Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond High Hopes And Unmet Expectations: Judicial Selection Reforms In The States, Rebecca D. Gill

Political Science Faculty Research

The scholarly debate about how to select state judges has been ongoing for decades; the public debate on the issue spans more than a century. Proponents on each side seem confident that their preferred method of judicial selection is the best. Reformers argued that, “judicial elections deserve the limelight in the variety show of threats to judicial independence.” Defenders of judicial elections have countered that judicial reformers are “waging war on democratic processes and the rights of citizens to maintain control over government.” The empirical evidence to date, however, has largely resulted in a draw. The more we learn about …

Harvesting The Twittersphere: Qualitative Research Methods Using Twitter, Anthony La Rosa

Honors College Theses

Harvesting the Twittersphere explores the current state of research, by comparing quantitative to qualitative and analyzing the current market. In a consumer driven market, it seems that most businesses are neglecting to perfomr qualitative research. It could be because of the falling cost and increasing convenience of quantitative research methods provided by cloud systems such as: Salesforce.com, IBM, SAP, and Mckinsey. Another reason may be that there is no efficient or inexpensive way to conduct qualitative research on a digital platform. While certain companies try to conduct qualitative studies online by using chat rooms, discussion boards or Facebook prompts, there …

Lazy Thinking: How Cognitive Easing Affects The Decision Making Process Of Business Professionals, Gianmarco Armenia

Honors College Theses

This paper examines how business and financial decision making are influenced by behavioral biases such as cognitive ease, overconfidence, herding and the endowment effect. I do this in two ways. First, I show historical examples of irrational decisions and the detrimental effects on the individual, society, the company, and shareholders from these decisions. Second, I conduct a survey of business students to examine how susceptible they are to behavioral biases. I find that most students are in fact allowing cognitive easing to alter their decisions negatively.

The Well‐Rounded Archivist: A Unlv University Archivist Perspective, Tom D. Sommer

Library Faculty Presentations

I’m going to be focusing on three main themes today:

• The first theme will be “Being a University Archivist.”

• Next will be the things that I “Wish I had Known.”

• Lastly, I’m going to provide you a series of thoughts and feelings that center around my “Advice for New Archivists.”

Governing Through Permanent Campaigning: Media Usage And Press Freedom In Ecuador, Maria Jose Flor Agreda

Honors College Theses

In Ecuador, media and politics have been historically tied together. Over time, the banking industry has had financial stakes in the media and vice versa. Yet, from the time that President Rafael Correa took office in 2007, the situation has been turned around. Correa has used a permanent campaign to appeal to the public and change the media ownership environment of the country. The President’s strategy has included the acquisition of private media such as newspapers, and radio and television station; as well as the establishment of governmental media entities. Additionally, as part of Correa’s permanent campaign scheme, the president …

Early Life Stress, Drug Abuse, Exercise Effects On Bdnf And Sex-Influenced Excercise Differences, Karissa Dold

Honors College Theses

In 2011, the U.S. reported 3 million child maltreatment cases, an uncomfortably high but recurring figure each year. Research shows exposure to early life stress (ELS) increases an individual’s susceptibility to substance abuse, specifically of nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine. Increased susceptibility may result from dysregulation of the HPA axis sustaining activation into adulthood after ELS. Hyperactivation of the HPA axis significantly reduces hippocampal BDNF, a neurotrophin involved in neuronal growth and plasticity. Reduced hippocampal BDNF may be a factor in substance abuse vulnerability. Additionally, research shows exercise protects hippocampal BDNF from stress induced down-regulation. To explore these relationships, this study …

Movementism And Party Institutionalization In Venezuela, Miguel Davila

Honors College Theses

The charismatic authority of Hugo Chávez often led analysts to affirm that the Bolivarian Revolution was dependent on his leadership. This study attempts to assess the degree of that dependence by examining whether the Bolivarian Revolution has institutionalized or not. Three variables were examined: the discourse of President Chávez, the political unity of PSUV deputies in the National Assembly, and the bypass of the electoral framework by Chávez. Two hypotheses were then formulated. The first one stipulated that the aspects of movementism found in the Bolivarian Revolution were relevant enough to disqualify it as an institutionalized system. The second one …

Living Cities: The Integration Initiative In Cleveland, Ohio- Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative: A Report Of System Changes And Their Outcome Measures Year 2, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn Hexter, Serineh Baboomian, Candi Clouse

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Living Cities Integration Initiative: Cleveland, Ohio- Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative: Year 2 Programs & Project Report, Candi Clouse, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn Hexter, Serineh Baboomian, Joe Andre

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Living Cities: The Integration Initiative In Cleveland, Ohio- Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative: Formative Report Year 2, Kathryn Hexter, Ziona Austrian, Candi Clouse

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

The Morphological Evolution Of The Vocal Apparatus In The Human Lineage: Implications On The Emergence Of Language, Jacob Jesch

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Farc And Sendero Luminoso: Examining Their Development, Longevity, And Ideology, Victoria Wood

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Employment Relations And Wages: What Can We Learn From Subjective Assessments?, Marta Lachowska

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper studies the link between hourly wages and workers’ subjective assessments of how easy it would be to find another job as good as the present one, and how easy it would be for an employer to replace an employee. First, using high-quality data, I study the correlates of these two assessments. Second, I study whether respondents who report better outside opportunities and respondents who think they are difficult to replace receive higher wages. The results appear to be consistent with predictions of at least three theoretical frameworks: human capital theory, search theory, and a “locus of control” model.

Economic Impact Of Green Infrastructure Maintenance, Merissa Piazza, Candi Clouse

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Center for Economic Development (the Center) at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University prepared this report for LAND studio. The objective of this report is to present an economic impact of the green infrastructure maintenance of the future green infrastructure investments that the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) will undertake. LAND studio will use this study as a component to a broader study of best practices in green infrastructure maintenance, the needs of the sector, and to develop a foundation for the creation of a green infrastructure maintenance education and workforce training program.

The …

Inspirational Or Self-Deflating: The Role Of Self-Efficacy In Elite Role Model Effectiveness, Crystal L. Hoyt

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This research examines the role of self-efficacy in women’s responses to elite leadership role models. Previous research on role models has been equivocal, demonstrating that the impact of social comparisons on the self is multifaceted. Using an experimental methodology, 102 female participants were presented with role models (elite, non-elite, control) before serving as the leader of an ostensible 3-person group. Findings revealed that women with low, as opposed to high, levels of leadership self-efficacy were less inspired by the highly successful role models and showed deflating contrast effects as demonstrated in their diminished identification with leadership, leadership aspirations, and leadership …

A Theory-Driven, Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Impact Of Team Training On Safety Culture In 24 Hospitals, Katherine J. Jones, Anne M. Skinner, Robin High, Roni Reiter-Palmon

Psychology Faculty Publications

Effective teamwork facilitates collective learning, which is integral to safety culture. There are no rigorous evaluations of the impact of team training on the four components of safety culture—reporting, just, flexible and learning cultures. We evaluated the impact of a year-long team training programme on safety culture in 24 hospitals using two theoretical frameworks.

The Telling Line: The Relationship Between Cognitive Style And Fashion Design Sketching, Mary K. Culpepper

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Theses

This mixed-methods exploratory study addresses a gap in the literature by testing for links between cognitive style and the gestalt of sketches produced by college-level fashion design students. Students’ cognitive styles were appraised with the FourSight assessment, a measure of problem-solving preference gaining use in design schools. Then participants sketched fashion designs to complete a design brief. Panels of raters trained in FourSight reviewed the sketches to assess the cognitive styles of the sketchers. Quantitative analysis revealed a significant degree of interrater reliability, while qualitative analysis indicated emergent themes of selection, attitude, and innovation that aligned with FourSight types. The …

The Impact Of Rising Trade On Wage Inequality: An Empirical Study On U.S.-China Trade From 2000-2010, Jie Chen

All Theses

International trade has been cited as a source of widening wage inequality in industrial nations. In this paper, I investigate how the structure of the wage premium has been impacted within the United States due to rising trade with China. Using the U.S. Census data, since China joined WTO, I find the presence of the skill premium and over time the skill premium is higher. A counterfactual exercise indicates rising U.S. exports to China increase the wages of workers, especially for high-skilled laborers, and the effect is more pronounced in 2010. At the same time, increasing imports from China increase …

Corporate Income Tax And Investment: Evidence From Panel Data In 22 Oecd Countries, Byung Gyu Jeong

All Theses

Using panel data for 22 OECD countries during 1985-2010 and 1970-2010, the author re-evaluates the existing evidence on the effects of corporate income taxes on four kinds of investments: foreign direct investment inflows, net domestic investment, total investment, and foreign direct investment outflows. The corporate income tax rate with a one-year lag has a statistically significant and negative effect on foreign direct investment inflows, but it has no clear relationship with the other three types of investments. This finding suggests that investment from the corporate sector will go to the domestic non-corporate sector in order to equalize the actual rate …

The Impact Of Place Attachment On Camp Counselor Retention In Summer Camps, Kaitlin Nichols

All Theses

Summer camps employ over one million staff members every summer, most of whom fall between the age range of 18-25 (ACA, 2012). Surveys done by the American Camp Association show that approximately 50% of camps have a 48% rate of return for counselors each summer, yet little research has been conducted to focus on what impacts staff retention (ACA, 2011). The theory of place attachment proposes that people form and retain bonds to physical locations by means of place dependence, place identity, social bonding, and affective attachment (Kyle, Mowen, & Tarrant, 2004; Milligan, 1998; Scannell & Gifford, 2010). Place attachment …

Planning Bicycle Infrastructure Based On The Quickest Or Easiest Route Method, Olena Tokmylenko

All Theses

Current bicycle models assume average speed along the route and among routes and that travel time is proportional to distance. There is no method that determines realistic cycling time based on change in speed due to topography. My research proposes a model for the development of bicycle infrastructure based on reducing travel time and level of difficulty. I identified that topography, human power, and riding speed have strong relationship and developed a bicycle travel time model where speed is a function of human power and topography. I solved the shortest route problem with time impedance where time was computed based …

Using Dialogic Principles On Facebook: How The Accommodation Sector Is Communicating With Its' Consumers, Elizabeth Muckensturm

All Theses

This thesis examines the extent to which the accommodation sector uses social media, specifically Facebook, to communicate dialogically with its consumers. Using Kent and Taylor's (1998) five principles of dialogic communication, a content analysis of 34 different hotels' Facebook pages were reviewed. Twenty-four posts and comments on each organizations' Facebook page were examined over a 12 month span to determine if dialogic communication was occurring between the organization and its consumers.
The study asked two questions. How is the accommodation sector of the hospitality industry employing the principles of dialogic communication through their Facebook posts? Is there is a relationship …

Analysis Of South Carolina High School Students' Interest In Selected Majors: Agriculture, Business, Economics, And Environmental And Natural Resources, Huidong Zhou

All Theses

The research presented here focuses on high school students' level of interest in Business, environmental and natural resource, and agriculture as possible college majors. Data is derived from quantitative online survey that had been distributed to high school students in business and economics courses across the state of South Carolina during spring 2011, fall 2011, and spring 2012 semesters. Probit and ordered probit models are used analyze high school students' strength of interest in certain majors. Relatively few students are interested in Environment and Agriculture Majors. Females are less likely interested in economics, environmental and natural resource, and agriculture majors …

Designing A Novel Steering Wheel For Generation-Y, Baby Boomers, And Engineers, Mary Mossey

All Theses

Historically, the steering wheel has been viewed as a stylistic or utility component of the vehicle; however, as in-vehicle technology increases, the steering wheel may provide a way to integrate technologies into the vehicle. This study built upon a usability study that examined a broad range of steering wheels. In the current study, participants designed their ideal steering wheel for a concept vehicle by using a paper prototyping method. Fifty-five participants (20 young adults 18 to 30 years of age, 20 older adults 47 to 65 years of age, and 15 male automotive engineering graduate students 18 to 30 years …

Relationship Between Globalization And Wage Inequality, Yingruo Yan

All Theses

The paper explores whether globalization have impact of income distributions among upper class, middle class and lower class. In other words, we are trying to find the relationship between rapidly growing globalization and income inequality. In general, globalization boosts FDI, wage raise and productivity (Pica 2007). However, according to the past researches, the gap of wage inequality among high-class workers, middle-class workers and low-class works in a given country was becoming wider and wider as globalization increase. Using the panel data of 26 countries over a period 38 years from 1970-2011, we set up three regression models in order to …

Schulz's Religion: Exploring Faith In The Mainstream Media Through The Peanuts Franchise, Stephen James Lind

All Dissertations

This dissertation is an exploration of various theoretical and cultural issues surrounding depictions of religion and spirituality in mainstream entertainment media properties. Such portrayals cultivate particular cultural norms that dictate the conditions of public and private discourse on religion, and in this study, these issues are approached through a mixed-method study guided by the Peanuts franchise. The Peanuts franchise is a provocatively rich launching point for analysis of dominant media cultures, given its colossal success in the secular mainstream entertainment industry and its explicit references to and even affirmations of Christian theology. Throughout the study, the references to religion manifested …

Integrating Spatial Modeling Into Recreational Planning In Parks And Protected Areas, John Beeco

All Dissertations

Understanding the utility of space in natural area resources is of growing importance as recreation in these areas increases and availability of land remains stagnant. Space utility is of particular importance to multiple use forests which may have multiple recreation demands, minimum acceptable levels of biophysical impacts, sensitive ecological areas, and/or timber harvesting and mineral extraction strategies for the generation of revenue. In order to holistically consider space and protected area management, three factors must be better understood: a) methods and spatial analysis tools that can help with managerial and planning decisions, b) how space affects the relationship between use …

Factors Influencing Volunteering Among The Elderly In The Czech Republic, Michaela Kabelkova

All Dissertations

Using data from a convenience sample of 274 respondents, 55 years and older and living in the Czech Republic, the author carried out an exploratory research study to shed more light on volunteering among Czech senior citizens. Volunteering is currently promoted by the government of the Czech Republic, but as yet, remains an under-researched topic. The investigation of presumed low volunteer rates among Czech senior citizens was framed by two theories--social capital theory and socio-structural resources theory--and additionally by country specific factors that take into account geographical structure and historical development. The socio-structural resources were represented by variables related to …

Gait Analysis Of Teenagers And Young Adults Diagnosed With Autism & Severe Verbal Communication Disorders, Michael J. Weiss, Matthew F. Moran, Mary E. Parker, John T. Foley

All PTHMS Faculty Publications

Both movement differences and disorders are common within autism spectrum disorders (ASD). These differences have wide and heterogeneous variability among different ages and sub-groups all diagnosed with ASD. Gait was studied in a more homogeneously identified group of nine teenagers and young adults who scored as “severe” in both measures of verbal communication and overall rating of Autism on the Childhood Autism Rating Scales (CARS). The ASD individuals were compared to a group of typically developing university undergraduates of similar ages. All participants walked a distance of 6-meters across a GAITRite (GR) electronic walkway for six trials. The ASD and …

Deconstructing Disaster, Justin Pidot

BYU Law Review

Over time, we have grown increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters. Each decade, economic losses from such disasters more than double as people continue to build homes, businesses, and other physical infrastructure in hazardous places. Yet public policy has thus far failed to address the unique problems posed by natural disasters. This Article takes a first step toward improving public policy by offering a paradigm for understanding its failures, suggesting that three categories of obstacles obstruct sensible government regulation. Drawing from philosophy, cognitive psychology, history, anthropology, and political science, this Article identifies and analyzes three categories of obstacles to disaster policy-symbolic …