Other Sociology Commons^™

The Impact Of Human Trafficking, Jenna Diprima, Eboni Patterson, Gabriela Meza

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Human trafficking is a crime that has been documented since the 1500s and continues to be a significant issue, reaching unprecedented levels today. Human trafficking is an act in which an individual coerces/compels another and forces them to provide services for financial gain. Victims often come from connections with people they trust. In 2023, it was monitored that 348 people in the US were victims of human trafficking, 316 of 348 victims were children. Worldwide, however, this number is much higher standing at 49.6 million with Guatemala taking up a significant chunk as it has been estimated that 24.9 million …

A Modern Community Men’S Shed, Carly Bendull, Melinda Heinz

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The inception of the Men’s Sheds Movement began in Australia to bring men together who were socially isolated. At sheds, men converse with each other, make new friends, and engage in activities together. Further iterations of sheds around the world have also been created, including Community Sheds and Women’s Sheds. In the U.S., the Men’s Sheds Movement began in 2016. However, sheds have not been studied as extensively in the U.S. and this paper adds to the literature by further investigating gender, expectations, age, motivation, and participation in a Community Shed located in the Southern part of the U.S. Results …

Examining The Role Of Mental Health In Prisoner Reentry, Ireland Laughlin

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

Assessing Equity, Environmental Social Justice And Intersectionality In U.S. Federal Policies: A Comparative And Temporal Analysis Of The Department Of Transportation, Department Of Energy, And Environmental Protection Agency, Sneha Basu

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As the climate crisis intensifies, U.S. federal policies play a critical role in addressing the disproportionate environmental burdens borne by marginalized communities. This thesis assesses how equity, environmental social justice, and intersectionality have been integrated into the policy documents of three key federal agencies: Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Energy (DOE), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over a 20-year period (2004–2024). Using a quantitative content analysis of 46 policy documents, the study evaluates five core dimensions: depth of discussion, clarity of language, inclusiveness of marginalized groups, action-oriented language, and environmental justice considerations. The research reveals significant interagency disparities, with …

Language As Privilege: Socioeconomic Status And The Politics Of Foreign Language Learning, Brenda Koumondji

Honors Program Theses

This study investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and foreign language learning among young adult learners. Much research suggests that parental education level, household income, and access to educational resources significantly shape language learning attitudes and behaviors. However, United States scholars have lagged in this analysis. Through a mixed-methods research approach, this study combines quantitative surveys and qualitative data to gather comprehensive insights on how SES influences foreign language acquisition, motivation, and advantages. Findings reveal that students with higher SES backgrounds consistently report greater access to language learning resources and significantly higher proficiency levels. While parental education might not …

The Effects Of Alcohol Consumption On Cognitive Decline, Ashley Highland

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between alcohol use and cognitive decline among young adults. This study is a quantitative study in which secondary data was used as a means to gather information from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) database. In this study, the researcher analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, such as independent sample t-test, correlations analysis, ANOVA, and Chi-Square test. The findings in this research revealed that there is a significant relationship between cognitive decline and binge drinking in young adults. Meaning, young adults who binge drink are …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Alcohol Use In Adulthood, Callie Franzen

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and alcohol use in adulthood among individuals who responded to the BRFSS 2022 study. Secondary data was used to gather information on adults. The BRFSS 2022 survey was a national survey conducted by the CDC that utilized stratified sampling to create two groups of participants based on phone number type. The final number of participants used in this sample was 445,132 adults aged 18 to 80 with 209,238 males and 235,894 females, and the races consisted of 333,514 Whites, 35,876 Blacks, 20,607 Asians, 42,977 Hispanics, …

Information Provided By State Human Trafficking Websites: A Content Analysis, Brooklyn Dilley

Honors Program Theses

Human trafficking evolved from the legal and regulated slavery of the past and has likely been in existence throughout human history. Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, and slavery and servitude were prohibited globally through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 (United Nations General Assembly, 1948). Nevertheless, modern-day slavery has still thrived in the form of human trafficking. There have been many global and national efforts to combat human trafficking, including the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (OMCTP). The Trafficking Victims Protection …

Narratives Of Identity: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Biracial Identity Construction And Performance In Family, Education, And Media, Eboni Springfield

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis explores the complex construction and performance of biracial identity within the context of the United States, delving into the historical and ongoing impacts of race and racism, and the pervasive influence of white supremacy. Through an autoethnographic approach, this study investigates how personal narratives illuminate the processes of biracial identity construction, expression, and negotiation across three social institutions: family, education, and media. The findings reveal the intricate and intersecting interactions that contribute to identity formation, highlighting the expansive nature of intersectionality. The analysis demonstrates that biracial identity is continuously shaped in response to white supremacy, which complicates efforts …

"It All Just Ends": Death Attitudes Across Age, Gender, And Religion, Bekah Bass

Honors Program Theses

Death is a social and biological reality that affects everyone.However,the effects of death are not uniform. Data for this study were collected from a convenience sample (N=322) through an online survey distributed through social media and email (January and February 2021). The survey utilizes the Death Attitudes Profile –Revised by Wong, Reker, and Gesser (1994) to investigate differences in death attitudes across different demographics including age, gender, and religion. Results show correlations between positive, neutral, and negative death attitudes and the age of respondents, suggesting that negative death attitudes decrease as one ages, and certain types of positive attitudes increase. …

The Presentation Of Race At Mark Twain Historical Sites In Hannibal, Missouri, Anthony Wayne Birch

Graduate Research Papers

Hannibal, Missouri may not be among the top five or even the top three places to visit, but it is surely getting its share of tourist and revenue. Each year an estimated 350,000 tourists from across the United States and many from around the world visit Hannibal, Missouri to pay homage at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum Annex. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum is located on 206-208 Hill Street, and has been accessible to the public as a museum since 1912, and has been registered as a National Historic Landmark since December 29, 1962.¹ In …

The Impact Of Sexual Assault On Sexual Risk-Taking, Melanie Alison Reyes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sexual assault survivors experience a variety of adverse psychological and behavioral outcomes after their assault, such as engagement in sexual risk behavior (Testa, Hoffman, & Livingston, 2010). Previous research has reported risk factors among sexual assault survivors, such as survivors’ self-reported insecure attachment (Oshri, Sutton, Clay-Warner, & Miller, 2015), difficulties with emotion regulation (Walsh, DiLillo, & Messman-Moore, 2012), and substance use coping (Ullman, Relyea, PeterHagene, & Vasquez, 2013). Given that sexual risk behavior is also associated with these variables (e.g., Hotton, Garofalo, Kuhns, & Johnson, 2013), the current study examined whether these variables may mediate the association between sexual assault …

Live Thy Neighbor, Milica Njezic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This project explored the concept of neighboring from the cultural perspectives of the Bosnian refugees and the researcher who is Bosnian herself. The goals were to answer several research questions: (1) what kinds of tensions do we battle in liminal spaces and how do they, grounded in culture, shape the way we communicate our roles as neighbors, (2) how do Bosnian immigrants perform neighboring, (3) what constitutes a good neighbor, and (4) what are the researcher’s personal stories and are those experiences shared with others? The author argues that neighboring is something we perform, that Bosnian co-participants show unconditional hospitality …

A Heroic Journey Within Videogames And The Effects Of Player Experience, Jeremiah Moffitt

Honors Program Theses

The popularity of videogames globally is increasing dramatically. The gamer explores first hand fantastic worlds. The story structure of many games follows the hero's journey-a rite of passage that social scientists view as a transformative experience. Although the content of the journey may be culturally specific, the similar structural components of the journey enable the hero to ultimately complete his/her journey as a changed person. I hypothesize that during the playing process, the gamer incorporates the experiences of his/her character and shares in some of these transformative processes. My research is based on participant observation and open-ended interviews with individuals …

Making A Way: Music In An African American Congregation, Emily Miller-Todd

Honors Program Theses

When I began brainstorming ideas for my research, I was initially drawn towards a general study of music's role in church settings. As a music major and religion minor, this topic appeared to be the most obvious way I could combine my interests and apply them to a research project. Broadly speaking, I was interested in describing the role of music in a worship setting and the meaning members of the congregation found in music. In addition, I wanted to develop a research project that allowed me a more thoroughly experiential understanding of music in a congregation through personal participation …

Effect Of Birth Order Placement On Tendency Toward General Deviance, Nichole Rae Reese

Honors Program Theses

Most of the research conducted on birth order placement has dealt with characteristics such as ambition, responsibility, leadership, athleticism, and so on. I focused my research on the effect of birth order placement on a tendency toward committing general deviant acts. I reviewed and analyzed previous research regarding this topic conducted by researchers and social scientists. I then conducted my own research study by administering a general deviance questionnaire to forty University of Northern Iowa students. After analyzing the survey results using the data analysis program, SPSS, I found that my hypothesis of firstborn individuals committing less general deviant acts …

The Secret Life Of The American Teenager And Its Implicit Sexual Consequences: A Content Analysis, Olivia Lynn Egen

Honors Program Theses

My content analysis of The Secret Life of the American Teenager contributes information on the physical consequences of sexual acts to studies already conducted from content analyses of today's popular television shows. It also makes a contribution to the existing research because no one has studied this particular show. Because it is aired on a 'family network', it is specifically geared toward teens in a way other programs that have been studied have not been. The present research centers on the sexual acts of main characters, safe sex practices, types of sexual acts, gender of characters participating in these sexual …

Analyzing The Construction Of The Medical Professional Identity: How Do Doctors Learn To "Do Doctoring?", Lauren Dougall

Honors Program Theses

This study is a qualitative analysis of how primary care physicians within the first five years of practice after residency construct their medical professional identity. An open-ended interview schedule was used to collect data which revealed the main themes of observational learning, dealing with uncertainty, and the importance of communication and education in patient interaction. Each doctor's professional identity was ultimately a refined version of the image they attributed to doctors as a lay-person.

Health Reform: The Effects Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act On Iowa's Critical Access Hospitals, Brittany D. Fett

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this research was to examine the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through an analysis of the bill, investigation of current publications by Iowa health care organizations, and ethnographic interviews to address the guiding research question of how the Affordable Care Act will affect Critical Access Hospitals in Iowa. Through this research, I consider: (1) the nature of a Critical Access Hospital; (2) the management structure of hospitals and health networks statewide; (3) the role Medicare and other forms of insurance play in these facilities and how the ACA will change that role; and (4) the implementation …

Music Videos As Social Commentary: A Sociological Analysis Of Lady Gaga, Jacob Allen Everett Rudy

Honors Program Theses

Since the television channel Music Television (MTV) aired its first music video on August 1, 1981, music videos have come to serve as vehicles for music artists from all genres. Using these productions as a way to simultaneously promote a song and a particular artist has proven to be successful means with which to build a career in the American music industry. However, as with all cultural artifacts, music videos contain much more information than simply visual interpretation of songs. They are rich in sources with which sociologists can further understand social norms and institutions. Through the analysis of music …

Factors Affecting Religious Beliefs At A Public Midwestern University, Dana Catherine Shook

Honors Program Theses

There is general disagreement in the literature on religion regarding its consequences, and whether they are positive or negative. Theorists such as Freud and Marx argue that religion is detrimental to the individual and society, while some, such as Sorokin and Jung, have found beneficial effects of religion (Ferraro & Albercht-Jensen 1991). This thesis also explored my assumption that doubting and/or critically thinking about religion is useful in creating the global citizens the world may benefit from. Global citizens, in my estimation, are individuals who have respect for individual or cultural differences, regardless of nationality, race, gender, religion, or creed. …

Wandering Socially: Technology And The Modern American Hobo Community, Natalie K. Turner

Honors Program Theses

In this research I investigate how our increasingly technological society is changing the lives and culture of hobos. Hobos are traditionally viewed as migratory workers who ride trains to travel to different jobs, and who were in the greatest abundance during the Great Depression. In the 1950s and 60s, impacted by the popularity of Kerouac's novel, On the Road, hobos began to incorporate the beat movement's love of freedom and poetry as a part of their culture. Most recently, hobo ideology can be found in anti-consumer and "simple living" communities. Conducting ethnographic research at the National Hobo Convention in Britt, …

The Experience Of Upward Mobility, Lacey Jae Ritter

Honors Program Theses

Upward mobility is an interesting and highly valued phenomenon within American society. Due to American beliefs that hard work is the only requirement for success, individuals feel that moving up a social class from that of their class of origin is not impossible. Past research, however, shows that upward mobility is extremely difficult and quite unlikely. When individuals do achieve upward mobility, there are many consequences for doing so, including changes in relationships with family and friends. Most individuals receive emotional support from family and friends in their quest for mobility, yet the path to upward mobility is often begun …

Can Socialization Influence Identification Levels? Formal And Informal Socialization Of Graduate Students And Graduate Assistants, Tanna White

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Every organization has standard expectations for member behavior. Socialization ensures that employees learn the accepted ways of responding to each situation and the expected ways of working with others. Socialization may be formal, taking place during orientation meetings, training sessions, workshops, and with assigned mentors. Informal socialization, conversely, involves off-site meetings and social interactions as well as employees learning by watching their coworkers and supervisors (Cousins, Handfield, Lawson & Petersen, 2006; Mujtaba & Sims, 2006).

The Myth And Reality Of Prom: A Qualitative Examination Of The American High School Prom Experience, Sarah C. Brandt

Honors Program Theses

This research compares social and cultural myths about the prom with the reality of the high school prom experience. Data include content analysis of prom-related popular media, and ten qualitative interviews with individuals aged 20-25 about their high school prom experiences. Perceptions of what prom is supposed to be like are influence heavily by the media; study participants' real prom experiences were quite different. Additionally, participants' prom experiences related less with popular media depictions and more with their actual social status in high school culture. Findings support that the media present a narrow, idealized depiction of the prom that rarely …

Biracial Filipino Americans In Society, Neal Andrew Molitor

Honors Program Theses

Since I grew up in a small and predominantly white Midwestern town, I was acutely aware of the common cultural aspects of my Caucasian side. I was able to familiarize myself with the Western cultural values, and I felt comfortable within them. My appearance may have differed from my peers' but I was able to assimilate myself with all the local customs. However, I still felt that I was neglecting a major part of my identity. I needed to know more about the other half of my cultural heritage, and I knew that college and this thesis project would provide …

Exploration Of Namibian Adolescents’ Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes And Behavior, Shamani-Jeffrey Shikwambi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, and sexual behavior among Namibian adolescents.

Data were collected by using a ~edified version of the Prevention Minimum Evaluation Data Set (PMEDS) instrument. The participants were 45 twelfth graders, of which 23 were females and 22 males.

Analysis of the data included an examination of intercorrelation between sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, and sexual behavior, and an investigation of gender differences among these three variables. Pearson correlations were calculated for each variable and t-tests were run to look for the gender difference. Multiple regression was also …

The Portrayal Of Abandonment By Mothers In Young Adult Literature, Bernie M. Hawley

Graduate Research Papers

This study used content analysis of a selected sample of 33 young adult fiction books published between 1980-1995, to determine if the portrayal of abandonment of children by their mothers is realistic according to social research of those populations. Findings indicate that in a majority of the titles the abandonment is caused by the mother's need to establish her own identity and the abandoned child(ren)'s reactions are characterized by negative behaviors. These findings support the premise that contemporary young adult fiction presents mother abandonment in a realistic manner. It was found, however, that the majority of mothers in these books …

A Status Survey Of The Reading Habits Of Starmont High School Graduates, Linda Wallace

Graduate Research Papers

A Status Survey of the Reading Habits of Starmont High School Graduates reports on the reading habits of the graduates of the classes of 1976, 1981, 1986, and 1991. The purpose of the study was to determine if Starmont is producing graduates who are self-motivated readers . The author's intent was to also gain insight into the relationship between ability, education level achieved, reading attitude and the actual reading habits of Starmont graduates. A survey was sent to 289 graduates and resulted in 198 surveys being returned. Six hypotheses were tested with one, three, five, and six being accepted and …

Sociological Implications Of Technology: The Historical Treatment Of Technology In Sociological Theory And A Proposal For Empirical Research, Martin E. Hansen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Technology, as a form of knowledge, can be an important explanatory variable in empirical sociological investigations. In this thesis the macrohistorical concept of technology within the discipline of sociology is traced and critiqued, with special attention given to analytical misconceptions and reifications, e.g., confusing technology with its processes, products, and social consequences. An analytical model is initially presented which attempts to facilitate a better understanding of the dialectical interrelationships between technological, social, and natural (scientific) phenomena. Recent attempts to measure the effects of technology on social relationships are critiqued, particularly in their inadequate conceptualization and operationalization, confusion of cause and …