Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Functions Of Aggression And Peer Victimization In Elementary School Children: The Mediating Role Of Social Preference, Samantha Manring

Masters Theses

This study examined the longitudinal associations among functions of aggression, social preference, and peer victimization. Participants were 492 children (249 girls, 227 boys) in grades 2-5. Proactive and reactive aggression was assessed via a self-report measure and indices of social preference and peer victimization were assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data was collected during the fall and spring of two academic years. Results suggest that the relation between aggression, social preference, and peer victimization varied by the function of aggression and gender. For girls, reactive aggression was a significant negative predictor of social preference. Findings also revealed social preference …

Estimating The Economic Value Of Water For Agriculture And Other Industries In Tennessee, Stephanie Michaela Owen

Masters Theses

Tennessee’s currently abundant water resources could eventually become stressed as population continues to rise, climate change impacts water resources, and as agricultural producers continue to increase irrigation. These stresses could impact the productivity of the agricultural sectors and other economic sectors as competition for limited water resources increases. Farmers, policymakers, and researchers alike could benefit from quantifying the economic value of water to help formulate cost-effective and sustainable water use practices. This analysis establishes the water withdrawals (also referred to as “water use”) per dollar of output for competing economic sectors and uses those values in an Input-Output Linear Programming …

Identifying Team Dysfunctions Within Two Natural Resources Conservation Service Offices, Norman E. Pipkin

Masters Theses

Many teams fail to recognize what causes dysfunction within their team. The purpose of this study is to examine team dynamics and produce an example of applied leadership research for leadership educators. By identifying the causes of dysfunction, teams will be able to advance the functionality and success of their team by achieving a higher level of cohesiveness and production for the customers and communities in which they serve. Leadership educators will be able to use this study in discussing how team functionality can be studied and improved.

NRCS offices in two counties were given the opportunity to participate in …

Music Student Satisfaction: The Relationship Between Learning Style Preferences And Major Satisfaction, Cora Marie Powers

Masters Theses

Based on Holland’s (1997) theory of person-environment fit, the primary purpose of this study was to examine learning style preferences of college music students utilizing the Kolb Learning Styles Inventory and VARK Learning Styles Inventory (Kolb, 1976, 1984 ; Fleming & Mills, 1992). These preferences were also explored relative to music students’satisfaction with their major. A tendency to prefer the Aural, Kinesthetic, and Active Experimentation learning styles was observed in the 134 music majors sampled. Among the music students sampled, those who most prefer the Active Experimentation learning style are most satisfied with their major. Some differences in learning style …

Remittance Behavior Of Us Immigrants, Nathan Edward Trombley

Masters Theses

Remittances, the sending of a portion of an immigrant’s income to friends and family, have become an undeniable and significant part of the global economy. This is especially true in some common immigrant sending regions where remittances make up a dominant portion of the local economy. The New Immigrant Survey has released the second wave of data in its cohort study of immigrants recently achieving Lawful Permanent Residence status in the United States. In light of this newly available information, this study seeks to highlight demographic and background characteristics of immigrants that have a statistically significant relationship on their sending …

Deeply Rooted: A Feasibility Study Testing The Potential For Ams Dating Through Paleoethnobotanical Recovery Methods At The Topper Site (38al23), Sarah Elizabeth Walters

Masters Theses

Archaeologists often make limiting operational choices that — though considered and logical — are (sometimes) necessarily selective in nature. One such a priori framework posits that costly paleoethnobotanical recovery and associated analyses are not worthwhile when working in sandy, acidic soils; as dateable organic remains are too rapidly destroyed by inherent chemical and mechanical processes to allow for differential preservation. This research demonstrates that these destructive processes are largely misunderstood. Indeed, the successful collection of significant paleoethnobotanical material is possible from certain types of sandy soils previously thought to be organically sterile. Moreover, such paleoethnobotanical recovery efforts can yield viable, …

Incentives For Best Management Practice Adoption Among Beef Cattle Producers And Effects On Upland Sediment Loss: A Case Study In Southeastern Tennessee, Laura Jane Medwid

Masters Theses

Federal programs incentivize livestock managers to adopt best management practices (BMPs), such as rotational grazing, water tank systems, stream crossings, and pasture improvement to prevent or reduce soil erosion. This thesis addresses the challenge of integrating socio-economic data on rotational grazing (RG) adoption behavior with hydrologic/biophysical models to analyze the association between incentives, BMP adoption, and changes in soil erosion. Using primary survey data of livestock producers in an East Tennessee watershed, the study estimates willingness to adopt BMPs among livestock producers. The propensity to adopt one or multiple management technologies, given an incentive, is estimated with a multivariate probit …

The Agenda Setting Effects Of Cnn’S Twitter In The 2016 Super Tuesday Primaries, Joy Huertas

Masters Theses

Governmental fall downs, electoral outcomes, terrorism propaganda, and climate change awareness are just some of the commonly known results of the effects of news media coverage on the public opinion and society as a whole. For years, researchers have utilized the agenda setting theory as a basis for their studies on the effects of the news media coverage on the public opinion in countless of contexts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the agenda setting effects of a major broadcast news organization but from one of their most influential social media channels, Twitter. CNN’s daily Twitter mentions of …

Medium As King: Social Media & The Political Campaign, Isaac Shea

Masters Theses

There is a growing need for a greater understanding of the intersection between great content, effective targeting and proper media usage in mediated communication and especially in American politics. As more campaigns move their efforts online in an attempt to reach a rapidly growing digital constituency, more content will continue to be less visible. The major quest for this study will be to challenge the long-standing idea that “content is king” which Bill Gates termed at the inception of the internet. A theoretical background of Marshall McLuhan and Kathleen Hall Jamieson will not only allow us to answer this question, …

Spatial, Temporal Variability And Trends Within The Tributaries Of The Huron River: Effects On The Frequency Of Flooding, Cheyenne India Stewart

Masters Theses

The Huron River, located in the Great Lakes Region, Michigan, USA is a symbol of success, wealth and prosperity to the residents of Southeast Michigan. In the last 20 years, the river has been subject to degradation due to high growth rates of urban cities and often experience the cumulative effects of channelization, pollution from point and nonpoint sources, as well as a decline in wetland area and quality. Urbanization in watersheds of stream channels has intensified many incidences of flooding in metropolitan areas over the past few decades. Causes for the decrease in the capacity of the Huron River …

Descriptive Analysis Of Activity Transition Data In An Intensive Autism Treatment Center, Ashley Marie Kotsiris

Masters Theses

Children with autism often display challenging behaviors (e.g., tantrums, aggression, etc.) when transitioning between activities. Most of the current literature focuses on antecedent interventions for increasing compliance during transitions (e.g., visual schedules, two minute transition warnings, etc.). There is a minimal number of studies examining how environmental variables may affect transitions. This study was a descriptive analysis that examined different environmental variables and their effects on transitions. Observations were conducted with four children diagnosed with autism. A transition-tracking sheet was used to gather specific descriptive data during transitions. Results suggest that two-minute warnings were not correlated with more successful transitions, …

The Effects Of Electronic Data Collection, Immediate Graphic Feedback, And Automated Scheduled Prompts On Data Collection Adherence, Cody Morris

Masters Theses

While data are essential to behavior analysis, collecting the type of data that behavior analysts often require can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. There have been many attempts to reduce the amount of time and effort required to collect behavioral data; most research in this area has been focused on computerized or electronic ways to do this (Dixon, 2003). While electronic data collection seems to be gaining popularity within applied behavior analysis, many obstacles still exist. The purpose of this project was to design a data collection system that is cost-efficient, adaptable, easy to use, and effective at increasing …

Redistribution Of The Chicago’S Divvy Bike-Share Stations Using Linear Optimization Model: An Equity Perspective, Md Mehedi Hasan

Masters Theses

Public bike-share infrastructure has the potential to play an important role in sustainable transport systems by enhancing environmental, public health and economic outcomes. In this research, the temporal distributive equity of bike-share infrastructure was examined for initial (300) and expanded (477) bike-share stations across the city of Chicago using eleven accessibility indices. The eleven accessibility indices were calculated using counts of bike share stations within neighborhood boundaries, buffered catchment areas and network distances. By examining the accessibility indices, it was recommended to re-distribute the bike share stations for optimal allocation across the different economic hardship categories. In this study, Linear …

Officer On Duty: How An Image Can Change In An Instant, Derrick Battle

Masters Theses

The deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice sparked an uproar in many communities across the United States. These incidents brought to light that there is an issue that remains prevalent between citizen and police officers. The New York Police Department, Ferguson Police Department, and the Cleveland Department of Police have all dealt with tension involving the communities they serve. Since these incidents changes have been made within each department. Some had the help of the Department of Justice to reform old polices. While law enforcement does what they believe it is necessary to protect the public, sometimes …

Factors Influencing The Adoption Of Automatic Section Control Technologies And Gps Auto-Guidance Systems In Cotton Production, Brittani Kimberlyn Edge

Masters Theses

Precision agriculture (PA) technologies allow producers to obtain information about their fields and use this knowledge to apply inputs and manage time more efficiently. PA technologies such as Automatic-Section Control (ASC) reduce inefficiencies such as overlapping application of inputs (e.g., seed, chemicals). Additionally, technologies such as Auto-Guidance (AG) systems complement ASC technologies and allow producers to work longer hours by reducing fatigue. Both ASC and AG technologies appear to be quickly adopted by producers because of their relatively low cost compared to other precision farming technologies.

The objective of this study is to determine the factors influencing the adoption of …

The Rhetorical Fantasies Of The Kent State Rioters: A Study Of Sds Peripheral Influence, Amanda Stanley

Masters Theses

In the 1960s and early 1970s, American colleges were shaken by a group whose collective view of the country was so abhorrent that they tried, through word and action, to tear the country apart. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) created and sustained a vision that was shared by thousands and fueled by stories of members who traveled the country recruiting college students to carry out the organization’s mission of war against society. The words spoken in speeches and written in publications created by the SDS demonstrate the power in a shared vision and served to create unity among …

All Lives Matter: Media Agenda, Brittany Minard

Masters Theses

This thesis proposal addresses the role that the media play in influencing public opinion with specific attention paid to CNN and Fox News in the way that they covered the shooting of Mike Brown by officer Darren Wilson in August 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. The research has been divided into several sections starting with an introduction which includes, a statement of the problem being addressed, the significance and purpose of this study, and a section about myself as the researcher. This is followed by a literature review which consists of explaining the Agenda Setting Theory to examine how the media …

Student-Athlete Career Development Through Community Service: A Retrospective Study, Jackson Zane Martin

Masters Theses

This study examined the career development of seven former Southeastern Conference (SEC) student-athletes who were awarded membership to the SEC Community Service team through their contributions both with their teams and individually. The NCAA Division-I student-athlete population is a unique subset of college students that face hindrances through time restraints but also have designated sources aimed to enhance their academic and vocational development, with the latter usually assigned to full-time Life Skills administrators. Through a series of phone interviews focused on reflective collegiate community service and career development, several themes emerged. For collegiate community service the most common themes were: …

Classifying Nominal Voltage Of Electric Power Transmission Lines Using Remotely-Sensed Data, Erik Herman Schmidt

Masters Theses

Geospatial data of national infrastructure are a valuable resource for visualization, analysis, and modeling. Building these geospatial foundation-level infrastructure datasets presents numerous challenges. Among those challenges is that of acquiring non-visible attribution of particular infrastructure entities for which there is no viable tabular source. In the case of electric power transmission lines, these data are difficult to acquire, particularly nation-wide. The route, or geometry of transmission lines can be determined from aerial imagery, but nominal voltage, a fundamental requirement for analysis and modeling, is not readily apparent. However, inferences can be made about the nominal voltage based on visual characteristics, …

The Modulating Role Of Motor Action Anticipation In Relation To Visual Attention To A Scene, Rebecca Faith Wiener

Masters Theses

This study investigates how visual attention to a scene is modified when the actor has a reaching goal or not. Thirty-six 7-month-olds were recruited, with 18 in a reaching group and 18 in a non-reaching group. Infants in both groups were presented with objects out of their reaching space until they accumulated approximately six seconds of active looking as measured by an eye-tracker. For the infants in the non-reaching group, the trial ended after the six seconds. For the reaching group, the object was then moved into the infants’ reaching space where they could reach for it. We were interested …

Message Strategies In Korean Cosmetic Surgery Websites, Gawon Kim

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate message strategies used in South Korean cosmetic surgery websites. The paper uses Taylor’s six-segment message strategy model to analyze the Korean sample websites. The outcome of the content analysis revealed that Informational and Transformational strategies were both equivalently used. Ration and ego strategies were the most frequently practiced within the Informational and Transformational divisions.

Effective Followership Characteristics: Self-Regulation And Intercultural Communication Competence, Cassandra Ann Mellon

Masters Theses

Followership is a remarkably pervasive experience shared by all human beings who occupy the masses within national and global organizations. The purpose of the current study was to further knowledge and understanding of the followership construct by distinguishing a set of communicative characteristics that effective followers demonstrate—exploring the associations among perceptions of effective followership, self-regulation, and intercultural communication competence. This study examines whether self-regulation and co-cultural competence are characteristics of effective followership. Followership scholars suggest that followership research should develop followership characteristics based on variables focusing on the perceptions of followers in relation to leaders (Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, …

A Geoarchaeological Analysis Of Ground Stone Tools And Architectural Materials From Mitrou, East Lokris, Greece, Lee Bailey Anderson

Masters Theses

Important but seldom asked questions in the study of practice in Bronze Age Aegean society (ca. 3100-1100 B.C.) pertain to the acquisition and usage of stone material in architecture and ground stone tools. My main research questions are, “How did people’s choice of stone material change over time?” and “Why did stone usage change over time?” During the 2013 and 2014 study seasons at Mitrou, I studied the stone inclusions in clayey architectural materials, as well as stone types used in the site’s architecture, and stone types used for ground stone tools at the site. My geological identifications allowed me …

Peer Educators In National Panhellenic Conference Sororities, Kelsey Kathleen Elam-Geuting

Masters Theses

National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) member organizations have numerous officer positions that might be informally defined as peer educators based on their position responsibilities. Little is known about these officers’ experiences as peer educators, the amount of training they receive, and their effectiveness in providing relevant and purposeful programs for their chapters. The purpose of this study was to better understand peer educators’ experiences within NPC sororities. If the experiences and leadership development of peer educators in NPC sororities are better understood, more can be done to support them in creating meaningful programs and services for their sisters. By supporting small …

Positive And Negative Emotion, Group Climate, And Ethnocultural Empathy In Intergroup Dialogue, Keri Frantell

Masters Theses

We examined shared emotional experiences of 89 participants in 24 intergroup dialogue (IGD) groups at a large, public university in the Southeastern US. These groups brought together students for sustained dialogue about gender, race and ethnicity, religion and spirituality, sexual orientation, or social class and associated forms of privilege and oppression. They were designed to develop: (a) relationships across groups, (b) critical social consciousness, and (c) capacities to promote social justice. Dialogue groups met for eight consecutive weeks. After each session, participants completed measures of group climate and positive and negative emotion during the session. In addition, they completed a …

Alone, Together: The Influence Of Stigmatization On Cultural Relationality, Elizabeth Helen Fles

Masters Theses

It is no secret that great disparities in wealth and opportunities pervade our society. Psychological research pertaining to resource inequality attributes these disparities a product of social stigmatization, which is the experience of societal rejection due to the negative stereotypes associated with group membership. Social stigma is correlated with adverse effects; the current research explores the possibility that stigma can alter the extent to which others are included in one’s sense of self, also known as cultural relationality. Study 1 investigated this relationship by measuring both stigma and relationality using self-report measures and found relationality to be negatively correlated with …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Feminist And Patriarchal Themes Within Shonda Rhimes' Television Shows "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal," And "How To Get Away With Murder", Katelyn Roshetko

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Ebola Crisis: A Communicative Response From Samaritan's Purse, Bailie Porter

Masters Theses

Crisis does not discriminate. It can strike without warning, at any time or place. Managers, organizations, and leaders alike, must be ready at all times to respond to them, whether they are planned for or not. An efficient and quick response is especially necessary when health crises or natural disasters strike, because human life may be at stake. Crisis communication has become more and more important in a world that is daily filled with catastrophes. This study uses W. Timothy Coomb’s situational crisis communication theory as a lens to view the Ebola crisis. The purpose of the research is to …

Obesity In Society: The Importance Of Perception, Michael Darnell Oliver Ii

Masters Theses

In the current study, I examined the role of positive and negative media images of obese individuals on attitudes and physiological responding in relation to an actual discrimination incident. Various surveys were administered and Body Mass Index (BMI), salivary Alpha Amylase (sAA), and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) or Skin Conductance (SC) were measured. Participants read a vignette in which an obese individual was discriminated against and further questions were administered to assess attributional blame. My primary hypothesis in this study was that there would be a decrease in stigma due to positive priming, specifically stigma directed at the obese population. …

Effects Of Bullying And Victimization On Friendship Selection, Reciprocation, And Maintenance In Elementary School Children, Marisa Lynn Whitley

Masters Theses

This study examined the effects of elementary school children’s bullying and victimization experiences on their friendships over time. The majority of children experience acts of aggression or bullying before the end of elementary school, and bullying and peer victimization is associated with academic, social, behavioral, and psychological difficulties. This study used social networks analysis (R SIENA 4.0) to examine whether peer reports of forms of bullying and victimization (i.e., overt and relational) affect the likelihood of friendship selection, reciprocation, and maintenance in 2^nd-4^th grade children. Children (N = 143) from the Midwestern region of the United …