Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Jmasm27: An Algorithm For Implementing Gibbs Sampling For 2pno Irt Models (Fortran), Yanyan Sheng, Todd C. Headrick

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A Fortran 77 subroutine is provided for implementing the Gibbs sampling procedure to a normal ogive IRT model for binary item response data with the choice of uniform and normal prior distributions for item parameters. The subroutine requires the user to have access to the IMSL library. The source code is available at http://www.siu.edu/~epse1/sheng/Fortran/, along with a stand alone executable file.

Mathmatics In Volume I Of Scripta Universitatis, Shlomo S. Sawilowsky

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Immanuel Velikovsky’s journal, Scripta Universitatis, edited by Albert Einstein and first published in 1923, played a significant role in the establishment of the library, and hence, Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The inaugural issue contained an article by the French mathematician Jacques Hadamard. Excerpts from Velikovsky’s diary pertaining to the rationale for the creation of the journal, and the interest in Jewish scholars such as Hadamard, are translated here.

Critical Inquiry: Library Media Specialists As Change Agents, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This article describes some of the key concepts and strategies associated with the term critical inquiry that are relevant to the work of school libraries in secondary settings. Practical examples are given for conducting critical inquiry in the library based on the authors work with African American youth in an after school literacy program.

Status Of Security Awareness In Business Organizations And Colleges Of Business: An Analyses Of Training And Education, Policies, And Social Engineering Testing, Glenda M. Rotvold

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first purpose of this study is to investigate the status of security awareness training, IT-related policies, and the use of social engineering testing in business organizations. A second purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which colleges and universities are offering security awareness topics as part of a student's coursework or daily activities, specifically in colleges of business, to help determine the level of students' security awareness exposure and preparedness for the work world.

The colleges of business study examined demographics, what topics were being covered, how often, to …

Recruitment And Retention Of Childhood Bereavement Center Facilitators, Katherine A. Guilfoyle

Senior Honors Projects

When I first visited FRIENDS Way (the only childhood bereavement center in Rhode Island) to fulfill a class requirement for Honors 119- Loss in the Lives of Children and Adolescents, I realized that I had come across an incredible group of individuals. The facilitators at the center were volunteers; people who gave their time and talent to help grieving children. Many of the children had lost a parent, sibling or grandparent and I thought about how important and special the work of the facilitators is. A number of questions ran through my mind: what makes people want to do this …

Universal Disaster Impact Scale, Brian James Evans

Master's Theses

When disasters occur affecting multiple communities differently, can a determination be made as to which community is in need of financial or humanitarian aid the most? This study proposes a universal disaster impact scale that will allow the impacts of a large variety of disasters, including natural and human systems failures, to be measured against one another. The Universal Disaster Impact Scale includes both quantitative and qualitative disaster impact measurements combined with an economic factor for the affected country in an equation which provides a numeric rating for the disaster. The rating is used to measure the level of need …

The Next Generation Of Emergency Management : Proposal For A New Model Of Emergency Operations Center For A Growing Regional Emergency Management System, John D. Eggleston

Master's Theses

The emergency operations center organizational model used by the Charlottesville/Albemarle/University of Virginia (CAUVA) Emergency Management Agency is organized around the various departments that staff the center. The EOC model has been used to coordinate small scale natural disasters and training exercises, but has never been used to coordinate a significant actual event. After-action reports of previous events and exercises have highlighted several functional deficiencies and have led some local and state officials to doubt the model's ability to coordinate a significant event... The research process involved a literature and extant document review which discovered that there were four recognized EOC …

Incarceration : A Rising Population Dilemma, Lessie Smith Jr.

Master's Theses

The nation's incarceration growth continues to soar, having negative economic and societal effects. This research explores continued growth causes and possible answers to prevent, intervene, and slow down incarceration. Hampton Roads institutions' offenders and professional staff were surveyed. The survey focuses on preventive and intervention programs and their effectiveness, sociological and economical factors leading to imprisonment, and statistics supporting incarceration growth. The research goal is to validate program contents and components factoring into imprisonment. The study of others and information generated through this study are used to determine program needs and current effectiveness. This study explores reasons offenders frequent the …

A Study Of The Best Spanish Training Practices For Police Officers, Nicole Marie Otero

Master's Theses

Within the last ten years, the Hispanic population in the United States has grown immensely. This presents a communication problem between the Hispanic communities and the police departments who protect and serve them. This also creates a serious liability issue for police departments. Currently, law enforcement is struggling to adequately train police officers how to speak Spanish. This research examines ways for Chesterfield and Henrico County Police Departments to develop the Spanish-speaking skills of their current police officers. This research further provides details of possible costs to provide adequate Spanish-speaking training to the police officers in both counties. The data …

Music, The Non-Governmental Actor Changing Political Policy: Have We Failed The Power Of Music?, Alex Hershey

Senior Honors Projects

Music, the Non-Governmental Actor Changing Political Policy: Have We Failed the Power of Music? People learn that making music as well as listening to it frees them from the toil and tedium of a life dominated by the privileged and the powerful. Music means trouble for those who would own and control it as they perpetuate injustice and suffering. – Mat Callahan It is believed that the pen is mightier than the sword, but is the guitar playing vocalist, a beatnik, mightier than the M-16 machinegun and an American political oligarchy? To find the answer to this question we must …

Corticospinal Excitability During A Perspective-Taking Task : Implications For Self Vs. Other Processing, Elizabeth M. Murray

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Only by understanding the uniquely human ability to take a first- second- and third-person perspective, can we begin to elucidate the neural processes responsible for one’s inimitable conscious experience. The current study examined differences in hemispheric laterality during a first-person perspective (1PP) and third-person perspective (3PP) taking task, using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Subjects were asked to take either the 1PP or 3PP in identifying the number of spheres in a virtual scene. During this task, single- pulse TMS was delivered to the motor cortex of both the left and right hemispheres of 10 healthy volunteers. Measures of TMS-induced motor-evoked …

Musical Mystique : How Today’S Pop Music Can Be Interpreted By Young Audiences, Amy Melissa Young

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Music is everywhere and so is its influence. Like all media, music can help us express ourselves, but it also can impact our lives. The following study investigates pop music by female artists and how this genre impacts the lives of young audiences. The research asks what images of women and relational scripts are offered through this genre, but this study also asks what audiences are doing with it.

Media studies have taken us from “The Magic Bullet” to “Uses and Gratifications” and almost everywhere in between. Somewhere in the middle of all of these theories lies Hall’s view of …

Developing A Women's Studies Course, Jennifer E. Phillips

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project contains a complete Women‟s Studies survey course designed to be used as a twenty-week elective at Kenmore West High School. It contains a curriculum guide, a ninety-day schedule plan and ninety days of lesson plans. Its purpose is to expose young men and women to women‟s issues in the past and present.

Effects Of Infertility Insurance Mandates On Fertility, Lucie Schmidt

Economics: Faculty Publications

Infertility currently affects over 6 million individuals in the United States. While most health insurance plans nationwide do not cover infertility diagnoses or treatments, to date 15 states have enacted some form of infertility insurance mandate. In this paper, I use data from the Vital Statistics Detail Natality Data and Census population estimates to examine whether these state-level mandates were successful in increasing fertility rates. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I exploit variation in the enactment of mandates both across states and over time, and identify treatment and control groups that should have been differentially affected by infertility coverage. My results …

Practical Unit-Root Analysis Using Information Criteria: Simulation Evidence, Kosei Fukuda

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The information-criterion-based model selection method for detecting a unit root is proposed. The simulation results suggest that the performances of the proposed method are usually comparable to and sometimes better than those of the conventional unit-root tests. The advantages of the proposed method in practical applications are also discussed.

Tests For Treatment Group Equality When Data Are Nonnormal And Heteroscedastic, Robert A. Cribbie, Rand R. Wilcox, Carmen Bewell, H. J. Keselman

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Several tests for group mean equality have been suggested for analyzing nonnormal and heteroscedastic data. A Monte Carlo study compared the Welch tests on ranked data and heterogeneous, nonparametric statistics with previously recommended procedures. Type I error rates for the Welch tests on ranks and the heterogeneous, nonparametric statistics were well controlled with a slight power advantage for the Welch tests on ranks.

A Fano-Huffman Based Statistical Coding Method, Aladdin Shamilov, Senay Asma

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Statistical coding techniques have been used for lossless statistical data compression, applying methods such as Ordinary, Shannon, Fano, Enhanced Fano, Huffman and Shannon-Fano-Elias coding methods. A new and improved coding method is presented, the Fano-Huffman Based Statistical Coding Method. It holds the advantages of both the Fano and Huffman coding methods. It is more easily applicable than the Huffman coding methods and it is more optimal than Fano coding method. The optimality with respect to the other methods is realized on the basis of English, German, Turkish, French, Russian and Spanish.

Modeling Longitudinal Ordinal Response Variables For Educational Data, Ann A. O'Connell, Heather Levitt Doucette

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

This article presents applications for the analysis of multilevel ordinal response data through the proportional odds model. Data are drawn from the public-use Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Results showed that gender, number of family risk characteristics, and age at kindergarten entry were associated with initial reading proficiency (0 to 5 scale). The number of family risks and age were associated with time-slopes. Three issues are highlighted: building multilevel ordinal models, interpretation of multilevel effects; and determination of predicted probabilities based on results of the multilevel proportional odds models.

Bimodality Revisited, Thomas R. Knapp

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Degree of bimodality is an important feature of a frequency distribution, because it could suggest heterogeneity, such as polarization or two underlying distributions combined into one. The literature contains several measures of bimodality. This article attempts to summarize most of those measures, with their attendant advantages and disadvantages.

Type I Error Rates Of The Kenward-Roger Adjusted Degree Of Freedom F-Test For A Split-Plot Design With Missing Values, Miguel A. Padilla, James Algina

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The Type I error rate of the Kenward-Roger (KR) test, implemented by PROC MIXED in SAS, was assessed through a simulation study for a one between- and one within-subjects factor split-plot design with ignorable missing values and covariance heterogeneity. The KR test controlled the Type I error well under all of the simulation factors, with all estimated Type I error rates between .040 and .075. The best control was for testing the between-subjects main effect (error rates between .041 and .057) and the worst control was for the between-by-within interaction (.040 to .075). The simulated factors had very small effects …

Comparison Of The T Vs. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test For Likert Scale Data And Small Samples, Gary E. Meek, Ceyhun Ozgur, Kenneth Dunning

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The one sample t-test is compared with the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test for identical data sets representing various Likert scales. An empirical approach is used with simulated data. Comparisons are based on observed error rates for 27,850 data sets. Recommendations are provided.

Approximate Bayesian Confidence Intervals For The Mean Of An Exponential Distribution Versus Fisher Matrix Bounds Models, Vincent A. R. Camara

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The aim of this article is to obtain and compare confidence intervals for the mean of an exponential distribution. Considering respectively the square error and the Higgins-Tsokos loss functions, approximate Bayesian confidence intervals for parameters of exponential population are derived. Using exponential data, the obtained approximate Bayesian confidence intervals will then be compared to the ones obtained with Fisher Matrix bounds method. It is shown that the proposed approximate Bayesian approach relies only on the observations. The Fisher Matrix bounds method, that uses the z-table, does not always yield the best confidence intervals, and the proposed approach often performs better.

Beta-Weibull Distribution: Some Properties And Applications To Censored Data, Carl Lee, Felix Famoye, Olugbenga Olumolade

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Some properties of a four-parameter beta-Weibull distribution are discussed. The beta-Weibull distribution is shown to have bathtub, unimodal, increasing, and decreasing hazard functions. The distribution is applied to censored data sets on bus-motor failures and a censored data set on head-and-neck-cancer clinical trial. A simulation is conducted to compare the beta-Weibull distribution with the exponentiated Weibull distribution.

La Mondialisation Qui Menace L’Identité Française Et Ses Relations Avec Le Commerce, Kelly Mcbrien

Senior Honors Projects

Globalization is an integral part of our society today: economically, socially and politically. Some may see Globalization as the world coming together through the ease and speed of capital, goods, services, ideas, information, and technology across our “shrinking” borders. Others may hold a more negative view of Globalization, and may see it as simply growing conflicts between nations and cultures. One of the central problems of globalization is the fear of homogenization or Americanization. Many cultures see globalization as cultural uniformity. As Benedict Anderson has said, “one man’s imagined community is another mans political prison.” This quote can help to …

Lasser Voir: Experimental Film Revealing The Dichotomy Of The Mind, Valerie Kitchin

Senior Honors Projects

Lasser voir is a French term meaning to show; to allow to be seen. The film is meant to interpret the internal genesis from dual perspectives. Absolute Good and absolute Evil coexist fighting each other eternally. The challenge is to create a vision of the form of good and the form of evil, thus showing the interior and exterior struggle between the two. Good and Evil appear as the same individual: each opposing one another in ethereal battle through the channel of artistic interpretation. The concept originates from the writhing movement within the mind. It cannot live without Good, but …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Impact Of Health Journalism Through Women's Magazines, Abigail Cuffey

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The first women’s magazines date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout the years, they continue to advise, entertain, and give a voice to women. This paper examines one particular area: health journalism, an area that offers the potential for a substantial impact on readers’ health and lifestyle. This thesis explores the potential impact through interviewing the health editors and writers, as well as the readers themselves. The thesis also profiles a pioneer health writer, Barbara Seaman, whose decades of health writing for women’s magazines served as a catalyst for change on several critical women’s issues. Seaman’s work …

An Analysis Of Print Media Coverage Of The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict During The Second Israeli Invasion Of Lebanon In 2006, Majdouline Aziz

All Theses

Through content analysis, the thesis examines how print media frame the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that assists in the expression of a pro-Israeli bias. More specifically it investigates the New York Times and the Associated Press coverage of the Palestinian and Israeli deaths reported during the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006 (July 12, 2006-September 8, 2006). The study found that both news sources expressed their pro-Israeli bias through legitimatizing and de-legitimizing Israeli and Palestinian killings. The New York Times generally justified Israeli killers and killings, condemned Palestinian killers and killings, and assigned more prominence to the Israeli side of the …

Interference Of L1 English In L2 French Lexical Processing, Sarah Kuhn

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This study examines the interference, if any, caused by a first language (specifically English) in the processing of lexical items in a second language (French). Participants performed a computer-based translation recognition task where they were asked whether a pair of words, one French and the other English, represented an acceptable translation. Six different types of critical pairs were randomly alternated with actual translation pairs and unrelated distractor pairs. Each of the different categories of critical pairs had a different relationship with the L1 word, the L2 word, or both. Participants’ scores on this task were then analyzed to determine the …

Psychological Predictors Of Success In Bariatric Surgery Patients: A Meta-Analytic Review, Elizabeth C. Thompson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Background: Bariatric weight loss surgeries are an increasingly popular last resort option for obese individuals attempting to lose weight. Though these surgeries often produce substantial weight loss outcomes, especially in a short-term follow-up period, many individuals that undergo these procedures are unable to achieve long-term weight loss success. Within the bariatric surgery literature several psychological variables have been implicated in this long-term failure to maintain weight loss. Purpose: This study was designed to assess the effects of psychological variables on weight loss success after surgery through a meta-analytic review. Methods: The effect sizes from 10 studies were calculated and combined …

The U.S./Canada Safe Third Country Agreement: A Geographical Evaluation, Sarah Anne Ryman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The U.S./Canadian border is in the process of being renegotiated as a result of larger processes of redefining and reimagining sovereign territories inNorth America. New understandings ofU.S.and Canadian state sovereignty are creating a conflated “other” of cross-border flows: an illegitimate migrant figure who is securitized, criminalized and disembodied. The contemporary “othering” of the migrant has serious human rights implications such as the restriction of access to refugee protection. U.S.and Canadian states share an agenda of migration control executed through the manipulation of geography and the figure of the migrant.

On paper, the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) aims to enhance …