Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

School Emergency Preparedness In North Dakota Public School Districts, Steven Wayne Swiontek

Theses and Dissertations

The basis for this study was to determine: (1) If school districts in North Dakota have an emergency response plan; (2) How comprehensive their emergency response plan is; (3) How well prepared school districts in North Dakota are for any type of disaster; and (4) The extent to which North Dakota LEAD Center school emergency response training and resources have impacted school emergency preparedness in North Dakota.

There were 120 school districts and their superintendents that participated in the Emergency Preparedness in North Dakota Public School District's survey. School administrators who completed the Emergency Preparedness Survey were asked to indicate …

Evaluating The Effects Of Green Roofs As Tools For Stormwater Management In An Urban Metropolis, Robyn R. Polinsky

Geosciences Theses

Stormwater management is an essential aspect of urban hydrology. Urbanized areas have large amounts of impervious surface cover (ISC) and well developed sewer and drainage networks which rapidly channel water and pollutants off of streets and into local streams. This research evaluates the use of vegetated roofs as mechanisms to reduce ISC and stormwater runoff in downtown Atlanta. A 3-D model of the study site was created so that runoff rates could be measured for various rooftop scenarios under different size storm events. The results revealed a reduction in peak runoff and an increase in both the lag time and …

Factors Associated With Physical Activity Behaviors Among Rural Adolescents, Kenli A. Urruty

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The "obesity epidemic" in the United States is a current health concern that has sparked research interest in physical activity as a means of weight management. However, little research has examined the physical activity behaviors of rural adolescents. The goal of the current study was to use a biopsychosocial framework to examine the physical activity behaviors of a sample of rural adolescents, and explore factors associated with physical activity participation.

A sample of 162 ninth- and tenth-grade students in a rural, western community were recruited for this study. Generally, the sample reported levels of physical activity for both genders that …

The Influence Of Family Structure And The Role Of Siblings On Early Language Development Of Latino Preschool Children, Eduardo Aguiles Ortiz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between family structure including family size, number of parents at home, and presence of an older sibling at home, and the language development of young Latino children. I used data from the Head Start--Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) year 2000, which included information on 746 Latino preschool children and their families in different Head Start programs nationwide. A subgroup of 369 children were identified as English-language learners (ELL) because they were determined to be primarily Spanish speaking. Some of the findings indicate that more than two thirds of children …

A Pilot Study Examining The Use Of Technologically Assisted Psychotherapeutic Intervention In The Delivery Of Therapy To Women With Anxiety Residing In Rural Utah Communities, Benjamin K. Farmer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine change in symptoms of anxiety and satisfaction experienced by participants who received acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) by using technologically assisted psychotherapeutic interventions (TAPI). TAPI utilizes the internet as a medium to make mental health services available and accessible to people residing in rural communities. The participants in this study were women who were experiencing severe levels of anxiety and lived in a rural community. Measures were taken at three different points in the study (pretherapy, posttherapy, and 6-months posttherapy). Participants received therapy over the internet via Macromedia Breeze videoconferencing to reduce …

Cell Phone Use And Psychosocial Development Among Emerging Adults, Torrey B. Morrill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The cell phone has rapidly become an integral, and, for some, an essential communication tool that is being used worldwide. With cell phone ownership becoming so widespread, especially among the younger generation, society is starting to see and question the impacts of cell phone use on adolescent development.

Relations between cell phone possession, cell phone use, and psychosocial and identity development were investigated using Erikson's Psychosocial Theory and Marcia's Adolescent Identity Paradigm. A sample of 705 college students, ages 18-24, completed a questionnaire that measured the amount and type of cell phone use, identity development (Extended Objective Measure of Ego …

Dialogic Cosmopolitanism And Global Justice, Eduard Christiaan Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although the term “cosmopolitan-communitarian debate” never really caught on, a national-global fault line remains prominent in debates about global justice. “Dialogic cosmopolitanism” holds the promise of bridging this alleged fault line by accepting many of the communitarian criticisms against cosmopolitanism and following what can be described as a communitarian path to cosmopolitanism. This article identifies and describes four key elements that distinguish dialogic cosmopolitanism: a respect for difference; a commitment to genuine dialogue; an open, hesitant and self-problematising attitude on the part of the moral subject; and an undertaking to expand the boundaries of moral concern to the point of …

Well-Being On Planet Earth, Ed Diener, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Gallup World Poll allows a look at how humanity is flourishing, based on the answers of survey respondents sampled from across the globe. Several conclusions are clear. First, how people are doing depends enormously on the society in which they live, and nations vary from doing very well to extremely poorly. In terms of subjective well-being, nations vary greatly, in both judgments of overall life and in positive and negative emotions. The best predictors of global life judgments were income and ownership of modern conveniences, whereas the best predictors of emotions were social factors such as the control of …

Evaluation Of Best Management Practices To Reduce Nutrients Runoff In Watersheds In Arkansas, Hector German Rodriguez Diaz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are many non point sources (NPS) of pollution issues across the state of Arkansas. Each region of the state has different concerns. Many watersheds have been included in the Arkansas's 2008 303(d) list for NPS impairments with sediment and nutrients being the primary causes of concern. This research hypothesized that there are no cost or net returns risks when adopting best management practices (BMPs) to control nutrients runoff and that selection, timing, placement and cost have no impact on the implementation of BMPs. Using two priority watersheds, the L'Anguille River and the Lincoln Lake, as examples, the environmental benefits …

Effects On Digital Image Quality When Photographing Through A Transparent Material Used To Hold Or Flatten An Original Object, Paul E. Howell

Masters Theses

An increasing number of libraries and archives are initiating projects where new and updated technologies make it practical to digitize materials containing color and fine detail. Many of the imaging systems and methods used for this process require that some type of glass or plastic be placed over the original to hold it flat and in the correct position during image capture. The physical properties of a material placed between an original object and the capture system or camera, during digitization, could possibly affect the accuracy of image color and quality being reproduced by the system. This investigation provides an …

How Does Sport Team Identification Compare To Identification With Other Social Institutions?, Shelley Elizabeth Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As social beings, people naturally form identifications with various social groups within their environment. Individuals gain benefits by forming identifications with groups, such as increased self-esteem and psychological support. Past research has examined the identification people form with various social groups, but no research has examined with which of these social groups people form the strongest identification. This study examines the strength of identification with various social groups within one’s life. It is predicted that individuals will indicate a stronger identification with a sport team than with any other social group. Secondly, it is predicted that identification with a sport …

An Examination Of Body Dissatisfaction And Media Exposure, Richard H. Kirchmeyer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between muscle magazine consumption and body dissatisfaction. The study also examined the relationship between muscle magazine consumption and the amount of disparity between ideal and real body shape. Participants (N = 108) were recruited via study board, and also on a volunteer basis, from a mid-Western university with a population of 20,674 students. The first hypothesis stated that men with greater exposure to muscle magazines would indicate that their actual body shape falls further away from their ideal body shape, in terms of both muscularity and fat level, than …

Analysis Of Mammoth Cave Pre-Park Communities, Matthew Brunt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Before the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park, this area was home to numerous communities, each with a sense of identity. To prepare for the creation of the National Park, all residents living within these communities were relocated, and many of these communities were lost to the passage of time. Today, public memory of these lost communities is being fostered by the descendents of the pre-park area.

Through the use of a Historical Geographic Information System, 1920 Edmonson County manuscript census data, and statistical analysis, the demographic composition of these lost communities was explored. This project not only brought to …

Using Conservative And Biological Tracers To Better Understand The Transport Of Agricultural Contaminants From Soil Water Through The Epikarstic Zone, Brian Ham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Agriculture contamination is very common in karst systems due to the vulnerability of these aquifers. Animal waste is often spread across crop land to enrich the soil with nitrates and phosphates. Herbicides and pesticides are also applied to the crops. The transport of these pollutants through the soil and epikarst is a difficult process to monitor due to the complex, heterogeneous behavior of the groundwater as it makes its way down to the aquifer below.

An experimental site at Crumps Cave lended a unique opportunity to monitor the vadose zone at a waterfall in the cave below. A previous dye …

Development Of A Multi-Class Bicyclist Route Choice Model Using Revealed Preference Data, Joseph Broach, John Gliebe, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Existing regional travel forecasting systems are not typically set up to forecast usage of bicycle infrastructure and are insensitive to bicyclists' route preferences in general. We collected revealed preference, GPS data on 162 bicyclists over the course of several days and coded the resulting trips to a highly detailed bicycle network model. We then use these data to estimate bicyclist route choice models. As part of this research, we developed a sophisticated choice set generation algorithm based on multiple permutations of labeled path attributes, which seems to out-perform comparable implementations of other route choice set generation algorithms. The model was …

Poetry And The Politics Of History: Revisiting Ee Tiang Hong, Kirpal Singh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Malaysian poet Ee Tiang Hong was troubled by the fundamental changes being introduced by the leaders to ensure that Malaysia (which Ee always referred to as Malaya) became centrally a Malay nation. Not only was Ee trying his best to dissociate himself from what he termed the “mimicry of foreign birds” (i.e. the language of the colonial masters) but he was more critically searching for a new idiom which would give freshness to the rendition of the Malayan experience. While this struggle was in process, the tragedy of May 13 (1969) struck: here was a blatant illustration of the …

The Evolution Of Copyright Law In The Arts, Kevin Liftig

Honors Scholar Theses

As digital storage of intellectual goods such as literature and music has become widespread, the duplication and unlicensed distribution of these goods has become a frequent source of legal contention. When technology for production and replication of intellectual goods advanced, there were disputes concerning the rights to produce and duplicate these works. As new technologies have made copies of intellectual goods more accessible, legal institutions have largely moved to protect the rights of ownership of ideas through copyright laws. This paper will examine key changes in the technology that affect intellectual property, and the responses that legal institutions have made …

Democracy And The Environment In Latin America, Javier Albert Escamilla

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the ability of democratic and non-democratic states alike to protect the environment. Democracy has long been an important concept in the study of politics and environmental protection is an increasingly important issue in world politics. Advocates of democracy claim democratic states are better able to protect the environment than non-democracies. In contrast there are those that argue democracy's emphasis on individual rights leads to excessive resource consumption. This thesis employs a mixed methods approach to determine if democratic countries protect the environment more than their non-democratic counterparts. In short democracies do protect the environment better than non-democracies …

Brain‐Mind And Structure‐Function Relationships: A Methodological Response To Coltheart, Adina L. Roskies

Dartmouth Scholarship

In some recent papers, Max Coltheart has questioned the ability of neuroimaging techniques to tell us anything interesting about the mind and has thrown down the gauntlet before neuroimagers, challenging them to prove he is mistaken. Here I analyze Coltheart’s challenge, show that as posed its terms are unfair, and reconstruct it so that it is addressable. I argue that, so modified, Coltheart’s challenge is able to be met and indeed has been met. In an effort to delineate the extent of neuroimaging’s ability to address Coltheart’s concerns, I explore how different brain structure‐function relationships would constrain the ability of …

The Bite Detector: A Device For The Behavioral Treatment Of Overweight And Obesity, Jenna Scisco

All Theses

Overweight and obesity are primary health concerns worldwide and particularly in the United States. Currently, the most effective treatments are behavioral interventions, and a reduction of eating rate is one behavioral method that may help individuals eat less and lose weight. Additionally, adaptive eating behaviors, such as intuitive eating, have been identified as healthy body weight predictors. The purpose of Study 1 was to examine the accuracy of the bite detector, a wrist-worn device designed to detect bites of food. Participants (N = 21) ate a meal in the laboratory, and the sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of the …

Improved Automotive Safety Through Instructional Modules And Automotive Driving Simulator Based Skills Training With Assessment, Dionne Norfleet

All Theses

Motor vehicle crashes involving novice drivers are significantly higher than matured drivers' incidents as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System (NHTSA-FARS). There is ongoing research on how to decrease the number of crashes for this driver demographic group in the Unites States and Europe. Novice drivers usually complete driver education classes as a pre-requisite for full licensure to improve overall knowledge and safety. However, compiled statistics still indicate a need for more in-depth training after full licensure.
This thesis introduces classroom and virtual training modules to improve the driving skills, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior …

The 'I' In Team: Effects Of Performance Appraisal Type On Teamwork Variables, Brandy Brown

All Theses

The following research examined the effects of performance appraisal condition on teamwork variables. As more reliable models of teamwork emerge, there remains a noticeable lack of information regarding team motivation and feedback in an organizational context. This paper first reviews the current findings on team motivation, feedback, and performance appraisals and then applies that topic to teamwork processes. The researcher proposed that individual, team, and dual (individual and team feedback) performance appraisals would have different effects on teamwork processes and performance. Positive effects on team orientation, mutual trust, and team performance in the team and dual performance appraisal conditions were …

How Effectively Do People Learn From A Variety Of Different Opinions?, Andrew Healy

Economics Faculty Works

This paper presents experimental evidence about how effectively individuals learn from information coming from heterogeneous sources. In the experiment, Thai subjects observed information that came from Americans and from other Thais that they could use to help them answer a series of questions. Despite listening too little to either group, subjects demonstrated a significant amount of statistical sophistication in how they weighed observed American information relative to observed Thai information. The data indicate that subjects understood that outside information has extra value because people from the same group tend to make the same kinds of mistakes. The results illustrate the …

Teacher Education Admission Requirements And Student Teacher Evaluations: Relationships Among Grade Point Average, Praxis I Scores, And Student Teacher Final Evaluations, Alan C. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Institutions of higher education attempt to select and prepare the finest K-12 teachers possible. National, state, and local influences also search for the best and brightest teacher candidates to become K-12 teachers. The result has been increased accountability measures to ensure quality. The selection process for admission to teacher education programs frequently involves quantitative measures such as cumulative grade point average (GPA) and Praxis I test qualifying scores for candidates to gain program admission, student teach, and ultimately become licensed educators.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if significant relationships existed among quantitative measures such as cumulative GPA, …

Perspectives Of Parents Who Have A Child Diagnosed With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lori Ann Kalash

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences and perceptions parents of a child with an autism spectrum disorder have had. The study addressed the following research question: What were the parents' experiences and perspectives with regard to their child's diagnosis and treatment options?

For this interview study, 12 parents of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder were ultimately selected and interviewed. The audio recorded interviews were transcribed and then examined for "significant statement" sentences. Next, clusters of meaning were developed into themes. These "significant statements" and themes were then used to create the formulated meanings …

Treasures…Still, Allen Lanham

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Constructing Marriage: A Thematic Analysis Of Self-Help Books On Marriage, Stephanie Mae Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Questions about what makes a marriage work are treated widely in the popular press. This study seeks to discover how we learn about marriage through self-help books. According to Cameron (2007), these texts can become a part of our construction of everyday life. Therefore this study focuses on how marital self-help books frame the institution, and whether relational dialectics were present in each book. Two books— Laura Schlessinger’s The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage and John Gottman’s Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work—were selected through an exhaustive process. A thematic analysis was conducted on each text, and topics …

Histomorphometry Of The Human Rib Cortex In Methamphetamine Users, Robert Chancey Karinen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Studies have demonstrated lifestyle choices such as poor diet, insufficient exercise and substance abuse can negatively affect bone health. The purpose of this research is to determine if the tissue pathology associated with long term methamphetamine use is a localized response to poor dental hygiene or an indication of a more systemic response that is discernable in the bone microstructure. A comparison of the rib cortical bone microstructure between males that were known to be methamphetamine abusers (N=18) and individuals who did not abuse the drug was undertaken (N=19). Histomorphometric variables calculated in this analysis included mean osteon size, osteon …

The Capabilities Conception Of The Individual, John B. Davis

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

This paper advances a capabilities conception of the individual, and considers some of the problems involved in developing such a conception. It also makes claims about the nature of the capability space as a whole, frames personal development in terms of the idea of moving though the capability space, and argues that people are alike in being increasingly heterogeneous. A key problem for a capabilities conception of the individual is that some capabilities, such as belonging to social groups and having social identities, can undermine individuality. The paper discusses an example in which people can have social identities but can …

Myspace, Write Space: An Analysis Of Student Achievement In Texts For Digital Audiences, Stephanie Marie Sauceda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis study analyzes students’ connection to audience in writing samples, gauging the performance of texts written for an actual audience, the classroom teacher and an implied audience, the web. Using Steven Toulmin’s concepts of intimate and stranger interactions, this study suggests that students may make an intimate connection with the mass web audience, thereby allowing an increase in writing performance. On the other end, students identify assignments for classroom teachers as work for the stranger audience, thus creating a writing performance gap. The following is a discussion of possible factors and elements creating this particular paradox in audience identification.