Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Arab Spring And Migration In Egypt, One Year On: Impacts, Perceptions And Attitudes, Hend Hafez

Faculty Journal Articles

In reviewing migration flows in and out of Egypt after the Arab ‘Spring” and the events leading to the Egyptian Revolution in January 25th, 2011, the initial suspicion and resistance to any information dissemination was noted by the researcher as a definite change in attitude in the country after the revolution. This may be attributed to recent raids on U.S. funded pro-democracy NGO’s among others and accusations of foreign interference in domestic affairs. Along with the volatile political situation in the aftermath of the revolution, distrust runs rampant, as well as a low prioritization with regards to migration issues in …

Engaging Students In Higher Education Through Mobile Learning: Lessons Learnt In A Chinese Entrepreneurship Course, Thomas Menkhoff, Magnus Lars Bengsston

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This evaluative-exploratory case study reports pedagogical experiences with using mobiles phones, wikis, and other mobile learning approaches such as podcasts and walking tours as educational tools in the context of an undergraduate course on Chinese Entrepreneurship and Asian Business Networks taught at a university in Singapore. Conceptualized as mobile learning, the paper argues that information and communication technologies (ICT) devices used by Gen Y students as part of their everyday life such as hand phones in combination with social media platforms such as course wikis and other proven pedagogical methods such as mini lectures, field visits, and walking tours can …

Cusp Catastrophe Models For Cognitive Workload And Fatigue In A Verbally Cued Pictorial Memory Task, Stephen J. Guastello, Henry Boeh, Michael Schimmels, Hillary Gorin, Samuel Huschen, Erin Davis, Natalie E. Peters, Megan Fabisch, Kirsten Poston

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate two cusp catastrophe models for cognitive workload and fatigue. They share similar cubic polynomial structures but derive from different underlying processes and contain variables that contribute to flexibility with respect to load and the ability to compensate for fatigue.

Background: Cognitive workload and fatigue both have a negative impact on performance and have been difficult to separate. Extended time on task can produce fatigue, but it can also produce a positive effect from learning or automaticity.

Method: In this two-part experiment, 129 undergraduates performed tasks involving spelling, arithmetic, memory, and visual …

Lanthorn, Vol. 47, No. 13, October 1, 2012, Grand Valley State University

Volume 47, July 2, 2012 - June 3, 2013

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

A Probabilistic Graphical Model For Topic And Preference Discovery On Social Media, Lu Liu, Feida Zhu, Lei Zhang, Shiqiang Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Many web applications today thrive on offering services for large-scale multimedia data, e.g., Flickr for photos and YouTube for videos. However, these data, while rich in content, are usually sparse in textual descriptive information. For example, a video clip is often associated with only a few tags. Moreover, the textual descriptions are often overly specific to the video content. Such characteristics make it very challenging to discover topics at a satisfactory granularity on this kind of data. In this paper, we propose a generative probabilistic model named Preference-Topic Model (PTM) to introduce the dimension of user preferences to enhance the …

Influentials, Novelty, And Social Contagion: The Viral Power Of Average Friends, Close Communities, And Old News, Nicholas Harrigan, Palakorn Achananuparp, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

What is the effect of (1) popular individuals, and (2) community structures on the retransmission of socially contagious behavior? We examine a community of Twitter users over a five month period, operationalizing social contagion as ‘retweeting’, and social structure as the count of subgraphs (small patterns of ties and nodes) between users in the follower/following network. We find that popular individuals act as ‘inefficient hubs’ for social contagion: they have limited attention, are overloaded with inputs, and therefore display limited responsiveness to viral messages. We argue this contradicts the ‘law of the few’ and ‘influentials hypothesis’. We find that community …

Content Contribution For Revenue Sharing And Reputation: A Dynamic Structural Model, Qian Tang, Bin Gu, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study examines the incentives for content contribution in social media. We propose that exposure and reputation are the major incentives for contributors. Besides, as more and more social media Web sites offer advertising-revenue sharing with some of their contributors, shared revenue provides an extra incentive for contributors who have joined revenue-sharing programs. We develop a dynamic structural model to identify a contributor's underlying utility function from observed contribution behavior. We recognize the dynamic nature of the content-contribution decision-that contributors are forward-looking, anticipating how their decisions affect future rewards. Using data collected from YouTube, we show that content contribution is …

Talk Versus Work: Characteristics Of Developer Collaboration On The Jazz Platform, Subhajit Datta, Renuka Sindhgatta, Bikram Sengupta

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

IBM's Jazz initiative offers a state-of-the-art collaborative development environment (CDE) facilitating developer interactions around interdependent units of work. In this paper, we analyze development data across two versions of a major IBM product developed on the Jazz platform, covering in total 19 months of development activity, including 17,000+ work items and 61,000+ comments made by more than 190 developers in 35 locations. By examining the relation between developer talk and work, we find evidence that developers maintain a reasonably high level of connectivity with peer developers with whom they share work dependencies, but the span of a developer's communication goes …

Food Insecurity In Bloomington-Normal: How A Grocery Cooperative Might Help Meet The Needs Of Low-Income Residents, Nichole Brants, Emma Healy, Raina Kirchner, Jeff Koch, Ben Mcnair, Aaron Tester, Ashley Toenjes,, Alex Trimble, Dave Warren

Community Project Design and Management Reports - Sociology

The purpose of this report is to understand the current food needs of marginalized community-members in the Bloomington-Normal area, to learn how Green Top Grocery may help improve food security among these residents, and to ascertain viable mechanisms to encourage involvement in the cooperative among a diversity of local residents. The findings are based on data from three focus groups and nine key-informant interviews conducted in the Bloomington-Normal community. Key findings most relevant to Green Top’s goal of encouraging a diverse membership include the following: Green Top may wish to use existing networks to build trust in the Bloomington-Normal community, …

Open Parks Grid Campbell's Soup Can Poster 2012, Joshua Morgan, Andrea Galbo

Presentations

No abstract provided.

A Positive Approach: Training Coaches To Build A Positive Motivational Climate, J. Spencer John

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to develop a training program for youth sport coaches focusing on a positive motivational climate, with an intended outcome to increase intrinsic motivation in youth sport participants. The coaching workshops that are available today tend to focus on teaching the fundamentals of the sport; while largely ignoring the motivational side of coaching. Pop Warner Football is the largest youth football league in the country, they have a large coach training program that focuses on drills and skill development, but fails to address positive motivation. Providing youth sport organizations with a training program that adds …

A Social Media Plan For The Ultimate Fighting Championship, Matthew Radmanovich

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social media has revolutionized marketing and communication and has changed the way many organizations do business. In sports, it has facilitated fans getting closer to the action while allowing management to be strategic and more efficient with finite amount of resources. It has allowed sports to get in the business of “relationship marketing” (Gronroos, 2004). That is, when a game ends or a season comes to a close, social media allows for the fostering of long term relationships and continues to build a sense of community. The marriage of social media and relationship marketing cannot be overlooked. Whereas 30 years …

The Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing, Angela Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Outsourcing has become increasingly popular to the public since the mid-20th century and has become more controversial in the last decade. The United States economy has been under the microscope for the last 4 years due to an economic recession. Outsourcing has been a subject of interest that has been brought up numerous times by economists. Offshore outsourcing is the main type of outsourcing that is of concern in relation to the United States economy. This topic is highly debated because of the unemployment rate in America.

Medical Tourism: Trends And Opportunities, Krista Wendt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Medical tourism involves travel for the purpose of receiving medical, dental, or surgical care (Medical Tourism Association), and represents a rapidly growing niche market within the healthcare, tourism, and hospitality industries. Medical travelers are motivated to seek care outside of their area of residence by many factors, including more advanced technology, quicker access, higher quality of care, or lower costs for care in the destination locality (Ehrbeck, Guevara, & Mango, 2008). Multiple factors contribute to the growth of the medical tourism industry and suggest a continuing trend toward growth in the future. This nascent industry represents a significant market opportunity …

Challenging Space Through Activism: Scaling Local And Global Issues At The 2012 London Olympic Games, Bridget Botelho

Master's Theses

This qualitative study focuses on issues of space created by the Olympic Games in London and the ways in which activists demonstrated against these issues by using space to their advantage. The Olympic Games is a phenomenon that scales local, national and international space in various ways, through its effects on global culture, identity, and economic processes. The games have a history of protest and activism, but the issues created by the games and struggles against them are not often discussed. My study aims to analyze the spatial effects of the Olympics on a local and global level through the …

How The Internet Supports The Lives Of Young Adults With Mental Health Challenges, L. Kris Gowen, Martin Rafferty

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation that probes how young adults with significant mental health challenges use the internet, specifically as it relates to finding information and "self-diagnosis." The authors explore how youth with mental health challenges use the internet, and share the results of three Oregon focus groups and the NAMI survey of young adults.

Pay-For-Performance System In The Department Of Defense: A Case Study Of The National Security Personnel System, Kenneth P. Woods

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The National Security Personnel System was authorized at the request of Department of Defense (DOD), which complained of inflexibilities in the traditional federal General Schedule system, established under the classification Act of 1949. The department claimed that the traditional system was cumbersome even during normal peacetime operations; during wartime, when the system faced additional stresses, it was more problematic. Some of DOD’s concerns with the General Schedule system were also shared by other government agencies and officials who perceived that the system was defining jobs too narrowly and prescribing too many procedures for filling those jobs, limiting the ability of …

Poverty Reduction In Burundi: A Case Study Of The Effectiveness Of Foreign Aid, Josiane Mapango

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that were officially established by the United Nations in 2000 following the adoption of the United Nations’ Millennium Declaration. The aim of these goals is to free humanity from extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease by 2015. By signing the Millennium Declaration, Burundi has pledged to improve policies and governance, and increase accountability to its citizens. Burundi relies heavily on foreign aid and has experienced a significant increase in aid flow in recent years; however, the high external assistance has not yet translated into high and sustainable growth rates and …

The Emersion Of Low-Profit Limited Liability Companies: A Case Study Of The Implementation Of Hybrid Organizations In Louisiana And North Carolina, Tim Falvai

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

A new business entity designed for social entrepreneurs to embrace is gaining acceptance in a number of states, including Louisiana and North Carolina. The new entity, the low-profit limited liability company (L3C), is a byproduct of the current two options of operating, as a traditional private company or a nonprofit organization, not being an ideal fit for the entities being established by social entrepreneurs.

Trying to take advantage of both options’ advantages, and reduce the limitations, L3Cs were created to afford the assurances found in the private sector while still delivering funding often found in the nonprofit sector. A common …

Gender Pay Gap In Public Organizations: An Analysis Of Trends In Pay Gaps Between Men And Women In Federal Agencies, Aisha Coore

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibited gender-based wage discrimination in the workforce specifically between men and women that had an identical skill set and were performing the same job. The gender pay gap has been an issue in the American workforce and particularly public administration as early as the 1800s, but has continued through the 1940s, 1950s and up to 2012. There are many different forms of pay gap or other names for the same issue, such as; the glass ceiling, sex discrimination, and comparable worth. Although each term has a different meaning, the outcome remains that women are …

Clandestine Partnerships?: The Link Between Human Trafficking And Organized Crime In Metropolitan Atlanta, Tara M. Tripp

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Since the enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which directly criminalized human trafficking, research on human trafficking has significantly increased. While recent studies have analyzed trafficking legislation, characteristics of offenders and victims, and types of human trafficking rings, little data has been collected on human trafficking ties to organized crime. Therefore, this research explores human trafficking and its relationship to organized crime through an analysis of public court records. Specifically, the study includes the 20 federal human trafficking cases in metropolitan Atlanta indicted between 2000 and 2012. It was found that 80% of the 20 human trafficking …

An Insight Into The Wrongly Convicted: Going Beyond The Perceptions And Beliefs Of The Causes, Chermaine Cribb

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

This study examined the number of wrongful convictions that were exonerated from January 1, 2004 to September 1, 2012. Four hundred forty seven exoneration cases were examined to obtain the factors that contributed to wrongful convictions, the most common offenses related to wrongful convictions, the evidence that led to a new trial, and the outcome of the exoneration based on dismissal of charges, acquittal, or pardons. Interviews were conducted to obtain exoneration case representation criteria, challenges faced in handling exonerations, and the factors found that contributed to wrongful conviction cases worked on. This study revealed that the most common offenses …

Proportionality In Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparison Between Canada, The United Kingdom And Singapore And Its Implications For Vietnam, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Few rights that are guaranteed by constitutions and bills of rights are expressed to be absolute. In many jurisdictions, the legislature is permitted to impose restrictions on rights for specified reasons and under particular conditions. However, constitutional or bill of rights text often do not expressly indicate how the courts should determine that applicants’ rights have been legitimately restricted. To this end, courts in jurisdictions such as Canada and the United Kingdom have adopted the European doctrine of proportionality. Essentially, this requires them to balance opposing types of public interests – the interest sought to be protected by the rights …

Neural Responses To Infants Linked With Behavioral Interactions And Testosterone In Fathers, Patty X. Kuo, Joshua Carp, Kathleen C. Light, Karen M. Grewen

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Few fMRI studies have investigated the brain-behavioral basis of parenting in human fathers. Ten fathers were videotaped and gave salivary testosterone samples while interacting with their 2–4 month old infants, and viewed video clips of their own infant and an unfamiliar age-, ethnicityand sex-matched other infant during an fMRI protocol. Infant stimuli activated a network of prefrontal and subcortical brain regions. Furthermore, a subset of these regions activated significantly more to own (OWN) than other (OTHER) infants. Finally, neural responses to OWN versus OTHER were linked with paternal sensitivity, paternal reciprocity, and testosterone. In sum, our results provide a novel …

Fall 2012, John M. Pfau Library

Peacock – John M. Pfau Library Newsletter

Contents:

• Expansion of the library is vital to CSUSB's future by Brent Singleton
• Forecast: continued progress with scattered accolades by Cesar Caballero
• People in the news
• Laptop lending by Jonathan M. Smith
• Watch us grow! by Risa Lumley
• Critical information literacy by Barbara Quarton
• Popcorn, Anyone? by Les Kong
• Kindred spirits by Lisa Bartle
• Marginalia by Bonnie Petry

What's Keeping Malaysia's Opposition Together?, Bridget Welsh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Program For Rio Secco Golf Club And Cascata, Jay Chiders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Caesars Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, operational excellence, and technology leadership. Caesars is committed to environmental sustainability and energy conservation and recognizes the importance of being a responsible steward to the environment. Sustainability at Caesars Entertainment integrates strategic direction with the energy, innovation, and passion of its 70,000 employees. These employees are what drive Caesars Entertainment’s comprehensive sustainability strategy, CodeGreen (CodeGreen factsheet, 2012).

Caesars Entertainment Corporation owns two golf courses in Nevada. Rio Secco Golf Club opened in 1997 in Henderson and Cascata opened in …

Armor All: The Self-Conception Of Private Security Contractors, Volker C. Franke

Faculty Articles

Whereas the values, attitudes and motivations of soldiers serving in their countries’ armed forces have been widely studied, to date we know very little about the motivations and self-conception of individuals working for the private security industry. Using data obtained through an online survey, this article explores the values, attitudes and identity of more than 200 private security contractors with law enforcement backgrounds and operational experience with a security firm in Iraq. Contrary to media dominating images of ruthless, money-grabbing mercenaries, respondents in this sample adhered to attitudes and values very similar to those of professional soldiers serving in Western …

Oprm1 Gene Variation Influences Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function In Response To A Variety Of Stressors In Rhesus Macaques, Melanie L. Schwandt, Stephen G. Lindell, James Dee Higley, Stephen J. Suomi, Markus Heilig, Christina S. Barr

Faculty Publications

The endogenous opioid system is involved in modulating a number of behavioral and physiological systems, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In humans, a functional variant in the OPRM1 gene (OPRM1 A118G) is associated with a number of outcomes, including attenuated HPA axis responses to stress. A nonsynonymous variant (OPRM1 C77G) in the rhesus macaque has been shown to have similar effects in vivo to the human variant. The current study investigated whether OPRM1 C77G influences HPA axis response to stress in rhesus macaques. We analyzed plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels measured in response to three different stressors: 1) …

Amor De Cerca: Positive Involvement In Latino Families, Michelle Varón, Melanie M. Domenech-Rodriguez

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.