Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Residential Electricity Demand In Arkansas, Ileana M. Resendez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study analyzes residential electricity demand in Arkansas. Explanatory variables utilized include real per capita income, residential electricity price, heating degree days, cooling degree days, and residential natural gas price. The results indicate that the income effect dominates the substitution effect given a real personal income increase and a decline in real electricity rates in the state of Arkansas during the period under study.

Effects Of East Los High, An Entertainment-Education Web Series, On Sexual Decision-Making Of Young Latino/A Couples, Anu Sachdev

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Involving multiple actors and critical decisions, the phenomenon of early, unintended pregnancies, single parenthood, and sexually transmitted infections have grave consequences for the life trajectory of a youth. In the U.S., the highest sexual risks are borne by Latino/a youth. Often their life, career, and well-being outcomes are a function of the quality of their sexual decision-making. This study was designed to investigate the process of sexual decision-making among Latino/a couples who were exposed to a web-based narrative called East Los High (ELH). The program, originally screened on the Hulu web-channel was designed specifically to promote sexual responsibility among Latino/a …

Three Essays On Social/Political Structures And Icts Use, Seungeui Ryu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My research identifies how social structures affect the use of the Internet and/or a mobile chat application and how the Internet impacts the political structure of a nation. In my first essay of the 3-essay Dissertation, I am designing three models based on social structure theory that are used to study the Internet and a popular mobile chat application's use by managers in South Korea, with the help of a survey instrument. In my first essay, the contribution is on i) testing a model of manager's personal behavior on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use at the individual level involving …

Higher Education And Foreign Direct Investment: A Study Of Mexican States, Yuyinska Krystal Sanchez-Osio

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Factors that attract Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico at the state level are analyzed. Special focus is placed on how human capital promotes growth by attracting more FDI flows in a state. A model that explains the amount of FDI received in Mexico in 2012 is developed at a subnational level. The main independent variable is human capital, and it is measured using percentage of university graduates. The model controls for other possible determinant factors such as population, infrastructure, wages, fiscal incentives, geographic location, ease of doing business, and past experience in attracting FDI. It is tested using ordinary least …

Investigating The Efficacy Of Traffic-Light Labeling For Nutrition Label Presentation, Mosi Staudt

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The rates of obesity and the number of overweight adults are increasing in the U.S. (Cohen, 2008). This increase is due, in part, to food over consumption (Cohen, 2008). Although nutrition labels are available for people to identify the amounts of nutrients in food, these labels are often difficult to understand (Cowburn & Stockley, 2002). To understand how people interpret nutrition labels, we conducted two studies with a total of 383 participants. For the first study, we developed and pilot tested two outcome measures for the second study. For the second study we examined how people interpret nutrition labels using …

Operational Code And Al-Ikhwan: An Assessment Of The Evolution Of The Muslim Brotherhood's Operational Code And Possible Public Diplomacy Options For The United States, Robert Kevin Thomson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The primary aim of this Thesis is to provide the reader with a firm understanding of the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood's operational code from the early 2000s to 2013. Specifically, this research will address and analyze the evolution of the Brotherhood's political rhetoric from its historical context to the present. The Brotherhood's political rhetoric will be analyzed utilizing Operational Code Analysis. The secondary aim of this research is to provide a potential framework for policymakers and diplomats to utilize public diplomacy and strategic communication strategies to engage and constrain the influence of the Brotherhood in a globalized society. This …

The Spillover Effects Of Conflict On Economic Growth Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Karen Elizabeth Trevino

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The violence and insecurity that Mexico has suffered since former President Calderon's war on drugs has come at a grave economic cost to the cities most affected. Businesses and citizens in counties that shared a border with the United States, however, have the ability to move their capital and businesses in search of regaining profits that had been lost due to the insecurity in their cities. These specific counties are considered to be interdependent borderlands, which signify that these borders are in a border region where one nation is symbiotically linked with the border region of an adjoining country. This …

Mapping Technologically And Economically Important Materials At Lunar And Terrestrial Sites Using Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) And Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission And Reflection Radiometer (Aster) Data, Douglas L. Standart

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation comprises three distinct research projects, all of which employ the use of remote sensing and digital image processing methods for the discovery and characterization of mineral resources. Two of the research projects focus on the use of hyperspectral data to identify water and ilmenite on the lunar surface. The third research project involves the use of multispectral data to map alunite in copper porphyry and epithermal silver-gold deposits. Our approach to these problems result in innovative algorithms and geological interpretations that are of use to both planetary science and exploration and the terrestrial mineral industry.

Project I: Towards …

Perspectives On The Nature Of Science From A Group Of Students Attending Predominantly Hispanic West Texas High School, Cameron King Wilson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States is falling far behind the rest of the world in its ability to fulfill its needs for qualified workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The Hispanic population is now the largest minority in the United States but is proportionally underrepresented in the STEM fields today. It is shown that students who have a good understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) are far more likely to be interested in science which may lead to an interest in careers in STEM fields. There is very little if any research identifying Hispanic high school students' view …

The Contribution Of Forced Medical Retirement To Symptoms Of Depression, Anxiety And Stress In Law Enforcement Officers, Kimberley Blackmon

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored whether a statistically significant difference exists between symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in police officers who were forced into medical retirement as compared to those who retired after years of completed service. The sample population of retired police officers as well as the appropriate testing instruments for these targeted individuals is discussed. In addition, the dissertation addresses how the survey determined the type of retirement they were subjected to (voluntary or involuntary) and any depressive or other psychological symptoms since that retirement. The findings from this study show that a statistically significant difference exists in the …

Practicing Philosophical Pluralism With `Forrest Gump' A Speech-Act Body-Mind Analysis, Robert Lorenzo Oropeza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This essay looks at three different types of philosophy: Pragmatism and communication, phenomenology and Zen Buddhism. I discuss these philosophies using the film, Forrest Gump as a guide to get through the convoluted ideas and make the concepts easier to understand. We first wade through the waters of analytical philosophy and the language game in communication. We discuss speaker's intention in meaning according to Paul Grice and Forrest's problems with the implicatures of language. In the second chapter I focus on the phenomenology of the characters as well as the perspective of the person viewing the film. How do we …

El Paso Parking Meter Demand, Edward Pallarez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This manuscript analyzes the demand for parking meter purchases in El Paso, TX. A demand function is estimated using four independent variables.

A Variationist Sociolinguistic Study Of /R/ Deletion In Turkish, Sevda Rahymov

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Variable /r/ deletion in word final position has been explored in several languages such as English and different dialects of Spanish. This study will investigate /r/ deletion in Turkish, an Altaic language that belongs to Ural-Altaic languages family. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the influence of linguistic and social factors in the variation of /r/ in the progressive affix, /-yor-/ in the dialect of Turkish spoken in Istanbul. I hypothesize that the variability in the deletion of /r/ is not random, but can be accounted for by the study of linguistic and social factors.

Si Se Puede: The Effects Of Collective Angst And Identity On Group Activism During The National Immigration Debate, Corin Sue Ramos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States is involved in an ongoing debate on immigration. States have passed their own laws intended to enforce federal law. The new controversial laws allow local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents. Opponents argue these new laws unlawfully target Latinos. Latinos are of interest for politicians and lawmakers, due to their rapid growing population. The current research investigated the effects that anti-immigrant laws have on Latino citizens' American identity, ethnic identity and civic engagement. Preliminary data showed conservative Latinos have low intention of voting when primed with anti-immigrant laws. Absent from the pilot study are the …

Phonetic Realization Of /P, T, K/ In Spanish-English Code-Switching, Gisela Simental

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this investigation is to contribute to the relatively unexplored area of phonetic realization of sounds during code switching. The present study will focus on the analysis of voice onset time of voiceless stops in stressed word initial position. Spanish and English are ideal languages to test how bilinguals process and produce the low-level phonetic properties of stops during CS. Both languages have the same set of voiceless stops: /p, t, k/, yet these stops have different phonetic (or acoustic) characteristics in each language. Data was collected from the naturalistic speech of balanced bilinguals who were exposed to …

Acknowledging The Homeless Who Are Not Mentally Ill In The Context Of Medicalized Housing Assistance, Curtis Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis describes the homeless population in El Paso, Texas, and discusses data coming from an adaptation of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) point-in-time (PIT) survey methodology. It improves on previous methods used in homeless counts while allowing social science students to participate in hands-on training. Surveys were collected in "traditional homeless spaces," using convenience sample methods as well as in non-traditional spaces where homeless Hispanics were believed to be more heavily represented. Additionally, snowball techniques were used to find and survey marginally-housed individuals. The number of homeless individuals surveyed exceeded that of the official El Paso PIT count of …

Secondhand City: Stolen Stories From La Limonada, Byron José Sun

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Roboton, Jupa and Calicas have just been drafted by the city of La Limonada to petrol, to rob, to intimidate, to extort, to kill and when necessary to protect those citizens that need it; as their crime spree progresses their tactics and abilities improve shaping them into criminal machines. The three new criminals will be tasked with the reality of destroying people's lives in order to insure La Limonada maintains its dominion over every citizen by controlling every aspect of their past, present and future. Many of those citizens are clueless on how they are controlled; it isn't until their …

A Corpus-Based Study Of The Use Of Prepositional Verbs In Second Language Emergent Academic Writing, Elizabeth Wilcoxon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this paper, the author reports on a corpus-based study of prepositional verbs in L2 emergent academic writing using data collected from English as a Second Language [ESL] and English for Academic Purposes [EAP] classrooms in a Hispanic-serving university in the US. Prepositional verbs are relatively common in academic prose (lacking the informal overtones of phrasal verbs) and draw on the full set of prepositions (Biber et al., 1999). They are also difficult to acquire given the challenges posed by prepositional usage for most ESL/EAP learners. The literature in this area highlights the importance of prepositional verbs in L2 learning …

Toward A Theory Of Productivity Problems In Graduate Student Writing, Craig Wynne

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This case study focuses on the productivity problems that faced the dissertation/thesis writing practices of fourteen graduate students at a public university on the U.S./Mexico border. The author facilitated a series of group sessions designed to help graduate students in various disciplines cultivate awareness of Donald Murray's notion of "writing as process," as well as knowledge of writer's block and writing anxiety. Sessions also served to cultivate positive self-talk with relation to the writing process, an introduction to mindfulness meditation, and basic time management skills. Four types of data were collected: 1. field notes from participant discussion during workshop sessions; …

North Korean Supernotes: Nuclear Arms Financed By Counterfeit Currency, Michael Yatskievych

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Michael Yatskievych, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract of Master's Thesis, Submitted 21 May 2014:

North Korean Supernotes: Nuclear Arms Financed By Counterfeit Currency

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate whether DPRK is producing high quality counterfeit US currency, supernotes, and has determined to what extent supernotes are financing North Korea's emerging nuclear arms program.

The application of Analysis of Competing Hypotheses, ACH, satisfied this study's purpose by meeting the following objectives: the development of multiple hypotheses in an attempt to explain a supernote-nuclear arms program link, assessing evidence from assorted sources, providing a diagnostic weighing …

The Effect Of Religious References On Identity Salience And Social Behaviors, Jessica Marie Shenberger Trujillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the aftermath of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks on U.S. soil (e.g., the Boston bombings) researchers began to empirically investigate the conditions under which religion can lead to supporting or committing violence. The contradictory findings for the effects of religious references on both positive and negative behavior call for a closer examination of individual or contextual factors that influence the effect of religion on social behaviors. To address these contradictory findings and to identify the underlying mechanism involved, Study 1 examined the extent to which god-related or church-related religious references impact the salience of individual or group identities. Study …

The Global Health Security Agenda In An Age Of Biosecurity, Lawrence O. Gostin, Alexandra Phelan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Historically, the Oval Office has been a leader in global health assistance. From the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) under the Bush Administration, to the Global Health Initiative launched by President Obama in 2009. However, unlike PEPFAR and PMI, the Global Health Initiative met an untimely end with the launch of a bold new global health measure by the Obama Administration: the Global Health Security Agenda (GHS Agenda). The GHS Agenda aims to “accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats” through a US-led diplomatic collaboration with 30 …

Trauma, Personality, And Behavior: A Longitudinal Study Predicting Adverse Outcomes After Sexual Assault From Personality Prior To The Assault, Jessica L. Combs

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Exposure to sexual assault results in ongoing harms for women. After an assault, some women engage higher levels of externalizing behaviors, such as drinking problems and drug use, and others experience higher levels of internalizing dysfunction, such as clinical anxiety and clinical depression. In a longitudinal sample of 1929 freshman college women assessed across three time points, I found the following. Pre-assault negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed) interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent drinking and initiation of drug use. Pre-assault trait anxiety/depression interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent clinical anxiety and depression. …

Korean American Adolescents And Their Mothers: Intergenerational Differences And Their Consequences, Hui Chu

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The current study examined the links and mechanisms associated with intergenerational cultural conflict, psychological distress, and the intergenerational differences in acculturation and model minority stereotype (MMS) endorsement for South Korean immigrants. Specifically, Korean American adolescents’ (ages 12-19, M = 15.3, SD = 1.71) and their mothers’ (N = 209 dyads) acculturation difference and MMS endorsement difference were measured and analyzed as predictors of intergenerational cultural conflict and psychological distress for adolescents. Furthermore, the study analyzed intergenerational cultural conflict as a mediator in the acculturation gap-distress and the MMS endorsement-distress paths. Results indicated that when mothers and their adolescents differed …

The Restorative Justice Talking Circle Process With Probation Officers: A Phenomenological Approach, Constance Marie Sheehan

Dissertations

Restorative justice seeks to bring together stakeholders in the justice system by acknowledging harm caused by offending behavior and finding ways to repair that harm. The activities associated with restorative justice create the potential for meaningful and positive outcomes for all stakeholders within the system. Restorative justice asks, what is the harm?, who are the stakeholders?, and, how can the harm best be repaired? A particular restorative practice - the talking circle - is a common practice of restorative justice efforts. The potential for restorative justice practices, like the talking circle, is developing of a new way of understanding for …

Wandering The Web: How About A (Virtual) Cuppa?A Highly Selective Introduction To Tea Online, Roxanne Myers Spencer

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Support For Sister-Affiliated Ministries During Challenging Times: Understanding A Foundation Initiative In Two Regions, Robert L. Fischer

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the efforts of two foundations to sustain the ministries of Catholic sisters in two regions: northeast Ohio and South Carolina. Spanning more than 10 years, the initiative has drawn on multiple strategies – including convening, grantmaking, communicating, and research – in partnership with sisters themselves to sustain a diverse set of ministries. The work informs foundation practice by illuminating an approach to capacity development in very different regional contexts. Key lessons include being sensitive to the context, paying attention to both individual and organizational capacity, and the need for data.

Unilateral Climate Regulation, James W. Coleman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

It is now plain that decades of negotiation toward a binding global climate treaty have failed. Yet, at the same time, many nations are adopting a range of unilateral policies to address climate change. The existing literature on climate policy neglects these unilateral climate regulations because it focuses on the necessity and possible design of a multilateral climate treaty. But these domestic regulations present a unique puzzle: given that climate outcomes are determined by global emissions, and that unilateral regulations inevitably influence incentives to regulate elsewhere, how can domestic action achieve the greatest marginal reduction in global emissions? In other …

From Vacant Lots To Full Pantries: Urban Agriculture Programs And The American City, Jessica Owley, Tonya Lewis

Journal Articles

This Article builds on efforts to promote urban agriculture and remove legal and practical obstacles to its development. Specifically, we explore concerns regarding land tenure. Urban agriculture development can be retarded by uncertainties in landownership and agriculturalists’ land rights. We explore property tools that could be helpful to urban agriculturalists (both farmers and gardeners). One thing we learned quickly in our research is that the challenges (and therefore the most helpful tools) vary greatly by place. For this reason, we present examples of urban agriculture efforts across the United States to demonstrate the varying challenges that jurisdictions face and to …

Experiences And Perceptions Of Pregnant Unmarried Adolescents In Nigeria, Priscilla Ndidi Asonye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual activity among unmarried adolescents is a major public health problem in Nigeria, because unmarried pregnant girls are more likely to have multiple sex partners and are less likely to use contraceptives, putting them at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD), unplanned pregnancy, abortion, social isolation, and poverty. Teen pregnancy and STD rates are on the rise in Nigeria, yet few data exist on the experience of the adolescents themselves. This phenomenological study was designed to explore the in-depth experiences of 10 pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls aged 16-19, including the factors contributing to their sexual activity. An ecological model …