Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Quarterly Interview: Tony Stamatoplos, Anthony Stamatoplos

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Up In The Air: The Global Economy, Economic Development, And Air Transportation In Tampa Bay, Florida, Clinton M. Elbow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A globally integrated economy is one of the most prominent features of globalization and how city stakeholders respond to the global economy varies from city to city. Connecting to the global economy is often portrayed to be necessary for the continued economic development of a metropolitan area. Large transportation infrastructures such as airports represent one of the most visible ways of connecting to the global economy. Decisions made by city stakeholders regarding airports in order to reposition their city in the global economy have profound consequences for its residents. This thesis aims to examine the role played by air transportation …

Becoming Formal Or Informal Entrepreneurs: How Institutions Matter, Joël Luc Raveloharimisy

Dissertations

This research explains the factors behind the variation of enterprise creation across countries by looking at the roles of formal and informal institutions and their interactions in the distribution of start-up enterprises in the formal and informal sectors. It tests two competing hypotheses about the individual versus mixed effects of formal institutions (measured by entry regulations) and informal institutions (measured by social capital) on entrepreneurship. The research uses quantitative analysis of data from 48 countries and a qualitative case study of Madagascar.

The findings from the quantitative and qualitative analyses are consistent regarding the independent effects of each set of …

Short-Term Nicotine Abstinence And Decision Making, Gabriel D. Searcy

Dissertations

Research has shown that acute drug administration may affect impulsivity (i.e., choice for small, immediate rewards over large, delayed rewards) on laboratory delay-discounting tasks. Few studies have investigated how drug abstinence affects impulsivity. Investigating how drug abstinence affects impulsivity may be relevant to preventing relapse. Two previous studies have investigated the effects of short-term nicotine abstinence on impulsivity using delay-discounting tasks. The results were mixed, one study suggested that choices became more impulsive (i.e., delayed money was devalued) under nicotine deprivation. One goal of the present research was to further investigate how nicotine deprivation affects delay-discounting for money rewards. In …

A National Study Of Parental Involvement: Its Trends, Status And Effects On School Success, Alandra Washington

Dissertations

Parental involvement has been emphasized as a mechanism for improving our public schools. In this study the author inquired into (a) the trend and status of parental involvement and (b) whether parental involvement is associated with schools meeting accountability measures. Secondary analyses were conducted on multiple waves of nationally representative data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) School and Staffing Surveys (SASS). Descriptive statistics, discriminant function analysis, logistic regression, among others, were used for the study.

The analyses on the trend and status of parental involvement indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in parental involvement …

Justice-Rendering Schemas: A Typology For Forms Of Justice And A Prolegomenon For Transformative Justice, Dragan Milovanovic

Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology

No abstract provided.

Massachusetts State Public Worker Retirees: How Are They Doing?, Ellen A. Bruce, Lauren A. Martin

Gerontology Institute Publications

Although much has been made of the Massachusetts State Retirement System’s funding and abuses, little has been written about the benefits it provides. A retirement system should be judged first on whether it meets its goal of providing for workers in retirement.

Himmelfarb Library Annual Report 2011, George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Annual Report

No abstract provided.

Comparing Risk Reducing And Incentive Based Reporting Strategies In A Small Business, William Howell

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses

The effects of employee theft can become detrimental when small businesses are their target. Small businesses are prone to employee theft through limitations solely defined by being a small business. The purpose of this research project was to present information that could be valuable in the elimination of employee theft. The research presented a questionnaire to examine the employees' attitudes of reporting employee theft of the selected small business. The research compared two common strategies used for reporting employee theft. Through analysis of these strategies, the more effective reporting strategy would be determined.

Attention To Multiple Events Helps 2 1/2-Year-Olds Extend New Verbs, Jane B. Childers

Psychology Faculty Research

An important question in verb learning is how children extend new verbs to new situational contexts. In Study 1, 2 1/2-year-old children were shown a complex event followed by new events that preserved only the action from the initial event, only the result, or no new events. Children seeing events that preserved either the action or the result produced appropriate verb extensions at test while children without this information did not. In a follow-up study, children hearing new verbs produced more extensions than did children hearing nonlabeling speech. These studies suggest that attention to related events is helpful to young …

Narcissistic Self-Enhancement, Harry M. Wallace

Psychology Faculty Research

Self-enhancement encompasses motives and self-directed effort to increase the positivity of one’s self-concept or public image. Self-enhancement concerns are often distinguished from orientations toward self-assessment—seeking either diagnostic self-related information (flattering or otherwise), and self-verification—seeking confirmation of existing self-views (e.g., Sedikides,1993; Swann, 1990). Distinctions are also typically drawn between self- enhancement and self-improvement motives. Although identifying and addressing one’s personal shortcomings could improve long-term self-enhancement prospects, the self-enhancement label is usually reserved for circumstances in which priority is placed on enhancing the status of one’s present self rather than one’s future self (e.g., Taylor, Neter, & Wayment, 1995). Self-enhancement striving is …

Critical Analysis Of Fear Of Crime On College Campuses, Hannah Deason

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses

The purpose of this research study is to examine the perception of fear of crime among undergraduate college students who are enrolled in courses in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of Texas at Arlington. Surveys were administered to 160 undergraduate students enrolled in courses in the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at the University of Texas at Arlington. Survey responses of female undergraduate students were then compared male undergraduate students to determine knowledge and perception differences relating to sexual assault. In regards to the survey questionnaire administered to the undergraduate students, there were statistically significant differences …

Inequality Aversion And Altruism In Bargaining Experiments: The Effect Of Gender, Carolina Del Pilar Cerda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper examines gender-related inequality aversion, altruism and the effect of gender on decision-making using ultimatum and dictator experiments. A triple-anonymous design was incorporated into the experiments by excluding monetary payments in order to eliminate any aspect of social pressure that the experimenter may exert by exchanging money with the subjects. The absence of social pressure allows for observation of gender differences in economic behavior. Results show that there is a sharp difference between genders. Women are more likely to give larger amounts than men indicating that altruism does vary depending on gender. Also, inequality aversion appears to be more …

The Multidimensional Measure Of Internalized Hiv Stigma In English And Spanish: Measurement Invariance And Other Psychometric Properties, Elsa Martin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Efforts to increase the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) as well as prevention efforts have recently focused on HIV-related stigma. Sayles et al. (2008) developed the Multidimensional Measure or Internalized HIV Stigma (MMIHS), a measure of HIV-related stigma that is sensitive to minorities, women, and people with limited income. This study evaluated the four-factor structure presented by Sayles et al. (2008) on data collected from 269 HIV–positive individuals, and also validated a Spanish translation of the measure using a measurement invariance method. In addition to stigma, this study also collected information regarding depressive symptoms, HIV …

Perceptions Of Disabilities Amongst The Tarahumara In Northern Mexico, Carolyn Raynor Trussell

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research focuses on the perceptions of disability amongst the Tarahumara, known amongst themselves as the Rarámuri, in the Sierra Madre region of Northern Chihuahua. This population of individuals has typically lived in isolated areas in communities in the Sierra Madre where medical and specialized educational services were rare. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions, knowledge and beliefs related to disabilities, as well as the access and beliefs related to educational and medical services.

The study focused on the individual and the society to examine how bodily conceptions influence perceptions of others. The target group for …

Indentifying And Understanding User Preferences In Generic Planning Tools, Grisel Ventura

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Planning is an important cognitive work activity. To support this complex task, the development of planning tools is important to support people during decision-making and problem-solving tasks. Nowadays, a large number of manual and electronic tools support this complex activity; manual and electronic planning tools aid people in creating strategies for effective work performance. However, there is limited information on the design of generic planning tools people use for their activities, and why people choose to use the planning tool they do. Some examples of generic tools for planning are calendars, checklists, agendas, etc.

To answer this question, this research …

Methodology To Convert A Transportation Planning Origin-Destination Matrix Into A Microscopic Traffic Simulation Origin-Destination Matrix, Jose Osiris Vidana-Bencomo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Microscopic traffic simulation (MTS) is a cost-effective approach for the evaluation of traffic conditions in urban highways networks. In MTS models, traffic demand that is entered into the network is specified by one or several Origin-Destination (O-D) matrices. A major challenge in the application of MTS for large urban networks is the specification of the O-D matrices. This dissertation proposes a methodology that may be used to transform a O-D matrix from a transportation planning model (which is based on Traffic Analysis Zone, or TAZ, and is readily available) into a O-D matrix for a MTS model (which is traffic …

Strategies To Improve And Preserve Flexible Pavements At Intersections, Imad N. Abdallah

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many rural intersections originally constructed with thin untreated flexible base and hot mix or a two-course surface treatment experience severe pushing, shoving and rutting. These failures cause an extremely rough surface that can cause damage to small vehicles and potentially cause motorists to lose control of their vehicle. These distresses almost always result in complete failure of the existing pavement that must be repaired several times during the life of the roadway by maintenance forces. Pavement sections constructed with the same materials adjacent to the intersection perform adequately until the approach (approximately 150 ft in advance) of the intersection and …

The Second-Generation Effects Of Microcredit In Western Guatemala, Jordyn Elizabeth Haught

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Most microfinance institutions have assumed that positive second-generation effects follow involvement in microcredit, but the nature of these effects has been unclear since few scholars have directly focused their attention on them. To address this gap in the literature I conducted exploratory survey research in Western Guatemala in January 2011. I returned with 97 interviews conducted with 68 Guatemalans who had received a microloan at some point in their lives, and 29 who had never received a formal loan. In the sample of their 306 children, the parents of 94 had never received a loan, while the parents of 212 …

Examination Of Investigative Interviewing Techniques For Use In Secondary Screening For Malintent, Allyson Judith Horgan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There has been a renewed focus on the development of innovative screening procedures and technologies since the September 11th attacks. While attention has been placed on the need for more effective screening methods, there has been a lack of research on screening for future intent, which is remarkable given its importance to national security (Granhag, 2010; Martin, Martin, & Coskren, 2007). The current project draws on previous research on deception detection and investigative interviewing, as well as recent research on false intent in order to investigate the utility of several interviewing methods in screening for intent. Participants (N = 144) …

Contagion Effect: The Effects Of Regions On Individual State Democracies, Jared Kilpatrick Hundley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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Modal Past Tense: An Applied Linguistics Approach, Whitney R. L. Krause

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper investigates the ways in which English employs non-temporal past tense morphology to convey a modal meaning (modal past) and then applies this analysis to the development of English language pedagogy. I have endeavored to produce an account of modal past which is based in the scientific principles of linguistics while also remaining accessible to practitioners such as language teachers. I argue that modal past is an element of the Universal Grammar of human language, and - following the Full Transfer / Full Access Hypothesis of Second Language Acquisition - that all students have inherent access to this principle, …

Political Socialization Through Education As A Form Of State Building, Aldo Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study is to observe the effect of political socialization through education as a tool for state building in three case studies. A background into the topics of political socialization and civic education is made. Civic education theory is applied to the state building experiences of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a qualitative review of the data available, findings are presented and discussed. Further commentary of the impact of such studies within the field of political socialization is also discussed.

The Relationship Between Divided Government And Real Per Capita Gross State Product, Adrian Christopher Villasenor

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper analyzes the relationship between divided government and real per capita gross state product in U.S. states using a panel study of data from all of the contiguous U.S. states, except Nebraska, for the period of 1990 to 2007. Some literature can be found on the relationship between divided government and economic growth at the national level. There is a lack of study of this relationship at the state level. Real per capita gross state product is the dependent variable in this study. Divided government, partisan control of the governor's office, partisan control of the state legislature, combined federal …

Gumil Hawaii Vision And Writing (Association Of Ilocano Writers In Hawaii): Potentially Disenfranchising?, Ma. Socorro Q. Perez

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A R&D Based Real Business Cycle Model, Ka Wai Terence Fung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The New Keynesian Real Business Cycle model with staggered price adjustment is augmented with a R&D producing sector. Two sources of economic shocks are separately considered, namely random participation (perturbances to value of alternative investment opportunities in another sector) and financial intermediation (shocks to the cost of raising capital in the financial intermediation market). We find that, when comparing to the baseline model, both random participation and financial intermediation models can explain pro-cyclical R&D spending. Additionally the investment oversensitivity problem is corrected. However, only the financial intermediation model is consistent with the observed finding that the volatility of R&D is …

Crisis In Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation And Changes In Generational Preferences, G. M. Cox

Public Affairs Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to determine if a downward trend exists in the number of people who are motivated to become police officers and to explore whether there has been a shift in motivational factors among the three major generational groups to serve as police officers. Furthermore, it hypothesized that incumbents in the police service, across generational lines, have changed in their public service motivation to serve as police officers.The research project utilized two survey instruments. The first survey focused on police chiefs and human resource directors. The primary objective for surveying this group was to determine …

Modernization And Contraception In Kenya From 1998 To 2008-2009., Diana Alaka Opollo

Social Work Dissertations

The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence contraceptive use in Kenya. More specifically, the study focuses on the determinants of membership in two categories of contraceptive use: modern contraception methods and other contraception methods. Additionally, the study will describe the differences in contraceptive use between 1998 and 2008-2009 and attempt to examine what factors caused and propelled changes. In order to explain the categorical variations, this study uses two theories: modernization theory and human capital theory. In describing changes between 1998 and 2008-2009, this study will examine both individual as well as societal factors related …

The Validation Of The Trauma Assessment For Young Children, Heidi Lynne Strickler

Social Work Dissertations

Young children experience a variety of traumatic experiences ranging from divorce and witnessing family violence, to living with parents who have addictive behaviors, to experiencing severe illness and injury, to experiencing population wide traumas, to experiencing physical or sexual abuse or other forms of child maltreatment. Young children between the ages of 3 and 7 are in the preoperational stage of cognitive development and consequently process these experiences in a different manner than adults. As a result, assessment measures need to take this cognitive processing into account and look at the children's views of their experiences. Psychosocial development is equally …

Determinants Of Modern Contraceptive Use In Cameroon From 1991 To 2004, Consoler Tenug Teboh

Social Work Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine the determinants of contraceptive use among women ages 15-49 of childbearing age (WCA) and to describe the compositional and processual changes that have taken place in Cameroon between 1991 and 2004. The study constituted a sample size of 3,871 and 10,656 15 to 49 year old women of childbearing from 1991 and 2004 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey datasets respectively. Regression results confirmed that there was considerable support for the hypotheses in 1991 and 2004 except for age at first marriage which was significant but contradictory to the direction proposed in the …