conflict in Darfur. I would suggest that the problematic nature of that terminology goes back to its inception after World War II. Activists have inherited the concept of “genocide” from a particular historical moment. Now, “ genocide” carries unique moral weight in the discourse of international politics. When violence against civilians has been widely accepted as a necessary outcome of the preservation of peace, activists find it necessary to imagine a worse evil than the …

The Return Of Moral Equivalence, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

During the latter stages of the Cold War, one school of ethical analysis, ultimately labeled as “moral equivalence” by the late Jeane Kirkpatrick, measured Western liberal democracies against utopian standards in a radical critique which redefined the political discourse, erasing distinctions between the Soviet Union and its satellites on the one hand and the United States and its allies on the other.

The Impact Of A Physical Activity Intervention On The Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Of Preadolescent Females, Katherine Hommel

All Theses

Females often do not participate in the recommended level of physical activity on a regular basis possibly leading to both physical and psychological consequences. Reasons for lack of participation include a lack of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy theory proposes that self-efficacy is a key determinant in maintenance, adoption, and perseverance in difficult tasks. Recent literature has supported a relationship between an individual's physical activity self-efficacy and actual behaviors relating to physical activity.
The Finding Your Voice program was aimed at increasing pre-adolescent female's self-efficacy for physical activity through education and practical experience. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the …

The Market Return To Pharmaceutical Product Approval, Imtiaz Ahmed

Economics Theses - Archive

Does the public announcement of approval of New Drugs affect the market valuation of the sponsoring pharmaceutical company? This study will try to find out the technically and intuitively acceptable answer of this question using event study methodology. Relatively smaller number of previous studies on this issue found the mixed answers of this question using well-tested methodology of event study. Basing on the notion that the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) is in effect in the pharmaceutical industry, stock and securities market should ideally react quickly (i.e., efficiently) in response to the public announcement of approval of new drug by the …

Sleep Problems In Young Children With And Without Behavior Problems, Penny L. Sneddon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There are numernus social, emotional, and behavioral problems toddlers and preschool children can exhibit. Some of the more common problems reported by parents of young children are daytime behavior problems and sleep disturbances. This study investigated sleep difficulties in toddler and preschool-age children with (n = 31) and without (n = 59) significant behavior problems. Furthermore, the current study investigated the relationship between sleep difficulties and other psychological constructs (i.e., maternal general stress, maternal depression, and parenting stress), which might be related to sleep and behavior problems. Mothers of clinically referred children with behavior problems and nonclinically referred …

Relationship Among Team Collective Efficacy, Cohesion, And Coaching Competency In Sports, Clayton T. Manning

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A team's performance in any sport can be predicted by many factors. Some of these factors include team collective efficacy, team cohesiveness, and coaching competency. Currently, there is little research investigating the relationships among teams' beliefs about their capabilities, their level of cohesion, and their perceptions of coaching competency on overall sport performance. The purpose of this study was to document the relationship among collective efficacy, cohesion, and coaching on sport performance in a sample of university athletes. The objectives of this study were to identify the level of cohesion, collective efficacy, and perceptions of coaching competency by each athletic …

Efficacy Of A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment For Weight Loss In Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Kathy Wickersham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing across all sociodemographic groups. Obesity and overweight are major risk factors in the development of the disease and in the development of complications. Conversely, weight loss improves glycemic control, which reduces likelihood of complications. Interventions combining cognitive and behavioral components show promise in addressing the problem of weight loss maintenance. The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral intervention. Participants were 54 adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control. The assessment measures utilized in this study were the …

Student Teachers' Explicit And Implicit Perceptions Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Hollie K. Berglof

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined student teachers' explicit and implicit perceptions of ADHD and the relationship between perceptions of ADHD and social desirability. In addition, the relationship between a current measure of implicit perceptions of ADHD and one that was adapted for this study was also investigated. Findings indicate that student teachers view a student portrayed as exhibiting symptoms consistent with ADHD more negatively than a "normal" child in terms of their self-reported first impressions of the child as well as their predictions for the child's future success. Participants' perceptions, as measured by two implicit measures, however, were mixed, with results from …

Retail Sales Trends Across Nebraska Counties And Localities, Bruce B. Johnson, Ben Blomendahl

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

Retailing patterns are changing everywhere. Consumer preferences and resources are ever-changing; while simultaneously, the retail sector is constantly evolving into new configurations. Often retail trade centers are pitted against one another in a “zero-sum game” so to speak with any relative gains in trade volume by one occurring at the expense of others. Nebraska is certainly no exception to these universal changes. In fact, the changes often seem compounded across its wide size continuum of towns and cities.

This report represents an update to an earlier report, Retailing Patterns and Trends across Nebraska, 1970-1998. In it we are attempting …

Omanization Of Oman's Private Sector: Implementation, Challenges, And Solutions, Mazid Al-Rawas

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the status of the implementation of the Omanization policy, challenges associated with the Omani government in implementing the Omanization policy, and the solutions appropriate to overcome these challenges in the implementation of Omanization. Data for this study was collected through a survey that included 13 Likert-type statements developed by the researcher. The population of this study consisted of 50 human resource managers in private companies; these companies were randomly selected from the list of all companies registered in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the Sultanate of Oman. The researcher received a total …

Applications Of Subsampling, Hybrid, And Size-Correction Methods, Donald W.K. Andrews, Patrik Guggenberger

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper analyzes the properties of subsampling, hybrid subsampling, and size-correction methods in two non-regular models. The latter two procedures are introduced in Andrews and Guggenberger (2005b). The models are non-regular in the sense that the test statistics of interest exhibit a discontinuity in their limit distribution as a function of a parameter in the model. The first model is a linear instrumental variables (IV) model with possibly weak IVs estimated using two-stage least squares (2SLS). In this case, the discontinuity occurs when the concentration parameter is zero. The second model is a linear regression model in which the parameter …

Comm-Entary, Spring 2007 - Full Issue

Comm-entary

In this issue:

The Influence of Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" on Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" by Nick Miale

War Justification Rhetoric of President George W. Bush by Anna Pape

Rhetorical Analysis of Thomas E. Franklin's "Ground Zero Spirit" as an Iconic Photograph by Janet Lang

Verbal Depiction of the Visual: The Confederate Monument at Shiloh National Military Park by Dalisa Carpenter

A Scene Function Model Analysis of Television's Cult Hit "Lost" by Adam-Scott Donovan

Superman Goes to War: Heroes, Enemies, and the Manipulation of Perception by Michael Soha

The Pursuit of Equal …

Miami Voter Dispositions Toward The Development ‘Boom’ And Economic Development Policy: A Report On Focus Group Research Among City Of Miami Voters, Alex Stepick, Marcos Feldman

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this project is to assess City of Miami residents’ opinions about Miami’s building boom of the past few years. We were concerned with how development directly affects the lives of individuals in Miami, especially in the areas where development is concentrated. We wanted to learn what residents view as the positive and negative impacts of development and what path they felt development should follow.

A Comparison Of Print And Broadcast News, Amanda Ferren Johnson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Ink Impressions: Public Perceptions Of Tattoos And Criminality, Ashlee N. Cook

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In an ever evolving society, the definition and acceptance of deviant behavior has broadened significantly. The taboos that were once cast out by society have begun to be accepted in society. Participation in tattooing is a prime example of behavior that has become more mainstream. This once detestable art form, which ranges from branding techniques of criminals to tattooing as fashion, has been commodified and accepted by certain groups in our society. However, the adoption of this practice by no means indicates that it is uniformly viewed as acceptable. Research has been conducted on this phenomenon; however, limited studies have …

Effects Of Physical Activity On Psychological Change In Advanced Age: A Multivariate Meta-Analysis, Meng-Jia Wu, Betsy Jane Becker, Yael Netz

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

An example of multivariate meta-analysis is demonstrated by synthesizing the treatment effects of exercise of 15 groups on six mood state changes in elders measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale. Two different methods were used to analyze this multivariate dataset. The SAS codes for two set of the analyses were provided. Results showed that exercise has a modest and positive impact on elders mood change.

Application Of A New Procedure For Power Analysis And Comparison Of The Adjusted Univariate And Multivariate Tests In Repeated Measures Designs, Sean W. Mulvenon, M. Austin Betz, Kening Wang, Bruno D. Zumbo

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A relationship between the multivariate and univariate noncentrality parameters in repeated measures designs was developed for the purpose of assessing the relative power of the univariate and multivariate approaches. An application is provided examining the use of repeated measures designs to evaluate student achievement in a K-12 school system

The Effects Of Heteroscedasticity On Tests Of Equivalence, Jamie A. Gruman, Robert A. Cribbie, Chantal A. Arpin-Cribbie

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Tests of equivalence, which are designed to assess the similarity of group means, are becoming more popular, yet very little is known about the statistical properties of these tests. Monte Carlo methods are used to compare the test of equivalence proposed by Schuirmann with modified tests of equivalence that incorporate a heteroscedastic error term. It was found that the latter were more accurate than the Schuirmann test in detecting equivalence when sample sizes and variances were unequal.

On The Properties Of Beta-Gamma Distribution, Lingji Kong, Carl Lee, J.H. Sepanski

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A class of generalized gamma distribution called the beta-gamma distribution is proposed. Some of its properties are examined. Its shape can be reversed J-shaped, unimodal, or bimodal. Reliability and hazard functions are also derived, and applications are discussed.

On The Product Of Maxwell And Rice Random Variables, M. Shakil, B. M. Golam Kibria

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The distributions of the product of independent random variables arise in many applied problems. These have been extensively studied by many researchers. In this paper, the exact distributions of the product |XY| have been derived when X and Y are Maxwell and Rice random variables respectively, and are distributed independently of each other. The associated cdfs, pdfs, and kth moments have been given.

Optimal Lp-Metric For Minimizing Powered Deviations In Regression, Stan Lipovetsky

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Minimizations by least squares or by least absolute deviations are well known criteria in regression modeling. In this work the criterion of generalized mean by powered deviations is suggested. If the parameter of the generalized mean equals one or two, the fitting corresponds to the least absolute or the least squared deviations, respectively. Varying the power parameter yields an optimum value for the objective with a minimum possible residual error. Estimation of a most favorable value of the generalized mean parameter shows that it almost does not depend on data. The optimal power always occurs to be close to 1.7, …

A Comparison Of Two Rank Tests For Repeated Measure Designs, Tian Tian, Rand R. Wilcox

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

This article compares the small-sample properties of the Agresti-Pendergast and the ATS rank-based method, as described in Brunner, Domh, and Langer (2002), for comparing J dependent groups. The results indicate that the Type I error of the Agresti-Pendergast method is more conservative when J = 2 , but under most conditions, the ATS method performs best in terms of both Type I errors and power.