Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Self-Esteem And Religiosity On The Marital Readiness Criteria Of College Students, Molly J. Gunnels

Honors Theses

The focus of this exploratory study was to better understand the impact of self-esteem and religiosity on marital readiness criteria of college students. Data was collected from 18-25 year old students at a large, public university in Southern Mississippi. A total of 216 participants completed questionnaires that consisted of demographic information and self-esteem, religiosity, and marital readiness scales. Results indicated that self-esteem and religiosity combined have a statistically significant positive relationship with marital readiness criteria. In addition to the analysis among all of the variables, the independent relationship between each independent variable on marital readiness was examined. The relationship between …

Black Empowerment And Mobilization: A Comparison Of Urban And Small City Trends, Samantha D. Rayborn

Honors Theses

This research to follow compares voting trends between blacks in urban cities and smaller, non-urban cities. The research aims to replicate the findings based on studies of large cities that blacks tend to have higher or lower turnout rates when there is a black public office holder. Election results were taken from mayoral elections in Alexandria, LA and Monroe, LA. Previous research indicates that blacks have a high rate of turnout in urban areas when there is a black elected official. However, does this effect hold true in non-urban, small cities? Blacks in smaller, non-urban cities, this study finds, do …

The Council Of Conservative Citizens: Extolling Nativism And Perpetuating Stereotypes, Jordan M. Tinnon

Honors Theses

The Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), an overtly pro-white, anti-immigrant political organization, uses biased news articles laden with racial stereotypes to promote and propagate their dogma of white superiority and nativism. In these articles particular attention is paid to the supposed threats of Hispanic immigration, attempting to make the case that Hispanics put white Americans’ health and safety, along with the white American way of life, at risk. Six recent articles from the CofCC website are shown to capitalize on the fear of the public to further advance and support a doctrine of nativism. Nativism has serious ramifications both to …

The Relation Of Adhd Characteristics To Positive Illusory Bias Among Gifted Elementary Students: Iq As A Possible Moderator, Meredith S. Manguno

Honors Theses

The current study examined the relation between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) characteristics and Positive Illusory Bias (PIB) in gifted elementary students. Children with ADHD have a propensity toward a PIB—or seeing themselves in a more positive light than other standards would indicate—even among domains in which they struggle (Owens, Goldfine, Evangelista, Hoza, & Kaiser, 2007). This tendency toward a PIB may be linked with their encounters of a great number of setbacks and could be a way to create hope and positivity. In comparison, gifted students frequently meet and surpass goals, often with few setbacks. Thus, twice-exceptional students (e.g., gifted students …

Farc And Sendero Luminoso: Examining Their Development, Longevity, And Ideology, Victoria Wood

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Professional First Ladies In The Media: Framing Of Clinton, Bush, And Obama In The Washington Post, Jazmyne E. Butler

Honors Theses

This study examines how the news media portray and frame modern first ladies. By prefacing the research with background information about the history of the role of first ladies, and media theories such as framing, the reader is able to better understand the implications of this coverage. Other previous research delved into gender roles and how deviation from these roles is subject to criticism. The goal of the research is to examine the first 100 days of a presidency to determine if a first lady who steps out of bounds with the traditional societal female gender role is subject to …

How Not To Spot A Terrorist: The Prevent Strategy’S Effect On British Muslims, Haddy K. Rikabi

Honors Theses

The United Kingdom’s Prevent Strategy is a unique government response to the threat of domestic terrorism. The program mixes social interaction and police work to dissuade suspected political extremists from participating in or supporting terrorist activities. This approach to preventing terrorist threats has had its share of criticism, though. British activists decried the Prevent Strategy for promoting discrimination against Muslims in Britain, misuse of public funding for programs, and a fear of government intrusion into private lives. In addition to a divisive history between Muslims and British natives, the Prevent Strategy’s emphasis on threats posed by Al-Qaeda and other Islamist …

The Level Of Commitment Of Intrinsic Religiosity And Relational Aggression In Middle-Aged Women, Hannah E. Allen

Honors Theses

The study examined the relationship between the level of commitment to intrinsic religiosity and the role of relational aggression in the lives of middle-aged women. Research has shown that middle-aged women participate in relational aggression, but few studies have investigated it. The causes and methods of prevention in relational aggression are something to be considered, and a first step is examining risk and protective factors. Is intrinsic religiosity a protective or risk factor for participating as an instigator in relational aggression? Does intrinsic religiosity actually buffer the negative effects associated with victimization in relational aggression? Based on research that previously …

Effects Of Illegal Immigration Upon Crime In The United States, Christopher M. Necaise

Honors Theses

The U. S. Government regularly compiles and publishes statistics involving crimes occurring in the United States, especially through the Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These publications can be used to search facts and figures with respect to crime, including by locale, type of crime and the race of the perpetrator, among others. Inexplicably, however, no data is provided with respect to whether the perpetrator has a legal or illegal immigration status or his/her ethnicity. This absence of objective data on crime and immigration has led to some with political agendas from both sides …

Aaarrrggg I’M A Pirate: Cloud-Streaming Services And Their Effects On Music Consumption And Music Piracy, Caitlin M. Seale

Honors Theses

With advances in technology, music consumption among listeners has vastly changed throughout the years. These changes in technology have allowed piracy to thrive and prosper while physical sales vastly decreased. Previous studies have explored how music piracy effects music consumption. This study goes beyond the work that previous studies have explored by examining a new form of music consumption—cloud-streaming websites. This thesis examines how cloud-streaming services have affected music consumption and music piracy through an analysis of an online study distributed to music consumers. The results showed that cloud-streaming services do change the way that people consume music. Respondents demonstrated …

Behavorial Lateralization Of Pectoral Fin Rubbing Researched In 27 Identified Bottlenose Dolphins, Brittany R. Poelma

Honors Theses

This thesis takes a look at the behavioral lateralization of handedness present or not present within the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population housed at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences. Dolphins and humans share similar brain structures in that the brain is split into hemispheres that allow an individual to present behaviorally dominate features on different sides of their body. This type of split brain structure allows for a phenomenon known as handedness, where one hand presents dominant motor control. For dolphins, their “hand” is their pectoral fin. This thesis looked at a managed care population to investigate …

The Persistence Of Calvinism And Arminianism In The Southern Baptist Convention, Brett M. Rushing

Honors Theses

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the world. For over 150 years, the Convention has grown throughout, not only the southern United States, but throughout the world. Within this denomination, though, two opposing belief strands coexist. Those two strands are Calvinism and Arminianism. The researcher investigates why these two strands coexist and have not led to a schism within the denomination. The researcher also looks at if the two strands will cause a split at some point, or if the issue of the two is a non-issue to most.

The Relation Between Language And Social Skills In Children With Down Syndrome: Examination Of Pressure Equalization Tube Placement During The Critical Developmental Period, Brandi M. Ellis

Honors Theses

The current study examined the relation among status regarding placement of pressure equalization tubes (PET), expressive language, receptive language, and social skills in children with Down syndrome. Previous research has documented the importance of PET placement for children with Down syndrome who suffer from chronic otitis media during the critical developmental period for language —not only to treat ear infections but also to prevent permanent damage leading to hearing loss. For the current study, the critical developmental period was defined as birth to 36 months. Parents and teachers of three children with Down syndrome (ages 12 to 15 years) completed …

The Effectiveness Of The Adult Tutoring Program In Increasing Reading Levels Within The Kalamazoo Literacy Population: A Research Proposal, Sarah Beu

Honors Theses

Purpose: The results of this study will examine the effectiveness of the Adult Tutoring Program in increasing adult reading levels within the population served by the Kalamazoo Literacy Council (KLC). Method: The data in this study will be collected using a quantitative design comparing the reading levels of subjects who participated in the Adult Tutoring Program to those who dropped out of Program. The researcher will collect subjects' reading levels using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), and will compare subjects' previously reading levels (collected between 13 weeks and two years prior to implementation of this study) to their …

The Effects Of Rating Accuracy On Treatment Fidelity, Joshua Labeff

Honors Theses

The current study attempts to evaluate if there is a relationship between treatment fidelity and interobserver agreement. Participant performance on rating the accuracy of a video demonstration of a functional analysis session was analyzed in comparison to their performance in implementing a mock functional analysis session. Video models (some with confederates and some with the actual participant) of functional analysis conditions were shown to and graded by participants and were immediately followed by their participation in a mock functional analysis session with a confederate child. The results of the study tend to show little to no relationship between the two …

Webmail Crisis 2012: A Case Study Analysis Of The Western Michigan University Webmail Plus Failure, Matthew Vargo

Honors Theses

Background Electronic mail, or email, can trace its origin to Arpanet. Arpanet was a network of interlinked computers created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (Harrison, 2003). The proliferation of email from Arpanet in the 1970's to modern use has been apparent. Today, over 3.4 billion email accounts exist worldwide with expected growth (The Raticati Group, Inc., 2012). Webmail Plus is the email platform used at Western Michigan University. The system is a third-party cloud based service provided by Merit Network Inc. (Merit Network Inc., 2013). On September 2ih, 2012, five hard drives failed at Merit Network in Southfield, Michigan. …

Warning Signs: A Study In The Proximate Causes Of Genocide, Bradley Ryktarsyk

Honors Theses

This paper analyzes the cases of genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda as well as the humanitarian interventions in Kosovo and Libya to study the proximate causes of genocide. Proximate cause, defined as any event or condition, leading directly, or indirectly, to genocide, or the intervention by foreign powers, occurring within the immediate generation preceding the genocidal acts, or perceived threat thereof, is herein explored through Gregory Stanton’s “Eight Stages of Genocide” (1996). “The Eight Stages of Genocide” allows these cases to be examined through a preexisting, though imperfect, framework which compartmentalizes the process of genocide into stages allowing for analysis …

The Effect Of An Exercise Regimen On The Psychological Health Of Parkinson's Disease Patients, Alexander Stephens

Honors Theses

This paper reports a study on the effect of an exercise regimen on the psychological health of Parkinson's disease patients. The 11 participants of the study were Parkinson's disease patients who were participants of a six-week exercise program titled 'Delay the Disease,' which was specifically designed for Parkinson's disease patients. The participants of the study were given the Geriatric Depression Scale twice before the start of the exercise regimen, and once per week for the duration of the six-week exercise regimen. They were also given a quality of life questionnaire at the beginning and end of the regimen. The data …

Service Learning And Groundswell, Katherine Baran

Honors Theses

Service learning has become an important part of getting students engaged and excited about learning. Groundswell is a G-rand Valley State University nonprofit organization funded through the Great Lakes Fishery Trust. Groundswell works with teachers and students across Kent County in Southwest Michigan to provide funding and educational support for successful service learning projects that deal mostly with the Great Lakes, the Grand River and watershed. There are 22 partners of Groundswell throughout Michigan. With those partners, Groundswell serves 17 different schools in Kent County. Service learning has a wide variety of definitions. However, at the basic level service learning …

Female Roles And Fan Fiction In Charmed, Supernatural, And Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Krystalle Double

Honors Theses

The objective of this paper is to investigate the portrayal of female characters in Charmed, Supernatural, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the relation it has to which sexes were represented in romantic relationships within fan fiction for the three shows. This investigation was conducted through content analysis of the scripts and fan fiction to determine number of female roles and their depth in the scripts, and the number of romantic relationships and the sexes involved in the relationships in the fan fiction texts. It found that Charmed and Supernatural had the greatest proportion of individual female characters introduced …

The Reaction Of Small States To The Advancement Of The People's Republic Of China In The South China Sea, Michael Miller

Honors Theses

This paper will outline the internal and external factors that have spurred the People's Republic of China (PRC) to issue strong rhetoric and naval expansion in the defense of their claims to territory in the South China Sea (SCS). An analysis of the PRC's posturing will provide the contextual background necessary for answering the following research question central to this paper. What strategies have relatively less capable states engaged in the region as a reaction to the advancing capacity of the PRC? The escalation of tensions between the PRC and other states in the region, namely , the Republic of …

Investigations At The Fort St. Joseph Archeological Project Unit N25 W9, Erika Mammen

Honors Theses

The Western Michigan University Archaeological Field School is a program that allows students with an interest in Anthropology or History an opportunity to participate in a learning community devoted to the practice of archaeology. Since 2002 the field school has been held regularly at the site of historic Fort St. Joseph (20BE23). During the summer field season of 2011 I was a student archaeologist at Fort St. Joseph. For my honor’s thesis I am presenting a summary of my field experience and a discussion of my findings.

The purpose of this thesis is twofold. First, I aim to provide future …

The Nuclear Triangle: A Case Study In Nuclear Operations Policy, Jordan Lewis

Honors Theses

As nuclear power has evolved from the mid-twentieth century to today, it has experienced phases of rapid growth, regulation, and distrust concerning operations and waste disposal. This study will analyze the policy community active in these changes as they have progressed through the policymaking process and will examine the actors within an "iron triangle" framework to evaluate the community's relationships, power structure, and effectiveness. Specifically, this thesis seeks to answer two research questions: 1) how does interest group behavior influence nuclear policy communities, and 2) does the iron triangle framework explain the nuclear policy community relationships and outcomes. While historical …

Choosing The Nominee: How Presidential Primaries Came To Be And Their Future In American Politics, Ryan Rainey

Honors Theses

The presidential primary is an event that is crucial to determining potential presidents. It allows the public to see how these politicians stack up against one another and how they conduct a campaign. While the general public has a basic idea of how presidential primaries work, very few know the history and details of them. That is what this thesis will do. In part one, the early history of presidential primaries and how nominees were first chosen will be covered. Also in this section, the different reforms that the Democratic Party has undertaken in order to reform the primary and …

Portraying Sense Of Community Through Communication: How To Maximize The Benefit Of Social Media For A Community Agency, Julia Walter

Honors Theses

Perceptions of social media networks are changing rapidly. Their purpose, function, effectiveness, and relevance are being widely debated while their global popularity and societal influence escalate. While individuals used the networks to share, manage, and change their personal lives, organizations jumped at the chance to benefit from low-cost public relations, advertising, and market research. Many organizations speedily adjusted their communication strategies to access these low-cost resources. Due to historical marginalization many nonprofit community agencies were slower to integrate this new media costing them the opportunity to compete for audience attention on level with the private industry. Neglecting to integrate these …

Examining The Effects Of A Mirror On Imitation In Children With Autism, Chelsea Vanderwoude

Honors Theses

Those with autism often show deficits in imitation skills (Freitag, Kleser, & Gontardf, 2006; Killen & Uzgiris, 1981; Rogers, Bennetto, McEvoy, & Pennington, 1996; Stone, Ousley, & littleford, 1997). Previous research has suggested that imitation is a prerequisite for major developmental milestones including social communication skills. Past studies have shown Video Modeling to be an effective intervention for teaching imitation skills, especially Video Self Modeling (VSM). However, VSM can cost researchers a great deal of time and resources. The purpose of this study is to find a new intervention that applies the mechanisms of VSM, while expanding on past research. …

How The Media Covers Lawmaking: The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Savannah Priebe

Honors Theses

The mass media holds extreme gatekeeping and framing functions. It is the media's ability to frame stories that tells viewers what to think about during a particular period of time, if not explicitly how to think about a topic. Over the course of health care reform in January of 2009 to April 2010 when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed, key concepts in news coverage were analyzed. The New York Times and The Houston Chronicle's articles at this time were researched in order to provide insight on the use of ideological bias in reporting on policy and …

The Effects Of Preprinted Versus Handwritten Safmeds On Fluency, Samantha Fodrocy

Honors Theses

Precision Teaching is an instructional evaluation technique used by educators to ensure that targeted skills are being achieved by learners (Moran & Malott, 2004). Say all fast a minute each day shuffled (SAFMEDS) is a specific PT influenced instructional strategy intended to develop fluency within timed trials (Eshleman, 2000). However, there is little empirical research related to the proposed effects of SAFMEDS. A recent study by Meindl and colleagues (in press) demonstrated the position of the text on SAFMEDS affected fluency. Results of this study suggest extraneous variables affect responding indicating a possible stimulus control issue. However, there were methodological …

Developing Parasocial Relationships Through Emerging Social Media Platforms, Harkeet “Kittu” Pannu

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The Arab Spring On Security Concerns In Yemen: An Analysis Of The Houthis, The Southern Movement, And Al Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula, Rachel Beard

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.