Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Exploration Of The Relationships Among Connectedness To Nature, Quality Of Life, And Mental Health, Peter G. Tauber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent decades, a new branch of psychology has emerged—ecopsychology. This field looks at the complex relationship between human beings and the natural world. Previous research has shown the importance of direct experiences in nature for the promotion of human health and well-being. However, it is still not understood why these experiences in nature carry so much importance.

It is possible that the concept of connectedness to nature (CTN) plays a role in this relationship between nature and wellness. CTN is defined as feelings of close affiliation with the natural world in a physical, cognitive, and emotional manner. Previous research …

First-Time Homebuyers' Perceived Preparedness: A Realtors' Perspective, Jordan Jerome Aaberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Realtors are usually homebuyers' first contact in buying a home. It is the realtor's goal to work in the best interest of the client. Agents provide all avenues of opportunity to first-time homebuyers (FTHBs) such as FTHB programs, mortgage options, and connections with inspectors, appraisers, and title companies. Realtors work with clients and other real estate agents in connecting sellers and buyers and creating real estate transactions. FTHBs have the option to trust their agents wholeheartedly and accept what they are saying to be true and in their best interest, or they can become educated about the home-buying process and …

Estimating Willingness To Pay For Continued Use Of Plastic Grocery Bags And Willingness To Accept For Switching Completely To Reusable Bags, Jarod Dunn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis demonstrates a surveying method to collect data to obtain tax levels for plastic grocery bag usage. This data was collected through asking respondents about a hypothetical situation in which they were required to pay a tax for using plastic bags or whether they would instead switch to using reusable bags that could be purchased at the grocery store. The respondents were also asked if they already were using reusable bags, how much would the store have to pay them for them to use reusable bags for all grocery shopping trips. From our analysis, people who use reusable bags …

The Effects Of The Political Landscape On Social Movement Organization Tactical Choices, Jennifer Marie Swalboski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis examines the tactics used by organizations in Minnesota and Utah pursuing rights and protections for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. Minnesota and Utah provided good examples of LGBT movements that are pursuing moderate goals such as anti-discrimination or anti-bullying legislation. Minnesota movement organizations operate in a political context that offers a relative balance of political party power and diverse religious, racial and ethnic groups. By contrast, Utah represents a very conservative political context in which Republicans have completely dominated both the legislative and executive branches for decades. Utah also has a very monolithic culture which …

Late Adolescents’ Perceptions Of A Digital Generation Gap And Perceived Parent-Child Relations, J. Mitch Vaterlaus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to determine if late adolescents (18-25 year olds) perceived differences between their own knowledge about interactive technology and what they thought their parents knew about the same technology. Secondly, the study sought to understand how differences in these perceived technology were related to adolescent perceptions about their interactions with their parents. The parent-child relationship characteristics of interest in this study were parent-child quality time, parent-child conflict, and parents’ knowledge of their childrens’ behaviors.

Late adolescents did perceive generational differences in technology knowledge in the areas of video chat, cell phones, general social networking, …

Asian College Students’ Perceived Peer Group Cohesion, Cultural Identity, And College Adjustment, Xin Zhao

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although there has been an increased focus on multicultural research of college adjustment, Asian students’ adjustment is still a major concern that is under studied. Asian students, like other minority students, may be experiencing difficulties such as changes in family expectations and support, acculturation, ethnic identity issues, intergenerational conflict, immigration status, and racism and discriminatory treatment. Successfully adjusting to changes encountered during college requires the use of effective coping techniques, such as social support, to help relieve the stress. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived cohesion and university-based peer group’s college adjustment of Asian …

Review Of The Lone Arranger: Succeeding In A Small Repository, Erin Passehl

Journal of Western Archives

A book review of Christina Zamon's The Lone Arranger: Succeeding in a Small Repository.

Microfinance As An Effective Development Solution: The Case Of Mongolia, Kjersten Adams

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Microfinance is increasingly looked at as a development solution for countries around the world. Its development and practice in former communist countries, however, has been relatively unexplored. This study seeks to fill this gap by asking how the practice and operation of microfinance in Mongolia compare to global best practices. Using global best practice frameworks regarding regulatory and organizational environments for microfinance, data gathered from surveys and onsite training observations at Xacbank is used to assess Mongolia's financial sector and its relative compliance to said practices. The analysis helps address the question of whether microfinance has helped or hindered Mongolian …

Liberalis, Summer 2012, Utah State University

Liberalis

Freedom to Think, Discover, and Create. The alumni magazine for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University.

Who Uses This Stuff, Anyway?, Andrew Wesolek

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

A great deal of the professional literature is devoted to developing content and faculty buy-in for institutional repositories. However, little is known about the end users of these repositories. This is unfortunate since great content is of little value if no one uses it and knowing more about users and their needs leads to more relevant content. So, we need to ask ourselves: "Who exactly is using this stuff, anyway?" Since 2010, Utah State University has begun surveying its IR users to answer this question. DigitalCommons@USU houses more than 26,000 documents with full-text downloads of over 800,000. With this much …

I'M Not Stressed: Effective Stress Coping Techniques, Naomi Weeks, Kimberly Stanley

All Current Publications

This publication gives tips on how to respond to stress and how to cope with stressful situations.

Review Of A Different Kind Of Web: New Connections Between Archives And Our Users, Megan K. Friedel

Journal of Western Archives

A review of A Different Kind of Web, edited by Kate Theimer.

Review Of Waldo Gifford Leland And The Origins Of The American Archival Profession, Debra Hansen

Journal of Western Archives

Review of Waldo Gifford Leland and the Origins of the American Archival Profession.

Tracing The Source Of Irrigation: An Examination Of Colorado Ditch Company Collections In Archival Repositories, Patricia J. Rettig

Journal of Western Archives

The history of irrigation is significant in the western United States, which has now experienced over 150 years of irrigation development. When considered fully, the history of Western irrigation goes beyond agriculture and extends to engineering, economics, business, sociology, law, politics, ecology, and more. The historical understanding to be gained from any of these viewpoints depends on the preservation and accessibility of original records created by irrigators. In the West, ditch company records are the earliest and best source of irrigation history. This article examines to what extent historical records of Colorado ditch companies have been preserved in and made …

Ping-Pong And Power Plays: How The Redefinition Of U.S. - China Relations From 1971-1972 Affects U.S. Foreign Policy Today, Michelle Allgood

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In 1972, President Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to redefine U.S.-China relations. Since that time, China has progressed in standing and prevalence and is becoming an increasingly powerful influence in the Asian-Pacific region. The U.S. influence and presence in the Asian-Pacific region has been diminished by China’s growing power. This shift in roles will continue to influence U.S.-China relations along with U.S. relations in the Asian- Pacific area. Using the balance of power theory and balance of threat theory, I will analyze the circumstances surrounding the U.S.-China rapprochement from 1970-1972. An understanding of the events …

Integrating Rural Livelihoods And Community Interaction Into Migration And Enviroment Research: A Conceptual Framework Of Rural Out-Migration And Environment In Developing Countries, Hua Qin, Courtney G. Flint

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article presents a conceptual framework linking perspectives from migration and environment with rural livelihoods and interactional community research in the context of rural out-migration and environmental changes in developing countries. Household livelihoods and community interaction comprise two core mediating factors between rural out-migration and rural environmental outcomes. Developing an interdisciplinary conceptual framework is an important way to advance migration and environment research that is built on knowledge from a variety of disciplines. By building linkages across different research fields, our conceptual framework provides an overall picture of the relevant mechanisms through which out-migration affects the rural environment. The framework …

Maternal Language During Book-Sharing: Wordless Verses Print, Jessica Nielsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The importance of adult linguistic responsiveness in facilitating language development in young children is well documented (e.g. Cross & Morris, 1980; Snow, 1994; Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001; Yoder, Warren, McCathern, & Leew, 1998). Research has shown that the use of responsive language by parents in the context of play is associated with greater child language productivity (Girolametto, Hoaken, Weitzman, & van Lieshout, 2000). Rocissano and Yatchmink (1983) found that when mother-child dyads utilized more joint attention, the toddlers demonstrated higher language skills and syntax abilities. Research has also shown that parent-child shared book reading contexts can be very beneficial …

Leveraged Etfs And Intraday Volatility, Adam Welker

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study provides an empirical analysis to determine whether leveraged exchange-traded funds are contributing to excess intraday volatility. The study, which is centered aroudn the introduction dates of six leveraged ETFs, uses high-frequency TAQ data for the S&P 500 constituent stocks to compare volatility before and after the introduction dates. Realized volatility is calculated for the morning, afternoon, and entire trading day during the twenty trading days before, and twenty trading days after each date of interest. There has been a lot of debate recently about whether leveraged ETFs could be increasing swings in intraday volatility. Up until now, this …

Explaining Energy Resource Cooperation: Shale Gas, Chinese Investment, And The Changing Calculus Of U.S. Energy Security, Douglas B. Atkinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In June of 2005, the relatively small and generally insignificant energy company Unocal became the focus of a fierce bidding war. China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) made the first move, outbidding the American firm Chevron. Accepting the CNOOC bid looked like an obvious choice for Unocal since it was almost $1.5 billion dollars more. However, as it became increasingly clear that policy makers in Washington would not allow the deal to go through CNOOC withdrew its bid and Unocal had little option but to accept Chevron’s offer.

Washington’s opposition seemed to be an overreaction to a deal that would …

The Effects Of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia On Social Functioning: An Investigation Into The First Year Of Treatment, Rachel L. Duchoslav

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cancer is currently the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the US. While the number of childhood cancer survivors continues to grow, psychological research on this population has lagged. Existing research on the psychosocial effects of childhood cancer is marked by inconsistent conclusions as well as methodological limitations. However, the effect of childhood cancer on social functioning is one area with relatively more consistency. Existing research suggests that childhood cancer can lead to deficits in prosocial skills as well as the emergence of social problems.

The present study investigated individual change in …

Estimation Of Beta In A Simple Functional Capital Asset Pricing Model For High Frequency Us Stock Data, Yuzhe (Yan) Zhang

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project applies the methods of functional data analysis (FDA) to intra-daily returns of US corporations. It focuses on an extension of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to such returns. The CAPM is essentially a linear regression with the slope coefficient β. Returns of an asset are regressed on index return. We compare the estimates of β obtained for the daily and intra-daily returns. The variability of these estimates is assessed by two bootstrap methods. All computations are performed using statistical software R. Customized functions are developed to process the raw data, estimate the parameters and assess their variability. …

Influences Of Disclosure Among Child Sexual Abuse Victims, Michelle Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Child forensic interviews are essential in eliciting disclosures in child abuse cases. Due to the nature of abuse and the child victims, barriers are inevitable to obtaining a full disclosure. This research describes the barriers as well as the factors that increase the likelihood of eliciting a disclosure during child forensic interviews. Previous research has found that factors more likely to induce a disclosure are having a supportive primary caregiver, an investigation which was instigated by the child victim, and if the victim is an older female. Barriers preventing disclosure include threats made by the perpetrator, fear, lack of opportunity …

Options Vs. Futures: Which On Average Will Have The Greater Payoff?, Ryan Silvester

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The use and idea of futures contracts has been around for almost as long as humans have existed. Many of these contracts can be as simple as the shaking of someone’s hand with the agreement to trade an asset for an agreed upon price in the future. These contracts have often been used by farmers to ensure a needed price for an asset, or for a store owner to ensure a needed asset for a given price. The idea of a futures contract is to either buy or sell an asset later on at a specified price. In this paper …

Communicative Language Teaching: The Cornerstone Of Second Language Acquisition, Sierra Fischback

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is comprised of a compilation of papers written by the author while completing the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. The focus of the portfolio is a teaching philosophy outlining the author’s beliefs on how to foster effective language teaching in the university foreign language classroom. Included as well are artifacts addressing coping with culture shock, effective forms of language learning, and reading in foreign language literature courses. These artifacts were chosen to reflect important areas of language teaching that have affected the author’s teaching philosophy. Finally, the author has incorporated an annotated …

Latent Classes Of Self-Reported Adolescent Depression In A Clinical In-Patient Population, Jonathan F. Doti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The depressive disorders are among the most common mental health problems with substantial financial and quality-of-life costs. Depression has generated considerable debate as to the underlying structure/taxonomy and continues to be frequently debated. Adolescents who meet diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder often experience anxiety (and vice versa). Therefore, understanding the underlying structure of depression as well as the co-occurrence of anxiety in a population of adolescents adds to our conceptual understanding of these disorders and facilitates treatment clarity.

This investigation sought to investigate the following research questions for adolescents’ self-reported symptoms of depression, and self-reported symptoms of depression and …

Outcomes And Presurgical Correlates Of Lumbar Fusion In Utah Workers' Compensation Patients: A Replication Study, Jessica M. Gundy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the past 2 decades, lumbar fusion surgeries performed in the United States have increased dramatically, particularly for compensated workers. Costs for these procedures have also risen substantially in the past decade, primarily due to the use of more sophisticated surgical devices such as interbody fusion cages. While surgical instrumentation and technology may improve the rates of solid bony vertebral fusion, overall improvements in quality of life and pain outcomes related to this new technology are still inconclusive.

In collaboration with the Workers Compensation Fund of Utah (WCFU) and Utah State University (USU), a psychology professor, Dr. M. Scott DeBerard, …

A Study Of Mothers’ Perceptions And Practices Of Kindergarten Readiness, Kirsten Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to understand what mothers with children enrolled in a developmentally appropriate preschool program believe and are actually doing to help prepare their children for kindergarten, something of key importance, as kindergarten success is a foundation for later school success. There is very little research on the topic of parental perceptions and practices in kindergarten readiness and the transition into kindergarten.

A survey was sent home to 60 families who had their child enrolled in the Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University during the 2010-2011 school year. In the survey, parents were …

Exploring Aspects Of Strong Remarriages, Marci Campbell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Remarriage is often studied with a focus on the difficulties associated with the complexities of remarriage. The focus of this study was to explore aspects of strong remarriages. Ten couples that had been remarried for 5 years were interviewed separately about their strong remarriage. Prevalent topics were compiled and organized into factors that contribute to a strong remarriage. These factors include: commitment, love, religion/spirituality, communication, compatibility, financial agreement, and physical intimacy. Additionally, expectations of remarriage were explored. The majority of the individuals expressed that their remarriage exceeded their expectations. A discussion of suggestions for future research is included.

Do Attitudes About Spoiling Children Affect Attitudes Regarding What Infants Need For Early Social-Emotional Development, Kathleen Westover

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Infants that are raised in a warm loving environment have an increased probability of growing into responsible loving adults. Infants have the ability to make their needs known through different cues such as crying. Many parents do not understand how to respond appropriately to their infant’s cues. For instance many parents believe that if you pick up an infant every time they cry they will become spoiled. Researchers have studied the effects of responding appropriately to an infant. Infants who have their needs met when they demonstrate signs of distress learn that the world is a safe place for exploration. …

Problem Solving In Latino Families, Eliza Torres

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this dissertation is to learn if the quality of problem solving, parent engagement, and child engagement improve as a result of participating in a parenting intervention. The quality of problem solving was coded by independent observers watching a 5-minute videotaped task. Parent and child engagement were also coded by an observer and were evident in behaviors such as making eye contact, using good social skills, using humor, minimizing problems, and showing empathy were also rated by individual coders who were blinded to treatment/control groups. Each parent-child pair had a total of three scores, one for each variable …