Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using An Interactive Mobile Application To Crowdsource Data Collection For Management Issues In Asylum Lake Preserve, Kalamazoo, Mi, Alexander Ebenstein

Masters Theses

As technology continues to improve, personal and mobile technologies are becoming ubiquitous, being used for everything from social media to data collection. Crowdsourcing is a form of mobile data collection that calls upon a group of people to help solve a complex problem. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become an important component in data collection for managing natural disasters, allowing disaster relief systems to improve response time and coordination protocols. Natural resource and land managers are also starting to use these new technology-based and location-aware systems to improve management. By calling upon users of the recreation areas to help identify …

Betting Markets Vs Opinion Polling: The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, Jamie Alexander Greig

Masters Theses

This Master’s thesis focuses on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, in particular comparing betting markets and opinion polling as outcome predictors. While opinion polls are the most significant data sets used by political scientists and the media when discussing the predicted outcome of elections there is evidence to suggest that betting markets may be more accurate predictors of eventual outcomes. Using data from 5 months of betting and polling this research paper confirms this previous research in the case of the 2014 Scottish referendum. An outcome of this is the conflict between intention and expectation as research questions, the impact …

Deception Among Organizational Leaders: Impacts On Employee Perceptions Of Supervisor Credibility, Power, And Trust, Paisleigh Jo Kelley

Masters Theses

Deception is ubiquitous in day-to-day communication. While most deceptive acts are relatively minor in terms of interpersonal impact, lying in the workplace may result in negative organizational outcomes (Griffith et al., 2011). Moreover, business leaders who engage in deceptive communication may elicit similar behavior in their employees (Henrichs, 2007). The current study assesses how different deceptive messages spoken by organizational leaders (e.g., honest messages, messages that withhold information, and messages that distort information) impact employee perceptions of that leader’s credibility, power, and trustworthiness. The results of this study indicate that employees view business leaders as less credible and less trustworthy …

America’S Lethal Dilemma: Legitimating Old Methods Of Execution In An Era Of Abolition, Kyle Ward Letteney

Masters Theses

American capital punishment has been facing new opposition from abroad. In 2011 the European Union (EU) placed an embargo on the export of the primary lethal injection drug, sodium thiopental. Since the 2011 embargo, the 32 American states with the death penalty have been unable to obtain additional quantities of sodium thiopental and have since depleted or nearly depleted their supply, prompting a discussion of alternatives. This study analyzes that discussion. Specifically, the analysis of pro-death penalty rhetoric used by Tennessee state politicians who have recently taken steps to retain the death penalty despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the death …

Factors Impacting Ffa Involvement After High School, Danielle Eve-Marie Sanok

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence FFA members to continue or discontinue with their FFA experience past high school. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the reasons why students discontinue with their FFA experience past high school, determine membership needs from the Collegiate and Alumni FFA Organization and ways to overcome membership attainment barriers.

Data collection methods included three sets of focus groups: (a) one for inactive FFA members, (b) one for current Collegiate FFA members, and (c) one for current and past State Officers. Data was analyzed using the thematic …

After The Human: Theory And Sociology In The Age Of Fractal Ambiguity, Dromology, And Emergent Epi-Spaces, Joel Michael Crombez

Masters Theses

Modernity marks both a novel form of political and economic organization, and a transformation of reality through technological and spatial innovations. It marks a shift in the history of life on this planet, for the technological appendage—originally created by and for humans—has a cost that is shared by all life on the planet, whether it be ecological, biological, or mental. As a result, the weight of responsibility for the continuation of life itself can no longer be rationally displaced onto an omnipotent other. The knowledge that rational thought functions on fractal scales of space and time—which need not account for …

Visualizing The Historic Landscape Of Montserrat: Social Justice Through Community Mapping In A Post-Colonial Environment, Kevin Patrick Russell

Masters Theses

Scholars across the disciplines of geography, archaeology, and history argue for need to reconceptualize representations of history in post-colonial environments and to actively orientate scholarly research towards increasing the inclusion of local knowledge with 'expert' academic knowledge through participative methods. This thesis will show that the landscape surrounding the Little Bay Plantation contains cultural associations vital to a "socially just" interpretation of Montserrat culture that is not captured by existing archaeological research centered on ruins of the plantation infrastructure and European historical discourse. Through a participatory research methodology this thesis shows that there are many memories inscribed within and upon …

Moderating Effect Of Negative Peer Group Climate On The Relation Between Men’S Locus Of Control And Aggression Towards Intimate Partners, Megan Ryan Schmidt

Masters Theses

The present study sought to examine the interactive effects of an external locus of control and interaction in a negative peer group climate on men’s perpetration of physical aggression and infliction of injury towards their female intimate partners. Participants were 206 heterosexual males recruited from the metro-Atlanta community who completed self-report measures of external locus of control, involvement in a negative peer group climate, and physical aggression and infliction of injury against intimate partners during the past 12 months. Negative peer group climate was conceptualized as a peer group that displays behavior which may instigate aggressive norms, attitudes, and behaviors. …

A Study Of Colloquial Place Names Through Geotagged Social Media Data, Yuan Liu

Masters Theses

Place is a rich but vague geographic concept. Much work has been done to explore the collective understanding and perceived location of place. The last few decades have seen rapid expansion in the use of online social media and data sharing services, which provide a large amount of valuable data for research of colloquial place names. This study explored how geotagged social media data can be used to understand geographic place names, and delimit the perceived geographic extent of a place. The author proposes a probabilistic method to map the perceived geographic extent of a place using Kernel Density Estimation …

Making Meaning Of The Illness Experience: Narratives Of Partners Of Cancer Survivors, Heather Nicole Tidwell

Masters Theses

Receiving a cancer diagnosis not only uproots the life of the patient but also the lives of the patient’s family members and loved ones. Adjustments in communication and disclosure as well as in identity must be made at various stages of the cancer trajectory. Survivorship, specifically, poses its own set of challenges as both cancer survivors and their partners must cope with perpetual uncertainty as to whether the cancer is truly over (Fife, 1994; Lethborg, Kissane, & Burns, 2003; Miller & Caughlin, 2012). Furthermore, although partners report being significantly impacted by a cancer diagnosis, they are often understudied when it …

Cattle Producers East Of The 100th Meridian: A Study Of Afforestation Adoption And Use Of Pasture Management Practices, Hannah Sage Claytor

Masters Theses

This thesis explores two topics related to cattle producers: the adoption of afforestation on pastureland and the use of pasture management practices. Chapter 1 uses a triple hurdle model to analyze a decision process related to the adoption and acreage enrollment of afforestation in a hypothetical program. The results suggest that producers interested in afforestation are more likely to have a college degree, own woodland, attend extension workshops, and have previous experience with afforestation. Producers who were offered a lower incentive enrolled more acres in the hypothetical program. Producers who were offered a higher incentive enrolled fewer acres.

Chapter 2 …

The Relationship Between Parent Communication Orientations And The Self-Efficacy Of Student-Athletes, Sara Marie Erdner

Masters Theses

The influence of parent(s)/guardian(s) communication on a student-athlete’s self-efficacy has received limited attention despite its potential implications for the athlete’s sport performance. Student-athlete participants (N = 290) completed measures to report their level of self-efficacy along with the student-athlete perceptions of their parent(s)/guardian’(s) communication orientation. Further, efficacy-enhancing techniques were measured to report frequency-of-use and effectiveness as these strategies were administered by the parent(s)/guardian(s). Significant relationships were found between conformity- and conversation communication and a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. However, these communication orientations did not interact to influence a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. Mean scores are reported to demonstrate which efficacy-enhancing techniques are the most …

Locational Advantage And The Impact Of Scale: Comparing Local And Conventional Fruit And Vegetable Transportation Efficiencies, Charles Cate Grigsby

Masters Theses

Fresh produce in the United States often travels thousands of miles in diesel operated semi-trucks before arriving to market. Under a high fuel cost scenario, the current low-cost, efficient supply chain could become a high cost organizational structure for US food distribution. Rising transportation costs of food sourced from distant locations may provide competitive opportunities for small- and mid-sized local producers if transportation costs are a smaller portion of their total costs. Farmers selling fresh produce in east Tennessee farmer markets are surveyed to obtain baseline information on their transportation energy use to deliver their products to market. Local farmer …

Those Who Choose To Stay: Narrating The Rural Appalachian Queer Experience, Amy Michelle Jordan

Masters Theses

“Those who choose to stay” is a qualitative exploratory study compromised of four LGBT youth from rural towns in East Tennessee. These young adults were recruited through LGBT listservs, pride festivals, and word of mouth. Each young adult was interviewed over the course of one to three hours. The interviews were then transcribed and coded using Atlas.ti software, allowing codes to surface from the text. Four main themes were discovered: religious atmosphere, family, coming out, and peer networks.

Religious atmosphere was generally found to be a destructive part of these youths’ environments, making them fear for their safety and worry …

The Preservation And Persistence Of Human Dna In Soil During Cadaver Decomposition, Alexandra Leah Emmons

Masters Theses

Recent decades have seen a marked increase in the amount of research concerning the impact of human cadaveric decomposition on the grave soil environment; however, despite such advances, the fate of important biological correlates in grave soil, including human DNA, have remained relatively understudied. This study redresses the current lack of knowledge regarding the preservation and persistence of human DNA in the soil during cadaveric decomposition, with the purpose of enhancing forensic identification efforts including the detection of primary burial sites. This study assessed the preservation (i.e., presence or absence) of human nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and evaluated the quantity …

Leisure Participation And Perceived Constraints Of Parents And Caregivers Of Children With Disabilities, Kayla Stefania Kiernozek

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to help gain a better understanding of the perceived leisure constraints of parents/caregivers of a child with disabilities and when given the opportunity for respite from parenting roles, how they use their leisure time. A total of 39 parents/caregivers completed the electronic questionnaire with the majority of respondents being female parents. Five main themes were identified in result of the common response patterns embedded throughout the parents/caregivers questionnaire responses, which were: (a) leisure activities, (b) time, (c) extra planning, adaptations, and modifications, (d) resources, and (e) attitude. Findings identified the perceived barriers to leisure …

Collegiate Novice Rowers’ Motivations: An Application Of Self-Determination Theory, Amy Nicole Kuuskoski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons why novice rowers choose to join collegiate rowing teams. There is no existing research specifically analyzing this population, and the unique team structure in rowing makes previous sport participation research difficult to generalize to this population. The reasons for sport participation vary widely by age, gender, and level of competition.

This study integrates self-determination theory and organismic integration theory with scales to measure satisfaction and behavioral intentions, and data were collected through the use of a web-based survey. Schools competing in NCAA Division I and II rowing conferences were contacted …

A Decade Of Lessons Learned: The Local Implementation Of Stormwater Programs In Tennessee, Catherine Trudy Olsen

Masters Theses

Over the past decade, communities across the nation have innovated, regulated, and constructed their way to managing urban stormwater runoff, with the grand goal of making the nation’s waters fishable and swimmable. Regulated under federal NPDES MS4 Phase II stormwater permits, communities have endeavored to implement the comprehensive requirements of this unfunded federal mandate. Reducing the considerable impact of municipal runoff on water resources across the country is imperative to the achievement of grand goals under the Clean Water Act: to restore and protect the quality of the nation’s waters (USEPA, 2000). Across the state of Tennessee, the capacity of …

Zambians’ Perception Of The Press: The Case Of Online News Media – Zambian Watchdog And Zambia Daily Mail (2014-15), Francis Chishala

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Citizens Of The World: An Autoethnography Of Couchsurfing And Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Anderson Santos

Masters Theses

This study examines through an autoethnography the culture of couchsurfing and the process of hospitality networks through computer mediated communication in five European countries during three months of 2012. Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a framework the study was divided into five topics and analyzed using Uncertainty reduction theory. The study found that couchsurfers have needs and prioritize these needs as The hierarchy of needs predicts. CouchSurfers also employ uncertainty reduction strategies similar to those used within computer mediated communication when choosing their host. Over 20 hosting experiences have been analyzed in this study. The field data was collected …

Sources Of Social Support And Their Relationship With Victimization And Social Emotional Outcomes, Jordan L. Wenger

Masters Theses

Victimization is associated with several negative outcomes; however, social support has been identified as a potential moderator. Social support can come from different sources, including parents, teachers, classmates, close friends, and the school environment. This study compared the frequency of classmate and teacher social support among intermediate and middle school students and investigated the relationship among these three variables. Finally, grade level and sex differences were considered as factors that influence the interrelationship among social support, victimization, and social/emotional outcomes. Participants included 649 students from a rural Illinois school district. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in the …

Dysfunctional Text Messaging As Related To Social Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Emotional Intelligence, And Attentional Control, Sean E. Nelson

Masters Theses

Despite the widespread and increasing use and popularity of text messaging since the mid 1990's, the extent of the psychological literature regarding this technology is scarce. Chief amongst these underexplored areas is the relationship that text messaging, as a mode of Nonverbal Asynchronous Communication, has with Verbal Synchronous Communication abilities. For this study, these abilities have been operationalized as social anxiety, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and attentional control. The available research implies a relationship between these concepts. Despite mostly theoretical links in the literature, no study had attempted to measure many of these relationships empirically. This study examined the relationship between …

An Analysis Of Contextual Conditions As First Year Ras Train In And Implement The Phase One Safe Zone Program, Cameron Carrara

Masters Theses

Since the 1990s, safe space initiatives, such as Safe Zone, have been developed on college campuses across the United States as a way of educating participants on LGBTQ-related issues and how to become a better ally/advocate for the LGBTQ community. While little qualitative research has been conducted on safe space initiatives to begin with, there is even less research on the perceptions participants have of these types of programs. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to analyze the perceptions of the Phase 1 Safe Zone training among first year RAs in the residence halls. A secondary purpose was …

Is Unmitigated Communion Related To Depression And Anxiety?, Brett A. Vacek

Masters Theses

Unmitigated communion is the focus on others to the exclusion of the self. This innate principle has been linked to depression in numerous studies. However, this construct has yet to be linked with rumination, worry, or even social anxiety. This paper reviews the literature on unmitigated communion, including recent studies that have dissected the variable into separate components (UC-self and UC- other) that could help in the identification of its dysfunctional properties. Furthermore, this paper will seek to determine whether unmitigated communion is connected to receiving or providing instrumental or emotional support, and whether this acts as a moderator in …

Examination Of The Internal Structure Of The Academic Competence Evaluation Scale - Teacher (Aces-T), Stephanie A. Zegadlo

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the factor structure of the Academic Competence Evaluation Scale-Teacher Form (ACES-T; DiPerna & Elliott, 2000) Academic Skills (AS) and Academic Enablers (AE) scales with a convenience sample. Analyses included item-based exploratory factor analyses (higher-order EFA with Schmid-Leiman transformation; Schmid & Leiman, 1957) for subjects with complete data (AS N = 433; AE N= 466), and omega reliability estimates (Reise, 2012). For the AS scales, EPA identified an oblique (correlated) three-factor model. A second-order EFA was completed along with a Schmid-Leiman transformation and found the majority of the apportioned variance was associated with the general Academic Skills …

The Art Of Voluntelling: Research On Mandated And Altruistic Volunteers, Tyler Kalahar

Masters Theses

A comparison of mandated and altruistic volunteers that completed community service hours was conducted. Participants were enrolled at a mid-sized, mid-Western university. T-test and correlational analysis were conducted on data gathered through the Community Service Attitudinal Scale (2000). The data was used to compare and contrast the characteristics of mandated and altruistic volunteers. Mandated volunteers (M = 5.73, SD = 1.40) reported feeling like they were not making as much of an impact performing community service compared to altruistic volunteers (M = 6.61, SD = 1.17) at significance level (t(72) = 2.88, p< 0.01). Altruistic (M=6.25, SD=1.35) …

A Study On The Personality Characteristics Of Dreamers, Joshua Lambert

Masters Theses

Nightmares are frightening dreams that cause the dreamer to wake, with the events that occur within the nightmare well remembered after awakening. There are those who experience nightmares frequently (at least one nightmare a week). While studying nightmares, Hartmann (1989, 1991) theorized a distinct personality trait he referred to as boundaries of the mind, and conceptualized a boundary continuum ranging from thin boundaries to thick boundaries. Those with thin boundaries were hypothesized to express permeability between cognitive processes, whereas those with thick boundaries are thought to better separate cognitive processes. Those who experience frequent nightmares are typically shown to report …

Perceptions Of Historically Black Greek Letter Organizations Impact On Leadership Development, Sherry Gunn

Masters Theses

Historically Black Greek - Lettered Organizations (HBGLO) have an impact on Black students at a Predominantly White Institution. As student affairs professionals, it is important to understand how these organizations affect our students and their development. This study aimed to learn how these Historically Black Greek - Lettered Organizations assisted with members gaining leadership skills, members experiences versus non - members, and members connection/ retention to the institution. The researcher conducted interviews with members of Historically Black Greek Lettered Organizations to examine the perceptions of seven participants. These participants represented four of the six Historically Black Greek Lettered Organization at …

Cyber-Victimization, Depression, And Social Anxiety Among College Students, Kenna L. Mager

Masters Theses

Cyber-victimization, a new form of bullying, emerged with the development and evolution of technology. Recent research shows discrepancies in cyber-victimization definitions and there are inconsistencies of methods used to measure cyber-victimization. This paper reviewed the literature on cyber-victimization and developed a new scale to measure cyber-victimization with the intention of making cyber-victimization research more consistent. The current study examined known correlates of cyber-victimization (e.g., depression and social anxiety) in a sample of college students using the newly developed measure. The current study also explored the moderating role of social support in the relationship between cyber-victimization and depression, as well as …

"Fine Dignity, Picturesque Beauty, And Serious Purpose": The Reorientation Of Suffrage Media In The Twentieth Century, Emily Scarbrough

Masters Theses

Throughout the first half century of the woman's suffrage movement, the women of the movement were depicted as dastardly, masculine women who usurped the family structure with their penchant for politics. In the twentieth century, a new generation of woman's suffragists took command of their appearance in the media. Instead of controversial figures, woman's suffragists were envisioned as normal, beautiful women and mothers. Through the use of mass media, woman suffragists restructured their campaign to convince the general public that society needed women to clean up politics. In doing so, suffragists sacrificed their goals of sexual equality in favor of …