Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Book Review: Modeling The Composition Of Government Expenditure, Cameron A. Shelton

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Throughout the developed world, public finances dominate headlines. Given the widespread unsustainability of budget plans and the bitter attrition of retrenchment, they are like to do so for the next decade or more. As they have long done, different polities are likely to make different choices for how to spend dwindling public moneys. Understanding the sources of past heterogeneity—why countries have differed in their public spending—is thus of interest as we enter an age of fiscal adjustment. Messieurs Creedy and Moslehi offer us a technical primer laying the groundwork for modeling efforts.

Stabilization Policy In An Economy With Two Exchange Rate Regimes, Sven W. Arndt

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

This paper uses a flex-price open economy macro model to examine the effectiveness of U.S. monetary and fiscal policies when the dollar floats freely against the euro, but is fixed against the Chinese yuan. It is assumed that capital mobility is high between the U.S. and the Eurozone, but low between the U.S. and China. The model allows for short-run price flexibility and imperfect substitutability between domestic and foreign financial assets. The focus is on the implications for the efficacy of U.S. macro stabilization policies of China’s fixed-rate strategy. While many countries have pegged their currencies to the dollar, China …

Caught In A Poverty Trap? Testing For Single Vs. Multiple Equilibrium Models Of Growth, Cameron Shelton, Francisco R. Rodriguez

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

We look for permanent effects to per capita GDP from exogenous, temporary shocks. Our shocks are temporary changes to the export revenues of small, open economies. We find no evidence that even the largest of these temporary shocks, in excess of 9.7% of GDP, produce permanent effects to the growth path of per capita GDP. The inability to reject a single-equilibrium world with shocks of this magnitude suggests that multiple-equilibria, if they exist, are too widely separated to be policy-relevant. Current aid initiatives, which are of a similar magnitude, are not likely to deliver transition to a higher growth path.

The "Great Moderation" In A Dual Exchange Rate Regime, Sven W. Arndt

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

In the early nineties, the U.S. economy was emerging from a brief slump, monetary policy was easy, and economic activity recovered quickly during the decade, with GDP eventually reaching and then passing the consensus full employment level. Yet aggregate inflation remained surprisingly subdued. This moderation in prices at the aggregate level persuaded policy makers to allow the easy-money stance to continue in spite of the presence of inflation in non-tradables and in housing and construction in particular. This paper uses a flex-price, mixed-exchange rate model to examine some of the major contributing factors to economic developments in the two-decade period …

The Early Decision Option In College Admission And Its Impact On Student Diversity, Heather Antecol, Janet Kiholm Smith

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Colleges and universities that adopt early decision (ED) as an admission practice can generate additional resources by attracting wealthier students who make binding commitments to attend and forgo shopping for competing aid offers. An unanswered question is whether the resources generated from price discrimination are used by schools during the regular admission process to attract more diverse students. Using a sample of private national universities and liberal arts colleges, we model the choice to adopt an ED program and its impact on students’ racial and geographic diversity. We find that schools facing more competition for students are more likely to …

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Systematic Evaluation Of Variables That Contribute To Noncompliance: A Replication And Extension, Paige M. Mckerchar, Layla Abby

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The effects of time-out and escape extinction were examined with 2 preschoolers after we identified variables that may have resulted in noncompliance. Results of a functional analysis showed that noncompliance was highest in the escape condition for both participants. During the treatment evaluation, escape extinction resulted in greater reductions in noncompliance relative to time-out.

European "Transparency Instruments": Driving The Modernisation Of European Higher Education, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

This paper reviews the background to and assesses the usefulness of the various transparency instruments (e.g. college guides, accreditation, classification systems, benchmarking models, global rankings). While there are differences between these various “instruments”, they can all be considered as part of the growing trend for greater transparency, accountability and comparability which began with college guides or handbooks around 1970. It will then place the most recent European developments (e.g. U-Map and U-Multirank) and other EU-funded initiatives (Expert Group on the Assessment of University-based Research and the 3-M Project on Third Mission) within this context. In doing so, the paper will …

An Exploration Of Stepfamily Experiences Of Young People In Ireland., Audrey Mcgee

Dissertations

This qualitative research study conducted semi-structured interviews to explore the stepfamily experiences of ten individuals, aged eighteen to twenty four years. The findings indicated that the stepfamily brought challenges and a range of benefits to the participants’ life experiences. The key difficulties pertained to issues regarding conflict, lack of communication and complex challenges. The cited benefits of stepfamily experiences included improved financial resources, an additional parental figure, a sense of stability, opportunities for personal growth and the gaining of additional siblings. One significant finding of the study was the positive enduring bonds that some individuals made with stepparents and stepsiblings. …

Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

This essay examines the sociological contributions to anthrozoology, focusing on research from the United States that employs a symbolic interactionist perspective. In particular, the work of Arluke and Sanders highlights the importance of understanding the meanings that animals hold for people. Using a selective review of their research, this essay outlines how a focus on understanding meaning can inform anthrozoological research. Arluke’s research on animal abuse reveals how harm must be defined in context. Sanders’s research on canine–human relationships documents how people come to understand companion dogs as persons. Both bodies of work rely on careful observation and listening to …

Animal Research In Medical Sciences: Seeking A Convergence Of Science, Medicine, And Animal Law, John J. Pippin

Laws and Legislation Collection

As the intersection of animal law and animal research becomes congested, it is appropriate to establish the scientific context in which laws regarding the use and care of research animals will operate. There are at least three components of this context that set the terms of the debate: ethics, science, and the legal status of animals. The following discussion will not address ethics; not because it isn’t important, but because it exists along a spectrum of objective and subjective positions that are often unassailable by argument and data. I can assure you as a former animal researcher that even in …

Applying Specific Arts Activities To Improve The Quality Of Life For Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease And Dementia, Ann Christianson Tietyen

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

This study examined the effectiveness of a combination of seven different visual art activities, hat decoration, collage, embossing, painting, ceramics, photography, and printmaking, on quality of life for eight veterans with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The eight veterans were selected from the population of residents at the Thomson‐ Hood Veterans facility in Wilmore, Kentucky. These veterans were administered the seven art activities mentioned above, which ranged from less difficult to increasing difficulty. Three standard self‐reporting instruments, the Quality of Life‐AD, the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, and the Smiley‐Face Mood Assessment, as well as systematic observation and surveys were used to explore …

Performing Community: The Place Of Music, Race And Gender In Producing Appalachian Space, Deborah J. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Traditional, participatory music is a powerful medium through which people express and shape their ideas about identity, mobility, social relations, and belonging, and through which people are in turn shaped. The everyday cultural practices of playing, sharing, and dancing to traditional music, as well as discussions about the nature of traditional music and production of events involving traditional music, all work to construct the region called Appalachia.

Through this dissertation, I seek to answer some simple questions that have complicated answers involving place, identity, power, and social relations, with economic, social, and emotional ramifications: Who gets to be an Appalachian …

Epilepsy Postings On You Tube: Exercising Individuals’ And Organizations’ Right To Appear, Lawrence A. Kerson, Toba Schwaber Kerson

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Philosopher Hannah Arendt maintains that everyone has the right to appear in public as an embodied, singular individual. Because of the stigma attached to epilepsy, many with this condition are denied this right. Using grounded theory techniques, the authors analyze uploads of epilepsy on YouTube. The authors argue that personal uploads on YouTube are the only mass media examples in which those with epilepsy can exercise their right to appear without the interpretation of intermediaries. Emerging themes relating to ”the right to appear” allow social workers to deepen understanding of this and other devastating, often invisible and sometimes life-threatening illnesses.

Psychosocial Interventions For Adults Who Were Sexually Abused As Children (Protocol For A Cochrane Review), Jessica Shaffner Wilen, Julia H. Littell, Georgia Salanti

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Youth And Adult Perceptions Of Their Relationships Within Community-Based Youth Programs, Kenneth R. Jones, Daniel F. Perkins

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

This study examined perceptions and experiences of youth and adults engaged in various types of community-based youth-adult relationships. Involvement and interaction rating scales were completed by 108 participants involved in community groups from 12 communities in 10 states. The rating scale measured three constructs: youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth- adult interaction. Significant gender differences in participants’ perceptions were found on all three constructs, with females being more positive. Rural participants were found to be significantly more positive than urban participants on the construct of youth involvement. Finally, significant differences were found between all participants within categories of the youth-adult …

The Social Dimensions Of Sustainability And Change In Diversified Farming Systems, Christopher M. Bacon, Christy Getz, Sibella Kraus, Maywa Montenegro, Kaelin Holland

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Agricultural systems are embedded in wider social-ecological processes that must be considered in any complete discussion of sustainable agriculture. Just as climatic profiles will influence the future viability of crops, institutions, i.e., governance agreements, rural household and community norms, local associations, markets, and agricultural ministries, to name but a few, create the conditions that foster sustainable food systems. Because discussions of agricultural sustainability often overlook the full range of social dimensions, we propose a dual focus on a broad set of criteria, i.e., human health, labor, democratic participation, resiliency, biological and cultural diversity, equity, and ethics, to assess social outcomes, …

Graduate Social Work Students' Attitudes About The Use Of Social Networking Sites In Social Work And The Possible Ethical Implications Of Such Use, Christina Irene Dillon

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the study was to investigate graduate social work students' attitudes about the use of social media in social work and the possible ethical implications of such use. The study used an exploratory quantitative survey design with self-administered questionnaires. Data was collected from 56 graduate social work students at California State University, San Bernardino.

Communication Technologies And Their Effect On Adolescents, Fabian Valdez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to see how substantial the effect of technology has been and will be on current and future generations' relationships. Communication technology is widely available from urban centers to rural farmsteads, and this socializing via the internet has become commonplace in many circles. What society has yet to understand is how this move into the digital world is affecting the quality of interpersonal relationships.

Characteristics And Case Outcomes Of Families That Participate In Team Decision Making, Veronica Mendez Lopez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to identify the demographics, case characteristics, and outcomes of families that participate in Team Decision Making (TDM) within the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, Children's Services Division. The study used secondary data from Riverside County Child Welfare System/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) and Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) databases. Data was collected from 2253 families that first entered CWS and participated in TDM between the years 2008-2012.

Infancy And Beyond: Parents Supporting The Healthy Sexual And Emotional Development Of Their Children, Jennifer Anne Newman

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to bring parental awareness to the subject matter, expand their knowledge base, and increase the parenting skill set related to childhood sexual development. The goal of this project is to shed light on childhood sexual development in service of best practice parenting, ultimately leading to optimal child outcomes. Providing parents with the knowledge to foster the healthy sexual development of their children is the ultimate goal. The participants were recruited from the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) student body and were asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire.

Goodness, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

And what does the Lord require of me? To love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with God. -Micah 6:8

This quote from the Hebrew Bible has been one of my favorite quotes from sacred scripture in the Judea-Christian tradition for a very long time. It well summarizes how we should live. It well articulates how to live a good life. In this brief and simple statement in response to what God wants of us, it makes clear that there are three things that we should do throughout our lives if we want to follow the dictates of the God …

Development Of Camera Technology For Monitoring Nests, W. Andrew Cox, M. Shane Pruett, Thomas J. Benson, Scott J. Chiavacci, Frank R. Thompson Iii

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Photo and video technology has become increasingly useful in the study of avian nesting ecology. However, researchers interested in using camera systems are often faced with insufficient information on the types and relative advantages of available technologies. We reviewed the literature for studies of nests that used cameras and summarized them based on study objective and the type of technology used. We also designed and tested two video systems that we used for three nest predator and behavioral studies. We found 327 studies that recorded 255 bird species spanning 19 orders. Cameras were most commonly used to study nest predators …

Identification Of Sprague's Pipit Nest Predators, Stephen K. Davis, Stephanie L. Jones, Kimberly Dohms, Teslin Holmes

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Nest predation is the primary factor influencing grassland songbird reproductive success. Understanding factors driving spatial and temporal variation in nest survival requires that we identify the primary nest predators and factors influencing predator abundance and behavior. Predation events are rarely witnessed, and the identification of nest predators is inferred, often incorrectly, from nest remains or observations of potential predators. We used video photography to identify predators of Sprague's Pipit (Anthus spragueii) nests in Saskatchewan and Montana. We monitored 60 nests in Saskatchewan and 11 nests in Montana and documented at least ten different species preying upon eggs and …

Nest Defense- Grassland Bird Responses To Snakes, Kevin Ellison, Christine Ribic

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Predation is the primary source of nest mortality for most passerines; thus, behaviors to reduce the impacts of predation are frequently quantified to study learning, adaptation, and coevolution among predator and prey species. Video surveillance of nests has made it possible to examine real-time parental nest defense. During 1999-2009, we used video camera systems to monitor 518 nests of grassland birds. We reviewed video of 48 visits by snakes to 34 nests; 37 of these visits resulted in predation of active nests. When adult birds encountered snakes at the nest (n = 33 visits), 76% of the encounters resulted …

Knowledge Gained From Video-Monitoring Grassland Passerine Nests, P. J. Pietz, D.A. Granfors, C.A. Ribic, F. R. Thompson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the mid-1990s, researchers began to adapt miniature cameras to video-record activities :rt cryptic passerine nests in grasslands. In the subsequent decade, use of these video surveillance systems spread dramatically, leading to major strides in our knowledge of nest predation and nesting ecology of many species. Studies using video nest surveillance have helped overturn or substantiate many long-standing assumptions and provided insights on a wide range of topics. For example, researchers using video data have (1) identified an extensive and highly dynamic predator community in grasslands that varies both temporally (e.g., by time of day, nest age, season, year) and …

Hatching And Fledging Times From Grassland Passerine Nests, Pamela J. Pietz, D.A. Granfors, Todd Grant

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Accurate estimates of fledging age are needed in field studies to avoid inducing premature fledging or missing the fledging event. Both may lead to misinterpretation of nest fate. Correctly assessing nest fate and length of the nestling period can be critical for accurate calculation of nest survival rates. For researchers who mark nestlings, knowing the age at which their activities may cause young to leave nests prematurely could prevent introducing bias to their studies. We estimated fledging ages from grassland passerine nests monitored from hatching through fledging with miniature video cameras in North Dakota and Minnesota during 1996-2001. We compared …

Predatory Identity Can Explain Nest Predation Patterns, Jennifer L. Reidy, Frank Thompson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Knowledge of dominant predators is necessary to identify predation patterns and mitigate losses to nest predation, especially for endangered songbirds. We monitored songbird nests with time lapse infrared video cameras at Fort Hood Military Reservation, Texas, from 1997 to 2002 and 2005, and in Austin, Texas, during 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Predation was the most common source of nest failure. We identified 13 species of predators during 126 predation events. Snakes were the most frequent nest predator group (n = 48), followed by birds (n = 25), fire ants (n = 22), cowbirds (n = 15), …

Bird Productivity And Nest Predation In Agricultural Grasslands, C.A. Ribic, Michael Guzy, Travis Anderson, David Sample, Jamie Nack

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Effective conservation strategies for grassland birds in agricultural landscapes require understanding how nesting success varies among different grassland habitats. A key component to this is identifying nest predators and how these predators vary by habitat. We quantified nesting activity of obligate grassland birds in three habitats [remnant prairie, cool-season grass Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields, and pastures) in southwest Wisconsin, 2002-2004. We determined nest predators using video cameras and examined predator activity using track stations. Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) nested primarily in CRP fields, and Grasshopper Sparrow (A. savannarum) in …

Nocturnal Activity Of Nesting Shrubland And Grassland Passerines, Christy Slay, Kevin Ellison, C.A. Ribic, Kimberly Smith, Carolyn Schmitz

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Nocturnal behaviors and sleep patterns of nesting passerines remain largely undocumented in the field and are important to understanding responses to environmental pressures such as predation. We used nocturnal video recordings to describe activity and quantify behaviors of females with nestlings of four shrub land bird species and three grassland bird species (n = 19 nests). Among the shrubland birds, Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus), Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor), and Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) returned to the nest for the night at the same time, around sunset. Among the grassland birds, Eastern Meadowlark ( …