Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Spatial Analysis Of Tornado Warning System Understanding And Relationship With Tornado Occurrence, Chesnea A. Skeen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Tornadoes present a significant threat to life and property. The National Weather Service watch and warning system warns the public of tornadoes. If these warnings are not heeded by the public, the potential fatalities and destruction of property cannot be minimized. Thus, to prevent further loss of life and property, it is necessary to understand how the public understands the watch and warning system, as well as how they react. This paper aims to understand the correlation between understanding of watches and warnings and the occurrence of tornadoes, as well as how understanding varies spatially. Survey data were collected from …

Sexual Violence, Consent, And Contradictions: A Call For Communication Scholars To Impact Sexual Violence Prevention, Katie D. Scott, Clint Graves

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the conflicting findings from existing sexual violence and consent communication research with the intention of motivating communication scholars to study these areas. Generally, normative roles and alcohol add to the inherent complexity of consent communication. Moreover, contradictory findings in the literature make it difficult to define a practicable approach to the reduction of sexual violence across college campuses. This paper broadly reviews the current literature in this area of research with the ultimate goal of creating a guiding research agenda based in communication theory. Sexual violence prevention programming may …

Non-Governmental Organizations' Involvement In Poverty Alleviation In Bangladesh, Taylor N. Scheffing

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Labeled as one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh is accustomed to poverty. Beginning in the late 1970s and even more since the arrival of the millennium, Bangladesh had made significant strides towards economic development through poverty alleviation efforts brought on by the World Bank initiatives. However, widespread discontent with the World Bank has led to increased, dominant presence and involvement from non-governmental organizations. Non-governmental organizations typically share a public mission, where those in Bangladesh aim to work exclusively with those in disadvantaged, rural areas. This paper will be addressing the growing question: what are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) …

Female Migrant Labor In The Philippines: The Institutionalization Of Traditional Gender Roles In The Name Of Economic Development, Sabiha Iman Mohyuddin

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper investigates the ways the Philippines’ government applies Filipino ideas of femininity and kinship in pushing Filipina women into becoming transnational migrants as a means of economic development. Given that remittance money sent back by migrants to the Philippines makes up nearly ten percent of the country’s GDP, and that over half of Filipino overseas migrants are female, the Filipino government is committed to maintaining and overseeing transnational migration. As a way to maintain economic stability, the Filipino government has utilized traditional conceptions of femininity, domesticity, and kinship that influence the procurement, recruitment processes of oversea migration, and the …

Second-Language Acquisition And Motivation: A Literature Review, Pat Goodridge

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This literature review traces the development of motivation in second-language acquisition, a field that has evolved from basic associations between affective factors and second-language performance to nuanced approaches of how motivation is shaped by a learner’s subjective cognition. With this review, we see that motivation’s role has always been central to language learning, and the development of our understanding of this role has mirrored the development of our understanding of second-language acquisition’s psychological and cognitive aspects. Such understanding contributes to many areas of second-language pedagogy, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics, all of which are relevant to our practical research goals …

The End Of A Nation: Warithuddin Muhammad And Muslim Identity In The Nation Of Islam, Derek R. Galyon

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Warithuddin Muhammad’s tenure as the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) saw the attempted implementation of universalist doctrine that differed significantly from the particularism practiced by the movement’s founding prophet, Elijah Muhammad. Despite an apparent desire to distance the movement from Elijah Muhammad’s teachings of the intrinsic link between Blackness and Islam, race remained important for both Warithuddin and his followers. By partially embracing universalist interpretations that purported to view each race as inherently equal from an Islamic viewpoint, Warithuddin could easily be characterized as having tried to “deracialize” the Nation of Islam. With this shift, one would expect …

Dataone: June 2017 Usability And Assessment Working Group Meeting, Uawg

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

A presentation for the June 2017 Usability and Assessment Working Group Meeting which includes updates since the previous All-Hands Meeting, upcoming milestones, and activity updates.

Hypericum Irazuense Kuntze Ex N. Robson In The Buenavista And Chirripó Páramos Of Costa Rica: Photographs Of Stem Cross Sections, Plants, And Study Sites, Sally P Horn, Matthew T. Kerr

Geography Publications and Other Works

Hypericum irazuense Kuntze ex N. Robson is a common shrub in the high-elevation páramos that occur above treeline on the high peaks of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica and westernmost Panama. In this report and accompanying high-resolution images we make available photographs of stem cross sections, plants, and habitats of H. irazuense in support of a recent study of the dendrochronological potential of the species (Kerr et al., forthcoming paper in Physical Geography) and other research on this plant and the páramo vegetation in which it occurs. We also include images from the Google Earth^TM map …

Assessing Stakeholders To Inform Open Science Policies: The Case Of The Us Geological Survey., Mike Frame, Lisa Zolly, Carol Tenopir, Suzie Allard

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

No abstract provided.

Research Data Services: What Researchers Need And What Libraries Are Doing., Carol Tenopir

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

No abstract provided.

"What Does Sexual Harassment Education Have To Do With Sport Management Courses?": An Analysis Of Sexual Harassment And Sexual Assault Education In Sport Management Curriculum, Elizabeth Ann Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual harassment and sexual assault have gained a great deal of media attention throughout the past several years. Over 200 colleges and universities across the US have been under federal investigation for Title IX violations. Between 20% and 25% of women attending higher education institutions will be the victim of completed or attempted sexual assault during their college careers (Fisher et al., 2000). Sport has been described as space possessing a permissive rape culture due to its overtly masculine culture (Kidd, 1990). Further demonstrating this belief, research has shown that male athletes were overrepresented in reports of perpetrators of sexual …

The Korean Comfort Women Commemorative Campaign: Role Of Intersectionality, Symbolic Space, And Transnational Circulation In Politics Of Memory And Human Rights, Jihwan Yoon

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the end of WWII, Korea has experienced a miraculous economic development despite its devastated economic and political conditions originating from Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. However, while Korean society has concentrated on its socioeconomic advancement, few victims having traumatic memories of Japanese colonialism have been cared for by systematic and social treatment until recently. Especially, comfort women, who were sexually abused and exploited during WWII by the Japanese army, had not been able to testify their narratives in military brothels due to structural oppressions and distorted views against women in Korean society. In this respect, Wednesday Demonstration encouraged …

The Accuracy Of The Biological Profile In Casework: An Analysis Of Forensic Anthropology Reports In Three Medical Examiners’ Offices, Hillary Renee Parsons

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the accuracy of the biological profile from forensic anthropology reports among 204 resolved and 284 unresolved skeletal cases at the medical examiners’ offices in New York City, NY; Harris County, TX; and Pima County, AZ. Current forensic anthropological methods used to estimate the biological profile are developed from skeletal reference collections conferring variable degrees of accuracy. Evolving standards for evidence and expert witness testimony have ushered in an era of robust statistical validation for forensic methods, yet accuracy rates are unknown in anthropological casework. Considering 40,000 sets of unidentified human remains persist in medical examiner’s offices in …

The Lived Experiences Of Position Specialists In A Team Sport Environment, Allison Brooke Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to discover the lived-experiences of position specialists in a team sport environment. Participants were intercollegiate male and female specialists (pitchers, kickers, punters, and goalies; N = 21) who were enrolled and participating in Division I, II, and III college sport (softball, baseball, football, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s hockey, and women’s hockey) at institutions throughout the South, Midwest, and Northeast. Interviews were conducted in person and via the phone with participants.

Interview transcripts were transcribed and then analyzed using grounded theory approach of collapsing codes down into categories or themes (Glaser & …

Excessive Acquisition: What Is It? What Makes It Happen?, Melanie Doss

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study draws on the philosophical concept of hermeneutics and theories of the self and self-regulation to investigate the underlying meanings expressed and experienced by the self and the other in the behavior of excessive acquisition. In accordance with the methods outlined by the phenomenological and grounded theory traditions, data were collected from 15 persons afflicted with excessive acquisition, defined as the self and 12 persons afflicted by excessive acquisition, defined as the other. The data content collected from in-depth interviews, field notes, observations, and electronic messages formulated the emergent Parent Themes of Emotion, Space, Economics, and Time. …

Reflecting Human Knowledge Of Place And Route-Choice Behavior Using Big Data, Jiaoli Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Exploring human knowledge of geographical space and related behavior not only helps in understanding human-environment interactions and dynamic geographic processes, but also advances Geographic Information Systems (GIS) toward a human-centric paradigm to make daily life more efficient. Today’s relatively easy acquisition of various big data provides an unprecedented opportunity for geographers to answer research questions that previously could not be adequately addressed. However, new challenges also arise regarding data quality and bias as well as change in methodology for dealing with big data that are different from traditional data types.

Representing people’s perception of place and studying driver’s route-choice behavior …

Politics At The Intersection Of Sexuality: Examining Political Attitudes And Behaviors Of Sexual Minorities In The United States, Royal Gene Cravens Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

The existing political archetype of sexual minorities in the United States present lesbians, gays, and bisexuals as more ideologically liberal and Democratic than heterosexuals, as well as politically driven by issues specifically related to LGBT life. Ascribing political distinctiveness based solely on identification with a group, however, commits the fallacy of “difference-as-explanation” (Shields 2008:3030), equating a “shared [LGBT] history of sexual oppression and [LGBT] political sympathies” (Duong 2012:381).

Post-modern theories posit that social positions in society, i.e., socially-constructed categories of identity, exist as part of a simultaneously-experienced and mutually-reinforced “matrix of oppression” (Collins 2000:18). The personal meaning and political effects …

Parents’ Perceptions And Responses To Infant Emotions, Lauren Renee Bader

Doctoral Dissertations

Parents respond to their infants’ emotions in ways they believe are most appropriate. These reciprocal interactions make up the infants’ social-emotional environment and appear to guide future development and relationship formation; this trajectory is supported mostly from research in Western industrialized contexts. This dissertation consists of three studies and addresses the following over-arching research questions: How have parents’ perceptions of infant emotions been studied? How do Gamo mothers in rural Southern Ethiopia perceive their infants’ emotions and what do they believe are appropriate responses to emotions? Do Gamo mothers vary in their feelings about their infants’ negative emotions and is …

Analysis Of A Market For Tradable Credits, Policy Uncertainty Effects On Investment Decisions, And The Potential To Supply A Renewable Aviation Fuel Industry With An Experimental Industrial Oilseed, Evan Lawrence Markel

Doctoral Dissertations

This research is aligned with identifying barriers throughout the alternative jet-fuel supply chain. Prices are analyzed in the market for tradable credits known as renewable identification numbers (RINs). The RIN market is a key policy instrument used in the implementation of the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The program is highly complex and drivers of RIN price are not always clear. RIN prices also exhibit multiple regimes where the price of nested RINs converge. Therefore, a smooth transition autoregressive model is employed to examine drivers of RIN price and to identify drivers of price regime change. Through research in the RIN …

Preferences For Employment In The Government Workforce, Michael Christopher Moltz

Doctoral Dissertations

Why do people choose to work for government vs. private business? Addressing this question is necessary to address emerging concerns among public management scholars and practitioners alike about attracting, selecting, and retaining the most qualified people for government employment. The extant literature related to this topic is mostly concerned with attitudes of those who are already employed by government. Less attention is given to those who want to work for government (regardless of current employment circumstances). Furthermore, the literature, with few exceptions, only considers this topic within the context of single-nation studies. Relatively few studies examine the topic in a …

‘It’S Not Rocket Science’: Employees’ Lived Experiences And The Essence Of Employee Engagement, Laura Lou Lemon

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand how employees perceive and experience engagement and participate in its meaning-making process. While employee engagement has been primarily explored within the business, the human resources, and management disciplines, public relations research has only recently taken an interest in furthering its understanding.

Within these disciplines, the functional perspective has dominated employee engagement research, which has potentially limited theoretical developments. In response to the current literature being inundated with a rational, functional approach, the following dissertation attempts: (1) to examine employee engagement from an array of organizational voices using phenomenological methods; (2) to …

The Role Of Mentoring For Women In Upper Management In The National Basketball Association (Nba), Manuela Picariello

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite years of progress by women in the workforce, climbing the corporate ladder is still a very daunting task for most women (Eagly & Carli, 2007; Evans, 2010; McKinsey Report, 2013), and occupational segregation still exists (Davidson & Burke, 2011). Research studies have reported that mentoring in general is critical to upward mobility (Allen, Eby, O’Brien, & Lentz, 2008; Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2004; Eby, Allen, Evans, Ng, & DuBois, 2008). To date there has not been a study with a focus on mentoring and female executives in professional sport. In the 2014 Racial and Gender Report Card …

United States Elite Youth Tennis Athletes’ Use Of Psychological Strategies In Competition, Emily Earlynn Lauer

Doctoral Dissertations

Young athletes are routinely faced with stressors and competitive structures that collegiate and adult athletes face. Psychological skills training (PST) can provide young athletes with strategies and skills to cope with these stressors and ultimately influence sport performance (Vealey, 2007). To date, the only study exploring in-competition experiences of young athletes was with participants between 16 and 18 years of age (Van Raalte, Brewer, Rivera, & Petitpas, 1994). The current study is the first investigation on the in-competition experiences of children and adolescents in sport. Twelve elite young tennis athletes (M[subscript]age = 11.83) who trained within a Player Development program …

Exploring Emerging Adults’ Sexual Possible Selves, Development, And Pathways To Sexual Goal Attainment: A Three Part Examination, Kristin Michelle Anders

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent sexuality research has examined internalized sexual expectations and fears for one’s sexuality (i.e., sexual possible selves; Anders, Olmstead, & Johnson, in press) during the developmental period of emerging adulthood (EA). This dissertation extends the possible selves literature by examining the sexual possible selves (SPS) of EAs using three methodological approaches. Study 1 used a large national sample (N = 800) to compare sexual expectations, fears, and associated behavioral strategies between college-attending (n = 400) and non-college attending (n = 400) EAs. We used qualitative content analysis to examine prominent SPS themes across these two groups. Themes …

Self-Control Effect During A Reduction Of Feedback Availability, Aaron Dean Von Lindern

Doctoral Dissertations

A growing body of recent research has pointed to the potential value of allowing learners to have some autonomy in shaping their learning environment. Studies of this so-called self-control effect have demonstrated that allowing learners to control some aspect of the instructional setting facilitates motor learning compared to conditions that are controlled externally. The purpose of the present study is to examine how learners ostensibly provided self-control over feedback behave when the actual availability of feedback is constrained by a predetermined schedule of coach availability to provide feedback. Furthermore, an investigation into potential underlying mechanisms will be examined through a …

Dynamics Of Collaborative Navigation And Applying Data Driven Methods To Improve Pedestrian Navigation Instructions At Decision Points For People Of Varying Spatial Aptitudes, Gengen He

Doctoral Dissertations

Cognitive Geography seeks to understand individual decision-making variations based on fundamental cognitive differences between people of varying spatial aptitudes. Understanding fundamental behavioral discrepancies among individuals is an important step to improve navigation algorithms and the overall travel experience. Contemporary navigation aids, although helpful in providing turn-by-turn directions, lack important capabilities to distinguish decision points for their features and importance. Existing systems lack the ability to generate landmark or decision point based instructions using real-time or crowd sourced data. Systems cannot customize personalized instructions for individuals based on inherent spatial ability, travel history, or situations.

This dissertation presents a novel experimental …

Mass Migration: Examining Factors That Contribute To An Individual's Propensity To Migrate, Bryson A. Lype

Haslam Scholars Projects

No abstract provided.

Media Coverage Of Tennessee's Amendment 1, Hayley A. Brundige

Baker Scholar Projects

In 2014, Tennesseans went to the polls to vote on a controversial abortion amendment to the state constitution that was years in the making. Two organizations – Yes on 1 and No on One – spent millions of dollars on advertising to insert their rhetoric into the public debate and sway voter opinion. To some, Amendment 1 represented a chance for Tennesseans to take back control over abortion regulations in the state and protect women and girls. To others, the measure went too far and constituted unnecessary government interference into private decisions. For many, the issue set two deeply-held values …

An Exploration Of Us Ncaa Division I (Di) Female Soccer Players’ Perceptions Regarding Morality In Sport, Terilyn Chiemi Shigeno

Doctoral Dissertations

To date, little research exists with regard to how athletes think about morality within sport (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987), and even less exists which explores the concepts of bracketed morality or game reasoning within sport contexts (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, Boardley, Sager, & Ring, 2013. The same is true for research related to sport moral identity (e.g., Bredemeier & Shields, 1984, 1986; Kavussanu, 2007, 2008; Kavussanu, Willoughby, & Ring, 2012; Sage & Kavussanu, 2010; Sage, Kavussuanu, & Duda, 2006; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss, 1987) …

Economic Forecasting With Many Predictors, Fanning Meng

Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation is focused on the analysis of economic forecasting with a large number of predictors.

The first chapter develops a novel forecasting method that minimizes the effects of weak predictors and estimation errors on the accuracy of equity premium forecasts. The proposed method is based on an averaging scheme applied to quantiles conditional on predictors selected by LASSO. The resulting forecasts outperform the historical average, and other existing models, by statistically and economically meaningful margins.

In the second chapter, we find that incorporating distributional and high-frequency information into a forecasting model can produce substantial accuracy gains. Distributional information is …