Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Perspectives Of Rural Library Managers/Directors Regarding Professional Education: A Qualitative Study In Northwest Georgia, Christina E. Tracy

Masters Theses

Attempts have been made by several organizations, including the American Library Association (ALA), to provide greater access to professional education for library managers/directors; however, the rural environment presents unique challenges to education not addressed by many of the policies and programs currently in place. This study examined the perspectives of library managers/directors in rural Northwest Georgia about the factors that impede or facilitate professional degree attainment. Participants included twelve library managers/directors serving in rural communities. Qualitative interviews with the library managers/directors identified their experiences and issues including challenges and incentives to professional degree attainment. The principal findings include: the difference …

Comparing Frames Of Cancer And Heart Disease In American News Magazines, Courtney L. Craig

Masters Theses

This study compares and contrasts the way cancer and heart disease were framed in three major American news magazines from 1991-1995 and from 2001-2005. It is a partial replica of a 1992 study by Juanne Clarke titled “Cancer, Heart Disease and AIDS: What Do the Media Tell Us About These Diseases?” Every article about cancer and heart disease from these news magazines in these time periods was analyzed and coded into categories. The study concludes that cancer is a much more personal issue than heart disease; it is portrayed in a way that makes it more “serious” than heart disease. …

Attributions And Negative Affect As Moderators Of Ptsd Symptomatology And Aggression, Aaron J. Kivisto

Masters Theses

Interpersonal violence has been identified as one of our nation’s most important public health concerns and has been empirically linked with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In order to better understand the relationship between PTSD and violence, we used Chemtob’s (1997) Survival Mode model to examine the role of two potentially important proximal factors linking PTSD to violence; cognitive attributions and negative affect. Congruent with theory and previous research, we hypothesized that PTSD would be related to aggression, and that cognitive attributions and negative affect would moderate the relationship between these variables.

Undergraduate students (N = 628) completed an online screening …

Skeletal Asymmetry Within The New Lisbon Collection: Implications For Environmental And Mechanical Stress, Shannon Elizabeth May

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to investigate bilateral asymmetry within the New Lisbon Skeletal Collection, and to correlate observed levels with demographic and socioeconomic variables. The New Lisbon Collection is a historic skeletal assemblage of birthdates spanning 1805 – 1975, sourced primarily from Lisbon, Portugal. Metric long bone measurements of length and dimension were taken on a juvenile subsample (n = 82) and an adult subsample (n=248), and asymmetry indices were calculated incorporating both right and left and scaling for size.

For the juvenile samples the objective was to investigate lateralization during growth and development. No significant difference could …

Land Use-Transportation Interaction: Lessons Learned From An Experimental Model Using Cellular Automata And Artificial Neural Networks, Steve R. Ahrens

Masters Theses

Land use and transportation interact to produce large urban concentrations in most major cities that create tremendous sprawl, noise, congestion, and environmental concerns. The desire to better understand this relationship has led to the development of land use–transport (LUT) models as an extension of more general urban models. The difficulties encountered in developing such models are many as local actions sum to form global patterns of land use change, producing complex interrelationships. Cellular automata (CA) simplify LUT model structure, promise resolution improvement, and effectively handle the dynamics of emergent growth. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) can be used to quantify the …

To Watch Or Not To Watch? That Is The Question. Identifying The Common Characteristics Of The Reality Television Viewing Audience, Laura Sipple

Masters Theses

Reality television shows are increasingly appearing on network and cable outlets each sea¬son. Not only are they advancing in number, they are consistently dominating the weekly Nielsen’s Top 10 ratings as well. This study seeks to identify the reality television show viewing audience, why captivated their interest to begin watching these shows and what kept them watching week-to-week. By identifying participants who consistently watched these programs, it was believed that various themes would arise out of this study for further analysis and comparison. In-depth qualitative interviews were utilized to further explore the following areas: (1) Who are the consistent viewers …

Pitch Contrast In Meter Perception, Nigel O. Lay

Masters Theses

The role of large pitch contrasts in meter perception of three-pulse-train polyrhythms was investigated. Subjects were presented with several polyrhythmic configurations having both small and large pitch contrasts and were asked to tap the meter, or beat. Some subjects preferred meters based on the lower-pitch and slowerprogressing pulse trains, while others preferred unit-based meters. Results revealed that three-pulse-train polyrhythms with large pitch contrast do not result in notably different meter perceptions from those with smaller pitch contrast. These results support previous findings which showed that meter is determined by multiple factors, such as pulse-train pitch and relative pulse-train tempo.

Predicting And Analyzing Gentrification In Atlanta, Georgia, Jonathan M. Law

Masters Theses

First viewed as an aberration by some when it began to occur in inner cities, the process of gentrification is now common and even significant in U.S. cities, as it runs counter to the urban sprawl that plagues most of them. Gentrification can have far-reaching effects, as it usually involves rising property values and changes in ethnic make-up, and sometimes gives rise to concerns over displacement of original residents and affordable housing. In the context of a broad literature on gentrification which has failed to produce much agreement on its causes or how it works, this research attempts, utilizing census …

An Evaluation Of The Challenge Day Program, Deborah S. Higgins

Masters Theses

This research is an evaluation of the Challenge Day anti-bullying program conducted in four Kalamazoo County schools. An analysis was conducted of survey data collected as part of the Challenge Day intervention. T-test comparisons of means were prepared for pre-test and post-test survey responses. This was done for each school that participated in the program: Vicksburg Middle School, Vicksburg High School, Parchment Middle School, and Parchment High School. Changes were noted as either positive (an increase in positive behaviors, attitudes, perceptions or a decrease in negative behaviors, attitudes, perceptions) or negative (a decrease in positive behaviors, attitudes, perceptions or an …

An Investigation Of Kavilorai: A Hero Stone Site In The Nilgiri Mountains Of South India, Jacob Landon Bach

Masters Theses

This study explores the hero stones of the Nilgiri Mountains of South India. This project has focused on the site of Kavilorai for developing a stylistic base to compare other sites of the region with. After analysis it was determined that Kavilorai contained four separate, but connected stylistic expressions carved on the hero stones. The findings when compared with other upper elevation sites corresponded to a high quality/low quality theme, often incorporating the ritual suicide sati. When comparing the stylistic representation of the carved figures to the Badaga Lingayat temple of Seminatum there surfaced strong thematic and stylistic connections. The …

Too Little, Too Late: The Current Generation Of College Women And Sexual Health Education, Nicole C. Schumaker

Masters Theses

This research was conceived when I acknowledged the ways in which women of my generation have been educated about their bodies and about their sexuality. In a review of the literature on adolescent female sexuality, there is substantial evidence to suggest that in regards to early female sex education, adolescent sexuality is linked with danger, victimization, and passivity. Accordingly, it is asserted that these understandings of female sexuality disallow young girls to see themselves as initiators and decision-makers thus compromising their development of sexual subjectivity and responsibility in adulthood.

Data for this project were collected through ten semi-structured interviews with …

Prospects And Limitations For Ecocultural Tourism In The City: Developing An Urban Heritage Water Trail On The Portage Creek, Eric Mark Kerney

Masters Theses

The decline in Michigan's economy and rapid loss of manufacturing jobs has forced communications to look towards new possibilities. The state's abundant water resources have potential to enhance regional economies and improve the quality of life. The Michigan Heritage Water Trails Program was initiated in 2002 by Michigan Public Act 454 in response to a lack of established routes in the state. The Portage Creek is located within the Kalamazoo River Watershed, which is being explored as a pilot project for a connected system of regional water trails. The study area of the Portage Creek is located entirely within the …

Habitat Suitability Modeling For Lake Huron Tansy In Michigan, Cathryn Elizabeth Whately

Masters Theses

Little scientific research has been published that addresses the habitat requirement of the Lake Huron tansy, a Michigan threatened species. Adequate protection of the tansy, location of new populations, and identification of potential restoration sites all depend on defining suitable habitat. Mahalanobis distance and partitioned Mahalanobis distance were combined with geographic information systems (GIS) to spatially model habitat suitability for Lake Huron tansy in Michigan. Several models were created for shoreline areas within the 14 counties in northern Michigan where the tansy is found. Results suggested elevation, distance to shore, slope, direction to shore and aspect were important variables for …

Mining For Public And State Approval: Corporate Strategies For Metallic Sulfide Mining On Michigan’S Yellow Dog Plains, Teresa A. Bertossi

Masters Theses

Michigan has become a frontier for metallic sulfide mining due to a high global demand for minerals and a major concentration of sulfide deposits found throughout its Midcontinent Rift. Metallic sulfide mining is challenging, especially in a water-rich state like Michigan. The disturbance of a sulfide deposit during mining activity exposes the sulfide ore to air and water, which can result in sulfuric acid. Subsequently, precipitation can cause sulfuric acid to drain from the mine site, polluting surface water and groundwater. Recently, a corporation called Kennecott Minerals has proposed a metallic sulfide mine called the Eagle Project in Michigan's Upper …

Using Composite Sampling Techniques To Monitor Bathing Beach Water Quality In Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Jeffrey David Reicherts

Masters Theses

The Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department conducts water quality monitoring at public bathing beaches to determine public health risks and compliance with Michigan water quality standards. These standards require local health departments to collect and analyze a minimum of three water samples during each sampling event. Water samples are analyzed for Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, an organism that indicates the presence of fecal contamination. During the 2007 sampling season, nine bathing beaches were monitored once each week. Three individual point samples (n = 486) and a composite sample (n = 144) were analyzed for each sampling …

Rural Tourism As An Alternative To Rural Development In The State Of Para, Brazil, Ana Christina Sawada Cutrim

Masters Theses

This research is based on the potential analysis of the rural tourism industry in the cities of Braganca, Mosqueiro, and Vigia, located in the State of Para, Brazil. The representative samples were the people who went to an excursion trip organized by an elderly people association to visit the city of Braganca, and the people who went to the farm hotels located in the cities of Mosqueiro and Vigia. Surveys were conducted among the tourists during the weekends of December 2007 to January 2008. The research focused on the strengths and weaknesses of tourism in these sites.

The demographic characteristics …

The Hope Of A New College Town At Western Michigan Through Mixed-Use Development And Creation Of A Student Consumer District, James Paul Eichstaedt

Masters Theses

My research will start with investigations into what an American college town is, what are the uses of Smart Growth and Mixed-Used Development in college towns, and the real estate development practices of universities in The United States and one Canadian university. The four case studies in the thesis are The Ohio State University, The University of Norte Dame, The University of Connecticut, Victoria University at The University of Toronto. Other data was collected from survey respondents of close to 200 hundred students at Western Michigan University. The purpose of the survey was to determine what amenities and housing styles …

Deference Of Defiance? Principal-Agent Theory And The Us Courts Of Appeals During The Rehnquist And Burger Courts, Nathaniel R. Vanden Brook

Masters Theses

By examining cases from the Courts of Appeals in several issue areas between 1969 and 2002 (e.g., the Burger and Rehnquist Courts), this research examines both the fear of reversal from the high court (judicial impact theory) and whether this results in differences in response from these courts to Supreme Court precedent (principal-agent theory). The study finds that when the Supreme Court grants review to a decreasing number of lower court cases and thus gives a longer leash to these courts that instead of deferring to their principal, the appellate courts often defy the high court and seek to advance …

Documenting Aguaje Palm Swamp Area And Conditions In The Peruvian Amazon, Malinda Van Sledright

Masters Theses

Mauritia flexuosa is the most widespread and economically important palm in western Amazonia and is known as aguaje in Peru. It is found mostly in "aguajales," but little is known about the size and spatial distribution of these permanently wet oligarchic forests. Aguaje is dioecious; only the female trees produce the coveted fruit, and cutting them down leaves a preponderance of unproductive male palms. There exists a consensus in the literature that levels of damage to aguajales is related to distance from settlements where extractors reside. However, no studies exist which show this relationship. By mapping 24 aguajales and conducting …

Fostering Democracy In Iraq, Tristam E. Niederer

Masters Theses

This thesis evaluates democracy in Iraq and determines if the current institutions are fostering democracy. When the institutions in place are not fostering democracy, I evaluate why they are not and how they could promote democracy. I employ a case study approach of Iraq by first looking at the region's history. I then analyze the works of leading experts of democracy in divided society theory to develop a democratic framework for Iraq. Finally, I focus on the Iraqi government's institutions and the Iraqi Constitution to evaluate their effectiveness.

The purpose of this thesis is two-fold. First, as a deeply divided …

Reconciliation Or Reencounter In The Southern Cone Of South America: Amnesty, Forgetfulness, Forgiveness, Impunity, Memory, And The Power And Politics Of Theatricality, Lee Ann Johnson

Masters Theses

This thesis explores how scholars have defined reconciliation along with the difficulty of doing so. Focusing especially on the Chilean and Argentinean experiences, I argue for the necessity of attaining political or national reconciliation after periods of violent authoritarian rule. I consider truth and reconciliation commissions and detail the mandates under which some have operated. My premise is that although truth and reconciliation commissions are a wonderful tool for facilitating reconciliation, their legalistic and structured nature keeps them from being all that is needed to achieve reconciliation. I suggest that the creative nature of theatre makes it the perfect complement …

Watch Out For The Freshman 15: An Investigation And Interpretation Of Memorable Health Messages Received By College Students, Lindsey Marie Rose

Masters Theses

Using the memorable messages framework as a guide (Knapp, Stohl & Reardon, 1981), this thesis examines the memorable health messages that college students are able to recall. The survey design queried respondents about the structure and form of the message, circumstances surrounding the message, the source of the message, and the content of the message. The data was assessed quantitatively through use of one-sample chi-square tests, and qualitatively utilizing grounded theory. The results of the study were generally supported by previous memorable message studies. The research findings are discussed based on the memorable messages framework and the implications for future …

Living And Dying On The Margins: A Journey Into The Culture Of Pink And Black Women’S Narrative Accounts Of Breast Cancer, Cleothia Gill

Masters Theses

This thesis examines black women's understandings of and experiences with breast cancer through the use of narratives. These narratives offer different positions from which to critically analyze the dominate conceptualization of breast cancer in American society, which is primarily associated with white, middle class, heterosexual women. There is a focus on issues such as breast cancer 'risk', increased mortality rates among black women, dominate discourses and media representations of breast cancer, and mastectomy and body image. African American women's stories are used to 'deconstruct' and reveal how this disease is socially constructed in ways that has profound impact on their …

Schedule Thinning Following Mand Training: Attempts To Enhance Signaled Delay To Reinforcement, Jamie M. Severtson

Masters Theses

Mand training, a common component of language training programs for children with autism, is associated with several clinical benefits (Sundberg & Michael, 2001), yet mand training sometimes results in high-rate responding that is difficult to maintain. One method of reducing high-rate mands to manageable rates is known as graduated signaled delay to reinforcement. The current investigation involved a series of three studies to evaluate the ability of three independent variables (a) highly preferred toys, (b) signal duration, and (c) schedule thinning methods to enhance signaled delay to reinforcement. The results of the three studies indicate that 7 of the 8 …

A Study Of Body Scent As A Social Identifier Among Members Of The Arabic Culture, Mia M. Wilson

Masters Theses

Body scent plays a major factor in how individuals interact with one another. While Americans have their own perception of what is "proper" body scent, they still remain uninformed about the various ways body scent is used to deliver social messages and form interpersonal relationships within other cultures. With many immigrants continuing to move to the United States (Frey, 2004), American societies need to become educated on other cultures' social aspects of body scent to avoid alienation of foreign communities. This qualitative research study explores how individuals of the Saudi Arabian culture use body scent as a social identifier to …

Generalization Of Mands For Information Across Establishing Operations, Sarah A. Lechago

Masters Theses

This study sought to extend the developing literature on teaching mands for information by systematically assessing whether they generalize across different EOs. Three children with autism were taught to perform multiple behavior chains, three of which included a common response topography (e.g., "Where is the spoon?") used for different purposes. An interrupted-behavior-chain procedure was used to contrive the EO for each mand. After a mand for information was taught under one EO, the remaining chains were interrupted to determine whether the mand had generalized across EOs. For all three participants, mands for information generalized across EOs. For one participants, a …

Effect Of Living Arrangement And Meals Eaten Alone On The Nutrition Status Of Older Adults, Kelly L. Boeger

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Bullying And Victimization In High School As Perceived By Female Students In A Midwestern University, Shannon Y. Schwab

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

College Debt: An Exploratory Study Of Risk Factors Among College Freshmen And Its Effect On College Choice, Renee M. Smith

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Social Pressure On Eating Habits Of College Students, Dawn Wilcox

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.