Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Climatological Analysis Of Drought And Flood In California, Kristen Faith Coston

Masters Theses

This research is investigating the climate states that produce droughts and floods and seeks to explain how a sudden shift from persistent drought to drought-alleviating flood is possible. Objectives include investigating how drought and flood in California are influenced by temperature and climate patterns, whether there are any correlation between climate/ocean indices and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and whether Atmospheric Rivers (ARS) are influenced by certain atmospheric/oceanic states.

All data is collected for 41 years, between 1983 and 2024. The SPI dataset is obtained by coding to filter for the mean value of all pixels in Sacramento County. Monthly …

Using Computerized Instruction To Increase Professional Competence With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) Modifications, Paige Lee Sherlund-Pelfrey

Masters Theses

One in thirty-six children receive an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, and an estimated 5.4 million adults in the United States have previously received an ASD diagnosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022). At least seventy percent of individuals with ASD have one comorbid disorder (Valderas et al., 2009). Some common comorbid disorders for individuals with ASD include depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based therapy that can support depressive, anxiety and OCD symptoms, and has empirically supported modifications that can be used with the ASD population. However, research reports that clinicians are not …

Beauty In The Feed: Exploring The Role Of Social Media In Women's Body Image And Emotional Satisfaction, Momina Hassan

University Honors Theses

Through a thematic analysis assessing four peer-reviewed studies, this thesis explores the relationship between social media (e.g., content, engagement factors) and how it impacts women's body image and emotional satisfaction. The studies varied in methodological approach and age demographics, but included only female participants. The research reviewed in this thesis calls attention to the harmful effects social media can have on women's health such as body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression and disordered eating. The two main themes that emerged were appearance-based social comparison, and psychological impacts on mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression, disordered eating). Exposure to idealized images on social media …

"Change Is All There Is": Exploring Journalistic Coverage Of Gentrification In The St. Johns Neighborhood Of Portland, Or, Eva Kovolitsky

University Honors Theses

Gentrification, as an increasingly significant characteristic of contemporary urban spaces, has been the subject of a vast body of literature. This has prompted further research into how gentrification is described and the implications of language used in both academic research and popular media accounts. This study explores discourse used in journalistic coverage of gentrification in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Guided by past work in discourse analysis and critical urban geography, this study attempts to understand how academic discourse on gentrification is both reflected in and divergent from neighborhood-level discourse. This study used data from the St. Johns …

Heat, Smoke, And Resilience In East Central Spokane: Community Insights On Climate Adaptation, Sarah Bliss Matousek, Amanda Gray, Dante Jester, Brian G. Henning

Climate, Water, and the Environment Research

This report presents findings from a multi-methods research initiative exploring the impacts of climate-related hazards—specifically extreme heat and wildfire smoke—on residents of Spokane’s East Central neighborhood. The project combined a community survey with a World Café-style symposium to gather both quantitative data and lived experiences from local participants. Key themes that emerged include the need for more cooling infrastructure, accessible health education, improved indoor air quality, and stronger neighborhood-level communication and support networks. The report highlights how systemic underinvestment in East Central intersects with climate vulnerability, underscoring the urgency of equitable, community-driven solutions. Recommendations include expanding tree canopy, increasing funding …

Building A Smoke-Resilient Spokane: Guidance From Community Conversations, Anna Reed, Hannah Mckinley, Dante Jester, Brian G. Henning, Tania Busch Isaksen

Climate, Water, and the Environment Research

Wildfire season has grown in length and severity in the western United States due to decades of fire suppression and climate change. This trend is projected to continue, worsening air quality and increasing the risk to public health. In response, the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment, in partnership with the University of Washington, hosted the Smoke Ready Spokane Symposium in July 2024 in Spokane, Washington. The event convened community partners across sectors to reflect on past wildfire smoke events and discuss locally-relevant wildfire smoke exposure reduction strategies. Symposium participants engaged in small group discussions using the World …

Peak Policy Lab Or Chasing Windmills? The Overlooked Issue Of Misaligned Policy Design, Adam Wellstead, Sarah Giest, Ishani Mukherjee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Policy innovation labs (PILs) are relatively new policy actors and are part of a larger global “labification” movement. They are touted as spaces for the novel development and testing of policy solutions. PILs have evolved into various forms–including those at different levels of government (central, sub-national, and local), sectoral (such as food, transportation, and environment), and cross-sectoral labs (social innovation and data labs). After a decade, some practitioners lament the effectiveness of their efforts and question if policy labs are indeed engines of innovation and change. We argue that the approach to policy design by PILs, in part, is an …

Building Narratives And Probing Concepts: Preparing Materials For Co-Design With Autistic Livestreamers, Terrance Mok, Tyson Hartley, Anthony Tang, Adam Mccrimmon, Lora Oehlberg

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Based on ten semi-structured interviews with autistic Twitch streamers, we introduce a series of scenario-based design narratives coupled with technology design concepts as a starting point for co-design discussion about autistic streaming. This work builds on prior thematic analysis of the unique intersection between autism and livestreaming. Our user-centered scenarios highlight the needs, goals, and challenges of autistic individuals in livestreaming contexts. By using evocative narratives, the scenarios serve to facilitate empathy and deeper engagement with the needs of autistic users, and help facilitate and support co-creative dialogues and discussions about new technology designs. We contribute this starting point for …

Lessons Learned From Sandboxing, Piloting And Policy Experimentation With Ai And Other Digital Initiatives: Part 1, Summary Report, Steven M. Miller

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This report, "Lessons Learned from Sandboxing, Piloting and Policy Experimentation with AI and Other Digital Initiatives," captures insights and experiences from project experts involved in recent digital innovation initiatives with the governments of Bangladesh, Maldives, and Kazakhstan, and from project experts actively involved with the use of AI for delivering government digital services in the EU, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, United States, and Uzbekistan. The ten in-depth interview write-ups produced from these nine different country settings provide a small but highly informative sample of rich descriptions of some of the important realities, approaches, nuances, issues and challenges related to testing …

"Some Level Of Skill For Life": Secondary Teacher Librarians Supporting Student Information Literacy Skill Transfer Beyond Secondary School, Kasey L. Garrison, Kay Oddone

Communications in Information Literacy

Students entering higher education are expected to transfer information literacy skills and knowledge developed through their primary schooling and sharpened in their secondary years. However, the constant evolution of the information landscape means the mastery of these skills presents challenges for students to develop and teachers to teach. Through interviews, this phenomenological study examines the perspectives and practices of 19 Australian secondary teacher librarians supporting student information literacy skill transfer in school and life contexts and considers important changes in the teaching of these skills. Findings suggest time and content overload are preventing integration across subjects and limiting students’ ability …

Nursing Education Research In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review And Bibliometric Analysis, Beth Waweru, Peter Gatiti, Serah Wachira

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Nursing education is pivotal for ensuring competent healthcare professionals, and its improvement is essential for enhancing the quality of health care systems globally. This study focuses on nursing education research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the last decade, employing both bibliometric analysis and systematic review methodologies. The bibliometric analysis reveals an evolving landscape of nursing education research in SSA, offering insights into trends, key countries, journals, and predominant research themes. Notably, the study identifies a scarcity of literature using bibliometric approaches in nursing research, addressing this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the field.The systematic review, guided by the …

Reciprocal Legibility: How School Social Workers Broker Equity For Legally Precarious Immigrant Students, Benjamin Roth, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore how school social workers recognize and respond to the precarity of immigrant students in their schools, with particular attention to how they broker resources to improve educational equity for those who are undocumented. We introduce the concept of “reciprocal legibility,” which we define as the ability of school social workers to recognize the multidimensional needs of immigrant students while concurrently elevating their own visibility and trustworthiness among students who may otherwise avoid seeking help from mainstream institutions. Drawing on qualitative responses from a survey of school social workers (𝑛=324), we aim to answer the following …

Factors And Their Contribution To The Varying Levels Of User Engagement Across Different Social Media Platforms, Kylianna Ruth Wulf

Journalism

Think back to this morning. Do you recall scrolling on your phone switching between different social media platforms? Do you remember what exactly you watched? Could you list a few of those Instagram reels or what you saw on your for you page. Probably not? And that is because the average person is unable to recall that information. Today is May 29, 2025 and everyone has social media and uses it to some extent. How does one divide their time between each app? This paper will go into detail to answer the question, “ What factors contribute to the varying …

Unwarranted Warrants?: An Empirical Analysis Of Judicial Review In Search And Seizure, Brett James Hashimoto, Miguel F.P. De Figueiredo, Dane Thorley

Faculty Publications

Every year, police perform searches governed by the Fourth Amendment on hundreds of thousands of individuals and their property throughout the United States. Many of the academy’s most decorated scholars have focused on the genesis and jurisprudential nature of the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. Surprisingly, we know almost nothing about how the Fourth Amendment regulates searches and how searches actually work in practice.

In this Article, we pull back the curtain on the search and seizure process by presenting the largest quantitative study of warrants of any kind. We analyze over 33,000 warrant applications filed through Utah’s “e-Warrants” system over …

Conducting Background Checks In The Corporate Security Environment, Alan Saquella

Publications

In the current threat landscape, the background check has become a critical frontline defense in protecting corporate assets, brand integrity and personnel safety. But as any security leader will tell you, the traditional background check — focused on criminal history, employment verification and references — has limitations, especially in today’s regulatory environment.

Federal and state restrictions continue to erode the depth and scope of what can be legally reviewed, and meanwhile, insider threats and deceptive candidates are becoming more sophisticated. In this context, it's no longer about whether to conduct background checks — it's about how to conduct them effectively, …

Cultural Ecologies And Local Policies: A Comparative Analysis, Alexis M. Gonzalez

University Honors Theses

In recent years, the role of arts and culture in economic development, community outreach, and local government has become focused on as a field of study. However, this is a new field of academic study, and there have not been many systematic comparative analyses of the role of arts and culture at the local level. Indeed, there is limited information at the state and federal level as well. Historically undervalued and underrepresented, yet with a streak of elitism involved, arts and culture is now being looked at as a major economic driver and social connector by policymakers at all levels …

Protecting The Future Of Medical Innovation: Balancing Fiscal Responsibility With The Need For National Institutes Of Health And Federal Health Funding, Irina Petrache, Raed A. Dweik, Michelle Ng Gong, Jesse Roman, M. Patricia Rivera, Karen J. Collishaw

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

On Sgx’S Voyage To Corporate Sustainability: Exploring Emerging Topics In Multi-Industry Corpora, Xinwen Ni, Min Bin Lin, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Wolfgang Karl Hardle

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Topic modeling and LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) have proven valuable in various fields as an innovative approach to studying areas of interest and identifying topics in a dynamic content. The underlying assumption is that techniques like LDA can swiftly capture emerging topics in textual documents compared to other categorization tools. These unsupervised approaches have been used to identify new industries and technological domains. However, our study on the nascent topic of “sustainability” within the corpora of SGX-listed companies highlights clear limitations in employing techniques like LDA on sparse data. The dynamic LDA approach, also called DTM (Dynamic Topic Modelling),based on …

Non-Tariff Measures On Indonesian Tea Products: Do Sps And Tbt Impede Or Promote The Export?, Fikri Aldi Dwi Putro, Widyastutik Widyastutik, Nia Kurniawati Hidayat

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Previous studies highlight the heterogeneous effects of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on international trade. This study identifies the enforcement of NTMs and examines the effects on the export performance of Indonesian tea products. This study employed an inventory (coverage ratio) approach and panel regression with the Poisson-Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) method. The results indicate that 31 out of 36 analyzed destination countries enforce NTMs, with Vietnam imposing the most prevalent ones. Furthermore, SPS measures substantially promote the export of Indonesian tea products, whereas TBT measures show no significant effect. Therefore, the government needs to provide incentives and harmonize the national Voluntary …

Geographic Inequalities, And Social-Demographic Determinants Of Reproductive, Maternal And Child Health At Sub-National Levels In Kenya, Janette Karimi, Anitah Cherono, Victor Alegana, Martin Mutua, Hellen Kiarie, Rose Muthee, Marleen Temmerman, Peter Gichangi

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background; Global initiatives have emphasized tracking indicators to monitor progress, particularly in countries with the highest maternal and child mortality. Routine data can be used to monitor indicators for improved target setting at national and subnational levels. Our objective was to assess the geographic inequalities in estimates of reproductive, maternal and child health indicators from routine data at the subnational level in Kenya.

Methods; Monthly data from 47 counties clustered in 8 regions, from January 2018 to December 2021 were assembled from the District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2) in Kenya. This included women of reproductive age receiving family …

Welfare Implication Of Alternative Tax Rates Adjustment Policy In Nigeria: A Dsge Analysis, Umar B. Ibrahim, Isah F. Abubakar

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study sets out to determine the desirable policy adjustment in the tax rate for Nigeria that ensures the least welfare cost. A calibrated small open-economy New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (NKDSGE) model of the Nigerian economy is applied to achieve this objective. Within this framework, we examined the impact of an increase in value-added tax (VAT) rate from 7.5 to 15 percent on key macroeconomic variables relative to the impact of an increase in company income tax (CIT) rate from 30 to 35 percent on macroeconomic variables. Furthermore, we examined the welfare costs of the increases in the …

Transmission Effect Of Contributory Pension Scheme To Economic Growth In Nigeria: Structural Vector Autoregressive (Svar) Approach, Iortyom Udaah, Sunday E. Akiri

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study examines the transmission effect of contributory pension scheme on Nige ria’s economic growth using quarterly data from 2010 to 2023. Thestudyis grounded in the Solow growth and Harrod–Domar models as its theoretical framework and employs a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) approach for data analysis. The results show that economic growth responds positively to changes in pension fund assets and contributions. It also reveal that pension fund assets respond positively to changes in pension fund contribution in Nigeria. The study recommends that gov ernment should intensify efforts to encourage employers and employees in the in formal sector, as well …

Relative Price Changes And Monetary Policy Stance In Nigeria, Elijah A. Udoh, Ibrahim D. Mohammed, Yakubu M. Sanusi, Philom Ena Y. Oksakei

CBN Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS)

This study estimates a baseline Taylor Rule and an augmented Taylor Rule incorporating relative price movements (RELP) using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) on Nigerian data. The baseline model shows weak and statistically insignificant responses of the MPR to inflation, the output gap, and crisis conditions, confirming earlier findings that inflation and output in Nigeria do not have contemporaneous effects on the MPR. By contrast, the augmented model reveals that the relative price level positively and significantly influences the policy rate, indicating that the CBN raises interest rates when domestic prices rise relative to external or bench mark prices. Across …

Can Tanzanian Neurosurgeons Access Tanzanian Neurosurgical Literature? A Systematic Review And Survey Of Neurosurgical Publications, Sabas Romani R, Woodfield Julie, Ikwuegbuenyi Chibuikem Anthony, Cadieux Magalie, Shayo Consolata, Shabhay Zarina, Rabiel Happiness, Beverly Cheserem, Bwemelo Joel, Wright Drew N

General Surgery, East Africa

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Free and open access to research data and findings promotes equity in access to healthcare knowledge and equity in patient care and treatment. To benefit the health care of the population studied, research findings must be accessible to clinicians, academics, and policymakers serving those populations. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of published Tanzanian neurosurgical data and its accessibility to those practicing within the country.

METHODS: A systematic review of all published neurosurgical studies from Tanzania was conducted. Authorship, funding, and open-access status were recorded. Tanzanian neurosurgeons were surveyed by telephone …

Book Review: Fundamentals Of College Admission Counseling: A Textbook For Graduate Students And Practicing Counselors, Brenda Gerhardt

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.

Library Holiday Hours, Beatriz Varman

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

he TMC Library will be closed Friday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day. Regular hours resume Saturday, July 5.

Mini-Digitization Project, Kelsey Koym

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

Although called a “mini-digitization,” the recent project to scan six photographs from the IC 086 Hermann Hospital Archive Records is part of a larger effort. With help from a UTHealth community member, the McGovern Historical Center now has digital files and a detailed inventory for about 185 blueprints of the Hermann Professional Building. To see the rest of the photographs, visit the McGovern's portal on AToM.

Refworks Access Ends July 29, 2025, Joanne Romano

TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

The TMC Library ended our subscription to RefWorks to focus on open products for students, faculty, and staff. Learning and using an open citation manager like Zotero or Mendeley is a good lifelong learning goal which will support future research projects. Get started and learn more about Zotero and Mendeley.

Users who want to switch to an individual RefWorks account should contact RefWorks.

Born Too Soon: Every Story Counts: Lessons In Ethical, Inclusive Storytelling From Born Too Soon, Mary V. Kinney, Amy Reid, Mercy Juma, Anna Gruending, Olufunke Bolaji, Doris Mollel, Denise Suguitani, Silke Mader, Karen Walker, Marleen Temmerman, Joy Lawn

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Storytelling is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool in public health communication, particularly for addressing complex and stigmatized health issues. In the context of pregnancy and childbirth, personal narratives have proven effective in shaping perceptions, empowering women, complementing health education, and driving policy and legal reforms. Preterm birth remains a significant global challenge, and lived experiences of affected families offer critical insights that illuminate systemic gaps and advocate for the rights of babies, mothers, families, and healthcare workers. The Born Too Soon 2023 campaign placed people—especially women, families, communities, and healthcare workers—at the core of its advocacy efforts. This commentary …

The Relationship Between Lifetime Trauma Exposure And Psychosis In A Multi-Country Case-Control Study In Africa, Anne Stevenson, Supriya Misra, Engida Girma, Dickens Akena, Melkam Alemayehu, Amantia Ametaj, Bizu Gelaye, Stella Gichuru, Symon Kariuki, Lukoye Atwoli

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: Exposure to traumatic events is a known risk factor for psychosis. Additionally, psychosis may be a risk factor for exposure to traumatic events. There are little data on the relationship between traumatic events and psychosis in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in large, cross-country samples using the same instrument.

Methods: In a case-control study, 21,606 adults were recruited with psychosis (cases) and 21,329 adults without any history of psychosis (controls) in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda from 2018 to 2023 (n = 42,935). Lifetime trauma exposure was assessed using the Life Events Checklist-5. Regression models included the: i) prevalence of …