Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Visualizing Complexity : A Spatial Analysis Of Decorative Geometric Pattern In The Islamic World, 900-1400 Ad, Tracy Elizabeth Harrison

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores how the use of complex decorative geometric patterns in Islamic architecture spatially relates to advances in the fields of science and philosophy in the Islamic world between the ninth and fourteenth centuries. This project examines hypotheses developed by vario~s scholars on the forces that shaped the use of these patterns (known as the geometric mode) in Islamic architecture. The prevailing assumption that advances in mathematics contributed to the use of the geometric mode is used as a starting point for subsequent analysis.

For this study, two spatial databases were created. One contains over two hundred and twenty …

Forest Resource Use, Land-Use, And Ecotourism In The RíO PláTano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras, Christina Marie Friedle

Dissertations and Theses

The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a tropical rainforest reserve in the northeastern corner of Honduras, is home to several subsistence-based indigenous groups, including the Miskito, Pech and Garifuna, as well as the non-indigenous Ladinos. Communities within the reserve depend on forest resources, swidden agriculture, marine resources and/or small-scale ranching as the foundations for local economies. Regulations placed on these subsistence practices, after establishment of the biosphere reserve in 1980, have created unique and new pressures and resulted in a blend of traditional and innovative resource use. A notable result is the promotion of ecotourism as a solution for meeting the …

Evaluating Deliberative Democracy : Comparing Habermas' Discourse Ethic And Evaluations Of Consensus Process In Residential Cooperatives, Katheryn Sutter

Dissertations and Theses

How do deliberators reason together on what is best? Planners, policy analysts and community developers should know how to recognize the validity of participatory deliberations claimed to give groups voice in policy decisions. Policy analyses have lost power in the face of postmodern critiques of objectivity. Practical policy analyses require more than objective validity for they express results of what Jürgen Habermas refers to as normative rationality. This study followed John Forester's recommended research agenda for rigorous empirical analyses of policy process deliberations using Jürgen Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action. Three successful residential communities were identified with organizational and institutional …

Development And Validation Of The Sustainability Climate Survey, David Edward Hall

Dissertations and Theses

Motivated by an assumption of and concern about the unsustainable trajectory of modern human civilization, the purpose of this study was to develop a measurement tool to assist organizations striving to align their operations with principles of sustainability. The relevant context is established with consideration of the dimensions of environment, society and economy, as well as their interconnections, with an eye towards sustainability. Some of the challenges and opportunities presented to organizations by the current unsustainable trajectory are reviewed. The social constructs of culture and climate (organizational and psychological) are discussed as important to understand organizational life. I propose the …

The Friendship Group Motivational System: Naturally-Occurring Resources And Liabilities During The Transition To High School, Carrie Jeanne Furrer

Dissertations and Theses

Peer groups are a powerful part of young people's lives. As the first step in investigating the potential of peers as developmental resources or liabilities during the normatively stressful transition to high school, the purpose of this study was to identify and measure the features of peer relationships that shape healthy development, and the contextual conditions that promote them. The Friendship Group Motivational System (FGMS) is a new conceptualization that includes two individual level concepts (friendship group interactions and self-system processes), and an emergent motivational group-level concept (friendship group engagement and disaffection).

Items were developed to measure the 13 constructs …

Does The "News" Come First? Social Responsibility, Infotainment, And Local Television Newscasts In Portland, Oregon: A Content Analysis, Carey Lynne Higgins

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the infotainment versus social responsibility debate as it applies to local television newscasts in the United States. An overview of the concerns surrounding infotainment as news follows, including a look at a newsroom's traditional responsibilities to its viewers, as well as its current role in adding to parent company profit. Socially responsible hard news and infotainment characteristics are defined as they apply to television news broadcasts, both within the context of news story content and in presentation style.

A descriptive content analysis examines these characteristics within the late night local newscasts airing in Portland, Oregon. Portland is …

Humane Education : The Effects Of Animals In The Classroom On Children's Empathy In Japanese Elementary Schools, Mika Maruyama

Dissertations and Theses

Although humane education, promoting children's kindness toward animals, has been evaluated as a factor influencing children's kindness toward humans later in their life, the effect of a classroom pet hasn't been well studied. The current study investigated the influence of intensified daily interactions with living animals in the classroom on the development of empathy among Japanese children. Specifically, the study examined (a) the effect of introducing animals into the classroom on children's empathic behaviors and attitudes, and (b) the generalization of this animal-directed empathy to humans.

"We Want Smokestacks And Not Swamps" : Filling In Portland's Guild's Lake, 1906-1925, Kathleen D. Tucker

Dissertations and Theses

Between 1905 and 1926. developers. real estate speculators, and the Port of -Portland filled in Guild's Lake, a riparian marsh that had been the location for Portland's 1905 Lewis and Clark.: Exposition and Oriental Fair. There were two phases in the filling process. The first phase, which began before the fair ended and lasted until 1914, involved developers using high-pressured hydraulic hoses to sluice soil from nearby hills into the lake. Their primary goal was to terrace the hillside to create a high-end view neighborhood; Guild's Lake was a convenient "dump" for the gravel and dirt. During the second phase. …

Re-Imaging A Neighborhood : The Creation Of The Alberta Arts District, Portland, Oregon, Meredith R. Rizzari

Dissertations and Theses

Art is often used as a catalyst to stimulate redevelopment and neighborhood change. This often occurs inadvertently as the presence of artists in certain communities can attract both public and private investment to revalorize economically depressed areas. Marginal neighborhoods in inner-urban areas offer inspiration and diversity to artists seeking lower-cost housing. Their presence effectively makes these marginal communities "safe" for middle-class residents looking to live in a funky, urban neighborhood. Ultimately, however, artists are eventually priced out of the communities they helped to create.

The Alberta district in northeast Portland, Oregon has used art to create an identity that distinguished …

"Alberta Arts District" : Boundaries And Belonging Among Long-Time Residents In A Culturally Changing Neighborhood, Sammy Shaw

Dissertations and Theses

This study takes a cultural perspective in studying the "Alberta Arts District," a gentrifying neighborhood in Northeast Portland in which bohemian cultural production/consumption has become the dominant and commodified vision of the community. Survey data demonstrates residents' general opinions and levels of participation in the changing neighborhood. Forty long-time residents, black and white, homeowners and renters, are interviewed in-depth regarding their perceptions of change. Long-time residents of gentrifying neighborhoods are often overlooked as a less powerful group that only has to negotiate rising rents and property values. This study approaches the meaning of neighborhood changes for long-time residents who have …

Actor And Partner Effects Among Marital Dyads In Retirement Adjustment And Well-Being, Julie Guenette Howard

Dissertations and Theses

Our understanding of and interest in how retirement impacts the lives of individuals have grown over the past 20 years. Studies to date have ranged from small, convenience samples composed primarily of men to large, national longitudinal samples of men and women from different professional and socioeconomic backgrounds. There is consensus in the literature that older adults generally function better with a partner; however, gaps remain. We know little about the impact of retirement beyond the individual, although research in other areas on couples has produced evidence of crossover and contagion effects relative to depression and other outcomes, including absenteeism, …

Community Benchmarks: An Analysis Of Performance Measurements In Urban Planning Management, Susan Joan Daluddung

Dissertations and Theses

New public management practices in the U.S. call for governmental accountability, performance measures and benchmarks. Community benchmarks research provides a basis for current information and further research for planners and educators in the urban planning profession. A benchmark is simply a standard for performance or targeted level of service delivery aspired to by the city. Community benchmarks, as defined by the researcher, are tied to an adopted community plan. Community plans take many shapes including the General or Comprehensive Plan, the city's budget document, or a variety of strategic planning documents.

The intent of the study was to complete research …

Effects Of Shift Work On Employee Retention: An Examination Of Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, And Stress-Based Explanations, Kristin Elizabeth Charles

Dissertations and Theses

Shift work is becoming increasingly prevalent in our society, with 17% of the full-time work force and 36% of the part-time work force working non-standard shifts (Beers, 2000). The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between several shift work variables and retention of employees working in a retail organization that is open 24-hours a day. Results indicated no significant differences between workers in fixed versus mixed shift schedules on job satisfaction or role stress. Contrary to my hypothesis, mixed shift workers reported higher levels of commitment and remained with the organization longer than fixed shift workers. As …

A Dialect Study Of Oregon Norms, Lisa Wittenberg Hillyard

Dissertations and Theses

The pioneers and settlers of the Oregon Territory were not of one ilk. They came from various places and brought their separate speech patterns with them. This study sought to identify which major North American English dialect was present in the first half of the 20^th century in Oregon. Analysis relied on the descriptions for the Southern, Northern, Midlands, and Western dialects. Some dialect features have acoustic measurements attached to their descriptions, and others do not. The analytical process was based on acoustic measurements for vowel classes and individual tokens, as well as global observations about the place of …

Risk Factors For Pre-Post Monsoon Cholera Epidemics In Bangladesh From 1992-1994, Rhonda Rae Robb

Dissertations and Theses

The primary objective of this thesis is to differentiate between the risk factors for pre-and post-monsoon cholera epidemics in rural Bangladesh by analyzing the complex interaction between select environmental, cultural/behavioral, and socioeconomic variables over space and time. In rural Bangladesh, cholera epidemics correspond with the annual monsoon: the first, and smallest, occurs between March and June, while the larger cholera peak occurs between September and December. The differences between the spatial and temporal patterns of seasonal cholera are analyzed, and the risk factors are calculated for pre-and post-monsoon cholera epidemics.

The theoretical approach that underlies this medical geographical study is …

Comparing Twenty-Four Years Of Forest Change In Two Communities Of Mexico's Meseta PuréPecha Using Multi-Spectral Satellite Imagery, Kevin Scott Martin

Dissertations and Theses

The Meseta Purépecha, a volcanic plateau in the Mexican state of Michoacan, is home to one of the most species-rich pine forests in the world. Recent increases in demand for forest products has put added pressure on these resources. Though existing research has suggested significant deforestation in the Meseta, there is little information identifying specific areas of decline. This study focuses on two indigenous communities in the Meseta--Pichátaro and Sevina. Both communities have long relied on wood as an economic resource. However, the two communities have reacted differently to increased demand for forest resources. The purpose of this study is …

The Wilderness Problem: A Narrative Of Contested Landscapes In San Juan County, Utah, David Banis

Dissertations and Theses

Wilderness preservation has been at the center of debates about public land policy for almost half a century, and nowhere has the controversy been more intractable than in Utah. Despite its vast expanses of unsetded and undeveloped red rock desert, managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Utah has less designated wilderness than in any other state in the West. In this study, I focus on San Juan County in southeast Utah to study the conflict over the designation of wilderness. The controversy pits local residents and state politicians against state and national environmental groups, with the BLM …

Applying The Transtheoretical Model To Cigarette Smoking By Pregnant And Parenting Adolescent Females, Barbara Mary Sussex

Dissertations and Theses

An unacceptably high number of pregnant and parenting adolescent females smoke cigarettes, and the majority who quit during pregnancy relapse within six months postpartum. This dissertation examined measures from the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TMC) and variables associated with smoking behavior in a population of pregnant and parenting females 18 years-of-age and under. Data were from the baseline survey of 245 young women enrolled in a three-year randomized controlled trial through a teen parent program in Portland, Oregon. The objectives were: 1) to investigate whether factors identified in the literature as associated with initiating and quitting smoking were associated with …

The Relationship Of Parenting With Adolescent Problem Behaviors And Healthy Development: An Application Of A Motivational Model Of Development, Sharon Ann Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the relationship between parenting and adolescent outcomes within the context of healthy adolescent development. A motivational model of development provides a framework for understanding adolescent and parent behaviors.

Participants in the study were 4,090 students in grade 8-12. Students' self-reported behaviors and perceptions of their parents' behaviors were collected as part of a statewide school survey.

The study contributes to the understanding of parenting dimensions that underlie parenting styles through the identification of six parenting dimensions (warmth, structure, autonomy support, rejection, chaos, and coercion) that correspond to the motivational model. In addition, monitoring is identified as a …

Adult And Juvenile Sexual Offenders: The Use Of Violence And Fantasies, Megan N. Carter

Dissertations and Theses

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been recognized as a widespread and devastating problem in our society. Definitional challenges result in a broad range of prevalence rates for CSA varying from 60/0 to 62% for females and 30/0 to 31 % for males (Finkelhor, Araji, Baron, Browne, Peters, & Wyatt, 1986). Although CSA affects our nation's children in epidemic proportions, researchers have found little conclusive evidence regarding CSA precursors.

One promising area for exploring the etiology of CSA may be the differential patterns of sexual fantasies in juvenile and adult sex offenders. Abel, Becker, Mittleman, Cunningham-Rathner, Rouleau and Murphy (1987) found …

The Holocene History Of Bison In The Intermountain West: A Synthesis Of Archaeological And Paleontological Records From Eastern Oregon, Nicole Anne Stutte

Dissertations and Theses

Intermountain West bison abundance and chronology is much debated, but little work addressing these debates has occurred in eastern Oregon. Historic records indicate bison were absent from eastern Oregon at Euro-American contact. However, during explorations in eastern Oregon in 1826 Ogden reported bison skeletons in a dry lake bed, suggesting bison once lived in the area.

This study reviews archaeological and paleontological records, and ethnohistoric accounts of early 19th century explorers, to synthesize the Holocene history of bison eastern Oregon. Bison NISP (number of identified specimens) was documented from site reports when available, and overall abundance was measured by number …

Socratic Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, Moral Reasoning And Inmate Education: An Exploratory Study, Peter Boghossian

Dissertations and Theses

This exploratory study examines the hypothesis that Socratic pedagogy is a useful tool for imparting critical thinking and moral reasoning skills to inmates. The study explores the effectiveness of a new curriculum, Introducing Socrates, which relies on Socratic pedagogy to achieve its objectives. The curriculum draws from the effective criminal justice research on cognitive education to determine its objectives, and then looks to the Platonic dialogues to find broad philosophical questions that tie into those objectives. The program also evaluates salient criticisms of Socratic pedagogy that are found in the educational and philosophical literature, and then isolates and evaluates constructs …

Motivational Processes Involved In Academic Help Seeking And Help Avoidance, Gwen Catherine Marchand

Dissertations and Theses

During middle childhood, help seeking and avoidance are two ways children deal with academic problems. For this study, the dominant view of help seeking as a strategy of self-regulated learning was elaborated to consider it a way of coping framed within the Self-System Model of Motivational Development. This framework allows for the consideration of (1) the opposite of help seeking (help avoidance) as a motivated way of coping, (2) the central role of teachers, and (3) the operation of multiple self-system processes in shaping students' coping behaviors.

Self-report, teacher-report, and school record data from 765 3rd through 61 h grade …

The Origin Of Portland, Oregon's Waterfront Park: A Paradigm Shift In City Planning (1967-1978), Michael Anthony Jenner

Dissertations and Theses

The present thesis chronicles the decision to replace Portland, Oregon's Harbor Drive, a downtown highway located between Front A venue and the Willamette River, with Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a thirty-seven acre linear greenway, in the late 1960s and 1970s. These events provide an example of the battle against the ascendancy of the automobile and the ability of concerned citizen groups to affect city planning decisions.

The Effects Of Subsidized Childcare On Student Parents' Access To Higher Education At Portland State University, Elizabeth Dawn Creach

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify critical childcare resources that student parents utilize that allow them to access higher education at varying levels, but also to make assumptions about parents unable to enroll due to barriers and/or lack of resources. This study sought to answer the following questions: 1) To what extent does subsidized childcare facilitate student parents' access to higher education? Is subsidized childcare a more important resource for some groups of students than for others?, and 2) Are student parents making childcare-enrollment trade-offs in order to pursue higher education? Are certain groups of students more vulnerable …

The Acquisition Of A Stage Dialect, Nathaniel George Halloran

Dissertations and Theses

This study reports on the effectiveness of (theatrical) stage dialect learning techniques in bringing about linguistically authentic change. Actors use several techniques, some rather esoteric in nature and others more closely tied to linguistic fact such as the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. The purpose of this study is to examine some of these techniques as to their ability to bring about linguistic authenticity, as well as to attempt a comparison of stage dialect acquisition and naturalistic dialect acquisition.

Data were collected by interviewing a convenience sample of twelve student actors. Six of these (three males, three females) were …

The Development Of Language Choice In A German Immersion School, Miranda Kussmaul Novash

Dissertations and Theses

When bilinguals converse with one another, they make choices about which language to speak. Many different factors have been shown to influence adult bilinguals' language choice, including interlocutor, setting, discourse content and discourse function. Less, however, is known about the factors influencing the language choice behavior of young bilinguals. Although case studies have provided into the type of language choice behavior exhibited by individual children, there is a lack of knowledge of the course of development from the language choice behavior of early childhood bilinguals to the more complex behavior of adult bilinguals.

This thesis examines the developmental pattern of …

Portrayals Of Disability In The Professional Preparation Of Speech-Language Pathologists, Jane Eric Sleeper Gravel

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this dissertation research was to discover, describe, and analyze how disability is portrayed to students attending graduate programs with the objective of becoming certified to practice the profession of speech-language pathology (SLP). Curricular materials drawn from the 228 SLP graduate programs in the United States were analyzed, using qualitative research strategies, to shed light on the processes by which portrayals of disability affect the presuppositions and practices of professionals who work in disability services.

The analysis provided supporting evidence for the claims of disability scholars and activists that the concept “disability” is a malleable social construction that …

Self-Perceptions Of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers Of English As A Second Language, Kathryn Ann Long

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the self-perceptions of effective non-native English speaking teachers (non-NESTs) of English as a Second Language (ESL) regarding their teaching behaviors. The study also sought to discover the relationship between effective non-NEST perceptions of their teaching behaviors and stereotypes for those behaviors. It further sought to define what experiences have contributed to their non-conformation if their perceptions do not fit the negative stereotypes of teaching behaviors of non-NESTs.

Transportation And Land Use Patterns: Monitoring Urban Change Using Aerial Photography, Portland, Oregon 1925-1945, Paul Hagen Fyfield

Dissertations and Theses

American urban neighborhoods are a patchwork; the spatial arrangement of types is a reflection of the dominant transportation technology at the time of their development. The earliest suburban areas were made accessible by fixed route systems such as the electric streetcar, followed by the widespread adoption of the automobile; each transportation epoch resulted in characteristic patterns of land use. This study uses aerial photographic coverage of Portland, Oregon from the years 1925, 1936, and 1945, a time of decline for the once popular trolley lines and dramatic increase in automobile usage, to monitor change within the residential areas of Portland's …