Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hebrew Language Tutorial, David R. Coughanour, Chuck Bush

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When I proposed to undertake this project it was to provide a computer-aided language instruction tutorial for Hebrew 101 students. I was taking Hebrew 101 at the time that the opportunity to apply for an ORCA award came along and I remembered my Hebrew 101 instructor commenting that less than half of those who enroll in the class are able to make it to the end. Most of those who drop out do so after they encounter the first exam. My proposal was to develop a Hypercard-based computer program that would make that first exam more manageable and then to …

The Rattler (Volume 101, Issue 6, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

"Take A Sad Song And Make It Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Unfamiliar Sad Music, John Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tested some of Levinson's (1997) ideas on why people like music that makes them sad. A path model of this effect was interpreted from Levinson's theory, and 5 of the paths were tested. These paths were that music would directly create a communion with the song, that happiness and sadness would mediate this effect, that absorption would moderate the direct path, that absorption would moderate the songs' ability to evoke the emotions, and that satisfaction would moderate the emotions' influence on liking the songs.

A pilot study was conducted to determine if the songs evoked their intended emotions. …

The Ethnophysiologocial Janus: Changing Perceptions Of Illness And Curing In The Guatemalan Mayan Highlands, Steven Shem Rode, Dr. John P. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ethnomedical literature rarely addresses the problem of how illness is recognized and understood among Nahualenos in southwest Guatemala. In that area of the world, mother/infant mortality rates remain high, and local perceptions of illness continue to bewilder western biomedical caregivers. This study investigates data collected from doctor-patient communication, linguistics, and traditional medicine to explain how ethnophysiological understandings of illness exemplify effective and ineffective teaching methods about bacteriology and prevention within the liminal Nahualeno society.

Odocoileus Hemionus Mortality Profiles And The Cultural Predatory Adaptations At Aspen Shelter, Utah, James T. Anderson, Dr. Joel C. Janetskik

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Mortality profiles (ages at death) constructed from the faunal analysis of archaeological sites offer unique insights into specific cultural predatory patterns and lifeways of the sites former inhabitants. The products of prey age selection or mortality profiles allow archaeologists to understand strategies of hunting, land use, and “habitual techniques of procurement” . A mortality profile of 4 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) was created from the thousands of identified bones excavated at Aspen Shelter, Utah in an attempt to understand such cultural adaptations.

Capital Gains Tax And Stock Market Volume, Robert Couch, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I completed my research project concerning the capital gains tax and stock market volume. I spent approximately one hundred hours uncovering previous research on this topic, gathering my own data, performing statistical regressions on this data, drawing conclusions from this data, and writing up my results with prose, charts, and tables.

Analysis Of The Strength And Influence Of Demographic Factors In Determining Convert Baptism Rates In Lds Missions, Darin G. Clay, Dr. Mark Showalter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is a well-known fact that the success of the missionary effort of the Church is highly correlated with economic prosperity. Specifically, the convert baptism rates are higher in less prosperous nations than in relatively wealthy nations. Opponents of the Church have cited this fact in support of the claim that the church appeals to potential members because of its relatively wealthy membership rather than because of any spiritual experiences or “House-of-Israel” arguments. Church adherents assert that poor nations more readily accept the church because of “unmeasurables” such as humility and heritage (i.e. descendants of the Nephite/Lamanite populations). This study …

Siblings Of Children With Special Needs: Uplifts, Coping, And Stressors, Jesse A. Bingham, Melinda Buchanan, Dr. Susanne F. Olsen, Elaine S. Sorensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When a family includes one or more children with special needs every family member is affected by the challenges related to that chronic disability. In the past, research has focused on the child and his or her disability as pathological, whereas today it is acknowledged that many families are able to function positively and adapt well to daily life with a child with special needs. 1

Returning Home: Understanding The Challenges Of Prisoner Reentry And Reintegration, Jeremy Travis

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Building An Access Database For Cookstove Research, Margaret L. Weddle

Student Works

This paper takes the reader through the thought process and actual instructions to create your own Microsoft Access database, or how to use the one provided with this paper. Also, instructions to use the HBLL resources of Compendex and RefWorks are covered. While this work was built specifically for Cookstoves research, it could be adapted to any research where you would need to maintain a record of the journal articles that you are using. It has been discovered that building a database is a time consuming and difficult work, but once done, Access provides an easy way to work with …

Equilibrium And Strategies Of Horizontal Mergers Inasymmetric Differentiated Oligopoly, Juan Lu

Lingnan Theses

Building an asymmetric differentiated goods quantity competition model, the present paper explores how substitutability of products, one of the factors affecting the unilateral effect, determines horizontal mergers and acquisitions equilibrium and strategies. It seems intuitively obvious that the merger between firms with goods that are sufficiently close substitutes can be more profitable. However, this thesis's counter-intuitive results show that, for some parameter values, a merger is more profitable for the merging firm when the target firm produces a distant substitutes (i.e., when it is not the closest competitor to the acquiring firm in the market).The theoretical analysis shows that to …

Semantic Class Disambiguation In Natural Language Soar, Anton Rytting, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Soar1 is a unified theory of human cognition implemented as a computer program. It posits that the interaction of a few fundamental mechanisms can account for any aspect of cognition. The theory’s computer implementation allows the creation of testable computer simulations of various cognitive tasks.

Children And Their Federal Government: Political Socialization In Utah And Alberta, David E. Campbell, Dr. David Magleby, Stan A. Taylor

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the 1960s and 1950s, there was a flurry of research into children’s political socialization6what children know, and feel, about their political system and leaders and when they come to know, and feel, it. At the time, political scientists and developmental psychologists concluded that pre-adolescent children have a very positive view of things political. There was a mild resurgence of political socialization research following Watergate as political scientists sought to find out if children’s view of government could be affected by such a high profile scandal. While surveys of children found them with less positive feelings than recorded previously, generally …

A Comparison Of Outlier Resistant Estimators Of Linear Regression Models, Brian H. Boyer, Dr. James B. Mcdonald

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Regression analysis is a technique routinely used by researchers in many disciplines to fit some type of mathematical model to observed data. A basic two dimensional linear regression model is mathematically expressed as yi = + xi + Ji for i = 1, n, where y1 … Yn is an observed sample of n data points on the dependent variable y, x1 . . . xn is an observed sample of n data points on an explanatory variable, x, and the parameters and define the true linear relationship between x and Y. The variable J represents a random disturbance term …

How Effective Are We? Measuring The Library's Service Quality: 2013 Libqual+ Results, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

Library Publications (1999-2023)

• How Effective Are We? Measuring the Library's Service Quality: 2013 LibQual+ Results

Library Awarded The Ala's Rethinking Resource Sharing Star Certificate, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

Library Publications (1999-2023)

• Library awarded the ALA's Rethinking Resource Sharing STAR Certificate

Neighborhood Commercial Corridor Change: Portland, Oregon 1990-2010, Kelly Ann Howsley-Glover

Dissertations and Theses

Commercial corridors in neighborhoods experiencing change have been relegated to a footnote in research on residential phenomena. It is taken for granted that the process of change experience by businesses within these neighborhoods mirrors that of the residential change. This assumption is often predicated on the underlying model of invasion succession, suggesting that inmovers displace native populations, whether they are residents or businesses. Analyzing time series data on neighborhood commercial corridor change, research attempted to first test data against the invasion succession model to see if it is an effective framework for analysis. Second, through comparison of case study areas …

You're Starting A What?: Talking To Faculty, Staff, And Students About Digital Commons @ Spu, Kristen Hoffman

SPU Works

A presentation to library faculty and staff of how to talk with the university community about Digital Commons @ SPU.

Natcher, William Huston, 1909-1994 (Sc 2761), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2761. Condolence letter from U.S. Representative William Huston Natcher to Mrs. Effi Phelps, Bowling Green, Kentucky concerning the loss of her mother.

Patterns Of Anti-Muslim Violence In Burma: A Call For Accountability And Prevention, Andrea Gittleman, Marissa Brodney, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

In this report, the authors documents how persecution of and violence against the Rohingya in Burma has spread to other Muslim communities throughout the country. Physicians for Human Rights conducted eight separate investigations in Burma and the surrounding region between 2004 and 2013. PHR’s most recent field research in early 2013 indicates a need for renewed attention to violence against minorities and impunity for such crimes. The findings presented in this report are based on investigations conducted in Burma over two separate visits for a combined 21-day period between March and May 2013.

Mountain West It Economies: Similar But Disparate? A Multi-Faceted Comparison Of Utah And Colorado Public It Markets, Michael Murff, Dr. Jay Goodliffe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Escalating in the mid-1970s, two very similar Mountain West economies augmented a dramatic shift from mining and agriculture toward information technology (IT). Both Utah and Colorado took steps to attract computer and software firms in an effort to diversify and develop IT industries. At first glance, Colorado IT markets appear superior in scale and scope due in part to a more sophisticated professional services infrastructure and far more equity finance. Notwithstanding these apparent disadvantages, public IT firms in Utah consistently demonstrate greater profitability and faster growth rates during the last 10 years. While Colorado tends to specialize in birthing new …

Maternalism Vs. Militarism: Women’S Nonviolent Resistance To Military Rule, Anne Miner, Dr. Valerie Hudson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My analysis of women’s nonviolent resistance focused on two historical case studies. The first was the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo who opposed the military regime of 1977 in Argentina. Their nonviolent resistance began in opposition to the disappearance of family members, particularly their children. These desaparecidos were among approximately 30,000 Argentinians kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in a governmental effort to induce fear and maintain power. The second case was women’s involvement in the nonviolent Philippine Revolution of 1986 opposing the dictatorial rule of President Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos had imposed martial law since 1972. Nonviolent resistance began in response …

Conversations With Inanimate Objects: A Mortuary Analysis Of Oakland-Fraternal Cemeteries In Little Rock, Arkansas., Jeff L. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

From 2012-2013 a mortuary analysis of Oakland-Fraternal cemeteries in Little Rock, Arkansas was conducted for this thesis. Evidence that this cemetery serves as a cultural database for the city of Little Rock and that resources like this should be preserved as Cultural Resource Management projects are presented in an interdisciplinary approach to mortuary analysis combining the disciplines of Anthropology and Rhetoric. Analysis of iconography found on grave markers was conducted employing Robert E. Horn's visual rhetoric theories and methodologies. Kenneth Burke's Dramatic Pentad was also employed as a tool for measuring the motivations behind the authorship of grave markers. Issues …

Zach's News, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

Library Publications (1999-2023)

• All Random House titles will be removed from ebrary subscription collections on 8/21/2013
• Location Change: America's Music, August 22nd and 27th

Analysis Of Belarusian Media In 2011: Discourse, Argument Construction, And Propaganda Framing, Tatsiana Karaliova

Theses and Dissertations

The mass media system in Belarus is characterized by the coexistence of two types of mass media - state-run and independent. This study looks at the difference in characteristics of coverage in these two types of media outlets in terms of diversity of perspectives, argument construction, and propaganda framing. A significant difference in the nature of discourse on the major events in Belarus in 2011 in state-run and independent media exposed their distinct ideological viewpoints. State-run media favored a pro-government perspective and widely presented anti-opposition and anti-revolutionary opinion. Lack of plurality and rational arguments, anti-globalization and Soviet nostalgia rhetoric were …

Crisis Communication Strategies Used During The 2008 Chinese Milk Scandal: A Content Analysis Of Press Releases From Four Major Chinese Milk Companies, Lijie Zhou

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how the press releases from the four major Chinese milk companies, namely Mengniu, Yili, the Bright Group and Sanlu responded to the 2008 Chinese milk scandal from September 8, 2008 to December 25, 2011. Four hundred and ten press releases were considered as the crisis responding announcements for the 2008 Chinese milk scandal from the four Chinese milk companies, with 55 from Sanlu, 124 from Mengniu, 106 from Yili and 125 from the Bright Group. By dividing the milk scandal into the three stages, the findings revealed that during the pre-crisis stage, the four companies displayed considerable …

The State Of Play In Poland”S Unconventional Shale And Oil Development, J Wesley Burnett, Randall Jackson, Robert Blobaum

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Following the huge gas and oil rush in the US, the world”s gas and oil companies have been eyeing reserves in other countries including Poland, which is believed to be sitting on one of the largest reserves in the European Union. The Poles, seeking to diversify their energy sources and meet EU emissions standards, which are driving up electricity costs, met the news with tremendous fanfare. Following initial geological assessments, major international oil and gas companies soon made announcements to begin drilling operations in Poland. However, one of the major challenges of shale gas development is that is often requires …

The Effect Of Ethnic And Religious Intolerance On Confidence In The European Union, Andrei Mihai Varney

Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines attitudes toward ethnic and religious minorities to determine if such attitudes have negative or positive impact on support for the European Union (EU). Using data from four waves of the World Values Survey, several hypotheses regarding the effect of ethnoreligious hostility on confidence in the European Union are tested to determine if those who harbor hostile sentiments toward ethnoreligious minority groups have lower levels of confidence in the EU. Using ordinal logistic regression, I find that those who exhibit hostile attitudes toward ethnoreligious minorities have lower levels of confidence in the EU. Further, it is determined that …

A Survey Of Social Media Users In Saudi Arabia To Explore The Roles, Motivations And Expectations Toward Using Social Media For Social And Political Purposes, Abdulaziz B. Alothman

Student Theses and Dissertations

In Saudi Arabia, the use of social media has increased civic awareness and youth interest in public issues. Thus, this study was to explore the perception of social media and the role these tools play in the social lives and political environment in Saudi Arabia through diffusion of innovation theory and uses and gratifications theory. In April 2013, this research surveyed a sample of 1,361 Saudis about their use of social media for social and political purposes. As result, this study found that Saudis appeared to constantly use social media for political and social purposes with high motivation of information …

Digital Initiatives Annual Report Fy2012-­2013, Julia A. Lovett

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

No abstract provided.