Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Afro-Brazilian Landscape: African Oil Palms And Socioecological Change In Bahia, Brazil, Case Watkins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Palm oil extracted from the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the world’s most produced vegetable oil, commanding a roughly 50 billion dollar global industry. In contrast to the agroindustrial firms and monocultures that dominate global production, a biodiverse cultural landscape of African oil palms in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia has for centuries supplied local alimentary and spiritual demands for palm oil—an essential resource in Afro-Brazilian cultures. Drawing on fieldwork, ethnography, archives, GIScience, quantitative analysis, and travelers’, rare, and secondary accounts, this dissertation provides the first comprehensive study of Bahia’s palm oil landscapes, cultures, and economies. Analyzing …

Space Cops And Cyber Cowboys: An Institutional Comparison Of The Governance Of Space Exploration And The Internet, James Luther Gilley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A growing concern for human society is the question of technology, how they are to be used and how can they best be governed. The very question of whether technology is governable remains for the most part unexplored. This work will seek to examine these important questions. By utilizing a historical institutional perspective, two case studies of the governance of technologies that have emerged in the last century will be explored. Space Exploration technologies and the advanced networking of computers known as the Internet will serve as the case to illuminate the question of governing technology. Deep qualitative functional analysis …

A Bayesian Approach To Small Area Estimation Of Health Insurance Coverage, Zhengjia Sun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Small area estimation focuses on borrowing strength across area in order to develop a reliable estimator when the auxiliary information is available. The traditional methods for small area estimation borrow strength through linear models that provide links to related areas, which may not be appropriate for some survey data. We examine the empirical best unbiased linear prediction method and hierarchical Bayes method with the Louisiana Health Insurance Survey (LHIS), and a hierarchical Bayes method with probit model to fit the LHIS data by using the single year data in 2013. This approach results in a lower level of posterior standard …

Excavations And Interpretation Of Two Ancient Maya Salt-Work Mounds, Paynes Creek National Park, Toledo District, Belize, Rachel Mariah Watson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In 2012, excavations were conducted at Witz Nabb’ and Killer Bee the last remaining above sea level features Paynes Creek National Park, Belize. Salt is a basic biological necessity that was in limited supply at inland Maya cities. The ancient Maya of coastal Belize produced by fire enhanced evaporation of salt enriched brine. Survey and excavation at inundated salt works in a shallow lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park provide extensive evidence of this technique in the form of briquetage, the remains of pots used in the fire evaporation. Lacking is any evidence that the salinity of seawater was enriched …

Investigations Into Ecogeomorphodynamics Of Coastal Embryo Dunes At Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, Katherine Anne Renken

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is an investigation into the interplay between vegetation and aeolian processes in the coastal embryo dune environment at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas. Vegetation is a geomorphic agent, altering aeolian process dynamics. This research adopted a three-pronged approach to improving our understanding of ecogeomorphodynamics in the coastal environment. The first study analyzed large-scale spatiotemporal trends in the vegetation community of the embryo dune environment in order to contextualize smaller scale aeolian processes. Results of this study demonstrated that there was a clear transition in community assemblage from the seaward edge of the embryo dune zone, where species functioned …

Essays On Sub-National Economic Growth: Evidence From A Global Sample, Dachao Ruan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I make three important contributions to the literature on regional economics. In Chapter 2, I construct a measure of early development, urban population density (urban population relative to total land area), that is novel to the growth literature, and apply GIS techniques to define and locate regions/cities and obtain geographic and historical measures across regions and cities. Chapter 3 investigates the persistence in sub-national development over the past 150 years. I find that regions that had a relatively higher urban population density in 1850 tend to be relatively more developed today. Geographic and climatic characteristics are significantly …

Rhetoric And Food: The Rise Of The Food Truck Movement, Bryan W. Moe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This analysis is an attempt to study the rise of a new mobile food medium the food truck. I examine the movement of rhetorical actors, the situation, the audiences, and discourses created and sustained through rhetorical practices. These include looking into contemporary controversies, the history and storytelling that helps to convey identity, a new aesthetic experience created by the medium, and specifically their sophistic character and rhetoric helping them speak on issues of social justice and change. To understand these texts, I examine each of them in light of their rhetorical situation and the convergence of a multitude of kairotic …

Defining Dad: Media Depiction Of The Modern Father In Print Advertising, John Robert Evans

LSU Master's Theses

From an advertising perspective fathers are a highly attractive consumer demographic. In order to market to this audience it is important to understand how fathers are framed. With an increase in the number of fathers identifying themselves as caregivers according to the 2012 census, effective marketers would be well-served if they understood what type of frame applies when fathers are employed vs. stay at home. This analysis used framing theory to determine how message givers use frames within their advertisements to explain which particular aspects of the father are given salience. This study is a content analysis of father frames …

A Comparison Of Psychotic Symptoms Recorded In Patient Files Of Persons With A First Diagnosis Of Schizophrenia In 1930 And 1960 Cohorts Drawn From A Large State Hospital, Kristopher Michael Lee Henderson

LSU Master's Theses

The growth of mental hospital populations during the 19th and 20th centuries along with the corresponding increase in the number of mental institutions is well documented. The cause of the growth is the subject of considerable debate. One hypothesis is that the growth in hospital population was due, in part, to an increase in the prevalence or incidence of schizophrenia. Another is that diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia changed with time in such a manner that increasing numbers of patients were given this diagnosis. The present study sought to address these issues in two ways: 1) by comparing the number and …

Different Approaches To Investigatory Journalism In The Muckraking Era, Tim Vest Klein

LSU Master's Theses

The muckraking era is seen as a golden age of investigatory journalism. This thesis argues that within the muckraking era, there were a number of distinct types of journalism. To understand the muckrakers, we must recognize these different types of investigatory journalism and the potential influence the different types of storytelling can have on public opinion. Fourteen of the preeminent muckrakers are analyzed based on their most important investigatory journalism articles

Examining The Prevalence Rates, Demographic Differences, And Concurrent Validity Associated With A Universal Bidimensional Mental Health Screener For Youth In Schools, Sarah Bolognino

LSU Master's Theses

When using a bidimensional mental health (BDMH) model, psychological distress and wellbeing are measured. This study used a mental health screening measure, with equal number of items measuring each mental health dimension (i.e., wellbeing and distress) to classify students into one of four possible mental health groups: mentally healthy (MH), mentally unhealthy (MU), symptomatic but content (SBC), and asymptomatic but discontent (ABD). First, prevalence rates for each group in a sample of youth from the 2009–10 Health Behavior in School-aged Children Survey in the United States (N = 6,345) were explored; about a quarter of the population experienced mixed mental …

On The Detection And Monitoring Of The Transport Of An Asian Dust Storm Using Multi-Sensor Satellite Remote Sensing, Hesham El-Askary, S. K. Park, M. H. Ahn, A. Prasad, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Dynamical and physical features of a long range transported dust event originating in China affecting Korea early March 2008 are examined using an integrative multi-sensor and multi-algorithm approach. Aerosol loadings and their size mode were analyzed over both ocean and land surfaces using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol optical depth (AOD), employing standard dark target (DT) and deep blue (DB) algorithms, and the Ångström exponent (AE). Anthropogenic absorbing aerosols and smoke were found to be significant over the Indochina Peninsula, the Philippines and southern China, while a mixture of dust and pollution were predominant over central to northern …

Alexithymia In A Psychiatric Population: Stability And Relationship With Therapeutic Outcome, Lauren Mcgillivray

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alexithymia has been defined as a personality construct that involves difficulties identifying and describing feelings, as well as an externally oriented thinking style and impoverished fantasy life, which places individuals at risk for various psychopathologies. For psychiatric populations, it represents an obstacle to therapeutic success. Despite extensive research, there is no consensus on the prevalence rate of alexithymia in the general psychiatric population and no data on alexithymia prevalence in the Australian general psychiatric population. In addition, there is inconsistency in the literature regarding the role of alexithymia in therapeutic intervention and a lack of robust studies involving control or …

Social Work Is What Social Workers Do: A Study Of Hospital Social Workers’ Understanding Of Their Work And Their Professional Identity, Christine Perriam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Hospital social work in Australia appears to be undergoing a crisis of identity. The current socioeconomic context of economic rationalism and managerialism is not always compatible with social work values and social workers working in hospitals talk about feeling threatened, despite evidence of numerical growth comparable to other professions. In this study I interviewed five social workers who were practising in hospitals. The method used was the Long Interview which allows the responders freedom to express their thoughts while providing a common framework for all the interviews. Using grounded theory methodology I distilled their common understandings about what it meant …

Carbon Storage And Preservation In Seagrass Meadows, Mohammad Rozaimi Jamaludin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Seagrass meadows are important ‘Blue Carbon’ sinks but many questions remain unaddressed in regards to the organic carbon (OC) sequestration capacity and processes leading to retention and persistence of OC in seagrass sediments. The research summarised in this dissertation examined 37 sediment cores from twelve Australian seagrass meadows (Posidonia australis and Halophila ovalis) in order to improve our understanding of OC storage and preservation in seagrass sediments. The research: quantified the OC storage in seagrass meadows and the reduction in stores after ecosystem degradation; the rates of OC accumulation; the roles of species composition and the depositional nature …

The Story Speaks For Itself: A Thematic Information Analysis Of An Intended Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Spouses And Parents Bereaved By The Death Of Special Forces Members Killed In Combat, Marion A. Smyth

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Australian Special Forces (SF) members have faced considerable adversity with combat deployments to Afghanistan as an elite operational unit of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). There have been 40 combat deaths since 2001 and despite the significant research available on bereavement and violent death, to date there is a gap in the literature to guide the provision of bereavement support for spouses and parents of those SF members killed in action. Contemporary qualitative research into combat related bereavement has found a number of themes which gave meaning to bereavement outcomes found in the non-SF context and recommended that future …

An Examination Of Social Desirability Confounds In A New Ipsative Measure Of Murray's Psychogenic Needs, Lisa Harris

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A reliable and valid instrument for the direct measurement of the relative strength of psychological needs is currently lacking. In response to this shortcoming, a new ipsative instrument, the Psychogenic Need Scale (PNS), is currently being developed; this is a 190-item forced-choice self-report measure that is based upon Murray’s psychogenic needs. For the development of a valid forced-choice instrument, it is critical to minimise the confounding effects of social desirability (the tendency for respondents to describe oneself in the most favourable light). Whilst other measures typically use specifically designed scales to detect social desirability confounds, this approach is unsuitable for …

Antenatal Clinic: Using Ethnographic Methods To Listen To The Voices Of Pregnant Adolescents, Deborah Ireson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aim: This research aims to explore the motivating reasons and external influences that affect pregnant adolescents’ reasons for attending an antenatal clinic. Background: Pregnancy during adolescence has been researched from perceived ‘poor’ decision making during pregnancy and postnatal perspectives involving high-risk outcomes for mother and baby. Antenatal clinic attendance by pregnant adolescents is often characterised by late and infrequent attendance, limiting midwifery contact with this inexperienced group. Gaps in the literature exist where the real-time voices of pregnant adolescents offer their current experiences of antenatal clinic as a relevant means to inform midwifery practice.

Research design: Using ethnographic methods, this …

Thinking Differently About Reflective Practice In Australian Social Work Education: A Rhapsody, Lynelle Watts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There are many different ways of thinking about reflective practice in social work education in Australia. This research utilises a musical metaphor to illustrate this diversity. Written as a piece of music with album notes, the study utilises a reflexive methodology with a qualitative mixed method approach. Three studies were conducted to explore how reflective practice is understood in social work education and practice in Australia. The first study examined my own learning and teaching of reflective practice through an autoethnographic process. The findings indicated a range of models of reflective practice potentially available to the educator. Also explored in …

واقع التعليم المحاسبي في العراق ومدى انسجامه مع معايير التعليم المحاسبي الدولية ( دراسة تطبيقية لعينة من الجامعات العراقية), ناظم شعلان جبار

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

لقد أكدت الوقائع التاريخية حقيقة أن المجتمع الذي يقوم على نظام تربوي وعلمي منفتح ومتجدد سيحتل موقعا كبيرا في عملية البناء والتطور, وللجامعات دورا مهما في المجتمع من خلال تنفيذها لهذا الدور الذي تطلع به والنظر بجدية لما يمليه عليها اسهامها في تطور المجتمع. ولاشك أن مسؤولية إعداد محاسبين مؤهلين بالمهارات المهنية المطلوبة تقع على عاتق عدد من الجهات، ومن أبرز هذه الجهات مؤسسات التعليم العالي وذلك من خلال صياغة وتبني ومواكبة سياسات وأساليب تعليمية حديثة تركز على إكساب الطالب الجامعي القدرات والمهارات المهنية اللازمة وتنمي لديه التفكير التحليلي والابتكاري ,أن الأسلوب التقليدي المتبع حاليا لا يؤهل الطالب الجامعي بالقدر …

إشكالية العلاقة بين التنمية الاقتصادية وعدم الاستقرار السياسي في البلاد النامية (العراق أنموذجا), رشيد باني الظالمي, غسان طارق ظاهر

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

تناول موضوع البحث إثبات العلاقة القوية بين مشاريع التنمية والوضع السياسي في أي بلد. إن البلدان التي تعيش استقرارا سياسياً يمكنها أن تطبق برامج تنموية ناجحة، أما البلدان التي تعيش فوضى سياسية فإن مشاريعها التنموية سوف يصيبها الفشل وهذا ما تم إثباته في العراق من خلال البحث.منذ تأسيس الدولة العراقية والانقلابات العسكرية والحرب الأهلية لم تعرف الركود، وكانت فترة الحرب العراقية الإيرانية وحرب الكويت حتى هذا اليوم من أسوء الفترات التي عاشها المجتمع العراقي. إن عدم الاستقرار السياسي في العراق يعني غياب القانون وفوضى الأمن وتبديد الثروة، وهجرة أصحاب رؤوس الأموال، وكذلك يعني كما جاء في البحث غياب الخطط والبرامج …

The Reality Of Human Development In Iraq And Ways Of Treatment With An Indication Of Service Of Reality Environmental And, Haider Talib Musa

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

The human development the subject at the present time is one of the most important topics of concern to the community in any part of the world delayed human development efforts and lack of interest in singling does not affect them, but it also affects the march of an entire people and restrain progress, pushing for the dependence of policies and programs that are correct and rational to draw conclusions and recommendations Scientific efforts to promote and develop human development success of any society and its development depends basis primarily on the individual development of )healthy،educational subsistence(. interest in these …

تأثير المزيج الترويجي للخدمات المصرفية في تحقيق رضا الزبون دراسة تحليلية لأراء عينة من الزبائن في بعض المصارف الاهلية في مدينة الديوانية, حيدر حمزه صالح

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

لقد تناول البحث الحالي احد العناصر الاساسية والحيوية في العمل التسويقي للمنظمات المصرفية من خلال استعراض احد الانشطة المهمة والمؤثرة في تحقيق اهدافها التسويقية والمتمثل بالمزيج الترويجي الذي يشتمل على خمسة متغيرات هي ( الاعلان، البيع الشخصي، تنشيط المبيعات، العلاقات العامة والنشر) وهدف البحث الى دراسة واقع المزيج الترويجي في المصارف الاهلية . واعتمد البحث جمع البيانات من عينة شملت (5) مصارف اهلية في مدينة الديوانية ، ولتحقيق هدف البحث قام الباحث بتوزيع استبانة عدت لهذا الغرض على مجتمع البحث المكون من الزبائن التابعة لهذه المصارف وشملت (78 ) زبون. وفي ضوء دلك جرى جمع و تحليل البيانات و اختيار …

اختبار اثر العلاقة بين توزيعات الارباح و القيمة السوقية للأسهم باستخدام بعض من ادوات التحليل المالي دراسة تطبيقية لعينة من الشركات المدرجة في سوق العراق للاوراق المالية للفترة من 2010-2014, هند ضياء عبد الرسول

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

يهدف البحث الى يفحص العلاقة بين توزيعات الارباح والقيمة السوقية للاسهم المدرجة في سوق العراق للاوراق المالية , ومدى تأثره بالقدرة الربحية والتدفق النقدي الحر والرافعة المالية . وقد تم فحص هذه العلاقة بأستخدام تحليل الانحدار المتعدد .تكونت عينة البحث من 42 شركة مساهمة مدرجة في سوق العراق للاوراق المالية موزعة على قطاعات المصارف والمالية والخدمات والصناعية خلال الفترة 2010-2014.اظهرت نتائج البحث وجود علاقة ذات دلالة احصائية بين الارباح الموزعة والقيمة السوقية للاسهم في القطاعات عينة البحث كما بينت نتائج البحث عدم وجود اثر للرافعة المالية على العلاقة بين الارباح الموزعة والقيمة السوقية للاسهم .

Learning As It Goes Down The Line: Siblings And Family Networked In The Acquisition Of Online Skills, Kylie J. Stevenson, Lelia Green, Leslie Haddon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Parents and Peers project set out to investigate key influences of peers and parents on the online experiences of young people aged 13 - 17. Specifically, the project sought to explore the family constructions of learning, support and management systems that operate in the informal context of the domestic space of the family home (Silverstone & Haddon 1996). It became apparent through interviewing several sets of older siblings that there was benefit in interviewing a wider age range of siblings who were engaged in online activity within individual families. Therefore, the interview participants’ age range was extended to age …

Rethinking The Reporting Of The Mass Random Shooting – Or Is It An Autogenic Massacre?, Glynn Greensmith, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The crime of the mass random shooting seems frighteningly common, yet around the world there are probably no more than about 26 per year: one per fortnight. The apparent randomness of the crime is one of the aspects which assures it of its publicity. Another is the traditional practice on the part of the gunman (and they are all men) of making a statement about his motives, or leaving a room or a box or a website of his grievances, to be uncovered and wondered at. The media’s focus on the genesis and impact of each mass random shooting is …

Compliance To Exercise-Oncology Guidelines In Prostate Cancer Survivors And Associations With Psychological Distress, Unmet Supportive Care Needs, And Quality Of Life, Daniel A. Galvao, Robert U. Newton, Robert A. Gardiner, Afaf Grigis, Steven J. Lepore, Anna Stiller, Cathrine Mihalopolous, Steven Occhipinti, Suzanne K. Chambers

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence of Australian prostate cancer survivors meeting contemporary exercise-oncology guidelines and identify associations with distress, unmet supportive care needs, and quality of life. Methods A population-based cohort of 463 prostate cancer survivors who were on 10.8 months post-curative therapy was assessed for compliance with current exercise guidelines for cancer survivors, motivational readiness for physical activity, psychological distress, unmet supportive care needs, and quality of life. Results Only 57 men (12.3%) reported sufficient exercise levels (150 min of moderate intensity or 75 min of strenuous exercise per week and twice weekly resistance …

Malaysian Equities: A Sector Analysis Of Risk And Normality, Robert J. Powell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study uses Value at Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) metrics to measure the relative riskiness of sectors for Malaysian equities. VaR is a widely used volatility measure, but only measures risk below a specified threshold, whereas CVaR looks at risk beyond that threshold. The study finds that the relative risk of sectors changes with changing economic circumstances as measured by VaR, but remains significantly the same as measured by CVaR. Parametric (normally distributed) measures of VaR are compared to nonparametric measures, and it is found, consistently across all sectors, that parametric measures are not suitable measures …

Chinese Nursing Students' Culture-Related Learning Styles And Behaviours: A Discussion Paper, Carol C. Wang, Kenneth M. Greenwood

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Globalisation requires that nursing education focuses on culturally competent care. International students studying in Australia present a valuable resource for cultural learning, yet internationalisation presents opportunities and challenges for both lecturers and students. This paper explores Chinese nursing students, the single largest group of international students in Australia, their communication behaviour, patterns and learning styles at Australian universities from cultural and psychosocial perspectives. Our aim is to provide insight for educators in Western countries to better understand this particular ethnic group and help Chinese nursing students overcome learning difficulties and develop their potential learning capabilities. We further recommend coping strategies …

Attaining Automaticity In The Visual Numerosity Task Is Not Automatic, Craig P. Speelman, Katrina L. Muller-Townsend

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This experiment is a replication of experiments reported by Lassaline and Logan (1993) using the visual numerosity task. The aim was to replicate the transition from controlled to automatic processing reported by Lassaline and Logan (1993), and to examine the extent to which this result, reported with average group results, can be observed in the results of individuals within a group. The group results in this experiment did replicate those reported by Lassaline and Logan (1993) ; however, one half of the sample did not attain automaticity with the task, and one-third did not exhibit a transition from controlled to …