Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons^™

The Socio-Political History Of Cannabis In Costa Rica, Winston C. Grady

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The socio-political history of cannabis in Costa Rica is one of external global influence; from colonization to independence; from neocolonialism to neoliberalism. Cannabis in Costa Rica has gone from failed agricultural crop to non-indigenous intoxicant import to controversial cultural mainstay. As Mexico influenced cannabis prohibition in the United States, so too has the U.S. approach to cannabis prohibition influenced Costa Rica. Costa Rica now grapples with attempting to reorient its general anti-cannabis status quo to one of regulated marketplace acceptance. My research findings indicate that cannabis originally entered Costa Rica in the late 19^th century by way of imported …

Orange County, Fl Substance Use Disorder Treatment Gap Analysis, Amy Donley Phd, Caroline Austin, Jacquelyn Reiss

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

The University of Central Florida's Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) partnered with the Orange County Drug-Free Office to undertake a gap analysis focused on substance use disorder treatment. Specifically, we designed a study to determine the capacity of treatment options, identify barriers to seeking treatment, and illuminate what works particularly well. The gap analysis results can guide future decisions on allocating resources best to ensure that treatment is accessible to all in need.

Does Crime Trigger Genetic Risk For Type 2 Diabetes In Young Adults? A G X E Interaction Study Using National Data, Fangqi Guo, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Jason D. Boardman, Jennifer W. Robinette

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Living in neighborhoods perceived as disordered exacerbates genetic risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) among older adults. It is unknown whether this gene-neighborhood interaction extends to younger adults. The present study aims to investigate whether crime, an objectively measured indicator of neighborhood disorder, triggers genetic risk for T2D among younger adults, and whether this hypothesized triggering occurs through exposure to obesity.

Methods

Data were from the Wave I (2008) National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. A standardized T2D polygenic score was created using 2014 GWAS meta-analysis results. Weighted mediation analyses using generalized structural equation models were conducted …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Contextualizing The 2019 “Chile Despertó” Movement: The Impact Of Historical Relational Processes On Mobilization And Repression, Tanya Leon

International Studies (MA) Theses

To expand our theoretical and empirical understanding of mobilization and repression in Latin America, this thesis asks three critical questions. Are economic indicators sufficient predictors of social movement emergence in Latin America? What other factors contribute to large-scale mobilization in Latin America? How do government’s respond to large-scale Latin American social movements? Specifically, when, and why do democratic governments choose to employ repression against social movements? Accordingly, I construct a quantitative model to test the correlation between rise in protest and worsened economic conditions. I apply it to a comprehensive dataset of political events in multiple South American countries throughout …

Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission Comment Tool On Changes To Trapping Regulations, Jacquelyn Reiss, Amy Donley Phd, Brian Hall

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

To collect public comments on the modernization of trapping rules and analyze the feedback provided, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the FCRC Consensus Center contracted with the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences (ISBS). Together the FWC, FCRC Consensus Center, and ISBS constructed a comment tool that was comprised of 5 different sections.

Survey Measures On Substance Use Amongst College Students, Jacquelyn Reiss, Amy Donley

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

The Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) reviewed measures utilized in 3 major surveys administered within middle schools, high schools, and colleges state-wide and nationally to compile a list of tested survey measures on youth substance use. The 3 surveys that were assessed are the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS), the American College Health Association National Collegiate Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), and the Monitoring the Future Survey (MFS).

Policing Understood As A Racial Project: An Exploration Of The Role Law Enforcement Has Played In The Shaping Of Race Relations In The United States, Jahaan Chandler

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Law enforcement and minority communities have had a complicated history in the United States to say the least. The theoretical propositions used to explain the myriad of interlocking relationships between race, criminal activity, neighborhood disorder, public perceptions of crime, and law enforcement itself, have provided us with nuggets of insight that have all contributed to enhancing our understanding of crime and policing in the U.S., but none have provided an overall interpretation of this complex and often convoluted relationship. This dissertation seeks to rectify this issue by not only examining the history of law enforcement and its relation to minority …

Shooting Surge Beginning To Slow Across New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Richard A. Espinobarros

Publications and Research

Many cities in the United States experienced increased gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021. Shootings in New York City grew sharply in 2020 and remained elevated in 2021, but the degree of increase may be in decline. This databit looks at the percent change in shootings citywide by quarter and shooting incidents across the NYC boroughs by quarter from 2007 to 2021.

Budgetary Obstacles To Police Reform: The Case Of San Francisco, Hayden Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

In response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement issued a statement calling on cities to Defund the Police. The event sparked a nationwide reckoning that has reshaped the narratives and strategies for remedying the racial bias and police brutality apparent in the criminal justice system. The shift in police reform efforts embraces notions guiding police budgeting decisions. Today's advocates are transforming their approach to police reform to include budgeting decisions by promoting a municipal practice known as police budget reform. This Capstone explores the feasibility of successful police budget reform under current …

Kiss Of Love Campaign: Contesting Public Morality To Counter Collective Violence, Sonia Krishna Kurup Miss

Peace and Conflict Studies

The paper studies the immense opposition to a nonviolent campaign against the practice of moral policing in Kerala to understand the dominant spaces, collective identities, and discourses that give shape to the outrage of public morality in India. The campaign through its politics specifically targeted rightwing and political groups as well as socially embedded familial and institutional structures that exercise control over individuals through patriarchal regimes. The adverse reaction to the campaign revealed that collective aggression or violence can be used to impose majoritarian values and exert social control through the authority of public morality and everyday acts of moral …

Adult Delinquency And Victimization: A Test Of Differential Association Theory With New Data, Shah Alam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The theory of differential association applies not only to adolescent people but also to the adult population. A lot of studies tested this theory on delinquent behavior but tests on victimization are rare. Using West Virginia Social Survey 2020 data, this study finds that there is an association between having delinquent friends and learning of self-delinquency in the adult population. It also reports that self-victimization can be predicted with having delinquent friends. The highest probability of victimization is twice for people for having pain medication misuser friends than of people having marijuana user friends. But self-delinquent behaviors do not report …

Understanding The Role Of Religion In Shaping Cross-National And Domestic Attitudes And Interest In Abortion, Homosexuality, And Pornography Using Traditional And Google Search Data, Amy Adamczyk, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Jacqueline Scott

Publications and Research

Over the last 20 years, internet usage has increased substantially, providing an inexpensive source of data that may be less prone to bias and could provide a greater number of meso and macro units. However, validating big data and their usefulness has been challenging. This study uses established sources to validate Google Trends’ search interest in the “Bible” across US Designated Market Areas and “Ramadan” across nations, establishing a potential new source of religion data. We then use these measures to show that people from religiously conservative US areas and countries are more likely to disapprove of homosexuality, abortion and …

Christmas Criminals: A Routine Activity Approach To Crime On U.S. Holidays, Wyatt Lam

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Based on Cohen and Felson’s 1979 routine activity theory, this study examines crime rates on prominent U.S. holidays. Little research exists that analyzes crime patterns on holidays, despite the mass disruption of routine activities. Using data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study compares the average daily number of offenses per state on 15 holidays with the average daily number of offenses per state on non-holiday weekdays for the 2016 calendar year. The crimes under investigation are economically motivated crimes: burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and robbery. Holidays are divided into groups for analysis based on where activities …

"It's Just A Prank, Bro!": Examining College Hazing With Constructivist Grounded Theory And Qualitative Research Methods, Kellie Alexander

The Qualitative Report

There is a lack of in-depth, qualitative research into college hazing, particularly into groups such as sport club teams, creating gaps in understanding why hazing persists despite its risks. This project seeks to answer the questions: How do students in fraternities, sororities, and sport club teams experience hazing and how do these experiences shape how they perceive hazing? To answer these questions, I conducted semi-structured interviews with members of these groups on a college campus, and analyzed these interviews using a grounded theory approach, as per Charmaz (2006, 2017). I find that a slight majority of hazing occurs in recruitment …

Getting Up: An Ethnography Of Hip Hop Graffiti Writers, Their Art, And Perceptions Of Society's Reactions., Theodore Malone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic analysis of the modern hip hop graffiti writing subculture connects the separate but complementary theoretical constructs of serious leisure (Stebbins 1982), dark leisure (Smith and Raymen 2016), recreational specialization theory (Bryan 1977), and edgework (Lyng 1990) and situates the writer “standpoint” (Smith 1987) in terms of interrelations of policy and written discourse. Past research found that writers were motivated by fame and status, to express artistic skills, and to control and destroy space (Brewer and Miller 1990). Others found that writers sought to express contestant notions of style and resist economic and political authority (Ferrell 1996; 2006), and …

Reducing Gun Violence In New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Sheyla A. Delgado

Publications and Research

Most large American cities experienced falling client crime rates in recent decades, with New York City only being second to San Diego is the scale of its decline. This databit looks at the array of initiatives the city implemented to address gun violence as a possible contribution to the decline.

An Analysis Of The Parental Structure And Involvement On Subsequent Delinquency, Bosco Villavicencio Jr

Student Theses

This thesis examines how parental involvement and family structure relate to the prevalence of juvenile delinquency. To answer the research question, the current study used a large sample of 12^th grade youth (n=1,272) from the Monitoring the Future project which includes measures on parental involvement, household structure, academic abilities, and risky behavior and delinquent behavior. The results of this secondary analysis showed a significant association between parental-child involvement measures and the delinquent outcomes examined; drinking, suspension, and skipping school. This study emphasizes the need to consider that the impact of household structure as well as that of a supportive …

Criminal Injustice: Considering White Privilege And Colonization In The Examination Of Racial Bias In The United States Criminal Justice System, Jane E. Sanders

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Laws and institutions in the United States have consistently marginalized people of color throughout the country's history. This research examines the United States' criminal justice system while considering how the country’s past of oppression has resulted in a racially biased system. Through analysis of policies, literature, and quantitative data, the primary goal of this research is not only to exhibit that racial discrepancies exist within the criminal justice system, but also to question how they persist in order to determine a solution. By utilizing both qualitative data collected through existing social theory as well as quantitative data showing varying perceptions …

The Stories Behind The Struggle: A Closer Look At First Experiences With Opioid Misuse, Khary K. Rigg, Shannon M. Monnat, Katherine Mclean, Ashton Verdery, Glenn Sterner

Population Health Research Brief Series

The opioid crisis is a national public health emergency. Over 47,000 people in the U.S. died of opioid overdoses in 2017. Improving our knowledge about how people first come to misuse opioids can help to inform prevention and treatment interventions. This research brief shows that opioid misuse most often begins before age 25, most people obtain the opioids they misuse from friends and family rather than a health care provider, and experimenting and coping with life stressors are the most common motivations for starting opioid misuse.

Non-Traditional Church Involvement As A Life-Course Turning Point: Qualitative Interviews With Religious Offenders, William Hunter Holt

Dissertations

This research project conducted and then analyzed qualitative interviews from former and current addicts and criminal offenders who are voluntarily participating in the Christian faith at the same non-traditional, Protestant church. An abridged case study of this church is also provided for background and context. Life-course theory and grounded theory are utilized.

Both the offenders and this church were chosen in an attempt to better understand how the offenders’ involvement at this house of worship, along with their faith in general, have impacted them. Obtaining the perspectives of the offender is essential for three reasons. First, qualitative research conducted in …

The Weaponization Of Poverty: An Investigation Into United States Military Recruitment Practices In High Schools Of Low-Income Communities In The Inland Empire, Michael Springer-Gould

Pitzer Senior Theses

Military recruitment in the United States is a highly contentious subject that has yielded a multitude of prior research across a variety of academic concentrations. To further the conversation, I narrow my focus to Southern California’s Inland Empire (IE) to explore practices of military recruitment in high schools that serve students in low-income communities. I begin with a general overview of life and labor in the Inland Empire before moving into prior research on military recruitment. My empirical research consists of five in-depth interviews documenting the lived experiences of individuals hailing from and attending high school in low-income communities of …

Transformation As Desistance Inside: Temporality And Identity Reconstruction Among Men With Life Sentences, Richard Stover

Honors Theses

This thesis is an investigation of destistance strategies among men sentenced to life in prison in a medium security prison in Pennsylvania. Desistance here is defined as the process leading to the cessation of formally deviant behavior. Drawing from life narrative interviews conducted among 22 men, I argue that desistance is intrinsically tied to how inmates conceptualize themselves within the institutional context of the prison and can be expanded to include people who are still incarcerated. I build off of Peggy Giordano and colleagues symbolic interactionist perspective on desistance and expand it to chart how men with life sentences order …

An Evaluation Of Georgia Southern University Public Safety Department's Community Policing Program: A Residence Hall Partnership Program, Charles P. Bowen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Residence Hall Partnership Program (R.H.P.P.) is the first major department wide community policing effort by the Georgia Southern police department. This study is an evaluation of that program’s first year of implementation. The evaluation process consists of a series of two mostly quantitative surveys of the residence hall students and officers of the Georgia Southern police department. The first survey was distributed at the beginning of the program during the Fall 2019 semester, the follow-up survey at the end of the Spring 2020 semester. The theories being examined are that community policing programs will improve student’s perceptions of police, …

Easily Overstated: Estimating The Relationship Between State Justice Policy Environments And Falling Rates Of Youth Confinement, Douglas N. Evans, Gina Moreno, Kevin T. Wolff, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers used state-level data on youth justice policies and practices to explore the association between state policy environments and recent changes in the use of residential placements for adjudicated youth (i.e., confinement). The study assigned a score to each of the 50 states based on the extent to which their youth justice policy environments could be considered "progressive" as opposed to punitive or regressive. Using data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice's compendium of justice system characteristics, "Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics" (JJGPS), the research team created an index that accounts for 16 policies that are more …

Older Adults Responsible For Total Growth In Drug Arrests, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

After years of decline, adults 25 and older were responsible for increasing drug crime arrests after 2015. In contrast, young adults, teenagers, and children experienced drug arrest drops. This databit looks at the drug violation arrest rates from 2000 to 2018 and trends between various age groups.

Youth Still Leading Violent Crime Drop: 1988-2018, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Violent crime arrest rates fell among all age groups but especially for youth under age 18. This databit looks at violent crime arrests and weapon offense arrests from 1988 to 2018 for various age groups.

Kinship, Fractionalization And Corruption, Mahsa Akbari, Duman Bahrami-Rad, Erik O. Kimbrough

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

We examine the roots of variation in corruption across societies, and we argue that marriage practices and family structure are an important, overlooked determinant of corruption. By shaping patterns of relatedness and interaction, marriage practices influence the relative returns to norms of nepotism/favoritism versus norms of impartial cooperation. In-marriage (e.g. consanguineous marriage) generates fractionalization because it yields relatively closed groups of related individuals and thereby encourages favoritism and corruption. Out-marriage creates a relatively open society with increased interaction between non-relatives and strangers, thereby encouraging impartiality. We report a robust association between in-marriage practices and corruption both across countries and within …

Analysis Of Social Unrest Events Using Spatio-Temporal Data Clustering And Agent-Based Modelling, Sudeep Basnet

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Social unrest such as appeals, protests, conflicts, fights and mass violence can result from a wide ranging of diverse factors making the analysis of causal relationships challenging, with high complexity and uncertainty. Unrest events can result in significant changes in a society ranging from new policies and regulations to regime change. Widespread unrest often arises through a process of feedback and cascading of a collection of past events over time, in regions that are close to each other. Understanding the dynamics of these social events and extrapolating their future growth will enable analysts to detect or forecast major societal events. …

Kinship Ties Across The Lifespan In Human Communities, Jeremy Koster, Dieter Lukas, David Nolin, Eleanor Power, Alexandra Alvergne, Ruth Mace, Cody T. Ross, Karen Kramer, Russell Graves, Mark Caudell, Shane Macfarlan, Eric Schniter, Robert Quinlan, Siobhan Mattison, Adam Reynolds, Chun Yi-Sim, Eric Massengill

ESI Publications

A hypothesis for the evolution of long post-reproductive lifespans in the human lineage involves asymmetries in relatedness between young immigrant females and the older females in their new groups. In these circumstances, inter-generational reproductive conflicts between younger and older females are predicted to resolve in favor of the younger females, who realize fewer inclusive fitness benefits from ceding reproduction to others. This conceptual model anticipates that immigrants to a community initially have few kin ties to others in the group, gradually showing greater relatedness to group members as they have descendants who remain with them in the group. We examine …