Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 38

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Rise Of Anti-Immigration Populist Radical Right Parties: The Effect Of The Syrian Conflict On Refugee Resettlement And Migration Policies In Germany And Austria, Sara Kouchehbagh Dec 2019

The Rise Of Anti-Immigration Populist Radical Right Parties: The Effect Of The Syrian Conflict On Refugee Resettlement And Migration Policies In Germany And Austria, Sara Kouchehbagh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of Syrian migration in Europe have revolutionized refugee resettlement globally. Most immigration and refugee problems have historically been settled similarly post WWII, however, Syria is the largest refugee crisis since WWII. It is important to learn how to respond to future conflicts with displacement and resettlement affecting Western countries that are unprepared to respond to a conflict of such magnitude. This thesis will compare previous conflicts and the Syrian conflict, while highlighting the resilient political momentum of reactionary new political groups in European states, particularly Germany and Austria.

The research and results from this study will include data …


The Cognition Of Controversy: Examining Policy Elites’ Narrative Cognition And Communication Around Hydraulic Fracturing Practices In The U.S., Rachael M. Moyer Dec 2019

The Cognition Of Controversy: Examining Policy Elites’ Narrative Cognition And Communication Around Hydraulic Fracturing Practices In The U.S., Rachael M. Moyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of hydraulic fracturing (HF) technologies to extract oil and gas in the United States has sparked contentious policy debates, producing inconsistent and inefficient policies that have done little to address the impacts of HF in any comprehensive way. Debates are accompanied by competing policy narratives that position HF as either an environmental threat or an economic opportunity, but little is known about how policy narratives around HF are used by individuals. This dissertation systematically examines how individuals cognitively internalize elements of competing HF policy narratives. Organized into three empirical chapters, this dissertation analyzes narrative cognition (Jones, Shanahan, and …


The Social Construction Of Black Fatherhood In Responsible Fatherhood Policies, Azaliah B. Israel Dec 2019

The Social Construction Of Black Fatherhood In Responsible Fatherhood Policies, Azaliah B. Israel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Responsible fatherhood legislation bridges the gap between two explicit family policies in order to serve fathers: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 and the Child Support Enforcement Act of 1975. Historically, these two polices have been racialized and discourse surrounding them may contribute to negative cultural formula stories about the primary targets of responsible fatherhood programs: low-income Black fathers.

The first article addresses the question of whether and how congressional discourse disrupts or legitimizes negative cultural formula stories about Black fatherhood. This study examines congressional discourse during hearings on fatherhood legislation. Members of congress legitimized …


Contributions Of Role-Playing Games: Advantages Of Incorporating Social Media In Disaster Response, Erin Mullin Dec 2019

Contributions Of Role-Playing Games: Advantages Of Incorporating Social Media In Disaster Response, Erin Mullin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After a disaster, emergency managers need to know who needs help, what type of help they need, and how soon they need it. Traditionally, they have relied on 911 calls and ground assessments to collect this information. Because the needs of a population are not able to be identified in a timely manner by ground assessments and because individuals are often unable to get through to 911, many civilians in distress turn to social media outlets as a last-ditch effort to obtain the services they need. Due to the uncertainty concerning the accuracy of social media posts, responding to disaster …


The Effect Of Organizational Tenure, Bargaining Unit Status, And Union Membership On Local Government Employee Public Service Motivation, Ty Ryburn Dec 2019

The Effect Of Organizational Tenure, Bargaining Unit Status, And Union Membership On Local Government Employee Public Service Motivation, Ty Ryburn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two of the largest challenges public organizations face in motivating their workforces are the aging workforce and the strong union influence (Lavigna, 2014). On June 27, 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Janus vs. AFSCME to abolish agency fees, and gave public service employees in bargaining units the right to choose whether they want to pay union dues or pay no fees at all.

In examining the unique motivational factors of employees in the public sector, Perry and Wise (1990) developed a theory called Public Service Motivation (PSM). Later, Perry (1996) developed a survey instrument which despite criticism, …


The Bureaucratic Politics Of The Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Cooper Hearn Dec 2019

The Bureaucratic Politics Of The Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Cooper Hearn

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This is a comprehensive study of how the administrative powers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have evolved in response to external political forces. To analyze the changes made to FBI administrative powers, this project will assess theories of public administration, bureaucratic politics, various congressional statutes, court rulings, and executive policies that have affected the bureau’s capacity to perform investigations and intelligence operations.


Interpreting Potential Groundwater Policies Through Modeling Of Market And Non-Market Benefits And Costs, Grant H. West Dec 2019

Interpreting Potential Groundwater Policies Through Modeling Of Market And Non-Market Benefits And Costs, Grant H. West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current policies leveraging financial incentives and improved irrigation efficiency to mitigate groundwater scarcity have not proven to curtail trends of resource depletion. Groundwater benefits cannot be appropriately valued solely on market forces, and so deeper policy consideration is warranted under a framework that considers the importance of groundwater across all its values to society. Understanding time preferences for groundwater management and preferences for alternative policies is vital to inform efficient policies. Furthermore, climate change remains politically controversial yet has important consequences for critical groundwater resources and their sustainable long-term management. Proliferating policy narratives concerning climate change could influence the way …


Schooling And Civic Behavior: A Global Perspective, Ian Kingsbury Dec 2019

Schooling And Civic Behavior: A Global Perspective, Ian Kingsbury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

National governments confront different challenges to the goal of creating model citizens, as well as different ambitions in the type of citizen that they wish to create. The United States government faces a tension in determining the role of education in shaping the social order. As a liberal democracy that extols the virtue of individual liberty, the United States should allow educational pluralism to flourish. Paradoxically, however, a nation of immigrants might require an education system that turns students into “proper Americans” who honor the precepts of liberty, equality, and self-government. I draw from domestic and international studies to inform …


A Geospatial Analysis Of Safety And Risk Perception In The Buffalo National River, Julie Nicole Terhune Dec 2019

A Geospatial Analysis Of Safety And Risk Perception In The Buffalo National River, Julie Nicole Terhune

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1972, the Buffalo River in Arkansas became America’s First National River. Since then, the Buffalo National River has become a beloved recreational retreat for locals and visitors alike. The Buffalo National River is home to incredibly scenic views and host to many outdoor activities, among them, hiking and floating. As with any confluence of nature and humans, there is great risk involved in all aspects of the park. Between 2011 and 2017, a total of 140 search and rescue missions were carried out. Some were resolved easily, but more serious accidents were not unheard of.

Risk perception studies are …


Improving Earthquake Disaster Models With Post-Event Data: Insights From The 2015 Gorkha, Nepal Earthquake, Bradley Steven Wilson Dec 2019

Improving Earthquake Disaster Models With Post-Event Data: Insights From The 2015 Gorkha, Nepal Earthquake, Bradley Steven Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immense amounts of data are collected following earthquake disasters. Yet, it remains unclear how researchers’ might take full advantage of diverse post-disaster datasets. Using data from the 2015 Gorkha Nepal earthquake, this dissertation explores three ways in which post- disaster survey and assessment datasets can be used to inform models of seismic risk, vulnerability, and recovery processes. The first article presents an empirical analysis of scale issues in disaster vulnerability indices using a novel dataset of 750,000 households. This study finds that using aggregated household data to create social vulnerability indices can produce results that are meaningfully different from equivalent …


The State Of State History: Teacher Perceptions Regarding The Place And Purpose Of State History In K–12 Social Studies, Shay Hopper Dec 2019

The State Of State History: Teacher Perceptions Regarding The Place And Purpose Of State History In K–12 Social Studies, Shay Hopper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social studies, history, and state history courses, in general, have long been broadly considered the least significant of the four core content courses in K – 12 education. State history is required and/or taught inconsistently throughout the 50 states, and in some cases, not at all. Teacher preparation and on-going support to teach state history in K – 12 education are also inconsistent and often disregarded. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative survey and interview study was to investigate teacher perceptions regarding place and purpose of state history in K – 12 social studies, and to identify teacher dispositions toward …


National Assessment Of Educational Progress (Naep) Results: 2019, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Joshua Mcghee, Charlene A. Reid Nov 2019

National Assessment Of Educational Progress (Naep) Results: 2019, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Joshua Mcghee, Charlene A. Reid

Policy Briefs

The National Center for Education Statistics has released this year’s NAEP results which measure nationwide student performance in 4th and 8th grade Reading and Math. NAEP is administered nationally to a representative sample of students from all 50 states, so acts as a standard measure of student performance across states and time. This policy brief will examine Arkansas’ 2019 results and examine score gaps between student groups.


Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie Nov 2019

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.

We choose to focus on student growth for these OEP awards because we think it is a better reflection than proficiency rates of how the school is impacting students. Growth is calculated at the student level, and essentially reflects how much a student improved his or her score from the prior year compared to what was predicted based on prior achievement …


High-Growth High Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie Oct 2019

High-Growth High Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate our findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas. Annually, we highlight excellent schools around the state in our Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, or the OEP awards.

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.


High-Growth Middle Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie Oct 2019

High-Growth Middle Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate our findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas. Annually, we highlight excellent schools around the state in our Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, or the OEP awards.

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.


High-Growth Elementary Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie Oct 2019

High-Growth Elementary Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The mission of the Office for Education Policy is to examine educational issues through the lens of academic research and disseminate our findings to educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders around Arkansas. Annually, we highlight excellent schools around the state in our Outstanding Educational Performance Awards, or the OEP awards.

This edition of the OEP Awards highlights schools in Arkansas based on student growth on the ACT Aspire exams in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This is a departure from prior awards, which were based on student proficiency.


What College Presidents Need To Know About Student Success, Trevor Francis Sep 2019

What College Presidents Need To Know About Student Success, Trevor Francis

Journal of Research on the College President

Advocated is this article is the transformative effect of understanding a student’s unique educational story through dataanalysis and effective interpersonal-questioning techniques. As stories are understood and trust established, institutions can respond by helping each student design an ongoing personalized success plan. The result is the creation of a campus culture of student success where rhetoric, policy, and practice are aligned.


What College Presidents Need To Know About College Students With Learning Disabilities, Wanda Hadley Sep 2019

What College Presidents Need To Know About College Students With Learning Disabilities, Wanda Hadley

Journal of Research on the College President

Increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities are attending colleges and universities each year. Transitioning from high school to college poses challenges for many students but particularly students with learning disabilities. They move from the secondary school system that provides much oversight and guidance to the college environment that expects them to be more independent and self-regulating. Research in the field offers that college students with learning disabilities who understands how their learning disability influences their learning, self-advocates for services, self-discloses to the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and meets with their professors are more successful in the college …


Longevity Of American Terrorists: Factors Affecting Sustainability, [United States], 1980-2015 (Icpsr 37175), Brent L. Smith Aug 2019

Longevity Of American Terrorists: Factors Affecting Sustainability, [United States], 1980-2015 (Icpsr 37175), Brent L. Smith

Research Projects

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator if further information is needed. This study examined the longevity of individual terrorists using data from the American Terrorism Study (ATS). Using these data, researchers examined the longevity of individual terrorists in relationship to five major …


Assessing The Economic Viability Of Arkansas Farms Under The 2018 Farm Bill, Grant Wilson Aug 2019

Assessing The Economic Viability Of Arkansas Farms Under The 2018 Farm Bill, Grant Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For over a century, the American agricultural industry has relied on federal government support to aid in the maintenance and expansion of farming operations. Since 1933, a series of 18 farm bills have shaped agricultural policy into what is commonly known as the agricultural safety net. The 2018 farm bill was passed on December 20, 2018 and is the most recent update of the agricultural safety net. Commodity programs and federal crop insurance are two key components of today’s agricultural safety net, and many times, these programs may be the difference between a net loss and a positive net income …


The Impact Of Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences International Programs On Student Motivation For Continuing College And Student Engagement In The Classroom, Olivia Caroline Caillouet Aug 2019

The Impact Of Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences International Programs On Student Motivation For Continuing College And Student Engagement In The Classroom, Olivia Caroline Caillouet

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colleges aim to increase student achievement, which has been linked to motivation and engagement, as well as increase global partnerships. There is also an increasing demand from students for international programs (IPs) that prepare them to be global citizens. This study aimed to compare student motivation for continuing college and student engagement in the classroom before and after an IP. Students who participated in a Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences IP between January 2018 and August 2018 were surveyed prior to, and two weeks and three months post-program participation (n = 24). The instrument had 51 Likert-scale …


The Global Food Security Act: America's Strategic Approach To Combating World Hunger, Michael Adkins Jun 2019

The Global Food Security Act: America's Strategic Approach To Combating World Hunger, Michael Adkins

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The world’s farms currently produce enough calories to adequately feed everyone on the planet. From the 1960s through 2008, per capita food availability worldwide has risen from 2220 kilocalories per person per day to 2790. Specifically, developing countries have recorded a rise in kilocalories per person per day, from 1850 to 2640. Yet, despite overall availability, around 815 million people still suffer from hunger or some form of malnutrition. Approximately one in ten people are undernourished.


A Brief History Of English Language Learners In Arkansas, Sarah Mckenzie, Molly I. Beck, Charlene A. Reid Jun 2019

A Brief History Of English Language Learners In Arkansas, Sarah Mckenzie, Molly I. Beck, Charlene A. Reid

Policy Briefs

This brief will provide an overview of the context of English Learner education policies at the national and state level. In addition to examining these policies, this brief will provide an overview of state-wide and region-wide trends in the growth of English Language Learner student population.


Auto-Calibration Of Wim Using Traffic Stream Characteristics, Johnson Baker May 2019

Auto-Calibration Of Wim Using Traffic Stream Characteristics, Johnson Baker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project evaluates the performance of Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) auto-calibration methods used by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT). Typical auto-calibration algorithms compare the WIM measured weights of vehicles from the traffic stream to reference values, using five-axle tractor-trailer configured trucks for comparisons, e.g. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Class 9. Parameters of the existing algorithms including the Front Axle Weight (FAW) reference value, the sampling frequency required to update the calibration factor, and thresholds for Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) bins were evaluated. The primary metric used to estimate algorithm performance was Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE) between the WIM and static …


Expanding Outcomes In Educational Program Evaluation: Student Outcomes, Systemic Effects, And Policy Implications, Heidi Lauren Holmes May 2019

Expanding Outcomes In Educational Program Evaluation: Student Outcomes, Systemic Effects, And Policy Implications, Heidi Lauren Holmes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Education policy debates over the last twenty years have focused on the need to increase students’ test scores. The federal government and states have implemented and expanded a variety of test-based, school accountability policies. Accountability pressures have incentivized schools to narrow their curriculum, decrease time allocated to extracurricular activities, and focus on short-term student outcomes. This dissertation focuses on expanding outcomes in educational program evaluations and demonstrates the value of looking beyond the goal of increasing student test scores. The first chapter, using random assignment, estimates the causal effects of culturally enriching field trips on various student outcomes. Such field …


To And Through College: Investigating Attitudes Towards, Enrollment In, And Graduation From College, Elise Swanson May 2019

To And Through College: Investigating Attitudes Towards, Enrollment In, And Graduation From College, Elise Swanson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Postsecondary access and degree completion are increasingly important concerns for individuals and policymakers. This dissertation presents evidence on three distinct strategies for increasing students’ level of preparedness for higher education, rates of postsecondary enrollment, and rates of postsecondary degree completion. The first is an intervention aimed at increasing eighth-grade students’ familiarity with college life. Results from an experimental study indicate that students assigned to participate in campus visits demonstrate higher levels of knowledge about college, are more likely to have conversations with school personnel about college, put forth higher levels of effort while completing a college-related survey, and express a …


Teacher Diversity Issues Among Hispanics And English Language Learners (Ells): Perspectives Of Administrators And Teachers In A Mid-South Town, Samantha Juncia Julien May 2019

Teacher Diversity Issues Among Hispanics And English Language Learners (Ells): Perspectives Of Administrators And Teachers In A Mid-South Town, Samantha Juncia Julien

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although the English Language Learner (ELL) student population is steadily increasing, the American teaching workforce remains mainly white and monolingual. This sector has yet to reflect the change in ELLs and teachers of color, who will be able to adequately provide culturally responsive instruction to these students. There is an urgent need to recruit and train teachers in culturally responsive pedagogy with the purpose of providing educational, cultural and social supports for the growing ELL population in the country (Farahnaz, 2012). Because of this, the American educational system is revamping some of its earlier pedagogical approaches, including the introduction of …


Arts Smarts Or Random Visits: Arts Field Trips In The American Education Policy Context, Angela R. Watson May 2019

Arts Smarts Or Random Visits: Arts Field Trips In The American Education Policy Context, Angela R. Watson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The school field trip is as much a part of the American educational experience as letter grades and recess. However, in response to a variety of pressures such as accountability, safety, and funding, the school field trip is reported to be in decline. Traditional field trip destinations, like museums and zoos, claim that attendance has declined. Further, these institutions feel pressure to connect field trips directly to state educational standards, or even design field trips to meet state standards that may be outside their areas of expertise, in order to justify a field. In this collection of three studies, I …


Perceptions Of The North American Free Trade Agreement And Mexican Migration: “What Is The Relationship Between Trade Liberalization And Labor Mobility?”, Colin Gonzalez May 2019

Perceptions Of The North American Free Trade Agreement And Mexican Migration: “What Is The Relationship Between Trade Liberalization And Labor Mobility?”, Colin Gonzalez

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

In an effort to understand the effectiveness of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the author uses previous academic literature to assesses the success of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s primary and peripheral goals. To understand how North American citizens, perceive NAFTA and their future relationship with one another, the author uses survey data to analyze attitudes of American and Mexican citizens towards trade liberalization (NAFTA) and labor mobility. Regression analysis reveals that there is a positive relationship between labor mobility and trade liberalization for Mexican citizens but not for American citizens. This is a significant finding that contributes …


Seeking Success: A Case Study Of African American Male Retention At A Two-Year College, Richard Latroy Moss May 2019

Seeking Success: A Case Study Of African American Male Retention At A Two-Year College, Richard Latroy Moss

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a problem in higher education in the United States. African American students, specifically males, are not being retained and graduating. This problem is even more evident for students that attend two year colleges. African American male students lag behind white males, Hispanic males and African American females, in retention and graduation rates. This problem has caught the attention of many leaders. Policy makers and college leaders are among those who seek to understand the why and find solutions to the challenge of African American male student retention at two year colleges, as two year colleges are becoming the …