Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Leadership Department Newsletter - May 2014, Andrews University

Leadership Department Newsletter 2014

No abstract provided.

A Guide For The Psychosocial Treatment Of Infertility, Linnea Esselstrom

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Infertility is a growing area of the medical field and a common problem experienced by couples and individuals during their lifetime. Stress is known to decrease fertility in men and women, and may also impact fertility treatment outcomes. Psychological burden is associated with treatment discontinuation, due to the physical and emotional stress associated with the personal, social, and medical aspects of infertility. A review of the research literature was conducted to examine the impact of infertility on social and psychological domains, as well as identify the relationship between stress, distress, and infertility, to inform how mental health services may improve …

Strategic Planning In The Non Profit Sector: Creating A Strategic Plan For Affinity 2014-2017, Emilee Taplin-Lacey

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The purpose of engaging in the creation of a strategic plan for Affinity is to integrate knowledge acquired through participation in the Public Policy and Nonprofit Management Master’s Degree program at the Muskie School of Public Service. In addition, my facilitation of a strategic planning process for Affinity is meant to meet the requirements of graduation and represents my capstone project in this regard.

The Price Of A Healthy Diet: For Whom Is It Affordable?, Katheryn L. Harkleroad

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This exploratory study addressed the gaps that current research has ignored. What have been missing are studies that focus on tangible costs of realistic, practical, and healthy meal plans. This study was not intended to measure a national average cost of eating a healthy diet. Rather, its focus was to examine the cost of healthy diet in a specific location.

Improving Home Suitability For Aging In Place: A Review Of Programs To Assist Maine's Seniors Make Necessary Home Repairs And Energy Efficiency Updates, Andrea Westbye

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

With its median age of 42.7 years, Maine is the oldest state in the nation and it is getting older. The population 65 and older is growing at a rapid pace and this expansion presents many challenges to communities, particularly in the area of housing. Most seniors want to stay in their homes for as long as possible and adequate, accessible, safe, and affordable housing is a primary factor for successful aging in place. Low income seniors face additional difficulties when aging in place. This paper looks at the availability of home repair/modification and energy efficiency programs for Maine’s low …

An Assessment Of The Health Needs Of Maine Veterans And Their Access To Veterans Administration Health Care Services, Kristin Brawn

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

On a state level, only a few assessments have been conducted, which indicate that Maine veterans are also experiencing similar mental and physical health issues; however, it does not appear that the adequacy of Maine’s VHA services to meet the needs of Maine’s veterans has been comprehensively evaluated. It is unknown whether the physical and mental health needs of Maine’s veterans are currently being met. Therefore, this project proposes to determine if there is a similar problem among Maine’s veterans in regard to health issues and lack of access to VHA health services, as has been reported at the national …

Safe Routes For Portland: A Comparative Analysis Of The Walking School Bus Model For Maine Schools., Rebecca Spitko

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This purpose of this paper is to identify the effects an increase in active transportation to and from school would have on both commuters and communities, and to examine how to create a successful environment for active transportation models in Maine.

Volume 6 Issue 1 Journal Of Counselor Preparation And Supervision

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Youth In Post Accord Transformation In Northern Ireland, Christine Smith Ellison

Peace and Conflict Studies

Despite increased international interest in the contribution of education to peacebuilding, there has been a neglect of the role that non-formal youth programming can play in this process. This article examines three such youth programmes in post-accord Northern Ireland through the theoretical lens of their contribution to social, economic and political transformations. Given the sustained context of segregation and limitations of the formal education sector as a mechanism for transformation, the paper argues that the non-formal sector has played an important role in ensuring inclusion of multiple youth perspectives in a divided society. It also raises a number of critical …

Chronic, Lethal Versus Acute, Non-Lethal Threats: A Look Inside The Memories Of Cancer Patients At The Time Of Their Diagnosis, Angeline M. Modesti

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Consequentiality, affect, and rehearsal are also important components that help contribute to the recall of autobiographical memories. Traditionally, these features have been assessed in public dramatic events in the past such as the Challenger explosion and the 9/11 terrorist attack. In opposition to these traditionally studied events, the present study examined the effects of these features on five different private events. An analysis of these different experiences was assessed to determine the role of consequentiality, affect, and rehearsal play on memory recall. These three components were assessed in five different events during different points of the lifetime. Adults diagnosed with …

Hot Crime: Economic Analysis And Insight Into The Relationship Between A City's Latitude And Its Rate Of Violence, Erin K. Piepenbrok

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Every day in America, a case of violent crime makes headlines across the television, newspapers, websites, and social media. These tragedies deeply affect those directly involved and the communities in which the crimes take place. Not only are individuals physically and mentally affected by violent crime, but communities and cities suffer an economic loss from rising violent crime rates. Reducing the current rates of violent crime (robbery, assaults, rapes, and murders) can reduce costs for cities and taxpayers, while ultimately improving the quality of life for Americans. Research into what affects violent crime rates lead to discoveries that unemployment, gun …

Covered Interest Parity Empirical Analysis Of Non-Traditional Monetary Policy’S Effects On Exchange Rates, Tyler W. Salminen

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research sought to find an economically justifiable relationship between non-traditional monetary policies of the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve and the dollar/yen exchange rate. This research utilized the covered interest parity condition in con-junction with a partial least squares structured equation analysis in order to discern any possible relationships between these two phenomenon. Indeed, this research found a solid relationship between the non-traditional monetary policies of these central banks and dollar/yen exchange rate. In order to analyze significance, direction, and nature of this relationship this research followed up the partial least squares analysis with boot-strap structural equation …

Babies And Boardrooms: A Comparison Of Women In The Labor Forces Of Japan And The United States, Madison A. Layton

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this paper is to examine the participation of women in the Japanese labor force and to compare this participation rate to that of the United States. This paper explores various situational and cultural differences between the two countries that lead to a stagnant female participation rate in Japan as compared to significant growth in the United States. It provides historical context and applies personal experience to a current economic situation in order to understand why it is occurring. Topics covered in this paper include Japanese cultural background, labor force participations issues in Japan and the United States, …

Rod Library Newsletter: Rod Notes, V6n9, May/June 2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Rod Library newsletter: Notes for the Stalled

Contents:

-- Welcome Orientation Groups!
-- Just Breathe......
-- Exteme Makeover: Library Edition
-- Art in the Rod

Fighting Blight Through Innovative Financing, Department Of Planning And Urban Studies, University Of New Orleans

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

In spring 2014, The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) requested that the UNO-PLUS Community Development Finance Capstone Study Team research creative funding mechanisms to finance the upfront investments required for large-scale blight reduction efforts. Specifically, NORA tasked the study team with identifying mechanisms to finance the title clearance services necessary for property disposition and the infrastructure investments required to implement cost-reducing alternative land management strategies for 310 properties. Our analysis found that of these 310 properties, NORA acquired 295 through expropriation and 15 through adjudication. This report presents NORA with four distinct strategies for the effective dispo­sition of these 310 …

Whodata 2014 Project Newsletter, Whodata.Org

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Productivity In The Greater Middle East, Zahra Tayebi

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this research is to determine TFP growth in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Syria considering weather as well as economic and social factors that might be affecting it. A translog production function was used to estimate TFP over the period 1980-2010. Precipitation, temperature, drought and irrigation were included in the analysis. The results show increasing agricultural productivity at the average rate of 2.66% during the period. Temperature and precipitation play a significant role in agricultural production and most frequent extreme drought episodes and irrigation affect, substantially, agricultural productivity growth in the region. The results highlight that respect …

Divorce And Forgiveness: A Comparison Between Genders, Alison Kathleen Johnson

Dissertations

Divorce has become more commonplace throughout time. This study was conducted to determine if there were any differences between genders concerning forgiveness of their ex-spouses. Four instruments including the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, Fisher Divorce Assessment, Learning Activities Survey, and structured qualitative interviews were used to determine the differences specifically with regard to how men and women forgive and at what rate they forgive.

The sample included divorced adults employed by the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and graduate students in the Department of Educational Studies and Research at a local university. A total of 31 completed surveys were returned, and …

Who Will Defy Authority? Personality Features And Destructive Obedience In The Milgram Paradigm, Ashton Caroline Southard

Dissertations

The present study examined the potential role of individual differences in personality in the likelihood of engaging in destructive obedience to authority within a modified version of the Stanley Milgram paradigm (Milgram, 1963, 1974). Personality features examined included the Big Five dimensions of agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion, and the dimensions of the Dark Triad, which consist of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Participants were 39 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology classes who participated in exchange for partial fulfillment of a research requirement. Data were collected in two phases. Phase 1 consisted of online completion of …

Gatekeeping The Social Games In A Post-Broadcasting World: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Nbc And User-Generated Olympic Twitter Coverage During The 2012 London Games, Daniel Anthony Sipocz

Dissertations

This study examined the Twitter use of both traditional gatekeepers, such as NBC, and audience members during the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The exploratory study examined NBC and audience members as gatekeepers with a particular interest in the audience’s role as a gatekeeper through social media use. NBC used Twitter, a social media platform, in ways that supported traditional gatekeeping models. The network aimed to drive audiences back to the traditional television broadcast while providing the audience with the illusion of having an influence on Olympic coverage. Most significantly, this study argues that the audience became a gatekeeper of Olympic …

Lean Body Mass May Explain Apparent Racial Differences In Carotid Intima-Media Thickness In Obese Children., Shahryar M. Chowdhury, Melissa H. Henshaw, Brad Friedman, J Philip Saul, Girish S. Shirali, Janet Carter, Bryana M. Levitan, Tom Hulsey

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Background: Racial differences in carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) have been suggested to be associated with the disproportionally high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in black adults. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of cardiovascular risk factors on the racial differences seen in cIMT in obese children.

Methods: Obese subjects aged 4 to 21 years were recruited prospectively. Height, weight, blood pressure, fasting insulin, glucose, lipid panel, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were obtained. B-mode carotid imaging was analyzed by a single blinded physician.

Results: A total of 120 subjects (46 white, 74 …

Purdue Libraries Publishing Division: Publishing Spectrums, David Scherer

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

Little Else Than A Memory: Purdue Students Search For The Class Of 1904, Kristina Bross

Scholarly Publishing Services e-Books

Through their individual studies, the authors of the biographies inside this book were led in interesting and very different directions. From a double-name conundrum to intimate connections with their subjects’ kin, their archival research was rife with unexpected twists and turns. Although many differences between modern-day university culture and the campus of 1904 emerge, the similarities were far more profound. Surprising diversity existed even at the dawn of the twentieth century. Students intimately tracked the lives of African Americans, women, farm kids, immigrants, international students, and inner-city teens, all with one thing in common—a Purdue education. This study of Purdue …

Managing Innovation Risk, Madhabi Puri Buch

Asian Management Insights

Risk in banks is nearly always considered a dirty word. Yet a handful of simple ideas can help manage innovation risk effectively.

What Keeps Managers Awake At Night?, Hari Krishnan

Asian Management Insights

As the talent acquisition landscape undergoes dramatic change and the lines between the disciplines of recruiting and marketing continue to blur, how can talent leaders stay ahead of their game?

An Exploratory Study Of Generational Differences In Health Information Seeking And Smoking Behaviors In Bulgaria, Iva Stoyneva

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Smoking is a serious global public health threat that causes more than 6 million deaths annually (WHO, 2013). Smoking is also the single, most preventable cause of death (CDC, 2014). According to a recent study, Bulgaria was ranked as one of onlyl 1 countries in the world, in which half of the adult male population smokes, as well as one of 11 countries in which more than one-quarter of the adult female population smokes. Research suggests that the most significant predictors of smoking behavior in Bulgaria were age and geographic location (Balabanova, Bobak & McKee, 1998). Contributing to these finings, …

An Evaluation Of The International Volunteer Programme At Hope Community Resources In Alaska, Aisling Sugrue

Theses

A review of the literature identified a theme of ambiguity regarding the phenomenon of volunteerism, regarding the definition, academic perspectives and volunteer’s motives. The review also identified the Volunteer Process Model (VPM, Omoto and Snyder, 1995) and the researcher utilised this model when designing the mixed methods questionnaire to evaluate the motivations, satisfaction and attitudes towards disability of Hope’s international volunteers, both current (n=13) and previous (n=85), and also the impact the volunteer programme has on the volunteer’s careers. The attitudes towards disability of participating staff and management were also evaluated and compared with the volunteers. The impact on Hope’s …

Human Torches: The Genesis Of Self-Immolation In The Sociopolitical Context, Ryan Michael Nixon

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

In 2012 there was a record number of self-immolations globally. This phenomenon has been associated with the civil unrest and the collapse of regimes. Most recently, self-immolations in Tunisia sparked a revolution that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government. In the study of politics, self-immolations frequently appear merely as footnotes in the discussion of other phenomena. Where research has been previously conducted, focus has rested mainly on how it initially became a tool of contention and how it spreads. This paper seeks to understand the conditions that lead individuals to choose this method of protest. To do so, …

Organizing Livelihoods: An Examination Of Political Discourses Organizing A Public Park, Jared Kopczynski

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Organizational communication scholars have a history of challenging previous understandings of organization and complicating the ways organizations are understood and practiced. As organizations have been studied from communicative perspectives, some scholars have suggested moving beyond the organization to apply the rich insights gained to new problems and phenomena. Guided by the call to take organizational communication insights beyond the “organization,” this thesis examines constitutive communicative interactions and lived experiences within a public park. Public parks are frequently overlooked as mundane places in contemporary Western society, but this study demonstrates how that they are important places for meaning making and organizing. …

Narrating Gender: A Feminist Approach To The Narratives Of The Transgender Experience, Jamie K. Lange

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Gender and identity are complex and often ubiquitous in nature. This is a study about gender and identity and the ways in which they manifest through the narratives of five transgender individuals, who all transitioned after the age of 45, who now live as women. This study about the transgender experience adds a significant and important perspective on gender, identity, identification, and the relationship between gender and identity. The most important conclusions are the lengths to which these people go to support gender social constructs, reinforcing the immense strength of the social construction of gender. The idea that social constructs …