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2009

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Articles 11851 - 11880 of 11949

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Culture And Persuasion Online: Predicting Attitudes, Cognitions, And Behavioral Intentions In A Culturally Diverse Online Marketplace, Gennadi Gevorgyan Jan 2009

Culture And Persuasion Online: Predicting Attitudes, Cognitions, And Behavioral Intentions In A Culturally Diverse Online Marketplace, Gennadi Gevorgyan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With an online experiment and a focus group, I examined the role of cultural appeals in online persuasive communication. The results of the study revealed that culturally oriented Web sites and online advertisements influence individual attitudes and behavioral intentions. These effects were particularly strong when cultural appeals were consistent across advertisements and their hosting Web sites. I observed the main effect of culture on persuasiveness of Web sites and advertisements both the American and the Chinese samples of participants. The results of the study did not, however, support the expectation that ethnic identity and need for cognition would interact with …

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An Ethnography Of "Hang It Out To Dry", Danielle Sears Vignes Jan 2009

An Ethnography Of "Hang It Out To Dry", Danielle Sears Vignes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an ethnography of a performance ethnography. The performance “Hang It Out To Dry” explores the experiences of residents from Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This dissertation traces “Hang It Out To Dry” from the beginning of fieldwork to the aesthetic staging of collected narratives and through two years of community building as the performance toured the nation. Particularly, I develop methods for collecting materials from fieldwork for adaptation to the stage. The study demonstrates the intellectual work of performance composition in scripting and staging a performance ethnography. In doing so, I mark …

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The Assessment Of And Differences Among Intellectually Disabled Adults With Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorders And Epilepsy, Kimberly Robin Michelle Smith Jan 2009

The Assessment Of And Differences Among Intellectually Disabled Adults With Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorders And Epilepsy, Kimberly Robin Michelle Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study was to systematically examine group differences among those with intellectual disabilities (ID) and comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and epilepsy in an adult population through a detailed exploration of the characteristics that these disorders present in the areas of psychopathology, behavior problems, and impaired social behavior. Previous studies indicating that individuals with ID have comorbid ASD and neurological conditions tend to stop short of addressing these disorders’ impact on the full range of psychosocial issues, particularly in adult samples. Assessments of psychopathology, behavior problems, and impaired social behavior were made with the ASD-Comorbidity-Adult Version and …

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The Acquisition Of Pragmatic Competence: Compliment Response Strategies In Learners Of Spanish, James Bryant Smith Jan 2009

The Acquisition Of Pragmatic Competence: Compliment Response Strategies In Learners Of Spanish, James Bryant Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The areas of Pragmatics and Second Language Acquisition have existed separately in the field of Linguistics for some time. Their connection, however, has more recently seen a great deal of study by researchers like Scarcella and Brunak (1981), Rintell (1981), Brown and Levinson (1987), Koike (1992, 1996), Saito, Beecken (1997), Félix-Brasdefer (2003, 2006) and Huth (2006). A common thread in these studies is the effect of language transfer or cross-linguistic influence that the first language has while learners are attempting to acquire the pragmatic and politeness principles that are central to the target language and culture. One speech act that …

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Beyond Crime Quantites: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Relative Prevalence Of Interracial Violence, Shaun A. Thomas Jan 2009

Beyond Crime Quantites: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Relative Prevalence Of Interracial Violence, Shaun A. Thomas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Prior research examining between community variations in violent crime has largely been guided by the social disorganization perspective and the systemic model of community attachment. This literature supports a strong relation between structural resource deprivation, residential instability, and rates of violent crime. In communities where poverty, unemployment, and broken families are geographically concentrated and home ownership and length of residence are relatively low, levels of violent crime are exacerbated. This dissertation extends prior research by focusing on variation in the nature or quality of violence rather than crime rates or quantities. While many analyses explore variations in rates of crime, …

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Local Employment, Poverty, And Property Value Effects Of Geographically-Targeted Tax Incentives: An Instrumental Variables Approach, Andrew R. Hanson Jan 2009

Local Employment, Poverty, And Property Value Effects Of Geographically-Targeted Tax Incentives: An Instrumental Variables Approach, Andrew R. Hanson

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

The federal Empowerment Zone (EZ) program is a set of tax incentives targeted to areas of select cities. I estimate the effect of the EZ program on employment, poverty, and property values by comparing areas that received an EZ to areas that applied (and qualified), but were rejected. Because of endogeneity concerns, I use political representation to instrument for EZ designation. OLS results show a positive and statistically significant effect of the program on employment and poverty. IV estimates suggest the program had no effect on employment and poverty, and instead had a large statistically significant effect on property values.

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Competing Conceptions Of The Individual In Recent Economics, John B. Davis Jan 2009

Competing Conceptions Of The Individual In Recent Economics, John B. Davis

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

This article characterizes the Homo economicus conception in terms of three linked properties that are central to it as an atomist conception. On the standard view, individuals: have exogenous preferences; interact only (or almost only) in an indirect manner with one another through the price mechanism; and are unaffected in these two respects by the aggregate effects of their interaction with one another. The new research programs differ in how objectionable they find each of these properties, as befits their different commitments to synchronic or diachronic forms of explanation. Furthermore, this article reviews the role of synchronic and diachronic types …

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Committee Size And Smart Growth: An Optimal Solution, Russell Kashian, Heather Kohls Jan 2009

Committee Size And Smart Growth: An Optimal Solution, Russell Kashian, Heather Kohls

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

Wisconsin is one of many states that have enacted a “Smart Growth Initiative” law that requires inclusion of the public in the creation and development of a Comprehensive Plan. One implication of public participation is the strategic development of a comprehensive planning committee. Two crucial decisions occur when the committee is formed: the size of the committee and the composition of the committee. This paper models a relation between committee size and the accuracy of plan, as well as the relationship between the inclusion of experts, whether paid consultants or planners, and the quality of the outcome. Based on a …

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The Fourth Level Of Social Structure In A Multi-Level Society: Ecological & Social Functions Of Clans In Hamadryas Baboons, Amy Schreier, Larissa Swedell Jan 2009

The Fourth Level Of Social Structure In A Multi-Level Society: Ecological & Social Functions Of Clans In Hamadryas Baboons, Amy Schreier, Larissa Swedell

Publications and Research

Hamadryas baboons are known for their complex, multi-level social structure consisting of troops, bands, and one-male units (OMUs) [Kummer, 1968]. Abegglen [1984] observed a 4th level of social structure comprising several OMUs that rested near one another on sleeping cliffs, traveled most closely together during daily foraging, and sometimes traveled as subgroups independently from the rest of the band. Abegglen called these associations “clans” and suggested that they consisted of related males. Here we confirm the existence of clans in a second wild hamadryas population, a band of about 200 baboons at the Filoha site in lowland Ethiopia. During …

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Male Aggression Towards Females In Hamadryas Baboons: Conditioning, Coercion And Control, Larissa Swedell, Amy Schreier Jan 2009

Male Aggression Towards Females In Hamadryas Baboons: Conditioning, Coercion And Control, Larissa Swedell, Amy Schreier

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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Community College Online Course Retention And Final Grade: Predictability Of Social Presence, Simon Y. Liu, Joel Gomez, Cherng-Jyh Yen Jan 2009

Community College Online Course Retention And Final Grade: Predictability Of Social Presence, Simon Y. Liu, Joel Gomez, Cherng-Jyh Yen

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study employed a quantitative research design to examine the predictive relationships between social presence and course retention as well as final grade in community college online courses. Social presence is defined as the degree of one's feeling, perception and reaction to another intellectual entity in the online environment. Course final grades included A, B. C, D, F, I, or W. Course retention was defined as successfully completed a course with an A to C grade. The results of the binary and ordinal logistic regression analyses suggest that social presence is a significant predictor of course retention and final grade …

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The Rise Of Private Equity Media Ownership In The United States: A Public Interest Perspective, Matthew Crain Jan 2009

The Rise Of Private Equity Media Ownership In The United States: A Public Interest Perspective, Matthew Crain

Publications and Research

This article examines the logic, scope, and implications of the influx of private equity takeovers in the United States media sector in the last decade. The strategies and aims of private equity firms are explained in the context of the financial landscape that has allowed them to flourish; their aggressive expansion into media ownership is outlined in detail. Particular attention is paid to the public interest concerns raised by private equity media ownership relating to the frenzied nature of the buyout market, profit maximization strategies, and the heavy debt burdens imposed on acquired firms. The article concludes with discussion of …

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An Integrated Agent-Based Microsimulation Model For Hurricane Evacuation In New Orleans, Wei Liang Jan 2009

An Integrated Agent-Based Microsimulation Model For Hurricane Evacuation In New Orleans, Wei Liang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mass evacuation of urban areas due to hurricanes is a critical problem that requires extensive basic and applied research. Knowing the accurate evacuation time needed for the entire region in advance such that the evacuation order can be issued on a timely basis is crucial for the officials. Microsimulation modeling, which focuses on the characteristics of individual motorists and travel behavior, has been used widely in traffic simulation as it can lead to the most accurate result. However, because detailed driver response modeling and path processing must be incorporated, vehicle-based microscopic models have always been used only to simulate small …

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Inside The Red Box: North Korea's Post-Totalitarian Politcs, Patrick Mceachern Jan 2009

Inside The Red Box: North Korea's Post-Totalitarian Politcs, Patrick Mceachern

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a radically new understanding of North Korean politics under Kim Jong Il and carefully tests this theoretical proposition. Current models describe North Korea as some form of a highly centralized state: totalitarian, personalistic, or corporatist. By contrast, I argue that these monolithic ideal types fail to capture the institutional pluralism that helps distinguish the younger Kim’s rein from his father’s. While Kim Il Sung’s rule can be described as totalitarian, Kim Jong Il governs through a more decentralized post-totalitarian, institutionally plural state. Kim Jong Il’s government is highly centralized, but it is less centralized than his father’s. …

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People, Sheep, And Landscape Change In Colonial Mexico: The Sixteenth-Century Transformation Of The Valle Del Mezquital, Richard Hunter Jan 2009

People, Sheep, And Landscape Change In Colonial Mexico: The Sixteenth-Century Transformation Of The Valle Del Mezquital, Richard Hunter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The causes of central Mexico’s environmental degradation are poorly understood. Scholarly contention centers on the role of introduced livestock as agents of soil erosion. This dissertation explores New Spain’s sixteenth-century livestock ecology by drawing upon archival and field data to reconstruct the spatio-temporal characteristics of sheep ranches in a southeastern section of central Mexico’s Valle del Mezquital. The introductory chapter outlines a scholarly disagreement from the 1990s that underscored differences between historical and geographical approaches to studying historical landscape transformations. On one side of this debate, geographer Karl W. Butzer finds in the sixteenth-century Mexican Bajío little evidence for environmental …

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Measuring The Impact Of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention On Perceived Stress And Study Skills Of Social Work Graduate Students, Margot H. Hasha Jan 2009

Measuring The Impact Of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention On Perceived Stress And Study Skills Of Social Work Graduate Students, Margot H. Hasha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-component study incorporated the following: (1) an integrated study measuring the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intervention (MBSR) on potential stressors, appraised stress levels and adaptation to stress of MSW students enrolled in the Louisiana State University School of Social Work through a pretest posttest group design using time-series data to evaluate meditation practice; (2) a pretest posttest group design which examined changes in self-regulated learning skills; and (3) a cross-sectional survey which explored students self-reported reasons for not participating in the MBSR randomized control group study offered prior to the current study. Sample size for the integrated …

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Appropriate Technology, Human Capital, And Economic Development, Beatrice Farkas Jan 2009

Appropriate Technology, Human Capital, And Economic Development, Beatrice Farkas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research focuses on the role of human capital in explaining cross-country productivity differences, and in shaping the world allocation of capital stocks. A widely held view is that a country's ability to absorb and implement technologies is tied to its human capital. We construct a novel specification of technology that incorporates this idea. Countries are comprised of a range of industries with heterogeneous productivities. In high human capital countries, productivity is maximized for industries with the most sophisticated technologies, while in low human capital countries, productivity is maximized for industries with less sophisticated technologies. A key result is that …

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Detecting Coached Underreporting On The Mmpi-2 And Mmpi-2-Rf, Elizabeth M. Bolinger Jan 2009

Detecting Coached Underreporting On The Mmpi-2 And Mmpi-2-Rf, Elizabeth M. Bolinger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Early analyses performed by the authors of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) and others (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008; Sellbom & Bagby, 2008) have shown promise in detecting faking good profiles. Two validity scales designed to detect underreporting and defensiveness on the MMPI-2-RF are the L-r (a measure of underreporting by claiming unlikely moral virtues) and the K-r (a measure of underreporting by claiming good psychological adjustment) scales (Wygant, Ben-Porath, & Tellegen, 2007). These early studies have found very similar results and patterns as observed in studies of underreporting with the MMPI-2. This study attempts to add to …

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Bush's Adventures In National Service Policy And Five Lessons For President Obama, Richard Holtzman Jan 2009

Bush's Adventures In National Service Policy And Five Lessons For President Obama, Richard Holtzman

History and Social Sciences Faculty Journal Articles

As candidates, both Barack Obama and John McCain criticized George W. Bush’s failure to call for sacrifice and service from the American people in the wake of 9/11. However, criticizing the mistakes of a past president is not the same as learning from them. Obama has referred to service as the “cause of my presidency.” If Obama is indeed committed to following through on this campaign rhetoric, what lessons can he learn from Bush’s experiences? This essay offers an analysis of Bush’s adventures in national service policy and, in particular, his failures of presidential leadership in this arena. Its purpose …

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Putting A Face On Prehistory: Reconstructing Late-Mississippian Faces, Alicia Canfield Jan 2009

Putting A Face On Prehistory: Reconstructing Late-Mississippian Faces, Alicia Canfield

LSU Master's Theses

This paper examines the results of artificial cranial deformation on the human skull in relation to the human face and the use of three-dimensional printing in the making of skull casts. Forensic facial reconstructions, following the American Method, were performed on three Native American skulls from the Late-Mississippian period, excavated from the Humber Site and on loan from the University of Southern Mississippi, in order to see whether or not the artificial deformation radically changed the faces of the individuals. Skull casts were made out of ABS plastic using rapid prototyping technology, as the original skulls were too fragile for …

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Impact Of Endorser And Message Appeal On The Success Of An Online Aids Psa, Arti Kulkarni Jan 2009

Impact Of Endorser And Message Appeal On The Success Of An Online Aids Psa, Arti Kulkarni

LSU Master's Theses

This exploratory study investigated the impact of endorser type and message appeal on the success of an online AIDS public service announcement (PSA). The research sought to determine the main effects and interaction effects of endorser and message appeal on the measures of PSAs effectiveness (recall, recognition, attitudinal and behavioral). In order to achieve this goal, the research conducted a 3 X 2 factorial design experiment that manipulated three types of endorsers (celebrity, expert, and typical person) and two types of message appeals (emotional and rational) in the PSA. The researcher expected the expert endorser would be more effective than …

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Descriptive Study Of Korean E-Mail Discourse, Jaegu Kim Jan 2009

Descriptive Study Of Korean E-Mail Discourse, Jaegu Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an examination of a corpus of computer mediated Korean discourse (i.e., e-mail), based on a folk-cultural category, nunch’i. Nunch’i is actively involved in linguistic feature use in terms of [+age] and [+distance] of human relationships. Many Koreans think that the world has an inherent hierarchy according to age. This idea has been reflected through nunch’i, a culture-specific system for maintaining harmonious social relationships especially between [+age] and [–age] people. Nunch’i has a function of foresight, in that it is part of the way that people read the situations and the faces of addressers and addressees. Like oral …

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Pedagogical Discourse Styles Of Native And Non-Native Language Teachers, Stacy Anne Reynolds-Case Jan 2009

Pedagogical Discourse Styles Of Native And Non-Native Language Teachers, Stacy Anne Reynolds-Case

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study seeks to uncover the characteristics of foreign language instructors’ discourse styles implemented in the classroom when teaching students the target language. Foreign language classrooms are unique to academia because the teachers of the language, depending on whether they are native or non-native speakers of the target language, learned it in different environments and for distinct purposes. Many of the previous studies examining the effect a teacher’s ability in the target language will have on his/her instruction have focused on native and non-native speakers’ teaching styles and/or methodologies. Rather than the effect on the teacher’s style, the central question …

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An Analysis Of The Social Networks Of Local Television Reporters, Lisa R. Honore Jan 2009

An Analysis Of The Social Networks Of Local Television Reporters, Lisa R. Honore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyzed the personal and professional networks of four local television reporters using social network analysis methodology. Network analysis was carried out to the tertiary level allowing examination of demographic data for 773 individuals in the reporter networks. Analysis was conducted through the lens of media norms and routines and the sociological principle of homophily that states people are more likely to associate with people like themselves. Using as a guide, norms and routines and homophily literature as well as studies about the portrayal of minorities, the study examines how the social networks of reporters can determine how communities …

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Women After Hurricane Katrina: Predictors And Symptom Endorsement, Julia E. Thompson Jan 2009

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Women After Hurricane Katrina: Predictors And Symptom Endorsement, Julia E. Thompson

LSU Master's Theses

Hurricane Katrina devastated areas of New Orleans and caused the evacuation of most of the city’s residents. Many people were exposed to dangerous storms and flooding and lost many of their possessions. One of the most common psychological disorders following a disaster is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This study describes the PTSD symptom endorsement of a sample of women who experienced Hurricane Katrina. In addition, many of these women had previous trauma histories which are also described. Participants included 287 women from New Orleans, Jefferson and East Baton Rouge Parish recruited for a larger study on mother’s and children’s psychological functioning …

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The Plame Game: Framing A Political Scandal, Misty Dawn Albrecht Jan 2009

The Plame Game: Framing A Political Scandal, Misty Dawn Albrecht

LSU Master's Theses

The media play an important role in society. They interpret political events, actions, policies, and scandals in a manner that citizens can understand. The media use frames to assist in interpretations and descriptions. They may create their own frames or use frames supplied by the political elites. Frames can also lead to biased coverage when used to omit details or present someone in a favorable or unfavorable manner. This study examines the frames the media used during the coverage of President George W. Bush’s first political scandal, the “Plame Game.” On July 14, 2003, Robert Novak exposed the identity of …

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Aristotelian Liberalism: An Inquiry Into The Foundations Of A Free And Flourishing Society, Geoffrey Allan Plauche Jan 2009

Aristotelian Liberalism: An Inquiry Into The Foundations Of A Free And Flourishing Society, Geoffrey Allan Plauche

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation builds on the recent work of Douglas Rasmussen, Douglas Den Uyl and Roderick Long in developing an Aristotelian liberalism. It is argued that a neo- Aristotelian form of liberalism has a sounder foundation than others and has the resources to answer traditional left-liberal, postmodern, communitarian and conservative challenges by avoiding certain Enlightenment pitfalls: the charges of atomism, an a-historical and a- contextual view of human nature, license, excessive normative neutrality, the impoverishment of ethics and the trivialization of rights. An Aristotelian theory of virtue ethics and natural rights is developed that allows for a robust conception of the …

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Why The Old Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape, Legends, And The Construction Of Place At Dartmouth College, Charles H. Wade Jan 2009

Why The Old Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape, Legends, And The Construction Of Place At Dartmouth College, Charles H. Wade

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, is one of the nine Colonial Colleges and a member of the exclusive Ivy League. Congregationalist minister Eleazar Wheelock founded Dartmouth in 1769 on the premise of training missionaries to Christianize the Indians of the region and, over the years, Dartmouth developed into a premier college. Dartmouth is famous for its traditions, its ardently loyal alumni, and as a classic New England liberal arts college. But this image does not correspond with a closer, more critical look at the College. Through both archival and ethnographic research, this dissertation examines the cultural landscape, folklore, …

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Atlantic Tropical Cyclone: Climatology And The Contribution To Monthly And Seasonal Rainfall In The Eastern U.S. 1960-2007, Ricardo Chabarria Nogueira Jan 2009

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone: Climatology And The Contribution To Monthly And Seasonal Rainfall In The Eastern U.S. 1960-2007, Ricardo Chabarria Nogueira

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the most devastating of natural disasters, producing high winds, heavy rainfall, and floods. When TC remnants are considered, these events have impacts nearly nationwide across the U.S. Tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic Basin experiences great variability on intra-annual, interannual, and interdecadal timescales. That variability is often associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). George Cry (1967), in his pioneering study of tropical cyclone-induced rainfall found that TC rainfall presents an intraseasonal pattern over the eastern Unite States, contributing up to 40% of the monthly rainfall. This study replicates …

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A Comparison Of Mental Health Service Delivery Programs In Arkansas Public School Systems, Lisa Braddock Moon Jan 2009

A Comparison Of Mental Health Service Delivery Programs In Arkansas Public School Systems, Lisa Braddock Moon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This primarily descriptive research study was designed to provide an initial review of the mental health services being offered in the Arkansas public school system by assessing the current delivery of these services and examining certain demographic correlates. The study utilized an established national survey instrument, developed by SAMHSA, which was administered as an email survey to 140 Arkansas schools. The respondents for this study were the Local Education Agencies/Special Education Supervisors in individual school districts. Seventy-eight schools (55%) completed the survey, including 26 elementary schools, 25 junior high schools and 27 high schools. Sixty-two schools (79.5%) identified themselves as …

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