Do Equity-Efficiency Trade-Off Studies Assess Validity And Reliability? A Systematic Review, Victoria Chechulina

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards (WLURAs)

Health resources are limited; therefore, policy makers must make difficult decisions about how to allocate these resources. Equity-efficiency trade-off studies use various methods to elicit individuals’ health allocation preferences, with the goal of informing health policy. These methods have inherent psychometric properties, such as validity and reliability. This systematic review sought to determine whether and how equity-efficiency trade-off studies assess psychometric properties. We used a validated systematic review methodology to screen records identified through database searching. Only 33 of the 115 included equity-efficiency trade-off studies assessed psychometric properties. Less than 15% of included studies assessed validity and less than 10% …

Don’T Bite The Hand, Make Love To It: Disrupting Pervasive White Representation In Mitski’S “Your Best American Girl”, Nicole Bussey

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards (WLURAs)

In 2016, indie-rock artist Mitski released a music video for her song, “Your Best American Girl.” Mitski Miyawaki, a Japanese American, wrote the song from the perspective of a woman who is unable to have a relationship with her white love interest due to their disparate social positions. The music video engages with the song’s message, adding nuance and complexity through the audiovisual medium. The music video for “Your Best American Girl” chronicles Mitski’s journey towards self-acceptance while critiquing the pervasive whiteness that permeates popular romantic narratives. Through a close textual analysis, this essay aims to analyze the ways in …

Income Disparities At The Intersection Of Race And Immigration Status: A Study Of The Black Population In Canada, Jumoke Faith Kolade

MA Research Paper

Despite having comparable levels of human capital, minority populations in Canada nonetheless face substantial economic inequities in comparison to non-minority groups. Using data from the Individuals File, 2021 Census of Population, Public Use Microdata Files (PUMF), this paper focuses on Black and White Canadians who are employed full-time to investigate the patterns of income disparities and consider two primary theoretical explanations, namely Human Capital Theory and Critical Race Theory. This result demonstrate significant income discrepancies between demographic groupings at the intersection of race and immigration status despite equivalent educational levels. While more education corresponds with better income across all four …

A Wicked Leadership Approach To Democratizing Stem Education, Simone M. Le Gendre

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

STEM Company Inc. (SC; a pseudonym) is an educational services company located in Canada. Over the past 4 years, the organization has worked on an international project portfolio that has reflected a niche area of education that is currently underserviced in the traditional and private educational landscape. SC’s clients have engaged in procuring curriculum, resources, and programming at the intersection of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). This focus has caused an organizational challenge as SC’s initial operational framework and business practices were broadly based on human capital development. My intersectional identity as the …

"There's A Camel In My Office" Nurturing Agents Of Transformation: Equipping School Leaders To Combat Systemic Racism And Oppression And Foster Inclusive Communities, Jamila Magdalena Maliha

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation in practice (DiP) explores the critical problem of practice wherein school administrators, primarily identifying with the predominant white culture, lack the requisite equitable leadership capacity to address systemic racism within their schools and the district. The perpetuation of systemic racism in schools leads to inequitable outcomes among marginalized students. Grounded in CRT and culturally responsive leadership frameworks, this DiP seeks to identify the barriers hindering administrators from enacting meaningful change and to propose an organizational plan to enhance their capacity for equitable leadership. Utilizing a transformative leadership approach combined with aspects of distributed and collaborative leadership, …

More Than Caring: Building A Foundation Of Skills And Competencies To Teach Self-Advocacy In A Female-Dominated Profession, Laura Perri

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

External patriarchal interventions and market-driven forces have limited professional advancements and autonomy of the female-dominated dental hygiene (DH) profession since its foundation. The DH profession defines itself though caring and advocating for public access to its essential services. However, the lack of voice and autonomy are reported causes of DH practitioner burnout and labour shortages. DH education lacks training and foundational skills for self-advocacy. This Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) explores the organizational context of a South-Western Ontario DH college (SWO College or the school) and addresses a complex problem of practice (PoP) that recognizes the barriers, both past and present, that kept …

Impact Of Passive Second Language Exposure On Word Segmentation And Word Mapping, Amiya S. Aggarwal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research in statistical learning using artificial languages has suggested that passive exposure to linguistic patterns can guide word segmentation and word mapping. It is unknown whether this type of unsupervised learning can scale up to support these aspects of learning in a natural language. Our study exposed monolingual English speakers to either English or Italian podcasts for an hour daily for 21 days, collecting behavioural and EEG data during both the pre- and post-exposure period. Our behavioural measure tested if L2 exposure would lead to improved word mapping for words with high phonotactic probabilities. Our EEG measure tested whether the …

Winter Wheat Biomass And Yield Estimation Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based And Venµs Satellite Imagery With Machine Learning Techniques, Marco S. Chiu Mr.

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Monitoring crop productivity is crucial in precision agriculture, often using biomass and yield as metrics to measure crop health and growth status. This thesis aims to predict dry above-ground biomass using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) multispectral imagery, derived vegetation indices (VI), plant height, leaf area index (LAI), and plant nutrient content ratios. Additionally, the thesis tests the viability of VENμS satellite data as an alternative to other popular multispectral satellite data for predicting winter wheat yield. Conducted in two winter wheat fields in southwestern Ontario, Canada, the study employed Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Regression (SVR) machine learning models …

Multisensory Integration In Adhd: A Behavioral And Eeg Investigation In Youth And Adults, Carolynn Hare

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In daily life, we are constantly bombarded with sensory information from multiple sources. Our ability to combine these cues into a single perceptual experience is known as multisensory integration. This process can be disrupted in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia, affecting cognitive functions and language. Multisensory integration may be affected in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), though findings are conflicting. To explore these discrepancies, we conducted a meta-analysis to appraise the current state of the literature, elucidate observed inconsistent findings, and identify gaps in ADHD research. Then, we conducted studies to investigate multisensory integration in youth and adults …

Uncovering The Physical Activity Experiences Of Muslim Women Students At Western University, Mais Zuhair Awadallah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: This study will illuminate the experiences of young Muslim women studying at Western University regarding physical activity by exploring the intersectionality of sociocultural factors influencing their engagement with physical activity. Methods: Eleven participants were recruited using purposeful and snowball sampling. Individual, semi-structured, episodic interviews with the participants were conducted. Data was analyzed thematically using an abductive approach. NVivo software was used in the coding process. Critical Race Feminism and Orientalism were the theoretical frameworks used to frame interview guide and interpret research findings. Findings: It was found that religious teachings, ethnic background, and social support shape …

Extracting Prototypes From Lexical Feature Norms For Settlement Concepts, Chelsea-Leigh M. Mckenzie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study explored whether people share a common understanding of different settlement concepts despite individual variation. Participants completed a property listing task where they were asked to generate features for 57 settlement concepts. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified distinct clusters based on shared features. Central tendencies extracted from clusters at different levels of abstraction revealed featural prototypes and an overall family resemblance structure. To probe the effects of regional context on conceptual structure, subsequent cluster analyses used a subset of participants who were long-term residents of Canada or the United States. Prototypical features varied regionally, suggesting an effect of geographical …

Victim-Centred Policing: A Strategy For Effective Planning And Response To Mass Victimization Incidents, Karen D. Collins

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

It is becoming increasingly important for police departments to develop internal capacity to address the needs of crime victims who are affected by serious incidents such as active shooters or terrorist attacks. Supporting the family and friends of victims, witnesses and others affected by a tragic incident is a key function of the investigating police agency. Victims seek information and require support from police investigators through all phases of the response. This dissertation-in-practice addresses the lack of refined victim-centred practices in planning for, and responding to mass victimization incidents at the X Police Department (a pseudonym). Adaptive and ethical leadership …

Examining The Relationship Between Disability, Impairment, And Chronic Pain In Childhood Cerebral Palsy: A Scoping Review And Critical Analysis, Muning Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Young people with cerebral palsy (CP) experience chronic pain at rates higher than their non-disabled peers. Despite this recognition, there have been no studies that have addressed how young people with CP’s experiences with chronic pain are represented and studied in the literature, and especially not through a critical disability studies lens. Foucault’s notion of discourse was used to guide critical analysis of studies. This scoping review was guided by the research question: “What is known about the relation between children’s experiences of chronic pain and cerebral palsy in the health and rehabilitation literature?”. Thirty-five studies were included in …

Essays In Environmental Economics, Meghdad Rahimian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis presents three chapters that delve into various aspects of the role of technology and information in environmental economics and policy impacts. The first chapter investigates the influence of environmental regulations on the Canadian manufacturing sector. Over the past two decades, the sector has achieved a 40\% reduction in air pollution emissions, primarily due to regulatory interventions prompting technological adjustments within the industry. The study introduces a novel model linking firm production choices to environmental regulations, distinguishing between the primary effects of environmental tax adjustments and secondary effects from technological shifts. Analysis of data from 2004 to 2021 suggests …

Eyes Open In The Dark, Brittany A. Forrest

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An unusual dissertation that presents a science fiction autobiographical narrative, following a trial of trauma and identity dysphoria. Through a trans-queer biological female lens, the vulnerable tone of the author invites the reader into wording that describes matters they will care for on a human level. This study probes the question of what lives within the silence of our perceptions by appraising reverberations between interactions that coerce the human condition. Interrogating memory is inevitable when questioning how defense mechanisms interrelate and adapt to human needs. This study penetrates the complexities of perception fabrications, power dynamics, sensory perceptions, systemic moralities, and …

"The Whole World Opened Up, There's No Better Word For It Than Euphoria": Experience Of Embodiment In Trans*Feminine Individuals, Sara M. Stanley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The “experience of embodiment” is a construct that captures how an individual experiences the body in their socio-cultural context and has important implications for mental health and well-being. The construct was originally developed to explain the experiences of cis-gender girls and women, and has not been investigated in trans*feminine individuals. Grounded in social constructivism, and integrating the gender minority stress model and principles of intersectionality, the present study investigated trans*feminine experiences of embodiment. To expand our understanding of this construct, trans*feminine participants engaged in focus groups (n=28), a photo-elicitation task (n=25), and one-on-one semi-structured interviews (n=25). Using a combined inductive …

Perceptions Of Adhd-Related Behaviours In Trinidad & Tobago And Canada: A Cross-Cultural Study, Ronald V. Auguste

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Undiagnosed ADHD is prevalent in the region where Trinidad & Tobago is situated. Children with ADHD are vulnerable to numerous negative outcomes. Parents and teachers are best positioned to identify ADHD-related behaviours in children but can only do so if they associate those behaviours with ADHD. This study investigates their perception of ADHD-related behaviours in children. It examines the hypothesis that these behaviours are more likely to be seen as issues of indiscipline and low motivation rather than a medical or psychological condition. Utilizing multilevel modelling, perceptions of ADHD-related behaviours in Trinidad & Tobago were compared to those in Canada, …

Beneath The Badge: Exploring The Complexities Of Police Culture And Mental Health, Kymberly Briggs

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) endeavours to address the intricate challenges embedded within police culture regarding their approach to responding to mental health alteration. Within the context of the Blue Virtue Police Service (BVPS; a pseudonym), the ramifications of mental health alterations among officers are profound and influence various aspects of the organization, such as sick leave utilization, leaves of absence, officer performance, community relations, and incidents involving the use of force. This DiP aims to tackle the specific problem of practice (PoP) question: What strategies can the BVPS adopt to encourage help-seeking behaviour and foster mental wellness among its officers? A …

Ecological Momentary Assessments Of Daily Sensory Experiences In Autistic Adults: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Contextual Factors Impacting Sensory Processing, Michelle M. Luszawski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Autistic individuals report sensory processing issues, which may impact daily experiences and abilities in educational and employment circumstances. Research that has explored contextual impacts on sensory processing is lab-based, lacking ecological validity, or qualitative and questionnaire based, introducing recall bias. We used ecological momentary assessment to investigate the daily sensory experiences of 41 autistic adults, who completed three daily questionnaires regarding their sensory experiences for two weeks. We conducted a mixed-methods analysis of their data. Results indicated significant associations between participants’ positive, negative, and neutral sensory experiences and their surroundings and other contextual factors. We found no significant relationship between …

Kabeshinàn: Situating The Bifw-6 Site In Broader Regional And Cultural Landscapes, Samantha Albanese

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is an archaeological analysis of the ceramics from the multi-component pre-contact archaeological site BiFw-6, which is located within Leamy Lake Park in Gatineau, QC at the confluence of the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers. BiFw-6 has evidence of human occupation from the Early Woodland through to the Contact period, with a very strong representation during the Middle Woodland period. The analysis of this site through ceramics examines BiFw-6’s existence as a persistent place – a place of continued importance throughout the long-term occupation of a region – and the site’s position within broader regional and cultural contexts. This is …

The Influence Of Dispositions And Everyday Social Factors On The Hostile Attribution Bias, Mackenzie C. Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Interpersonal conflict in ambiguous social situations can instigate aggressive responses in individuals with the hostile attribution bias (HAB). However, the nature of the psychological properties of these situations needs to be explored more extensively, including the specific social-contextual properties. One individual difference that few studies have explored with the HAB is dispositional trust, which is proposed to be the opposing side of HAB. The current vignette study aimed to explore this, along with improving previous measures and creating a new measure of HAB. Factor analyses and multilevel modeling were used for establishing a hostile composite and exploring both individual differences, …

Essays On Development Economics, Rowena Cornelius

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis consists of three chapters on economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. The first two chapters investigate financial inclusion in the region, specifically analyzing the impact of access to savings and credit through a digital financial tool called Mobile Money. The third chapter examines methods for making inferences using the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) for rural West Africa.
For the past two decades, mobile money, a cellphone-based payment infrastructure, has been the key player in bringing financial services to the unbanked in developing economies. It provides a means for saving and has been widely used to make peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, …

Secondary Students' Educational Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis, Hannah D. Litchfield

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The primary purpose of this qualitative evidence synthesis was to examine the literature pertaining to the educational experiences of secondary students, globally, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A secondary purpose was to explore the impact of these experiences on students’ psychosocial wellbeing. Database searches resulted in the inclusion of 41 studies. Thomas and Harden’s (2008) thematic synthesis approach was used, which revealed five descriptive themes (Challenging Online Learning Experiences, Benefits of Online Learning, Complexities Associated with Education-Related Disruptions and Transitions, Social Connections and Support, Emerging Educational Needs and Areas of Improvement) and 20 subthemes. Three analytical …

Exploring The Meanings And Impacts Of A Traditional Foods Program With Urban Indigenous Women In London, Ontario, Canada, Clara Lewis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As a corrective to historical and ongoing acts of dispossession, Indigenous peoples have engaged in processes of environmental repossession, which refers to various social, cultural, and political processes by which they are reasserting their relationship with their lands so as to create spaces of healing and belonging. Drawing on the Traditional Food Basket (TFB) program offered by the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC) in London, Ontario as a case study, the purpose of this research is to explore how urban-based traditional food programing can support Indigenous women’s well-being in the city and strengthen their cultural identities. I undertook …

Essays On Life Cycle Skill Growth And Wage Dynamics: Understanding The Impact Of Skill Levels, Personality Traits, And Job Search, Tommas Trivieri

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My thesis is divided into three chapters that study various aspects of human capital, job search dynamics, and wage growth over the life cycle.

Chapter 2 examines how personality traits impact the wages of low-educated men throughout their working lives. The empirical findings reveal economically and statistically significant wage gaps associated with personality traits across the life cycle. For example, highly extraverted early-career workers earn, on average, 18 log points more than their highly introverted counterparts, while highly agreeable mid-career workers experience average wages 24 log points lower than highly disagreeable mid-career workers. Motivated by these empirical findings, I estimate …

Birds Of The Ancient Nile: Species Identification In Egyptian Animal Mummies Using Multi-Resolution Computed Tomography And Deep Learning Image Segmentation, Maris A. Schneider

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Using multi-resolution CT techniques, this project examined the visibility of identifiable skeletal traits in mummified avian bundles from ancient Egypt and the specificity with which avian taxa can be identified with digital 3D scans. Six mummified birds were scanned and processed with a deep learning segmentation algorithm. Three raptors were successfully identified as Falco tinnunculus, a species associated with the Egyptian goddess Isis. Analyses revealed that low-resolution (~110-80 μm) micro-CTs are sufficient for visualizing the bird skeleton (specifically the accessory pygostyle bones and distal wing sesamoid bones), while high-resolution (~30-20 μm) is necessary only for minute cranial details (the scleral …

Leveraging Intersubject Representational Similarity Analysis To Explore Individual Differences In Early Life Adversity And Cortico-Amygdala Connectivity In A Preadolescent Sample, Amira Hmidan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Preadolescence is a critical developmental phase characterized by changes in the functional connectivity (FC) between the cortex and amygdala, which are essential for emotional processing and regulation. Early life adversity (ELA), such as exposure to childhood maltreatment, familial dysfunction, and poverty, is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998). Emerging research indicates that disturbances in cortico-amygdala FC could act as a mechanism linking ELA to various mental health issues; however, most focus on adult populations and overlook individual differences. Here, intersubject representational similarity analysis (IS-RSA) was leveraged to explore how individual variations in ELA relate …

A Cross-Classified Multilevel Study Investigating Perceptions Of Misogyny In Popular Music Presented In The Format Of Lyrics, Michelle Schwier

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Several sexist and misogynistic themes in music surround gendered power differences, gaslighting, and objectification (Hill et al., 2021), with a focus on sexual objectification, abuse, violence, distrust, and distain for women (Adams & Fuller, 2006). Thus, the current study investigated university students and adults’ perception of these messages. Using the 2022 Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart, participants read lyrics from 36 songs and rated the content on six themes of misogyny. Participants then completed a Benevolent and Hostile sexism inventory. Through a cross-classified multilevel modelling design, the results indicated that participants who liked the lyrics rated them with less misogyny. …

Examining The Role Of Core Self Evaluations, Core Group Evaluations, And Individual And Team Referent Psychological Safety On Team Member Behaviours And Performance, Helen H. Lee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Psychological safety has been defined by Edmondson (1999) as “a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking” (p.354). Psychological safety has been found to predict a host of beneficial outcomes for teams and organizations. However, the items in the most used measure of psychological safety developed by Edmondson (1999) demonstrates inconsistency in terms of mixing referents at both the individual and team level. Individual referent (IR) psychological safety appears to be more likely to reflect individuals’ perceptions of psychological safety rather than encompassing the psychological safety of a team as a whole. On the other hand, …

Frameworks That Guide Race And Ethnicity Data Collection Practices In Health Settings: A Scoping Review., Oluwabambi Tinuoye

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There are disparities in the health outcomes of minority populations compared with those of the majority in Canada. Unfortunately, no detailed and representative population-level data document these disparities except for Indigenous populations. This data gap is partly due to a lack of consensus on race and ethnicity data collection standards in healthcare. This scoping review identified and synthesized evidence from frameworks for collecting patient race and ethnicity information in health settings in the US and Canada.

Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria. The results show limited stakeholder engagement for many of the frameworks during the development process, and the data …