Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The News We Use: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Cable News Media Polarization, Stephen Lott

Sociology & Anthropology Theses - Archive

The 2012 election is done and the dust has settled, but one cannot overlook the fact that the ever-widening gap between our two main political parties' ideologies and platforms has made it substantially harder for independents and moderates to find their place in the field of politics. The cable news media are complicit in this polarization process by reducing coherent and productive discourse on the issues to ignorant shouting matches between "conservative" republicans and "liberal" democrats, leaving no room for informed discussion or compromise. The 2012 election coverage is a near perfect example of this process, as it was a …

Social Work, Yoga, And Gratitude: Partnership In A Homeless Shelter, Jennifer Davis-Berman, Jean Farkas

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

This narrative explores the personal lessons learned about life and practice from YogaHome, a yoga program for homeless adults. The yoga program, taught in partnership by a social worker/professor of social work (Jenny) and a yoga teacher (Jean) with 17 years of experience, exemplifies the merging of social work and yogic practices , but also illustrates the evolution of these two professionals in their chosen fields as many of their traditional views, values, intentions, and expectations unraveled and led to a re-revaluation of their professional practices, transforming their personal perspectives on life. This reflection is based on the YogaHome program, …

The Implications Of China’S ‘String Of Pearls Strategy’ On Relations With Indian Ocean Nations, Maleehah Iman Ali

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

This thesis contends that China pursues the String of Pearls Strategy for now, primarily for mercantile purposes and as a means to ensure energy security and not to contest the US or deliberately threaten India. All countries depend on sea channels for trade; hence they seek stability at sea and sea control. China is no exception. I believe that China will abide by the ‘peaceful rise’ mandate as too much is at stake for her both domestically and internationally. This will hold true as long as China’s interests are safe. The evidence presented here forth, will substantiate that the steps …

Back Matter

Journal of Applied Sport Management

Back Matter for Volume 5, Issue 3.

Conditioned Place Preference And Aversion For Music In A Virtual Reality Environment, Mikaël Molet, Gauthier Billiet, Michael T. Bardo

Psychology Faculty Publications

The use of a virtual reality environment (VRE) enables behavioral scientists to create different spatial contexts in which human participants behave freely, while still confined to the laboratory. In this article, VRE was used to study conditioned place preference (CPP) and aversion (CPA). In Experiment 1, half of the participants were asked to visit a house for 2 min with consonant music and then they were asked to visit an alternate house with static noise for 2 min, whereas the remaining participants did the visits in reverse order. In Experiment 2, we used the same design as Experiment 1, except …

Embedded, Participatory Research: Creating A Grounded Theory With Teenagers, Shannon Crawford Barniskis

Communication Faculty Publications

Objective – This project, based on a study of the impact of art programs in public libraries on the teenaged participants, sought to show how library practitioners can perform embedded, participatory research by adding participants to their research team. Embedded participatory techniques, when paired with grounded theory methods, build testable theories from the ground up, based on the real experiences of those involved, including the librarian. This method offers practical solutions for other librarians while furthering a theoretical research agenda. Methods – This example of embedded, participatory techniques used grounded theory methods based on the experiences of teens who participated …

The Press, Democracy And History: Journalism And Democracy In Transitional Societies, Michael Foley

Doctoral

In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down signalling the beginning of the end of the post World-War-Two settlement that had divided Europe and created the Cold War. The communist world crumbled over a few years, but at a cost. There was a bitter war in the Balkans, shorter, but equally bitter conflicts in the Caucuses as well as in Central Asia. The Soviet Union fell apart leaving in its place new states varying in size from huge countries like Ukraine to the tiny states of the Baltic coast and Kyrgyzstan in far Central Asia. There was also enormous poverty as …

Licensed To Care: Inhabiting The Transnational Economy Of "Global Pinoy", Fidel Taguinod

Doctoral

The Philippines’ experience in international labour migration is widely considered a success – an observation endorsed by international bodies such as the World Health Organisation. As an active source of professional nurses to the developed world, the country continues to produce more nurses than the local nursing market can employ; a labour strategy that is promoted, facilitated and supported by the Philippine state and nursing educational system. This thesis interrogates Filipino nurse migration through the methodological prism of autoethnography, drawing on first-hand experience and reflexive accounts, interviews, photographs, policy documents and material cultural artefacts, to critically examine and challenge the …

How Minority Sporting Organisations In Ireland Are Promoting And Growing Their Sports Using Social Media: A Public Relations Perspective., Peter Lucey

Theses

The aim of this research study was to explore how minority sports organisations in Ireland are using social media to effectively grow and promote their sport. The researcher has analysed how these organisations are currently making use of social media and how it has benefited them in their operations. Relevant secondary literature was studied in depth along with the primary research methods that were used for this study. The research methodology used by the researcher constituted elements of both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Interviews and questionnaires made up the main research tools in addition to an action research approach as …

Sexism, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, And The Schooling Of Girls In Africa: A Case Study From Lusaka Province, Zambia, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Elizabeth Brundige

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

While the education of girls is central to development in Africa, persisting obstacles have prevented the full implementation of this goal. African countries have made significant progress in expanding girls' participation in schooling, yet many girls remain unable to access and benefit from a quality education on an equal basis with boys. This study, involving interviews of 105 schoolgirls in and around Lusaka, Zambia in May 2012, describes and discusses the following obstacles: (1) discriminatory treatment that reflects the persistence of sexist ideas about the position and capabilities of girls; (2) sexual abuse of schoolgirls, including constant harassment by boy …

Ms 127 Guide To Bernard M. Barrett Papers (1951-1982), Bernard M. Barrett (1944-)

Manuscript Finding Aids

Dr. Bernard M. Barrett studied at the University of Miami for his medical degree. His collection documents his involvement in editing and coauthoring different research, books, and articles. The collection includes several edited drafts by Dr. Barrett and his colleagues' drafts he would edit. The most prominent collection of documents surrounding the publication of the book and its editions, "Patient Care in Plastic Surgery," is well documented in the collection. The collection also includes: pamphlets; reports; reprints; correspondence; letters; memos; research; advertisements; and financial records.

Understanding The Behavior And Attitude Of Professional Athletes In Saudi Arabia Toward Dietary Supplements, Sulaiman O. Aljaloud

Dissertations

A dietary supplement is defined as a product taken orally that contains a "dietary ingredient" (vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, etc.), and is intended to supplement one's diet. Dietary supplements include plant extracts and concentrates from foods. Supplements help provide required nutrients to fulfill nutritional levels for daily training or competitive performance, and can help remedy nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it is important that sports professionals have a thorough knowledge of these supplement products. However, athletes need to be informed about the use and possible benefits, side effects, and risks associated with the use of dietary supplements. Four objectives guided …

The Effects Of Ketamine On Cognitive Bias In A Stress Vulnerable Chick Strain, Kristen Anne Hymel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive bias is a phenomenon that presents in individuals suffering from anxiety and depression where anxious individuals tend to adopt a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli and depressed individuals tend to adopt both a more pessimistic interpretation of ambiguous aversive stimuli as well as a less optimistic interpretation of ambiguous appetitive stimuli. Such biases have been pharmacologically reversed using anxiolytics and antidepressants. The chick anxiety-depression model has observed more pessimistic-like and less optimistic-like behavior in approach/avoidant runway performance to ambiguous aversive and ambiguous appetitive stimuli, respectively. Further, both types of cognitive biases have been reversed in a White …

Decorated Ceramics At Cypress Citadel (11js76): Patterning At A Late Woodland Site In Southern Illinois, Megan Kathleen Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cypress Citadel (11js76) is a late Woodland hill top site located in southern Illinois in the southwest portion of Johnson County, near the community of Cypress. Previous research has documented it as a Lewis phase site within the late Woodland period. The Lewis phase is set apart from late Woodland phases by the existence of decorated ceramics. The information presented in this thesis is intended to identify and describe specific decorative attributes of the ceramics at Cypress Citadel and examine specific patterns of incising within the site. Although determining patterning in the decoration is difficult, a focus on attributes …

Examination Of Architectural Features On Mound C Of The Carson Mound Group, Coahoma County, Mississippi, Erika Carpenter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Tv Casualties: The Negative Impact Of Political Messages In Non-News Programs, Salvatore James Russo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior works in the social sciences have demonstrated the importance that television can have in shaping the views and outlooks of viewers. Studies have examined how it is that overtly political broadcasting, such as political commercials or ideological cable news channels, can impact viewers. However, precious little scholarship in the field of political science has been devoted to examining how non-news programming, the lion's share of what is shown on television, can shape and mold viewers' outlooks and opinions. Television programming is often built around conflict, presenting a distorted view of the world wherein certain "in-groups," mainly the assumed audience …

Plants And Animals As Saviors And Invaders: Changing Perspectives On Invasive Species From The Colonial Era To The 21st Century, Meghan Leann Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human beings integrate their environment into their group identities. Familiar plants and animals become associated with cultural memories through food, music, and everyday interaction. When species enter a new environment and change the composition of species within a space these plants and animals challenge assumptions of cultural unity and national and regional identities. In the Colonial era European arrivals brought plants and animals for economic and aesthetic purposes to maintain cultural traditions and environmental familiarity. This practice changed following the rise of nationalism in the late 19 th century. Americans continued to grow crops and raise livestock from other countries …

Evaluating Preference-Seeking And Aversive Qualities Of Salvia Divinorumand Mitragyna Speciosa, Melissa Jane Loria

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Use of botanicals for self-diagnosed conditions or recreational purposes is increasing. Many readily available botanicals are under-researched and little is known about potential liabilities. This study sought to utilize Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) to quantify rewarding or aversive properties of botanicals and their constituents in rats. This paradigm is based on the notion that animals prefer distinct environments previously paired with rewarding drugs. Our approach to broadly characterize a botanical and its many constituents entails dose response functions of a plant extract, its fractions, and its primary constituent. As a proof of concept, we chose two popular botanicals, one expected …

Collaborative Memory For Serial Order, Elizabeth Lauren Foreman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information between groups has been examined in both recall and recognition memory; surprisingly, there is no existing data regarding collaborative memory outcomes using a reconstruction task. In an attempt to fill this gap in the literature, participants assigned to one of four retrieval conditions were asked to study the order of unrelated word-lists in preparation for a memory test. Some reconstructed the lists by alternating turns with their group members (turn-taking). Others were forced to reconstruct the lists from the first item-position to the last item-position in addition to taking turns with group …

Youth Treatment Adherence At A Rural Community Mental-Health Clinic, Asma S. Ali

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study examined the relationships between youth and adult psychopathology, and sociodemographic factors and treatment adherence for youth attending outpatient treatment at a rural community mental-health clinic. “Adherence” was defined as attending more than five sessions, while “non-adherence” was defined as attending fewer than or equal to five sessions. Results revealed no significant differences between youth adhering or not adhering to treatment depending on the relation of caregiver to youth or the mode of transportation taken to the clinic. Furthermore, caregiver and youth psychopathology and caregiver’s estimated travel time to the clinic did not predict treatment adherence. Incidentally, examination of …

Cognitive And Academic Profiles Of Gifted And Talented Students, Debora Buzinkai

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Global scores such as the FSIQ have been routinely utilized in decision making for special education eligibility. Over time, the use of the FSIQ in making important educational decisions has been replaced by a subtest analysis approach, because the FSIQ was not able to differentiate individual gifted traits, which led to heterogeneity in the gifted and talented population. In the ipsative approach, emphasis is placed on the interpretation of student performance at the subtest level rather than at the level of the global score, the latter of which can obfuscate important individual characteristics. In this sample of data drawn from …

Examining Levels Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms And Treatment Attendance Amongst Children Living In Different Caregiver Settings, Danika S. Perry

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study examined symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment attendance rates amongst a sample of children and adolescents who engaged in treatment for PTSD. The purpose was to determine if there was a difference in the level of PTSD symptoms or the number of sessions attended between those children living in foster care and those living with their primary non-foster caregiver(s). In addition, the treatment attendance rates of foster care children were examined to determine if there was a relationship between the level of the PTSD symptoms and the child’s treatment attendance rates. Results revealed that there was …

Predicting Initial Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment Attendance In Hiv/Aids Patients: An Exploration Of Risk Factors, Rachel D. Amodio

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study attempted to predict mental health/substance abuse treatment initial appointment attendance, utilizing specific social, provider, institutional, medical, and psychological risk factors through the use of a logistic regression model. The initial frequency analysis revealed that only 155 individuals were ever scheduled to attend an appointment of the original data set (N=298). The majority of individuals could not be scheduled due to unavailability, disinterest, latency and other reasons. A new data set was created from individuals who were scheduled and variables were collapsed across categories to include: length of wait time to appointment, CD4 count, prescribed medications, reason for referral, …

Cognitive Distortions As A Mediator Between Early Maladaptive Schema And Hopelessness, Keith Milligan

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine cognitive distortions as a mediator between maladaptive schema and hopelessness. With hopelessness and suicidal behavior so strongly correlated, an examination of hopelessness is critical. It was expected that this study would shed light on the role of distorted thinking as it relates to beliefs shaped from early maladaptive experiences and hopelessness. First, distorted thinking was not found to partially mediate the relationship between early maladaptive schema and hopelessness. This was likely a consequence of multicollinearity due to the use of a very proximal mediator. Second, a linear combination of the cognitive …

A Single Case Study Of Cognitive Remediation Therapy With An Adolescent With Disordered Eating, Carol Lynn Galiano

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Picky eating is currently not included in the diagnostic classification system DSM-IV TR as a distinct category of eating disorders in childhood. It can reach clinical significance requiring intervention when it results in chronic nutritional inadequacies and/or harmful impact on social development or family functioning. Studies have shown that patients with eating disorders have difficulties with executive functioning. These findings have been used to develop an intervention based on cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) which targets thinking skills and their role in the development and maintenance of an eating disorder. To further investigate, this study assessed the efficacy of an 8-week, …

Associations Between Different Parenting Styles And Child Behavior, Jason C. Hunt

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a chronic, behavioral control disorder, which is most frequently diagnosed in children. ADHD is traditionally conceptualized as a neurological disorder; however, there are important environmental factors that affect symptom presentation. Parental involvement is a critical factor in virtually every form of treatment for ADHD, yet the specific parenting styles employed by parents of children with ADHD has received little attention. This study sought to address this issue through identifying associations between parenting styles, ADHD symptoms, and homework problems. Participants were recruited from a community sample, using a snowball sampling method. Participants were required to complete three …

The Relation Between Self-Compassion, Body Image, And Mood: How Do Women Internalize Weight-Related Feedback?, Nicole Helverson

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Objective: Body dissatisfaction has been identified as a risk factor for depression and eating pathology, whereas, self-compassion has been associated with higher quality of life. This study sought to examine the relationship between negative body image and self-compassion as risk or protective factors for weight and body composition related feedback mood changes.

Method: This deception study used a true-experimental, pre- and post-test design in a sample of 117 female graduate and medical students and college staff, aged 18 to 45 years; women diagnosed with eating disorders were excluded. After completing baseline questionnaires (including mood, body image, and self-compassion), …

Individual Characteristics, Protective Factors And Processes Significant In Helping Low-Income African American Students Achieve Academic Success And Projected Upward Mobility, Barbara Still

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Research and other studies have documented the educational plight and academic difficulties of many poor, urban African American students. A number of studies have explored and identified many reasons for the low level of academic success among these students. Nonetheless, some poor, urban African American students have completed high school and college; and they have successfully transitioned to higher socioeconomic groups. The purpose of this study was to identify individual characteristics, protective factors and school processes that are significant in helping current urban, poor African American students to achieve high levels of academic success and to begin movement towards eventual …

International Relations: A Self-Study Guide To Theory, Manuela Spindler

Textbooks

PS 251 - Global Politics and Society

Licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 license.

Ethnicity And Voting Behavior In The Ashanti And Volta Regions Of Ghana: A Cramp In The Wheel Of A Fledgling Democracy?, Joseph Kingsley Adjei

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper discusses the substance and potential impact of ethnic block voting in two of Ghana's 10 political regions: Ashanti and Volta. Using the Electoral Commission of Ghana's dataset for five Presidential election results from 1992 to 2008, the paper confirms ethnic block voting in the two regions. The paper views the phenomenon as detrimental to Ghana's evolving democracy as it is a potential trigger for civil war, and recommends vigorous education, equitable distribution of resources, and comprehensive development to curb the problem.