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

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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

Brigham Young University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 3541 - 3570 of 6849

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Squandering The Future? A Utah-Colorado Comparison Of Industry Development Path Dependency, Michael Murff, Dr. John Griffin Feb 2014

Squandering The Future? A Utah-Colorado Comparison Of Industry Development Path Dependency, Michael Murff, Dr. John Griffin

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Escalating in the 1970s, the Intermountain West experienced a dramatic economic shift from mining and agriculture toward information technology (IT). Both Utah and Colorado took steps to attract computer and software firms in an effort to diversify and develop IT industries. At first glance Utah appears especially well prepared for technological innovation and a progressive IT market. Strong university computer science departments, two solid law schools, and a respectable business school provide ample intellectual capital for a robust Wasatch Front IT environment. But a closer look reveals that Utah firms lag behind their regional counterparts in overall growth rates, initial …

Go to article

War On The Playing Fields: Battling Homelessness Through The Attitudes Of Children, Megan S. Morris, Dr. Gary Jensen Feb 2014

War On The Playing Fields: Battling Homelessness Through The Attitudes Of Children, Megan S. Morris, Dr. Gary Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Salt Lake City at the Traveler’s Aid Society Family Shelter there are many kids running around. They come in all shapes and sizes, all races and ethnic backgrounds, from all venues of life, from suburbs and slums. But they all have one thing in common – none of them have a home. They don’t consider the shelter their home, nor would they want to.

Go to article

Observations On Public Interest Group Maintenance: Environmental Groups Shed Light On Success And Failure, Jeffrey Jones, Dr. Jay Goodliffe Feb 2014

Observations On Public Interest Group Maintenance: Environmental Groups Shed Light On Success And Failure, Jeffrey Jones, Dr. Jay Goodliffe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The massive proliferation of public interest groups in the past forty years appears to have surpassed our understanding of how these groups form, function, and maintain members. The purpose of my research is not to attempt to answer all the questions of how groups form and stay afloat, but to shed light from both a theoretical and practical perspective how public interest group leaders maintain membership and explain the demise of respective groups in their field.

Go to article

Statistical Survey Of International Terrorist Activity: An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Military Deterrence, Eric R. Jorgensen, Dr. Jay Goodliffe Feb 2014

Statistical Survey Of International Terrorist Activity: An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Military Deterrence, Eric R. Jorgensen, Dr. Jay Goodliffe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As we recently observed the one-year anniversary of the embassy bombings in Africa, thoughts turned again to our vulnerability to terrorist attacks. One year ago President Clinton vowed to “wage war on terrorism.” It was at this point that many began to question the effectiveness of military deterrence on terrorist activity. This research examined the question of effectiveness. My hypothesis has been that military strength has no measurable effect in the deterrence of terrorist activities. I proposed instead that terrorists strike powerful, industrialized, democratic countries because their attacks appear more devastating when conducted against these states.

Go to article

Women’S Rights: Domestic Abuse In Venezuela, Melissa Humes, Dr. Darren G. Hawkins Feb 2014

Women’S Rights: Domestic Abuse In Venezuela, Melissa Humes, Dr. Darren G. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The results of my research were surprising and have inspired further research and investigation in the area of how international norms of human rights are spread throughout regions. The findings to date have taken my research in a new direction as I search for understanding of how the international norms of domestic violence were transferred into political action throughout Latin America.

Go to article

“Small Happiness” In China: The Battle To Save China’S Daughters, Jennifer H. Myers, Dr. Eric Hyer Feb 2014

“Small Happiness” In China: The Battle To Save China’S Daughters, Jennifer H. Myers, Dr. Eric Hyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In an attempt to discover if attitudes toward female children are changing in China, I conducted interviews of 48 Chinese women in several areas of China and Hong Kong. My original plan included only two age-groups of women: women ages 60 and older, who were born before the Chinese Communist Revolution, and college-age women born after Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of 1978 (which included the one-child and birth-planning policies). In conducting interviews, however, I discovered that I was ignoring a crucial age-group: women of child-bearing age. Because China’s population is so large, enrollment at Chinese universities is limited; college students may …

Go to article

The Patterns Of Feeding And Drinking Behavior After Intraventricular Administration Of Orexigenic Compounds To Rats, Lauro Alejandro De Santiago, Dr. Gregory N. Ervin Feb 2014

The Patterns Of Feeding And Drinking Behavior After Intraventricular Administration Of Orexigenic Compounds To Rats, Lauro Alejandro De Santiago, Dr. Gregory N. Ervin

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The effects of injections of some compounds on feeding behavior have been studied thoroughly in rats. However, the simultaneous pattern of feeding and drinking after the injection of either anorexic (feeding suppressor) or orexigenic (feeding inducer) compounds have been observed only infrequently or not at all. Only the feeding effects of a few compounds, like Neuropeptide Y (an orexigenic compound), have been studied in conjunction with drinking behavior. Observing the patterns of drinking and feeding behavior is important because it can provide valuable neuropharmacological and psychobiological information about the mechanisms that mediate the anorexic and orexigenic effects of these compounds. …

Go to article

Effectiveness Of Massage Therapy For Clients Who Are Receiving Psychotherapy For Distress, Collin R. Payne, Dr. Bruce Carpenter Feb 2014

Effectiveness Of Massage Therapy For Clients Who Are Receiving Psychotherapy For Distress, Collin R. Payne, Dr. Bruce Carpenter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Current research shows that touch stimulation can positively affect physiological, behavioral, and social development (1). Because of this research, health care professionals regard touch as vitally important in interactions and healing (2). In view of the benefits of touch on anxiety and recovery, therapeutic massage is gradually becoming a recognized health care profession (3).

Go to article

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Preattentive Processes And Visual Search On A Memory Task, Aubree Greenhalgh, Dr. Donovan Fleming Feb 2014

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Preattentive Processes And Visual Search On A Memory Task, Aubree Greenhalgh, Dr. Donovan Fleming

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Extensive research has been done with regards to attention and visual processing. Particular attention has been paid to preattentive processing which is the automatic registration of features by processing all targets simultaneously across the visual field (Matlin & Foley, 1997). Some of the particular properties which visual objects are composed of appear instantly and are, thus, processed faster (Treisman, 1985). In simpler terms, some targets are easier to recognize then others, especially if the targets differ greatly from their surroundings. For example, one square among many circles is easier to recognize then an oval or an octagon among a number …

Go to article

Group Therapy Experience As A Factor In The Outcome Of Severely Mentally Ill Patients, Jennifer R. Ellsworth, Dr. Gary M. Burlingame Feb 2014

Group Therapy Experience As A Factor In The Outcome Of Severely Mentally Ill Patients, Jennifer R. Ellsworth, Dr. Gary M. Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

An interdisciplinary team of academicians from Brigham Young University’s Comprehensive Clinic initially developed a collaborative relationship with the Utah State Hospital for the purpose of improving the hospital’s group therapy program through staff group skills training and improving the hospital’s outcomes tracking system. They chose six instruments (three of which were currently in use at the hospital) to measure the impact of the staff skills enhancement program and to track patient outcome.

Go to article

Qualitative Study Of Males And Females Reactions To Cooperative And Competitive Group Problem Solving Situations, Howard B. Cleavinger, Dr. Kay H. Smith Feb 2014

Qualitative Study Of Males And Females Reactions To Cooperative And Competitive Group Problem Solving Situations, Howard B. Cleavinger, Dr. Kay H. Smith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study was constructed using a simplified commodities game in which groups of four participants invested in commodities ranging from $100 to $500. The higher the cost, the higher the rate of risk entailed and thus, a higher payoff. The participants were informed that they were participating as a group against other groups (a cooperative situation), or that they were participating as individuals against the group and all other groups (a competitive situation). Same sex groups were used in this study.

Go to article

A Comparative Study Of Playground Behavior Of Typically Developing Children And Children With Specific Language Impairment, Melissa Parry, Catherine Ballif, Dr. Martin Fujiki Feb 2014

A Comparative Study Of Playground Behavior Of Typically Developing Children And Children With Specific Language Impairment, Melissa Parry, Catherine Ballif, Dr. Martin Fujiki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study is to determine the differences in social behaviors of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and typically developing children. Children with SLI are known to be more withdrawn in structured social situations. However, to date, there has not been substantial research on the differences in behavior between these two populations in an unstructured environment such as the playground.

Go to article

Brazilian Speech Audiometery, Allison Merrill, Dr. Richard Harris Feb 2014

Brazilian Speech Audiometery, Allison Merrill, Dr. Richard Harris

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Whenever we perform a comprehensive hearing evaluation we measure thresholds for the patient for puretones and also for speech. Measurement of puretone hearing thresholds in individuals whose native language is not English can be very difficult. Measurement of puretone thresholds in isolation is inadequate. It is very important to obtain some measure of the ability to hear and to understand speech.

Go to article

An Empirical Test Of Analogical Modeling: The K/Ø Alternation, C. Anton Rytting, Dr. Royal Skousen, Deryle Lonsdale Feb 2014

An Empirical Test Of Analogical Modeling: The K/Ø Alternation, C. Anton Rytting, Dr. Royal Skousen, Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Turkish is an agglutinative language, meaning that each word consists of a word stem followed by a variable number of suffixes. Sometimes, the addition of suffixes causes the stem to change its form. For example, stem-final velar consonants (i.e., /k/ and /g/) tend to be deleted between a stem vowel and a suffix vowel:

Go to article

Genetics And History Surrounding Chachapoyas, Peru, Joel E. Myres Feb 2014

Genetics And History Surrounding Chachapoyas, Peru, Joel E. Myres

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Anthropologists studying human diversity and distribution have long recognized that humans are the recipients of two major informational systems; one cultural and the other biological. Both these components of human diversity are inherited by organisms, be they individuals or populations, across spatial and temporal realms, and retain the ability to influence the behavior or continuance of the organism in terms of fitness. Similarly, the biological record can reflect cultural processes or transitions, such as migrations or disease, much as ethnographic studies can identify elements of cultural adoption, such as ideas or practices. In as much as these elements of culture …

Go to article

The Maya Sculptor: An Epigraphic And Iconographic Study, Holly Sullivan Feb 2014

The Maya Sculptor: An Epigraphic And Iconographic Study, Holly Sullivan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The existence of artistic authorship within ancient writing systems, though rare, is a significant diagnostic tool. Such signatures can illuminate social positions of artists and networks of artistic production. They also represent a unique genre of text outside of formal written language which can reveal aspects of the language never considered before. Recently, Mayan epigraphers have begun to ask if such a program of authorship existed among the Classic Maya. For my research project I undertook the collection and decipherment of 95 proposed signatures or “name-tags” on stelae and carved monuments from 23 sites in the Central Maya region of …

Go to article

Images Of Self: Constancy Amidst Social Change In India, Erika Gilroy Feb 2014

Images Of Self: Constancy Amidst Social Change In India, Erika Gilroy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Social changes currently taking place in India are primarily a result of the Indian government’s efforts to promote technological industries, introduce family planning programs, and provide greater educational opportunities to a larger number of its people. The major effects of these reforms are the movement of an increasing number of Indians from villages to cities in order to find employment, the shift from a dominantly agricultural society to one of urban industry, and the increasing number of Indians who seek, and for the first time are given, the opportunity for an education. While such reforms may be changing many of …

Go to article

Does Becker Know Best?, Matthew Butler, Dr. Eric Eide Feb 2014

Does Becker Know Best?, Matthew Butler, Dr. Eric Eide

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most economists contend that racial discrimination cannot exist in a “free” labor market because competition will drive any firm that discriminates to bankruptcy. This contention is presented, perhaps most famously, in Gary Becker’s book the “Economics of Discrimination.” The question of whether Becker, and all economists, knows best is relevant because if “free” labor markets do work towards eliminating discrimination, the policy implications are for the government to take a laissez-faire stance towards regulating discrimination-to step back, and to simply allow the market to correct itself. The NBA provides a natural experiment to test whether or not “free” labor markets, …

Go to article

Research Project Results: An Economic Comparison Of Two Rural Chilean Towns, Wade O. Bean, Dr. Darren Timothy Feb 2014

Research Project Results: An Economic Comparison Of Two Rural Chilean Towns, Wade O. Bean, Dr. Darren Timothy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Rural areas in developing countries are often the breeding ground as well as the testing ground for economic theory. Two rural towns near Santiago, Chile became of particular interest to me, as they were very similar in many aspects of their economic structure yet very different in others. In studying and comparing these two towns, it became evident that a certain combination of economic factors in these towns did yield the outcome that economic theory would predict.

Go to article

Medicalizing America: An Etiology Of U.S. Health-Care Expenditures, 1948-91, Bradley L. Stoker Feb 2014

Medicalizing America: An Etiology Of U.S. Health-Care Expenditures, 1948-91, Bradley L. Stoker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the 1990s, runaway health care expenditures have worried U.S.!awmakers and citizens alike. According to data in the 1995 Economic Report of the President, real per-capita health care consumption (in 1994 dollars) grew an average of 4.7 percent annually between 1948 and 1991, versus a real average NNP growth of only 1.85 percent. The price of health care during the same period increased 6.05 percent annually, whereas the general price index shows an average annual increase of only 4.16 percent. During 1993 and 1994, Congress and the White House sought remedies for health care expenditures that account for about 14 …

Go to article

Female Arguments: An Examination Of The Utah Woman’S Suffrage Debates Of 1880 And 1895 As Represented In Opposing Utah Women’S Newspapers, Janika Isakson Feb 2014

Female Arguments: An Examination Of The Utah Woman’S Suffrage Debates Of 1880 And 1895 As Represented In Opposing Utah Women’S Newspapers, Janika Isakson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The fight for woman’s suffrage in the Utah Territory, where many citizens supported the practice of polygamy, was full of contradictions from the very beginning. Following the Civil War, various groups, including Congress in 1868, proposed woman’s suffrage as a possible solution for terminating polygamy in Utah.1 Following Wyoming’s lead in giving women the right to vote in 1869, the Utah Territorial government in 1871, with the support ofLDS Church President Brigham Young, also gave Utah women the right to vote.’ Brigham Young advised, “Now, sisters, I want you to vote also because women are the characters that rule the …

Go to article

Trispectral Analysis Of Speech For The Hearing Impaired, Michael Welker Feb 2014

Trispectral Analysis Of Speech For The Hearing Impaired, Michael Welker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Visemes (phonemes that look the same while viewing the lips) within the English language are extremely difficult for heating impaired individuals using speech-reading to distinguish. Contemporary spectral displays of speech are inadequate to reliably differentiate subtle differences in the acoustic signal. Our project has investigated novel ways to display the spectrum in order to emphasize these subtleties.

Go to article

Analogical Modeling Of Japanese Loanword Formation From English, Nate Blaylock, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale Feb 2014

Analogical Modeling Of Japanese Loanword Formation From English, Nate Blaylock, Dr. Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The topic of this research, by way of review, was to try to predict, using the Analogical Modeling of Language (AML) method, the formation of Japanese loanwords from English. In other words, given an English word, how would a Japanese person pronounce it if they adopted it into Japanese. (Ice cream being pronounced aisu kurimu, for example). It was intended to be a test of the strengths and weaknesses of AML for this kind of a task (it has already been attempted by others using other methods).

Go to article

Ancestor Worship Among The Ovahimba Of Namibia, Travis Slade Feb 2014

Ancestor Worship Among The Ovahimba Of Namibia, Travis Slade

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The OvaHimba tribe of Southwest Africa have a tradition of ancestor worship that extends back into the past when their ancestors made the long trek from the Horne of Africa into present day Namibia. This subgroup of the Herero tribe are pastoralists with limited horticulture of maize to subsidize their cattle products. These cattle are divided into secular and religious wealth. The religious wealth is inherited from father to eldest son. The religious inheritance of the OvaHimba is called the Oruzo. Oruzo is the religious aspect which I focused on in my studies of genealogy and ancestor worship among the …

Go to article

Public Relations And Communication Changes Made By Pacific Islanders In Immigrating To America, Romney M. Stewart, Dr. Allen W. Palmer Feb 2014

Public Relations And Communication Changes Made By Pacific Islanders In Immigrating To America, Romney M. Stewart, Dr. Allen W. Palmer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Utah’s large population of Pacific Islanders has continued to grow during the course of the past few years. However, it seemed to me that the majority of Polynesians I knew and saw worked in landscaping, cement or brick work, or other forms of manual labor. Why aren’t there more Polynesians involved in careers that Caucasians generally regard as higher status, such as accountancy, engineering, management, etc.? Is there something about their culture that places a different emphasis on job selection? What changes in communication and business methods must be initiated by immigrants in order to successfully compete with those in …

Go to article

Confronting The Past: Japan And Its Legal And Moral Responsibilities Towards Asian Comfort Women, Timothy D. Tree, Dr. Ray Christensen Feb 2014

Confronting The Past: Japan And Its Legal And Moral Responsibilities Towards Asian Comfort Women, Timothy D. Tree, Dr. Ray Christensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

On August 14, 1991, Kim Hak-Sun became the first Asian comfort woman to break fifty years of self-imposed silence about the horrors she and thousands of other young Asian women endured a half century ago. Four months later, two more Korean women stepped forward and told the world their stories. These three Korean septuagenarians were former “comfort women”, women drafted by the Japanese Imperial Army for military sexual slavery during World War II (1).

Go to article

North Korea: Madman Or Rational Actor, Daniel Skidmore, Dr. Raymond Christiansen Feb 2014

North Korea: Madman Or Rational Actor, Daniel Skidmore, Dr. Raymond Christiansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Some experts have stated that North Korea is a good example of an illogical regime, which, to a lesser or greater extent, adheres to the madman theory. The madman theory emphasizes that states will sometimes purposefully act in a random or irrational nature of violence in the hope that other nations will be afraid to deal forcefully with them. Knowing whether this commonly held belief is correct or not is an important step to solving the Korea problem.

Go to article

The Ch’Olti’ Link Language, Craig M. Warren, Dr. John Robertson Feb 2014

The Ch’Olti’ Link Language, Craig M. Warren, Dr. John Robertson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Mayan Civilization was their development of a writing system. Remnants of this highly sophisticated writing system can be found beautifully etched on temples and other ancient structures scattered throughout parts of Southern Mexico and Central America.

Go to article

Transformations Of Comitancillo, Richard Lynn Paul Feb 2014

Transformations Of Comitancillo, Richard Lynn Paul

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A number of transformations have occurred through the centuries for all Mayan peoples. Some transformations affect only a single area of life while others are major transformations that affect several areas of Mayan lifestyle. These great displacements are turning points during which many cultural beliefs and practices are lost.

Go to article

What Are Shoshone Knives?, Cindy A. Eccles Feb 2014

What Are Shoshone Knives?, Cindy A. Eccles

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This research project began in pursuit of three goals: (1) establishing the temporal and spatial distribution of distinctive stone blfaces labeled as “Shoshone” knives, (2) determining the function and range of morphological variability of these bifaces and (3) ascertaining whether the label “Shoshone” knives, which centers on ethnic affiliation, is appropriate. Use of this term also raises the issue of style versus function as a cause for the distinctive shape of this biface. Studying this element of the archaeological record will further our understanding of the little studied Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric eras.

Go to article

First Prev Next Last