Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Success And Failure Of Multiethnic Coalition Governments In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Cases Of Kenya And Senegal, Emily Cunningham

Honors College Theses

This thesis is focused on multiethnic coalitions in Africa. Specifically, it seeks to identify the causal mechanisms at play in the formation of multiethnic coalitions and whether or not they succeed or fall apart. It also seeks to identify whether multiethnic coalition success or failure is related to the emergence or lack thereof, of violence. Case studies and process tracing are the primary methods of analysis, using Kenya and Senegal as cases under the most similar systems design. There is an examination of the actors involved in the formation of multiethnic coalitions in both nations, why the opposition coalitions fell …

Family-Friendly Las Vegas: An Analysis Of Time And Space, Diana Tracy Cohen

Occasional Papers

This paper explores the rise and fall of the “family-friendly” Las Vegas marketing era. Through analysis of casino advertisements, internal and external building infrastructure, and qualitative in-depth interviews with industry insiders, this work investigates the city’s reinvention of the early 1990s. Key factors that set the stage for the emergence of targeted family marketing are identified, addressing why this advertising approach ultimately did not sustain. Unique marketing case studies are identified throughout.

Talking With Children About Potentially Sensitive Topics: Birth, Sex, Death, And Santa, Natalie Lane Hendricks, Elisabeth Hope Jee, Tiffany Erin Robbins

Psychology and Child Development

Our study looks at conversations between parents/caregivers and their children about potentially sensitive topics including birth, sex, death, and fantastical beings (i.e. Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny). Our paper covers information on what children know, Parent conversations, and cultural differences between all these topics. Our methods Are broken up into two parts: a parent survey and an informative website. The survey was distributed locally and included questions about parents’ beliefs towards how much their children knew about these topics and their attitudes about having the conversations. The website was created to be a tool for parents and …

The Impact Of Education Finance Reform On Student Achievement In Massachusetts, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

A Case Analysis Of The Foundational Ministry Principles Of Rev. Jerry Falwell From 1956-1966, Iain Lyttle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research examines principles employed by Dr. Jerry Lamond Falwell between 1956 and 1966 and the early developmental stages of his church, Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC). The foundation built during these formative years facilitated precipitous growth within the church plant for decades, allowing TRBC to become one of America’s most prominent megachurches and to found Liberty University, the world’s largest evangelical university. As church plants are more likely to fail than to succeed, this research aimed to investigate key characteristics of a church planter who was highly successful, which can be replicated. Using primarily twenty-three interviews of TRBC congregants …

Caring Is Sharing: Reconciling The Federal Trade Commission’S Online Privacy Suggestions With Young Social Media Users’ Privacy Reality, Katherine Macdonald

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Competing Identities In The U.S. South: The Role Of Youth And Southern Identities In Politics, Olivia Mcclure

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Flaws In The Federal Communications Commission, Sally Kay Mcpherson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Believe The Lie: Source Monitoring Errors For Repeated Lies, Laura L. Heisick

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Morphemes And The Effect Of Memory Load On Second Language Learning, Hannah Hebert

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Repeated Denials On Memory For Actions, Rachel Dianiska

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Mediating Effects Of Child Coping And Social Support On Child Adjustment In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina, Laren M. Alexander

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Determining The Best Career Ladder For Nurse Practitioners In Louisiana By Examining Occupational Mobility, Gina K. Wilson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Lessons From 3-D Surface Scanning Of 19th Century Coffin Plates From St. Thomas Anglican Churchyard, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, Abigail Woltering

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Open Access: A Model For Sharing Published Conservation Research, Peter D. Verheyen, Priscilla Anderson, Whitney Baker, Beth Doyle

Librarian Publications

The conservation field has articulated the importance of publishing our research to disseminate information and further the aims of conservation. Article X of AIC’s Code of Ethics states that conservators should “contribute to the evolution and growth of the profession, a field of study that encompasses the liberal arts and the natural sciences” in part by “sharing of information and experience with colleagues, adding to the profession’s written body of knowledge.” Our Guidelines for Practice state “the conservation professional should recognize the importance of published information that has undergone formal peer review,” because, as Commentary 2.1 indicates, “publication in peer-reviewed …

Living Cities: The Integration Initiative In Cleveland, Ohio- Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative: Evaluation Executive Summary Year 3, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn W. Hexter, Candi Clouse, Serineh Baboomian

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Living Cities Integration Initiative (TII) began in 2011 as a three-year program to accelerate local initiatives promoting greater economic inclusion in five cities across the country. In Cleveland, Ohio, the TII was known as the Greater University Circle (GUC) Community Wealth Building Initiative and was part of the more comprehensive Greater University Circle Initiative (GUCI) between 2011 and 2013. The GUCI began in 2005 and will continue beyond TII. This report will refer to the three-year Living Cities program as the GUCI/TII.

This executive summary combines findings from two evaluation reports. The first is a formative and system change …

Applications Of Satellite Remote Sensing In The Environment, Rajee Olaganathan, Muhammad Ihsan Bin Ibrahim, Huang Meitong, Tan Yong Jie Shawn, Wilson Tok Wei Sheng, Et Al.

Publications

Since its inception, satellite remote sensing has enabled observations of environmental changes at inaccessible locations in meteorology, disaster control, oceanography, agriculture, glaciology, geology etc. Using the information gathered from satellite remote sensing, changes in the physical environment can be measured and the information are utilized to predict future patterns and achieve better environmental outcomes in different areas. This paper serves to highlight some of the areas in which satellite remote sensing has been applied. In meteorology, Earth’s solar radiation intensity, geothermal energy and wind velocity are measured by satellite remote sensing. Satellite imageries are also used for forecasting natural disasters …

Voting In Latin America: Understanding Turnout Decisions, Claire Q. Evans

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Latinas And The Traditional Genetic Counseling Model: A Qualitative Study, Stephanie Thompson

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The traditional genetic counseling model reflects an individualized counseling session that includes the presentation of information about genes, chromosomes, personalized risk assessment, and genetic testing and screening options. Counselors are challenged to balance providing educational information with discussion of implications of this information in an allotted amount of time. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of pregnant Latinas on the benefits and limitations of the traditional prenatal genetic counseling model and to determine the specific preferences for receiving prenatal genetic counseling. Data were collected through focus groups and one-on-one, semi-structured interviews of twenty-five Spanish speaking Latinas …

Banging Heads - Media Portrayals Of Injuries In Professional Football Before And After The Death Of Mike Webster, Alexander Moe

All Theses

This study addresses the influence of a trigger event on mainstream news coverage of injuries in professional football. In 2002, four-time Super Bowl winner and NFL Hall of Famer Mike 'Iron Mike' Webster passed away due to what is known today as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a condition that develops in the brain after multiple impacts. It has been confirmed that Webster sustained CTE from his 17-year NFL career, although medical evidence at the time of his death did not exist, and his passing was instead attributed to heart failure. This is an empirical analysis of how the trigger event …

An Empirical Study On Return To Education In Urban China, Jin Han

All Theses

This study uses the most recent household survey data from 2007 to estimate return to education in urban China. Most existing literature are based on the data from 1990s and early 2000s and find that the rate of return to education in urban China has experienced a rapid increase. This study investigates whether the return to education is still in an increasing trend in later 2000s and how the return to education changed in recent years. The estimates of return in this study are lower than the findings in early 2000s. The higher education expansion started in 1999 made unbalance …

Mobile Interactive Fitness Technologies And The Recreational Experience Of Bicycling: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Strava Community, William Smith

All Theses

Technology is now embedded in many aspects of daily life. Over the past few years, fitness related smartphone applications have steadily grown in popularity. Despite the prevalence of technology in recreation and leisure experiences, the topic remains to be thoroughly examined from a qualitative interpretive viewpoint. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe how cyclists use and experience Strava--a GPS enabled smartphone application that tracks bicycle rides and uploads the data to an online community of other users. Particular attention was given to user motivations, affordances of the technology, and notions of community. After participant observation …

Self-Reported Health: Cross-Regional Differences In The United States, 2010, Dongqi He

All Theses

Although self-reported health surveys are used widely by governments, hospitals and companies, there has been little cross-regional investigation of the reliability of these self-reported inventories. I demonstrate the distribution of the self-reported health rate and some factors that may affect the distribution using a National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) sample that focuses on respondent aged between 50 and 85 in year 2010. Then I examine the relationship between self-reported health and real health by constructing disability weights and find that respondents' self-reported health is generally consistent with their real health status, except for west region, suggesting that more future works …

Social Media Public Relations Practices Of Community Non-Profit Organizations, Megan Stockhausen

All Theses

This thesis examines the use of social media for public relations in the non-profit sector. Specifically, self-perceptions and the implementation of social media by non-profit organizations was investigated through both interviews with social media practitioners and content analysis of Twitter. Through the lens of the five principles of dialogic communication, as set forth by Kent and Taylor (1998), eight community non-profit organizations were analyzed in a multiple case study. One interview and 150 tweets from a 12 month period were examined for each organization to determine the motivations for employing social media and whether dialogic communication was used to interact …

The Impact Of The American Invasion Of Grenada On Anglo-American Relations And The Deployment Of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces In Britain, Timothy Anglea

All Theses

This thesis studies the impact the American invasion of Grenada in 1983 had on Anglo-American relations and the deployment of cruise missiles in Britain. Anglo-American nuclear relations were dependent on a strong level of trust between the two governments. The deception employed by President Reagan's government in concealing American intentions concerning Grenada from the British government broke that trust. The American invasion also furthered doubts held by the general British population concerning the placement of American owned and operated cruise missiles on British soil. The deployment of Intermediate-Range Nuclear forces in Britain and Western Europe was crucial to Prime Minister …

The Role Of Social Support In Treatment Seeking And Treatment Retention In The Military: Examining The Function And Source Of Support, Kristen Jennings

All Theses

Service members of the United States military occupy jobs that are unlike most in the exposure to exceptional stress and the potential for life-threatening and traumatic on-the-job experiences. Because of the nature of the job tasks and duties, many soldiers are vulnerable to developing mental health problems. Even more problematic, many soldiers experiencing mental health symptoms are not getting the treatment they need. The present study examined how social support can influence a soldier's decision to engage in treatment and stay in treatment. More specifically, the study examined the unique influence of family and friends, fellow unit members, and leaders …

Essays On The Effect Of Early Investments On Children's Outcomes, Lyudmyla Sonchak

All Dissertations

The first chapter of this dissertation evaluates the impact of state-level Medicaid reimbursement rates for obstetric care on prenatal care utilization across demographic groups. It also uses these rates as an instrumental variable to assess the importance of prenatal care on birth weight. The analysis is conducted using a unique dataset of Medicaid reimbursement rates and 2001-2010 Vital Statistics Natality data. Conditional on county fixed effects, a doubling of reimbursement rates yields an additional prenatal visit for black disadvantaged mothers, an 11% increase. The magnitude of the effect is somewhat smaller for white disadvantaged mothers. However, the effect of an …

Double Bitted Axes Of The Fourche Maline: Use-Wear Analysis And Experimental Replication, Rachel Ann Campbell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the Fourche Maline double bitted tools from the Fourche Valley site, 3YE948, in Yell County, Arkansas. The assemblage consists of 65 tools surface collected from the site, which vary in form, condition, material composition and wear. Microscopic use-wear on these artifacts was analyzed using high resolution epoxy casts and complemented by a collection of experimental replicas which served as an analytical control. The use-wear analysis of the double bitted tools provides information as to the tool function, the relation between tool form and function, and the life cycle of these tools.

Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dental microwear texture analysis has been refined to a methodology relying upon scanning confocal microscopy for its advantages of repeatability and standardized quantification. A new instrument, the Plu Neox (Sensofar Corp.) confocal profiler recently entered the market, sparking questions among dental anthropologists related to the advantages and efficacy of this new technology, which has better resolution and lighting properties than previously available white-lighted based confocal profilers. This thesis reports on three complementary studies that set out to evaluate the comparability of the Plu Neox to the Plu Standard system and assess its ability to distinguish primates on the basis of …

Knowledge, Perceptions, And Outcomes Of Agricultural Communications Curriculum In Arkansas Secondary Agricultural Classrooms, Carley Payne Calico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to assess the effectiveness of agricultural communications curriculum developed and incorporated into a semester-long agricultural leadership and communications course for secondary agricultural education programs in Arkansas. This study was comprised of three parts including a pilot test, teacher training assessment, and a descriptive field test over a two-year period. For the pilot test portion of the study, students (N = 297) participated in newly developed instructional modules (careers, writing, design, and multimedia) predetermined by a committee of agricultural education and communications faculty at the University of Arkansas. The pilot test indicated students' …