Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exposure To Parental Conflict And Anxiety In Justice-Involved Youth, Logan B. Ewing

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the link between exposure to domestic violence (DV) and the presence of symptoms of anxiety in a population of justice-involved juveniles. The categories of DV were broken down into verbal abuse and physical abuse, along with a third category of juveniles that witnessed both forms of abuse within their households. This study compared the prevalence of anxiety in juveniles when faced with the different instances of DV through the use of data collected from a longitudinal study conducted by the Pathways to Desistance Project. The goal of the study was to further …

Gastrointestinal Symptoms And Belly Pain During The Phases Of The Menstrual Cycle In Healthy Young Females, Preethashree Anbukkarasu

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There are significant differences between the incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms between males and females. A recent review found that females report having more severe GI health problems compared to males. One explanation for the higher reporting rates of GI symptoms in females could be attributed to menstrual cycle influences rather than GI processes.

This research aims to examine the relationship between how gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms experienced by women covary with the different stages of the menstrual cycle. Additionally, a secondary purpose is to determine the moderating effect of health anxiety on the severity of menstrual and GI symptoms.

Responses …

The Moderating Effect Of Organizational Policies And Procedures In Relation To The Consequences Of Sexual Harassment Of Women, Nicole Aranda

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Sexual harassment is common in the workplace and leads to negative outcomes for individuals and organizations. Previous research has shown that turnover is a negative outcome of sexual harassment. Organizations can implement policies and procedures, but little research exists examining the impact of these policies on employee perceptions and intentions. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine perceived enforcement of organizational policies and procedures as a moderator of the relationship between sexual harassment and turnover intentions. Social exchange theory is used to explain this concept between women from male-dominated professions and gender-balanced professions. Participants were 66 employed females …

A Right To A Pollution-Free Environment Through The Right To Life, Natalie S. Mousa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Since humans have existed on Earth, the environment has been one of the primary resources contributing to humans' ability to live life adequately. Pollution has not only destroyed natural life, but it has also diminished humans' right to life. The United Nations 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantees "every human being has the inherent right to life," but how can one exercise this right in an environment that is degrading through pollution? This is the basis of which this thesis is surrounded; the issue of environmental pollution hindering humans' right to life. Thus, this thesis …

The Persistence And Disproportionate Impact Of Felon Disenfranchisement, Rebecca Jaffe

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper seeks to understand the persistence of disenfranchisement policies and the disproportionate impact these policies have on marginalized groups of the American electorate, specifically black Americans. Felon disenfranchisement, or the restriction of voting rights for criminals convicted of felonies, has been a long-standing policy throughout the United States. Using public opinion data from the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS), this paper analyzes how certain characteristics, such as race, age, and political party identification, can influence opinions about democratic rights and whether criminals should lose theirs once convicted. The results of this analysis could help explain why disenfranchisement policies have …

Covid-19 Infection In Hypertensive Patients In Correlation With Race, Elizabeth Durkin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Disparities in healthcare exist in the U.S., particularly between different racial categories. This study investigated the frequency of COVID-19 cases and hypertension cases among five different racial groups (White, Black, Asian, Native American, and Native Hawaiian). The study also examined the correlation between COVID-19 and hypertension. It was hypothesized that, because of genetic predisposition to certain diseases and existing socioeconomic barriers, Black populations would have the highest rates of both COVID-19 and hypertension. It was also proposed that a positive correlation exists between COVID-19 and hypertension frequency. To test this, the Kaiser Family Foundation's data for COVID-19 cases and race …

All Good Things Must Come To An End: Finding The Connection Between Citizenship Pressure, Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, And Job-Related Affective Well-Being, Skylar D. Oney

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A plethora of extant research focuses on the positive outcomes of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). However, there has been a relatively recent shift of focus that sheds light on the changing parameters and workplace perceptions of what such behaviors entail, as well as their adverse outcomes. As organizations and their employees endure changes, work expectations have consequently changed through differing perceptions of job tasks that individuals feel required or obligated to do, even when it is not included in their formal job description. Such feelings point to the concept of citizenship pressure (CP), which this thesis further explores and adds …

The Relationship Between Campus Involvement And Civic Engagement, Sheina L. Koolik

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate if campus involvement, either in high school or college, has a relationship with civic engagement after college. Current UCF students, who have at least finished their first year, will be surveyed about their high school involvement to determine if it is related to their college engagement; and, recent UCF Alumni, graduated between 2014-2018, will be surveyed to determine if there is a relationship between campus engagement and civic life after graduation. As well, the data will review other key aspects like campus location, race, gender, international status, motivations, religious affiliations, etc. The …

Domestic Migrant Workers In Lebanon: Between Precarity And Resiliency, Jasmine L. Masri

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The proliferation in the number of domestic migrant workers (DMWs), who travel from poorer countries to work in homes in wealthier countries, represents an essential dimension of globalization in the 21st century. This project focuses on DMWs in Lebanon. In an increasingly globalized world, the study of DMWs, who number around 250,000 in Lebanon (Amnesty International, 2019), provides a critical case to understand how the transborder movement of humans generates unique and challenging human rights issues. Lebanon practices the kafala system, which is prevalent in other Middle Eastern countries and makes foreign workers legally dependent on their employment. This system …

The Prevalence Of E-Cigarette Use According To Educational Attainment Among Young Adults In The Population Assessment Of Tobacco And Health (Path) Study, Akhila Cheekati

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prior studies indicate a link between poor academic performance and e-cigarette use in high school students (18 years and below). However, the effect of post high school education on e-cigarette use is poorly summarized in literature.

The objective of the current study was to determine if there was a difference in prevalence of past 30-day e-cigarette use in a national sample of young adults due to different educational levels. Four groups of young adults were studied based on their level of education: High School Dropouts, High School Graduates/GED, Current College Students, and College Graduates. Data from the Population Assessment of …

Disease And Democracy: Understanding The Impact Of Disease Burden On Civil Liberties And Civil Society In Sub-Saharan Africa, Abigail E. Reynolds

Honors Undergraduate Theses

What is the impact of disease burden on democracy in sub-Saharan Africa? Despite increasing interest in the implications of health crises for state stability, there has been a dearth of literature exploring the relationship between disease burden more generally and democracy specifically. This thesis takes a comprehensive approach to bridge this gap in the literature. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, it draws on data from the Global Burden of Disease database and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset to analyze this relationship. The diseases studied are categorized as long-wave (e.g., HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis), short-wave (e.g., Ebola and lower respiratory infections), …

Utilizing Fitts' Law To Examine Motor Imagery Of Self, Other, And Objects, Sean D. Hinkle

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Past research has indicated that motor imagery, or imagined movement, follows Fitts' law similarly to physical movement. Additionally, motor imagery has been shown to improve real motor performance in multiple contexts, showcasing a remarkable connection with real motion. The current study examines how the subject of motor imagery, imagining oneself, another person, or an object, impacts this faithfulness to real movement, specifically in following Fitts' law. Participants viewed 2D photos of a virtual environment with an "X", a humanoid, or a disc facing a gate at 6 distances and 4 widths for 24 combinations. Each combination was repeated twice randomly …

The Relationship Between Creative Hobbies And Visual Spatial Ability, Victoria Alexander

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent developments in educational practices have identified the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas as important, but this emphasis on STEM fields has sacrificed educational focus on the Arts (Cohen, 2016). This is a significant loss, not only in terms of the loss of humanities education in itself, but through the potential loss of foundational skills through practice in artistic areas. The current paper explores this idea by investigating the correlational relationship between visual spatial abilities and participation in a variety of creative activities. Spatial ability is known to be a cognitive skill that underlies success in …

The Mobilizer And The Mobilized: An Exploration Of "Latinx", Marisa E. Norzagaray

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this project, I endeavor to bridge the gap between these two by analyzing "Latinx" as a symbol that functions distinctly when employed as a personal or group identity. My argument for this thesis can be broken into two main parts: its significance as an identity, and its tangibility. As a group identity, I argue "Latinx" represents a social movement for liberation, visibility, and minority allyship. While this is not unconnected to its personal meaning, individual embodiment of the term involves the performance and realization of the intersectional. In other words, it gives those with overlapping queer and Latina/o identities …

An Application Of Economic Norms Theory To Brazilian Corruption, Nina B. Neto

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study aims to explore the relationship between clientelistic economies and systemic corruption under the framework of Economic Norms Theory. Pointedly, it examines the evolution of contractual mortgage credit as a percentage of GDP (representing the growth of a non-self-enforcing contract market) compared to both actual and perceived levels of corruption in Brazil in order to assess whether Brazil is exemplary of a transitioning economy under the theory of Economic Norms. The hypothesis of this paper is two-fold. First, I expect that as mortgage credit as a percentage of GDP generally increases, actual corruption will decrease. Secondly, I expect that …

Can Underdog Stories Help Students To Overcome College Barriers? A Study On Gender And Ethnic Differences, Daniela Gonzalez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous organizational research has shown that people who perceived discrimination can bounce back from their negative experiences by constructing underdog stories: narratives in which others do not believe an individual could succeed, but in the end, the person succeeds. However, this concept has not been tested in the educational setting. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if constructing underdog stories can influence how college students perceive potential barriers in education. Participants were randomly assigned conditions: Underdog and control (neutral stories) condition. We hypothesized that creating underdog stories would reduce perceived barriers in college. We further hypothesized that …

Stock Returns By Sector And Industries In A Year Into The Covid-19 Pandemic, Simon Alvin A. Casas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the COVID-19 stock market industries reacted and were affected in different ways. This paper will use Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes to look at how sectors and selected industries fared after a whole year in a pandemic. This will be accomplished by comparing 2019 stock returns to 2020 stock returns with a t-test and estimating the effect of COVID-19 positive case and death increases using a pooled OLS regression. All SIC sectors A-J were analyzed as well as 18 selected industries such as food stores, real estate, oil and gas extraction, health services, and communications. Results show a significant …

Traditional Healing Beyond The Homeland: Yezidi Shamanic Healing In The Diaspora, Sophia G. Griemert

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The goal of this qualitative study is to evaluate whether shamanism, practiced by koçeks and faqrya (the Yezidi terms for traditional shamanic practitioners), continues as a practice among diasporic Yezidis, and, if so, in what manner. I accomplish this through a series of oral, remote interviews with Yezidis living in Germany. The interview subjects comprise a cross-sectional sample that includes men and women from the three Yezidi castes (Sheikh, Pir, Murid). Through the multiple testimonies these interviews garnered regarding shamanic praxis in the context of Germany, I determine that, in spite of the disruptions of forced migration and geographical distance, …

The Australian Paradox: Politics Of An Energy Transition, Lindsay H. Bushing

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The 1973 oil shock was the first energy crisis modern industrialized economies experienced. The disruption exposed the limitations of energy systems that rely on fossil fuels, creating a demand for experimentation of energy alternatives. In their book, Renewables: The Politics of a Global Energy Transition, Michaël Aklin, and Johannes Urpelainen provide a framework to analyze this transitionary period for selected countries, as well as the events that provoke the need for change in the form of the 1970s external shocks in oil prices. In this paper, for the first time, Aklin & Urpelainen's framework will be applied to Australia …

An Examination Of A Proposed Rule: Removal Of Sirva From The Vaccine Injury Table, Derrica N. Jackson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Vaccines are one of the greatest modern medical inventions. Even though vaccines have saved lives, however, no medical product is proven to be completely safe. Vaccines can have rare and sometimes deadly reactions. To address such occurrences, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hosts a program that reviews petitions for compensation of injuries caused by vaccination. The program is called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The VICP was established in 1986 to reduce the number of product liability lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers that threatened to increase the cost of vaccines and lower life-saving vaccine administration …

Examining The Role Of Protests In South Korean Democratization, Abigail J. Bass

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research examines how relative deprivation theory can be applied to study the success of protest movements and their subsequent impact on the process of democratization of the South Korean state. This study hopes to provide a more comprehensive approach to how the role of protests in the development of a democratic state is explained within the field of political science. Utilizing both a quantitative and qualitative research design, this work applied a case study analysis as well as a supplemental data analysis regarding the success of Korean protest movements and their impact on democratization as well as global views …

Constitutional Camouflage: How Constitutional Methodologies Act As Smoke Screens For Supreme Court Justices, William J. Lijewski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Supreme Court Justices of the United States sit on the highest court of the land. The justices have the ultimate say as to the meaning of the Constitution, and their role could aptly be summarized as interpreters of the Constitution. They decide what the words of the nation's founding document mean and therefore help to determine the rule of law for the social, political, and economic areas of society. To help them analyze the text of the Constitution and decide what it means and subsequently apply it to cases, justices use constitutional methodologies. Constitutional methodologies are algorithms or ways …

Populism's Historical And Contemporary Manifestations, Horacio Pla

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the following thesis, American populism's many manifestations throughout American history as well as its current forms in contemporary politics will be analyzed mainly through the lens of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, who are two prominent political figures that have managed to amass a considerable degree of support. In Trump's case, his populist rhetoric and authoritarian slant has allowed him to garner enough support to ascend to the position of President of the United States of America, arguably one of the most powerful political positions on planet Earth. Current trends such as dissatisfaction amongst the voting constituencies of Democrats …

The Rise And Fall Of Puerto Rico: How Politico-Legal Failures Led To An Experiment's Demise, Sebastián J. Delgado Suárez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Puerto Rico has been a United States territory since 1898. Since then, the island has remained in an ill-defined relationship with the United States, lacking autonomy and sovereignty. The Supreme Court and Congress have been the primary agents dealing with Puerto Rico's territorial trajectory. While the island has faced many setbacks throughout the years, this thesis asserts that the zenith in autonomy and sovereignty was reached in the 1950s, after two key legislative developments. This set forth an experiment in territorial administration. But the experiment was abandoned and closed in 2016, after two Supreme Court decisions and an Act of …

Jrsm 2121: Media Writing (Syllabus), Thomas J. Hrach

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Basic instruction in journalistic forms and AP style; information gathering and composition of news stories; media literacy.

Jrsm 4702: Media, Diversity, & Society (Syllabus), Otis Sandford

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Advanced study of recent, critical issues faced by mass media with exploration of complexities that cause them and their impact on society.

Jrsm 4910: Social Media & Society (Syllabus), Melissa L. Janoske Mclean

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Discussion of social media's impact on individuals, organizations, and society. Examines the fundamentals of social media-based community, diversity, and influence. Includes broad understanding of a variety of platforms and trends and their place and importance in the social media ecosystem. Social media has altered how journalists and strategic communication professionals do their jobs and how we communicate as a society. We will be analyzing multiple apps, platforms, and trends to determine social media’s impact on society, including digital inequality and social justice, online communities, photo and video manipulation, influencers, virality, and wearable technology. It’s important to note that …

Advr 3324: Creative Strategy (Syllabus), Ruoxu Wang

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Principles of advertising psychology in relation to proven techniques for understanding the creative process, including writing effective copy and designing effective advertising. One lecture hour, four laboratory hours per week.

Pbrl 3441: Writing For Social Media (Syllabus), Kim Marks Malone

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Development of strategic writing skills to write effectively across various social media platforms with an emphasis on the need to tailor the message to both the audience and the platform through which it is communicated. Topics explored will include style, repurposing of content, specific requirements for various platforms, organizational voice, SEO and strategic message development.

Jrsm 7050: Mass Communication Theory (Syllabus), Thomas J. Hrach

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Key concepts and development of theories offered to explain operation and effects of mass communication media; multidiscipline overview of theories dealing with advertising, broadcasting, print, and public relations messages, media, and effects. This class will provide you with an overview of the important theories in our field, and will encourage you to think about how these apply to the real world and how they will inform your future work as a media professional. The broadly explanatory concepts of theory help us understand some of the underlying ways in which humans respond to and share different types of information, …