Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Use Of Occitan Dialects In Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Virginia Jane Geddie

Honors Theses

Since the medieval period, the Occitan dialects of southern France have been a significant part of the culture of the Midi region of France. In the past, it was the language of the state and literature. However, Occitan dialects have been in a slow decline, beginning with the Ordinance of Villers-Coterêts in 1539 which banned the use of Occitan in state affairs. While this did little to affect the daily life and usage of Occitan, it established a precedent that is still referred to in modern arguments about the use of regional languages (Costa, 2). In the beginning of the …

Integrated Conservation And Development Projects (Icdps): Characteristics Of Success And Recommendations For Implementation, Emory Smith

Honors Theses

The aim of this study is to investigate integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and to help improve their future implementation by identifying the underlying philosophies that make ICDPs successful. Conserving natural ecosystems in developing regions is important, but it is difficult because local people use those ecosystems for their sustenance and are not capable of forgoing that use unless some other means exists for them to earn a living. Consequently, ICDP emerged in the early 1990's as a means to both conserve natural resources and provide economic development for the local people. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of …

The Success Of An Ethnic Political Party: A Case Study Of Arab Political Parties In Israel, Samira Abunemeh

Honors Theses

Israeli Arab political parties are observed to determine if these ethnic political parties are successful in Israel. A brief explanation of four Israeli Arab political parties, Hadash, Arab Democratic Party, Balad, and United Arab List, is given as well as a brief description of Israeli history and the Israeli political system. The total performance as well as individual party performances is compared to the percentage of Israeli Arabs in Israeli society in order to determine that overall Israeli Arab political parties are not successful, although there are nuances to the term of success that the parties achieve.

French Ideology Of English As A World Language And American Second Language Speakers, Sarah Price Wright

Honors Theses

French Ideology of English as a World Language and American Second Language Speakers compares French ideology of American English and French ideology of the American accent in French to investigate if the two correlate. The study seeks to answer the question: Is ideology linked to the speech community represented or is it linked to the language forms themselves? The study includes a literature review of previously published studies on the subjects of French ideology of English as a World Language, the competition between French and English as a lingua franca, French perceptions of second language speakers, and the American accent …

Chile Se Moviliza: Protest Movements And Inequality In Post-Dictatorship Chile, Shruti Jaishankar

Honors Theses

On March 11, 1990, Augusto Pinochet, one of Latin America's most infamous dictators, left office after Chileans ordered him to step down in a nationwide plebiscite. Since Pinochet harshly punished any and all dissenters, protests re-emerged in Chile as a popular form of political action. In this thesis, I examine the relationship between economic and political inequality and the frequency of protests and peaceful demonstrations in the country. I examine the theory behind why people protest, and later examine the history of individual protest movements (such as the Chilean Education Movement). Lastly, I run a regression to evaluate the relationship …

Modeling Nitroglycerin-Induced Migraine In Rats, Stephanie Staszko

Honors Theses

The present research sought to determine whether nitroglycerin (NTG) produced changes in clinically relevant endophenotypes of migraine. Rats were given a single injection of NTG or vehicle with the following dependent measures recorded: Rat Grimace Scale, hot and cold tail flick latency, Rotor-Rod performance, and photophobia and movement in traditional and modified light/dark boxes. NTG increased rat grimace scores but did not produce thermal allodynia nor photophobia. Further, NTG produced paradoxical increases in Rotor-Rod performance and movement. These results demonstrate that a single injection of NTG does not produce behaviors that parallel clinical symptoms of migraine.

Ja, Ich Will: Framing The Same-Sex Marriage Debate In The 17th Session Of The German Bundestag, Stephen Colby Woods

Honors Theses

In 2001, Germany passed the Life Partnership Act (Gesetz über die Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft), establishing civil partnerships for same-sex couples. At the time, Germany was a forerunner in the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Despite the approval of 74% of Germans, same-sex marriage was a fiercely debated topic from 2009 to 2013 in the 17th session of the Bundestag. During this session, the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union, and Free Democratic Party make up the Majority government, and the Social Democratic Party, Alliance 90/the Greens, and the Left made up the Opposition. This thesis uses framing theory to examine what …

Identifying Causes Of Variation Among Per Capita Incomes Of Sub-Saharan African States, Vinod Kannuthurai

Honors Theses

In this work, the author utilized a statistical analysis to assess variations in per capita incomes among sub-Saharan African states. The factors tested include education and healthcare investment, mineral and oil dependence, agricultural dependence, landmass size, population size, level of instability, economic freedom, and political freedom. Although the author found mineral and oil dependence to be the most statistically significant factor in determining variations in per capita income, there was still a great deal of variation among sub-Saharan African countries with mineral and oil dependence. Thus, the author employed a case-study involving Botswana and Zambia, two commodity dependent states with …

The Currency Union Effect On Trade: The Role Of Financial Development, Walker Lee Messer

Honors Theses

The effect of currency union formation on trade growth may depend on an economy's level of financial development. Economies with lower levels of financial development have less capacity to hedge exchange rate risk, are susceptible to hysteresis, and have little to overcome the large fixed costs of entering foreign markets. These barriers may be partially overcome through the use of common currencies. Economies with high levels of financial development may already be capable of overcoming these barriers to trade and will likely not gain significant trade from common currency formation. This paper tests the hypothesis that the currency union effect …

What Variables Affect The United States Decision On The Level Of Involvement During An International Crisis?, Britany Higdon

Honors Theses

The question being researched is what variables can better explain the level of involvement by the United States in an international crisis? This research question will better explain why the United States decides to use military force in some international crises while in others, they are not involved in at all. Answering this question will help predict if the United States will use military force in future international crises. This research will also show the importance of domestic politics in decisions made on an international level. To test this question, there will be a set of variables used to compare …

An Intervention To Increase Ioa And Objectivity In Supervisors At Woodsedge Learning Center, Karli Silverman

Honors Theses

The purpose of my research was to increase interobserver agreement (IOA) and objectivity in supervisors at WoodsEdge Learning Center. We questioned whether or not designing and implementing a new grading sheet would lead to this outcome. Our methodology consisted of internet research regarding interventions to increase these measurements, followed by task analyses of the behaviors that should occur when tutors provided discrete trial training (DTT), surveys regarding the quality of feedback received at WoodsEdge, visits to various early intervention centers, and ended with the creation and multiple revisions of a new grading sheet. My involvement with this intervention ended before …

The Implication Of Patient-Based Interventions Leading To A More Effective Treatment Of Anticipatory Nausea & Vomiting In Cancer Patients, Katelyn Delaney

Honors Theses

In the last thirty years, greater attention has been drawn to the aggressive methods of cancer treatment and the aversive conditioned symptoms they come to elicit. Anticipatory nausea and vomiting is one such aversive conditioned side effect and is significantly prevalent in cancer patients who undergo treatments like chemotherapy. In response to the ineffectiveness of pharmacological interventions to control these symptoms, behavioral intervention methods have grown as a topic of research. The implications of these behavioral interventions (including cognitive/attentional distraction, meditation and systematic desensitization) have proven effective in the treatment of the anticipatory nausea and vomiting and reducing patient anxiety. …

The Importance Of Anger Management Programs In Elementary Schools, Brittany Esterline

Honors Theses

Anger is a universal feeling. Everyone feels angry at some point in their life, and maybe even on the daily basis. Although it is often described as a negative emotion, anger is actually a healthy and natural emotion that should be expressed. It is how one responds to their anger that often disguises anger as an unhealthy emotion. Children who never learn to cope with their anger in a healthy way often struggle physically, mentally, emotionally, and academically.

“According to information obtained by the Learning First Alliance, 15 percent of students are only able to fit into an academic environment …

Cattle Smuggling From India To Bangladesh, Elyse Malnekoff

Honors Theses

This essay examines the current trend of rustling and transporting cattle from throughout India for trade at the cattle corridors that lie along the border between India’s West Bengal and Bangladesh. An analysis of historical and cultural factors seeks to explain how this trade possibly began and increased. These motivators include the effects of the Mad Cow disease outbreak in the 1980s on international beef trade and the many economic uses for bovines and their by-products in Bangladesh. This research also looks at cattle-specific legislation in India that prohibits many of the practices employed by smugglers and details some possible …

Our Dark Places: Questions About Prison Privatization’S Benefit To Louisiana, Christian Hess

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Racial Differences In Self-Efficacy Expectations For Exercise, Selena P. Smith

Honors Theses

This project examined the link between race and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy pertains to an individual’s confidence in ability to complete or engage in a particular task or activity (Bandura, 1986). Prior research shows that self-efficacy has a great influence on exercise initiation and adherence (Bandura, 1986; Dishman, 1982; Rodgers and Sullivan, 2001). Research also supports that Caucasians are more likely to participate in exercise than African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000).

Participants included 51 females, 31 Caucasians and 20 African Americans, between the ages of 18 and 50 years old. The women were recruited from local fitness gyms, …

The Separate And Combined Effects Of Heredity And Environment Predicting Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms And Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms, Jaylee R. Gill

Honors Theses

The current study examined genetic and environmental influences in relation to alcohol use pathology. The 756 participants (378 adoptive, 378 non-adoptive) came from the 2001-2002 NESARC conducted by the NIAAA. A factorial ANOVA was used to measure the effects that the three grouping variables had on each dependent variable for a total of seven datasets. Results showed that biological parents’ drinking did pose a risk in participants for Loss of Control (p = .000) and Dangerous Behavior (p = .00). Adoption status was correlated with Conduct Disorder (p = .007) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (p = .014). This suggests that …

Many Roads To Social Satisfaction? Social Anxiety, Social Interaction Format, And Social Belonging, Mohamed Mi Ismail

Honors Theses

This study explored how different social interaction formats (face-to-face versus virtual) influence individuals’ belongingness need satisfaction and interaction enjoyment. Furthermore, it also explored how personality variables related to social anxiety (i.e., Interaction Anxiousness, Fear of Negative Evaluation) interact with social interaction format to influence belongingness needs satisfaction and enjoyment. Participants engaged in a conventional face-to-face interaction or a virtual interaction (via Instant Messenger) with a same-sex confederate on a between-subjects basis. Participants then indicated the extent to which the interaction satisfied fundamental social needs (e.g., self-esteem, belonging), their positive and negative mood, as well as how much they enjoyed the …

Damage Control: How Scrutinized Professional Athletes Use Twitter To Combat Negative Press, Jeffrey K. Haeger

Honors Theses

In recent years many elite professional athletes have been criticized in the media for questionable on and off the field behavior. How these athletes use social media to reframe or repair their public images was the focus of this research. Research on social media has grown in recent years, but still remains relatively shallow, making the strong correlation between social media and sport the ideal breeding ground for this exploratory research. This study confined social media use to the way in which two purposefully selected professional athletes - Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong - use Twitter to self-present and directly …

Like A Boss: Presidential Prerogative As A Means For National Security, Joshua E. Darichuk

Honors Theses

Executive power in America is outlined by the U.S. Constitution, but presidents have made decisions which questionably violate the rights American citizens are guaranteed by the same document. How are we able to maintain sovereignty as “we the people,” if our most powerful elected official is able to overstep the rules during a national security threat? The answer is because the constitution would not exist without a state, therefore the union must always be preserved. Niccolo Machiavelli, John Locke, Alexander Hamilton, and Carl Schmitt share very different views on democracy, but their insistence on national security is universally present. The …

C. S. Lewis: The Art And Power Of Mythopoeia, Megan Joy Rials

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Ni Putes Ni Soumises: Unveiling Women’S Voices Through Feminism And Social Media In The 21st Century, Lilianna K. Deveneau

Honors Theses

Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS; English translation: “Neither Whores Nor Submissives”) is a French, largely Muslim, feminist political organization that aims to promote laicité (secularization), mixité (the ability for women to fraternize with men), and gender equality. I have conducted an organizational case study including the triangulation of data comprised of critical analyses of the NPNS website, Facebook group, and other documentation and publications, to identify whether and how this organization has been successful in igniting social change. Findings indicate NPNS has grown its movement from one location (Paris) to forty-eight chapters throughout France, seven international headquarters, and has obtained …

Behavioral Training Relations: Transferring Behavioral Contingencies From Shelter To Home Settings Through Online Enrichment., Alaina Birchmeier

Honors Theses

Behavioral analysis can be used in our everyday lives to better our environment. Unfortunately, most do not know the behavioral principles, and therefore cannot apply it effectively. Just one area in which behavioral analysis can better our lives is in training our pets. These training techniques are not only useful, they are often sought after. The Kalamazoo area has a few resources which can help train dogs, however all are associated with fees and are still not very informative. In order to fill this void, I have made a website for the general public use, along with psychology students. The …

Overall Nasalance Versus Trimmed Selection Of Stable Syllable Repetition, Jackson Peebles

Honors Theses

Objective: To evaluate the difference between nasalance measured using overall nasalance for the full set of syllable repetitions in a speech sample contrasted with syllable repetitions selected (trimmed) from the overall sample.

Method: Participants included 24 males and 34 females between 18 and 30 years of age who participated in a normative study of nasalance in Michigan’s lower peninsula. Participants produced 14 syllable stimuli. Each syllable sequence was repeated at least 8 times. Three trials of each repetition were recorded together with other speech stimuli. Overall nasalance was calculated for each syllable repetition sequence (whole) and compared with the mean …

The Endurance Of Arab Authoritarian Regimes: A Study Of Jordan And Algeria, Stacey Berger

Honors Theses

The endurance of Arab authoritarian regimes has been quite daunting, especially with the rise of the Arab Spring. Some Arab regimes have ruled with domination and repression since the nineteenth century. These regimes stand out globally with respect to the number of democratic countries. Even with the recent rebellions, the rise of the Arab Spring, starting in 2011, a number of Arab regimes still continue to thrive and remain intact under authoritarian rule. This includes quite a number of Arab states that have faced uprisings during the Arab Spring, but have not implemented a new democratic system or elected a …

Disguising Religious Ideas In Secular Clothing: The Legitimation Of Religious Ideology In The Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Tess Burns

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to unpack the justifications of position against same-sex marriage in the hopes of revealing the process through which anti-gay rhetoric becomes acceptable. By examining the legal and political arguments against same-sex marriage, we can come to a fuller understanding of how and why ideas become legitimate. The findings will not only be applicable to the anti-gay movement, but to a number of relevant social and political issues, perhaps including abortion and even tax reform. By discovering the ways in which ideas are legitimated, we can come to a deeper appreciation of the mobilization and counter-mobilization efforts that …

Una Perspectiva Multigeneracional En La Representación Teatral De La Familia Mexicana, Abigail Calish

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the representation of the Mexican family in plays from the three major generations of playwrights in contemporary Mexican theater. These generations are the Generation of 1950, the New Dramaturgy, and the New Theater. The family is a central unit in society, and so it is a recurring theme in many plays. Playwrights use their daily lives as inspiration for their works, and family is a constant in daily life; no matter where one lives, the family is an unavoidable part of their life. All audiences can relate to problems and issues that families experience, and so playwrights …

Let's Talk About Sex Baby, Elizabeth Cohen

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on parental relationships, communication, and lifestyles and their potential in shaping their children's sexual attitudes and behaviors. Prior research has examined the effect of the media and schools on adolescent sexuality; however, there is little information on parents. The literature review was an evaluation of studies and written works focused on these three factors, media, schooling, and parental involvement, potentially having an effect on adolescent’s sexual attitudes and behaviors. It was found that media had a strong ability to over sexualize the youth of America. The educational aspect was two dimensional, there was clearly a positive aspect …

The Impact Of Marriages And Extramarital Affairs On Political Careers: A Selection Of Roman Politicians And American Presidents, Shelby Cuomo

Honors Theses

This thesis explores four historical figures who engaged in extramarital affairs while holding political office. These figures include Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton. I assess the varied public responses to these men’s affairs by researching their relationships with women – that is, their wives and mistresses. In Ancient Rome, one politician was exiled from society and eventually killed in battle for his extramarital romance, whereas the other was – and still is – praised as one of the most successful politicians while he was sleeping with the wives of his allies and friends. Both presidents, …

Capitalism In Ancient Rome And Ancient Greece: Risk And Unethical Business, Sam Goldman

Honors Theses

This thesis compares the business practices of the upper classes of ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. Specifically, I dissect the business decisions that were made with an effort to increase social status. I will focus on the relationship between the social perception of material wealth and the risk or (unethical business practices) that ancient members of the upper classes faced when they attempted to increase their material wealth. In my first chapter I look at the issuance of maritime loans and the risk associated with this type of finance. I discuss the origin of the business, some of the factors …