Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Christian Mission As A Relevant Applied Hermeneutic In The Post-Soviet Russian Context, Joseph A. Loya O.S.A.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Autocephaly Of The Romanian Orthodox Church: 125 Years Since Its Acknowledgement, Theodor Damian

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Essays On Location Choice And The Demand For Housing Services, Ovidiu Lasca

All Dissertations

My dissertation addresses two important individual level decisions: the choice of location made by young college graduates and the demand for owner-occupied housing. Young college graduates are an important component of the skilled labor force and one of the population groups with the highest risk of relocation. As a result, they are often targeted by state level policies aimed at attracting or retaining them in the labor force. My research reveals an important factor that determines the location chosen by young college graduates at the beginning of their career, and therefore informs policy makers on novel ways to make a …

Not Yet A Woman, Not Yet A Mom: The Leisure Experiences Of Pregnant Adolescents, Brianna Clark

All Dissertations

Pregnant adolescents are a unique group, they are not yet women, and not yet mothers. Adolescent pregnancy continues to be a social issue that has been given much attention; however, little research exists concerning the leisure of pregnant adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine pregnant adolescents' leisure experiences from their own standpoints. Standpoint theory, leisure constraints theory and ecological systems theory were used to frame the study. This phenomenological study gained an in-depth understanding of the leisure of nine pregnant teens enrolled in a school for pregnant and parenting teens located in a small city in …

Crime, Punishment, And Institutions, David Wilson

All Dissertations

The effect of prison conditions and discretionary parole on inmate behavior and crime rates is examined. Evidence suggests that prison conditions and crime rates are positively related, and that a shift away from discretionary parole leads to lower crime rates, but possibly higher levels of inmate misconduct.

Turkish Informal Housing Settlements As A Typology For Modern Generative Processes In Urban Design: A Case Study Of Karanfilkoy And Fatih Sultan Mehmet Neighborhoods In Istanbul, Turkey, Noah Billig

All Dissertations

Generative development processes adapt to existing conditions and unfold over time. Generative urban design theory proposes that successful communities must be planned and built incrementally, with current and future users participating throughout the process. The theory critiques the modern development processes of master planning and design that disregard adaptations through the building process. Successful examples of generatively built structures and neighborhoods are often cited from pre-20th century traditional societies and vernacular architecture. Generative approaches to urban design and planning need more modern 20th century examples and case studies of successful generatively built structures and communities.
Informal settlements are often cited …

Virtual Tourism: Identifying The Factors That Affect A Tourist's Experience And Behavioral Intentions In A 3d Virtual World, Yu-Chih Huang

All Dissertations

Given the increase in the use of technologies within the tourism industry, particularly the rising interest in virtual worlds such as Second Life, the purpose of this study is to identify the factors related to the 3D virtual tourism experience and behavioral intentions after visiting a virtual tourism destination. Two theories, the Technology Acceptance Model and Self-Determination Theory, were used to guide this study, both of which were found to be useful frameworks. Basecamp Maasai Mara in Second Life was selected as the research site, designed and developed through a collaborative effort at Clemson University. The results revealed that technological …

An Integrated Approach To Assessing The Resilience And Sustainability Of Community Based Tourism Development In The Commonwealth Of Dominica, Patrick Holladay

All Dissertations

Despite millions of dollars invested in developing community-based tourism to diversify economies, reduce poverty and improve quality of life in the Caribbean, little is known about what conditions lead to resilience and sustainability of tourism dependent communities. Sustainability from a resilience theory perspective is the likelihood an existing system of resource use will persist indefinitely without a decline in the resource base or social welfare. Undertaking activities to enhance resilience and sustainability improves a systems' ability to persevere, adapt, and learn to meet challenges caused by unanticipated events such as stock market collapse, political upheaval, or natural disaster. This study …

Disaster Preparedness For University/Community Transit Systems, Geary Robinson

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Public transportation, with its open access, creates an opportunity for masses of people to be hurt while using transit services during human-made or natural disasters. This dissertation reviews the body of academic and professional literature and recent disaster events to characterize the current state of preparedness for disasters affecting transit systems in the United States, focusing on institutions of higher education, other post-secondary educational institutions, and the university/community transit systems providing services to these institutions. The nature of threats is examined, and institutional issues are explored to discover the level of disaster preparedness of university/community transit systems, and their …

Essays On The Performance Of Us Bank Holding Companies, Liliana Danila

All Dissertations

I employ nonparametric estimation techniques to explore different aspects of the performance of US bank holding companies (BHCs).
In my paper 'Market Pricing of U.S. Bank Holding Companies' Technical Efficiency,' I use quarterly data from 1986 to 2009 to examine whether changes in technical efficiencies of U.S. BHCs are reflected in their stock returns. The relationship between technical efficiency and stock returns is analyzed both in a financial and accounting framework. Efficiencies are estimated using the unconditional hyperbolic α-quantile estimator developed by Wheelock and Wilson (2008). This estimator is a local estimator and exhibits more desirable statistical properties than traditional …

The Rights Of Children Affected By Aids: A Policy Paper Focusing On The Right To Education, Gita Jaffe

All Dissertations

HIV and AIDS have the potential to surpass every catastrophe in Africa's history, because they encompass all of the past vulnerabilities. Thirty years after the identification of HIV, a transition from medical disease to social epidemic has occurred. The impact on family and community is threatening current economic, medical and social systems. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the region most adversely affected, 14 million children have already been orphaned (UNAIDS, 2008). And at the core of the burgeoning orphan crisis, children affected by AIDS (CABA) are unable to exercise their rights, based on their position in society. This paper will concentrate …

Essays In The Political Economy Of Higher Education Funding, Benjamin Compton

All Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the consequences of political influence on state higher education funding at the committee level. The State of South Carolina has a long history of using a formula to determine the appropriate amount of funding that is to be allocated to its colleges and universities. I use the funding level implied by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education's formula as a counterfactual against which actual levels of appropriation are measured. The membership of key state legislative committees with alumni members is used to determine if colleges receive a greater proportion of their performance funding target than those …

Addiction And Sociality: Perspectives From Methamphetamine Users In Suburban Usa, Paul Boshears, Miriam W. Boeri, Liam Harbry

Faculty Articles

This article contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use, abuse and addiction. Current discourses of addiction tend to focus on the individual while limiting attention on the social environment and the role of sociality. We seek to contribute a more intuitive, insiders'' perspective of the drug trajectory and a broader conceptualization of addiction. Drawing from our qualitative study on 100 current and former methamphetamine users in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia (USA), we examined the trajectories of methamphetamine use to provide greater insight on what influences drug initiation, progression, cessation and relapse …

The Neo-Marxist Legacy In American Sociology, Jeff Manza, Michael A. Mccarthy

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

A significant group of sociologists entering graduate school in the late 1960s and 1970s embraced Marxism as the foundation for a critical challenge to reigning orthodoxies in the discipline. In this review, we ask what impact this cohort of scholars and their students had on the mainstream of American sociology. More generally, how and in what ways did the resurgence of neo-Marxist thought within the discipline lead to new theoretical and empirical research and findings? Using two models of Marxism as science as our guide, we examine the impact of sociological Marxism on research on the state, inequality, the labor …

Jeopolitik Teoriler Acisindan Kibris'in Onemi (The Importance Of Cyprus Island In Geopolitical Theories), Soylap Tamcelik

Center for Turkish Studies Occasional Paper Series

In this study, Cyprus has been evaluated according to geopolitical strategies as land, sea and air power and rimland theory. By this starting point, the main purpose of this study is to identify the importance of Cyprus according to these strategies. Mainly the geopolitical theories consist of four parts including land, sea, air and rimland theories. The discussion about which one of the air, land and sea powers are the main and which one is the sub power have not reach a definite conclusion yet. For this uncertainty, as an objective presentation a chronological line has been followed. According to …

Married And Cohabiting Men's Extra-Dyadic Relationships In Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing Two Health Behavior Models, Jared L. Ulschmid

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

Sixty percent of all individuals with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is primarily transmitted through sexual activity; having multiple congruent sexual partners is one significant source of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan African. Men are primarily the individuals to go outside of a relationship because of various social and cultural influences. The purpose of this study is to examine married and cohabiting men’s extra-dyadic affairs. Two models were used to examine men’s extra-dyadic behavior: The Health Belief Model (HBM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). These models can show if beliefs, attitudes, and norms about HIV/AIDS and the risks of …

Deployment Of Mobile Broadband Service In The United States, James Prieger, Thomas V. Church

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Broadband deployment in the United States is expanding rapidly but unevenly. Using new FCC census data on wireline and wireless broadband providers, we study mobile broadband provision within the United States. Although rural areas lag non-rural areas in the availability of residential access to both mobile and fixed broadband, mobile broadband is at least partially filling in geographical gaps in fixed-line broadband coverage. Multiple regression results indicate that population density and growth, and the fraction of blacks, Hispanics, and youth in an area are positive predictors of the number of mobile broadband providers. The fraction of Native Americans, Asians, and …

Mr Gandhi’S Terror Sermon, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Projecting The Impact Of The Money Follows The Person Program On Idaho Medicaid Long-Term Care Expenditures, Andrew Michael Hyer

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Background: It is well established that access to home and community-based services (HCBS) as an alternative to institutional long-term care (LTC) leads to better health outcomes. Because Medicaid is the primary payer for formal LTC services, changes in Medicaid policies favoring access to HCBS play a crucial role in “rebalancing” the nation's LTC delivery system. Prior research indicates that expanding Medicaid HCBS may result in lower per patient expenditures. A key part of Medicaid's rebalancing effort is the recently expanded Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, whereby the federal government offers enhanced match funds to assist state Medicaid programs in …

User Motivations For Using Business Facebook Pages, Malcolm Lee Hong

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Although user motives for personal use of Facebook has been frequently researched, literature that describes user motives for business communication purposes is limited. To understand this process, this study employed uses and gratifications theory to interpret users’ motivations for communicating and using business Facebook Pages. An online survey was distributed and completed by 345 participants. This survey asked participants about their personal use of Facebook, their use of business Facebook Pages, and what type of content on Facebook they found gratifying. Content analysis was also utilized to observe users’ communicative patterns on business Facebook Pages.

It was found that, in …

Conceptualizing And Measuring Energy Security: A Synthesized Approach, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Ishani Mukherjee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article provides a synthesized, workable framework for analyzing national energy security policies and performance. Drawn from research interviews, survey results, a focused workshop, and an extensive literature review, this article proposes that energy security ought to be comprised of five dimensions related to availability, affordability, technology development, sustainability, and regulation. We then break these five dimensions down into 20 components related to security of supply and production, dependency, and diversification for availability; price stability, access and equity, decentralization, and low prices for affordability; innovation and research, safety and reliability, resilience, energy efficiency, and investment for technology development; land use, …

The Singapore Town-Hall Meeting, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Professor Eugene Tan forecasts what the Prime Minister might say in his National Day Rally speech. He predicts it will touch on the ecomomy, Presidential election and social cohesion, among other issues.

Enhancing Therapists' Clinical Judgments Of Client Progress Subsequent To Objective Feedback, Michael M. Haderlie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although it is intuitive that the judgments made by mental-health clinicians become increasingly accurate as they gain clinical experience, research has demonstrated only minimal effects of experience on clinical judgment. Feedback regarding the accuracy of judgments is widely considered to be an essential component in developing clinical judgment. However, very little research has systematically examined whether the provision of feedback following judgments leads to increased judgment accuracy. The current research explored the effects of providing feedback to therapists regarding client progress on the accuracy of therapists' judgments of change. The effect of feedback on therapists' confidence ratings regarding such judgments …

In Quest Of A Dropout Theory: Examining The Utility Of An Ecological Approach Through Survey Research, Tiffany G. Tyler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the utility of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory as a metatheory of dropout. Using the NELS: 1988 dataset, the present study examined the relationship between dropout attributions and Bronfenbrenner's construct, the microsystem. Attention was given to accounting for students' attributions regarding their identity (e.g., demographic and profile characteristics) with environmental and regional contexts as possible moderators. In particular, the present study examined the responses given as reasons for dropout in view of how those responses could be categorized with Bronfenbrenner's theoretical structure and the extent to which the resulting categorization could predict dropout, considering related demographic variable.

This study …

Redefining Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Winta Sintayehu Gebremariam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New and challenging threats to humans are currently on the rise. These threats to human well being have been neglected and ignored within the traditional conception of security. Security studies have mainly focused on traditional threats, mostly military and political. Although still important, this perspective lacks the ability to address nontraditional threats that are killing and injuring millions each year. Each year, millions die of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, hunger, and water related diseases among others. Although these threats are widespread throughout the world, Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of these threats. This thesis proposes an ecological approach …

One Among The Twelve: How Library Professionals Constitute A Serious Challenge To The Provision Of Library Services In The 21st Century, Isaac Echezonam Anyira

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper explores the librarian-based factors that pose serious challenges to the delivery of library services in the 21st century. It is not just funding, but also the librarian that hinders the 21st century library. Factors include inflation of costs, embezzlement, bribery, misappropriation of funds, lack of relevant skills, fear, bias, dogmatism, and ageism. Librarians should develop themselves by seeking ICT training; take full advantage of training and development, and take advantage of the knowledge and education offered by conferences and workshops; ICT skill should be accorded priority in recruiting and retaining librarians; the LIS curriculum should include 21st century …

Revisiting Academic Library Design: A Response To William T. Caniano's "Academic Library Design: A Commons Or An Athenaeum", Donald Beagle

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This article responds to William T. Caniano's recent article in Library Philosophy and Practice criticizing the Commons model as causing a "labization" of the library, where a focus on high gate count creates noise problems inimical to the traditional scholarly ideal of the library. Caniano further asserts that increased use of laptops and mobile devices in the future will drive down demand for desktops, thus drastically reducing gate count and causing our Commons to become deserted. Lastly, Caniano advocates replacing it with what he calls the "Athenaeum" model. This article describes a number of sections of the Commons literature not …

Libraries Driving Access To Knowledge In The 21st Century In Developing Countries: An Overview, Olaronke Fagbola, Comfort Uzoigwe, Veronica Olufunmilola Ajegbomogun

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Libraries are critical contributors to knowledge generation and management. The paper discusses the advances in computing and telecommunication technology which have turned the world into a global village. It highlights the role of the library in knowledge management, delivery, and dissemination, and asserts that library is indeed the home of knowledge. The paper further maintains that the role of the library as a repository and provider of knowledge has been accentuated as fully developed virtual and digital libraries appear to render limitless services. Finally, some of the challenges that hinder libraries from achieving the role of driving access to knowledge …

A User Survey Of Five Women’S College Libraries In South Campus, University Of Delhi, India, Akhtar Hussain, Uzma Muzeeb, Nishat Fatima

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examines the user survey of five women’s college libraries in south campus, University of Delhi. A well structure questionnaire was used for collecting opinions of the library users about uses of documents collections and services. Out of 500 users, only 425questionnaires were selected for analysis of data from the respondents. The present study demonstrates and elaborates the various aspects of library collections uses within the available resources, frequency and purposes of visit, adequacy of library hours, use of library services & collections, ways of document searching, infrastructure facilities, and users satisfaction with the overall function of the library. …

Influence Of Locus Of Control And Job Satisfaction On Organizational Commitment: A Study Of Medical Records Personnel In University Teaching Hospitals In Nigeria, Bruno I. Igbeneghu, S. O. Popoola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines the influence of work locus of control and job satisfaction on organizational commitment of medical records personnel in university teaching hospitals in Nigeria. The research design was the ex-post- facto. A total of 359 medical records personnel from federal and state university teaching hospitals in Nigeria participated in the study. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. The results of the study reveal that organizational commitment has a significant inverse relationship with work locus of control (r = -.131, P < 0.05), but has a significant positive relationship with job satisfaction (r = . 340, P < 0.05).The study also revealed that a combination of work locus of control and job satisfaction have significant influence on the organizational commitment of medical records personnel in university teaching hospitals in Nigeria. (F = 24.900, df = 2; 356, P < 0.05). A combination of work locus of control and job satisfaction have significant influence on the organizational commitment of medical records personnel in university teaching hospitals in Nigeria.