Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Culture-Based Interpretation Of Projected Destination Images: A Semantic Network Analysis, Menglu Gao

Open Access Theses

This study attempts to explore destination image interpretation in the context of two cultural groups (US and China) and two information sources (Blog and Destination Management Organization website). Semantic Network Analysis was employed to obtain a visual representation and comparison of perceived destination image categories of Marrakesh across groups. Computer-Aided Textual Analysis software, AutoMap3.0 Program and ROST Content Mining System, were used initially for data preparation and keywords analysis, and UCINET 6 was then applied to conduct semantic network analysis such as centrality analysis and network structure measurements. The results indicated that the perceived image of Marrakesh varies by the …

Ostracism And Interest In Extreme Groups, Andrew H. Hales

Open Access Theses

Drawing from the temporal need-threat theory of ostracism (Williams, 2009), and uncertainty-identity theory (Hogg, 2007), I tested the hypothesis that ostracism increases interest in extreme groups. In a cross-sectional survey, Study 1 showed that chronic ostracism positively predicts interest in the Westboro Baptist Church, Mormonism, Scientology, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Study 2 established causal direction; relative to included participants, ostracized participants expressed greater willingness to attend a meeting of an extreme group following a recruitment attempt. Expressing a desire to attend meetings facilitated recovery of basic need satisfaction. Ostracism also induced self-uncertainty, but this did not mediate the effect. In an …

Conceptualizing Community Identity Through Ancient Textiles: Technology And The Uniformity Of Practice At Hualcayán, Peru, Marie Elizabeth Gravalos

Open Access Theses

The goal of this thesis is to investigate a single textile assemblage from on site is homogeneously produced. In order to evaluate this, I looked at a sample of textiles and cordage recovered at the site of Hualcayán in the north-central highlands of Peru (ca. 1-1000 CE). Through a technical attribute analysis of metric traits I evaluate the degree of variability present in the overall sample. Making use of a "community of practice" approach, in which a group of individuals are engaged in participatory learning and share a common enterprise, I argue that homogeneous textiles represent a uniformity of practice. …

Analyzing Responses To Open Ended Questions For Spirit Using Aspect Oriented Sentiment Analysis, Animesh Jain

Open Access Theses

Open ended questions provide an effective way of measuring the attitude and perception of respondents towards a topic. Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology (SPIRIT) was a program (2008-2012) that employed open-ended questions to gauge program participants' attitudes related to computing. SPIRIT sought to increase the interest of high school students, especially female students, towards computing courses and careers. Pre- and post-attitude surveys were used during the program to measure the changes in attitudes of the participants towards IT and also to analyze the impact different sessions had on different demographic groups of participants. The open-ended survey questions …

Gap Between Hospitality Employers' Demands And Hospitality Students' Perceptions Regarding Entry-Level Managers' Requirements In The United States, Yijun Huang

Open Access Theses

This study aims to identify the gap between recruiters and students regarding what knowledge, skills and abilities are most needed for graduates to secure entry-level managers in the hospitality industry. Previous literature used different approaches to attain a similar idea that students and recruiters do have different opinions, especially for those intrinsic or person-related characteristics. The researcher borrowed statements from different researchers and added two statements to make up the missing part of previous research and then combined, split and revised these statements to see whether students' thinking matched the industry's thinking. The results showed that recruiters generally ranked these …

Event Structure Of Resultatives In Asl, Ashley Kentner

Open Access Theses

The relationship between the duration and telicity of the causing predicate and the gradability and standard of comparison of the resultant predicate in resultative constructions in American Sign Language (ASL) is investigated. Two homomorphic accounts of resultative constructions are considered, the feature-based approach of Beavers (2008), and the compositional approach of Ramchand (2008). The analysis utilizes morpho-phonological and semantics interface properties in ASL in order to discriminate between the two approaches. These properties are expressed by the Visibility Hypothesis (VH) in Wilbur, Malaia, and Shay (2012), which posits that the ends of semantic scales are phonologically marked in ASL in …

The Hong Kong-Zhu Hai-Macau Bridge: Impacts On The Greater Pearl River Delta, Jun He

Open Access Theses

This research looks at the impacts of megaprojects on their host regions through a case study of the Hong Kong-Zhu Hai-Macau Bridge (HZMB). The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential economic impact of the HZMB on the region through existing data and stakeholder interviews. The research will specifically focus on megaprojects' impacts on tourism industry and economic development in general. The research results are aimed to address the four research objectives of the study, which are similarities and differences between the HZBM and other megaprojects, common issues involved in developing megaprojects, the future impacts of the HZMB …

Anticipatory And Reactive Responses To Chocolate Restriction In Frequent Chocolate Consumers, Chelsey L. Keeler

Open Access Theses

Many individuals have difficulty adhering to a weight loss diet. One possible explanation could be that dietary restriction paradoxically contributes to overconsumption. The objective of this study was to examine ingestive behavior under a forced chocolate restriction, with a focus on the anticipatory restriction period and the post-restriction period in frequent chocolate consumers. Fifty-six male (N=18) and female (N=38) high chocolate consumers with high or low cognitive disinhibition aged 27.70 ± 11.09 years with a mean BMI of 25.68± 5.92 kg/m2 participated. Chocolate snacks were provided for the first, second, and sixth week of the study to establish baseline, pre-restriction …

The Effect Of Color On Emotions In Animated Films, Andrew Kennedy

Open Access Theses

Lighting color in animated films is usually chosen very carefully in order to portray a specific mood or emotion. Artists follow conventional techniques with color choices with the intention to create a greater emotional response in the viewer. This study examined the relationship between color variations in videos and emotional arousal as indicated by physiological response. Subjects wore a galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor and watched two different videos: one portraying love and one portraying sadness. The videos were watched multiple times, each with variations in the lighting color. No significant effects on emotion for either hue or saturation were …

Detecting Air Traffic Controller Interventions In Recorded Air Transportation System Data, Yul Kwon

Open Access Theses

In this study, I propose a systematic method of detecting aircraft deviation due to air traffic controller (ATC) intervention. The aircraft deviations associated with ATC interventions are detected using a heuristic algorithm developed from analyzing the actual positions of an aircraft to its filed flight plan when the aircraft trajectories were identified as having an encounter in a loss-of-separation incident. An actual (closed-loop) flight trajectory of the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOB ARTCC) was collected from the FlightAware database. This was compared with the corresponding planned (open-loop) trajectory dataset generated by the Microsoft© Flight Simulator X (FSX). I …

Investigating Surface Performance Trade-Offs Of Unimpeded Taxiways, Tiffany T. Le

Open Access Theses

Optimizing usage of unimpeded taxiways is a near-term operational change to mitigate emission impact on aviation and increase efficiency at airports. An unimpeded taxiway is a path for an aircraft to taxi around an active runway. Unimpeded taxiways provide benefits such as increased departure throughput, increased safety, reduced surface congestion, more efficient taxi-in procedures, and thereby also yield environmental benefits. The goals of this work are to investigate the use of current taxiways, examine surface performance and fuel burn trade-offs, and to develop a decision-support model based on potential fuel savings of unimpeded taxiways. This study analyzes unimpeded taxiway use …

Coping With Emotions During Reintegration: An Evaluation Of Service Members' Psychological Health, Christina Marie Marini

Open Access Theses

Upon returning home from deployment, service members are likely coping with strong emotions related to deployment stressors. In addition, service members and their intimate partners may be tasked with emotionally reconnecting with one another after an extended period of separation. Reintegration is therefore a critical, transitory time to evaluate associations between emotional coping strategies utilized by service members and their partners as predictors of service members' well-being. Previous research has indicated that service members' expression of emotions is positively related to their well-being post-deployment, whereas their avoidance is negatively related. These relationships were reevaluated in the current study. The current …

Effects Of Online Oral Practice On Japanese Pitch Accentuation Acquisition, Mayu Miyamoto

Open Access Theses

Even though there is a constant learners' need for pronunciation instruction in a Japanese language classroom, some teachers are hesitant to include pronunciation instruction due to time constrains or lack of knowledge on how to teach pronunciation. These problems occur due to the fact that pronunciation instructions were mostly conducted in classrooms. Computer-Assisted Language Learning is a great way to overcome these problems since learners can practice pronunciation through an online program outside of class. For this reason, this study was conducted outside of class using an online program. This research investigated the effectiveness of online oral practice on Japanese …

The Effect Of Visual Feedback On Voice Onset Time Productions By L2 Learners Of Spanish, Heather Michelle Offerman

Open Access Theses

Research suggests that pronunciation instruction should be developed and taught in the second language classroom (Derwing & Munro, 2005; Elliott, 1997; Simões, 1996) in order to facilitate intelligible and comprehensible utterances in the L2 (Derwing & Munro, 1997). Although accentedness does not always create intelligibility issues, it can be the catalyst to negative native speaker perceptions of second language learners' speech (Derwing & Munro, 2009). One distinctive marker of accent among native speakers of English and Spanish is the duration of aspiration values for the voiceless plosives /p/ /t/ /k/ (Lord, 2005). The present study proposes the use of visual …

Software Architecture And Development For Controlling A Hubo Humanoid Robot, Anne Giulia Pellicciotti

Open Access Theses

This study considers the level of involvement of participants viewing bilingual and English language TV commercials. It analyzes results from 295 non-Hispanic participants studying at a Midwestern university. In the study, participants were asked to view four commercials. Using Zaichkowsky's (1994) 10-item Personal Involvement Inventory (PII), participants scaled the advertisements on a 7-level scale. The scale evaluated participants' emotional and cognitive involvement with the ad. This between-subjects design required that participants be randomly separated into viewing all-English or all-bilingual advertisements. Findings showed no significant difference in involvement levels between bilingual or English commercials within this demographic group. Those with higher …

A Comparative Analysis Of An Original And A Post-Hoc Application Of Lean Six Sigma Methodology, Jin Qiu

Open Access Theses

Current society develops faster and faster every day with customers' demands increasing rapidly. Decreasing time for product development and enhancing customer satisfaction are becoming more significant. In the business world, there is no industry that could exist without an efficient supply chain. In the fierce competitive environment of today, the supply chain must address potential problems and risks that may exist and assure continuous improvement.

One common supply chain management practice in many industries is to apply lean methodology to the supply chain model in order to maximize the customers' value and eliminate waste. By eliminating waste, the process can …

Relationships Between The Military Service Of Female Service Members And Marital Satisfaction Of Their Civilian Husbands, Kenona Hilaria Southwell

Open Access Theses

Research indicated that is need to assess the relationships of female service members who were found to have higher prevalence of divorce than their military and civilian counterparts. The aim of this study was to understand better civilian husbands' experiences of challenges and benefits from their active duty spouses' service and experiences of deployment, relocation, and training sessions. Further, the study assessed the influence of wives' service on couples' communication, conflict, and husbands' perceptions of marital satisfaction. This mixed-method study entailed conducting telephone interviews with 20 civilian husbands across the United States. Interviews were recorded, and transcribed verbatim.

The transcriptions …

Increasing The Supply Of Affordable Housing In Urban India - Mumbai, Upasna Viswanathan

Open Access Theses

The need for housing in today's world is irrefutable. The growing population, accompanied with the fast pace of urbanization, are producing great housing demand, in urban areas in particular. This study focused on one segment of housing - affordable housing, in Mumbai, India, the demand for which has been on a steady rise over the past decade. Though traditionally the State was the provider of affordable housing, private sector has been increasingly involved in the segment, beginning the economic meltdown of 2008-2009. Yet there is a huge demand-supply gap that exists, which needs to be filled. The researcher looks at …

Historical Configurations Of Knowledge Among The Iñupiat In Arctic Alaska, Joshua Andrew Van Drei

Open Access Theses

This thesis explores how the Iñupiat of the North Slope of Alaska have responded to cultural pressures, specifically those arising from the introduction of missions and schools, and characterized by an increase in permanent outsider settlement, and how they have internalized these pressures into their knowledge system. By examining political, economic, and social factors, this thesis provides a more holistic picture of how and why Iñupiat knowledge has changed through time, beginning with the contact period in the early to mid-1800's until the present day. I find existing models of knowledge transmission cannot account for the ways in which Iñupiat …

Retrofiting Lid Practices Into Existing Neighborhoods: Is It Worth It?, Timothy Wright

Open Access Theses

Low impact development (LID) practices are gaining popularity as a way to manage stormwater close to the source. This reduces infrastructure requirements and helps to maintain hydrologic processes close to predevelopment conditions. Studies have shown LID practices to be effective in reducing runoff and improving water quality. However, little has been done to aid decision makers in selecting the most effective practices for their needs and budgets.

To this end, the L-THIA LID model has been applied. Using readily available data sources, multiple scenarios can quickly be examined, and then analyzed to determine the cost of implementation and the approximate …

An Exploratory Study Of Hotel Manager Side-Taking Behavior And Its Influence On Employee Unfairness Perception And Negative Emotion, Yan Zhou

Open Access Theses

It is not rare that hotel managers show inconsistent attitudes and behaviors in front of customers and employees in their daily work. With limited time and resource, sometimes it is inevitable that hotel managers present certain tendencies to side with one party over the other when service failures occur between the two groups. However, in academia few studies have discussed these side-taking phenomena. The present researcher conducted an exploratory study about their definition and influence on hotel employees. Two video-based experiments were conducted and their results testified to the hypotheses that hotel managers' side-taking behaviors can lead to employee perceptions …

A Rat Model Of Mild Blast-Induced Head Trauma With Structural And Biochemical Abnormalities In The Absence Of Motor Deficits, Michael Kelso Walls

Open Access Theses

Blast injury has been coined the "signature injury of the Iraq war" resulting in a surge of interest in understanding and addressing the corresponding pathological sequelae. As modern warfare develops into a distinctly guerrilla style combat by smaller terrorist groups against larger, regimented forces, tactics like suicide bombing and roadside bombing with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) become more prevalent. 1,2 This increased use of IEDs countered with improved body armor and protective technologies has significantly increased the survival rate of such attacks. 1.2 However, as survival rates have improved with body armor and other protective technologies, the incidence of reported …

Jpmorgan Chase, Bank Of America, Wells Fargo, And The Mortgage Crisis Of 2008, Lauren Berkshire Hearit

Open Access Theses

The practice of financial public relations is widespread in the field of public relations, but there is little research concerning the practice of financial public relations. In response to the call for additional research on financial public relations, this paper will examine the intersections of financial public relations, issue management, and organizational communication. Specifically, this project will explore how contemporary issue management requires companies to maintain their actional and institutional legitimacy. ^ Following the Financial Crisis of 2008, major banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo attempted to rebuild stakeholder and shareholder trust in the American …

Consumer Perceptions Of Child-Friendly Shaped Healthy Fruit And Vegetable Snacks, Selena Lauren Baker

Open Access Theses

Fruits and vegetables (FV) are widely recognized as healthful foods by the public, and most individuals are aware of dietary guidance recommendations to consume more FV. However, actual consumption of FV has been and continues to be low in the United States and many other countries, despite public health efforts to change this trend. The sub-optimal intake of FV among children and adolescents is of particular concern due to high nutrient requirements for proper growth and development during these life stages. Fruit and vegetable intake patterns in childhood have been shown to track into later life and may affect individuals' …

Prejudice Reduction Strategies And Their Efffect On Interracial Interactions, Mason Dyess Burns

Open Access Theses

With increased awareness of implicit bias in both research and media, understanding ways to reduce the negative effects of such bias has become of practical importance. The present research examined how implicit bias reduction strategies affect the experience of an implied interracial interaction. Results indicated that self-regulation learning (SRL) and counterstereotyping (CS) differentially impact how individuals experience an interracial interaction depending on their internal motivation to respond without prejudice (IMS). Specifically, results showed that individuals low in IMS self-disclosed more, were more promotion focused, and less physically avoidant following CS training relative to SRL training. At high levels of IMS, …

Climate Change In Native American Communities: Challenges Of Comprehension, Context, & Communication, Patrick Austin Freeland

Open Access Theses

Very little literature exists which details how climate change impacts Indian Country. This study first investigates how US newspaper stories published from 1991 to 2011 present American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) perceptions, and observations, of environmental changes resulting from climatic change. Several specific risk, impacts, and vulnerabilities were documented, and observations of climate change from AI/AN perceptions were analyzed for content to identify three frames of perspective: pan-Indian, tribally-specific, and individual perceptions. By law, ethical considerations are paramount when dealing with research in Native American tribes and communities. While each nation is supposed to review research to assess the risk and …

The Effect Of Job Performance Aids On Quality Assurance, Erik David Fosshage

Open Access Theses

Job performance aids (JPAs) have been studied for many decades in a variety of disciplines and for many different types of tasks, yet this is the first known research experiment using JPAs in a quality assurance (QA) context. The objective of this thesis was to assess whether a JPA has an effect on the performance of a QA observer performing the concurrent dual verification technique for a basic assembly task. The JPA used in this study was a simple checklist, and the design borrows heavily from prior research on task analysis and other human factors principles. The assembly task and …

Don’T Worry, I Am Fine: A Qualitative Analysis Of Family Communication And Depression In Chinese International Students In The Us, Lan Jin

Open Access Theses

Depression and associated mental health problems are increasingly a critical health issue for Chinese international students in the U.S. (Lyubomirsky, Kasri, & Zehm, 2003; Cheung, 2011; Liu, 2009). Recent studies in different U.S. universities found a 32% to 47% rate for depression symptoms among Chinese international students (Cheung, 2011; Wei et al., 2007). The statistics suggest that Chinese students face a high prevalence of depression problems (Han et al., 2013). To address the depression problems, family communication provides substantial support for Chinese students (Liu, 2009). However, little is known about family communicative practices of this population (Wei et al., 2010). …

Career Intentions Of International Master Students In Hospitality And Tourism Management, Wenjun Li

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate career intentions of international master's students in hospitality and tourism management (HTM) in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 19 participants at two different U.S. institutions. Interview questions were designed to better understand students' career intentions upon graduation and the determinants behind the plans. Results indicated that student's career intention should include measures of career decision self-efficacy, academic and career outcome expectations, and career exploration intentions. Unique personal background (e.g., gender and marital status, length of time in the U.S.), industrial working experience (e.g., internships), and …

Breakthrough Of Sub-Saharan Africa’S Agricultural Production In The 21st Century: The Role Of Foreign Aid, Jiangyi Qian

Open Access Theses

Sub-Saharan African countries' agricultural production has accelerated in the twenty-first century. This study shows that aggregate African agricultural production exhibits a breakthrough after 2000. More specifically, agricultural production breakthroughs occurred in 24 sub-Saharan African countries after 2000. 15 of them were caused by yield improvement and 8 of them were caused by area expansion. These breakthroughs helped these countries meet their increasing food consumption demands and lower their dependency on agricultural imports. However, we also found these breakthroughs were fragile. In addition to the influences of recent natural disasters and drought, these fertilizer-enabled production accelerations might also have been negatively …