Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009: An Investigation Into The Determinants Of Funds Awarded To The States, Kaitlin Bromann

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is one of the largest government responses to an economic crisis in the history of the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of the total funds awarded to states by federal agencies in the Recovery Act. A review of budgetary theory, distributive politics, and electoral vote maximization theory provides context of historical determinants of resource allocation by the federal government.

Then from this literature I develop a model including economic and political variables. The dependent variable in my model is the total funds awarded to the …

Fuel Price, State Taxation, And Fleet Mileage Reduction, Kris Harmon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This paper utilizes several models to gauge the annual impact of state gasoline taxes and pump prices on the vehicle miles traveled in the United States. Regression models in first differences were used to analyze annual changes in the variables. The models indicate that annual increases in pump prices correspond to significant decreases in mileage, while state fuel taxes do not significantly impact mileage. With local, state, and federal taxation only composing 12 percent of the pump price of fuel, the impact of changes to these taxes are diminished. This suggests that if policymakers choose to adopt a policy of …

Analyzing The Retroreflectivity Mandate, Karyn L. Leverenz

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The purpose of this analysis is to examine the costs and benefits of the federal mandate that requires local agencies to assess, replace and maintain the retroreflectivity of all traffic signs that are on a public road as outlined in 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 655, Subpart F (FHWA, 2011). It is also a requirement that all signs be inventoried along with their GPS locations for easier maintenance in the future.

Sign retroreflectivity maintenance is important because crash rates at night are much higher than they are during the day despite there being fewer cars on the road. …

An Exploratory Study Of Parking In A Lexington Neighborhood, Ed Mccarthy

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study looked to test parking utilization rates in the Linden Walk, Aylesford Place and Transylvania Park (300 Block) neighborhood, while also studying resident perceptions of parking. It was concluded that Transylvania Park’s Residential Permit Parking resulted in underutilization of parking, while Linden Walk and Aylesford Place’s free on-street parking resulted in overutilization of parking due to spillover from the University of Kentucky. The purpose of the study was to determine if Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government should invest the resources to conduct an official parking study of the aforementioned Lexington neighborhood.

A comparison of research findings from this neighborhood against …

Policy Outcomes In Indonesia Before And After Democratization, Aung Kyaw Phyo

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Different types of regimes face different political situations and have different incentives to pursue different policies. In this paper, I am examining whether there are any differences in economic and social policy outcomes under democracy and dictatorship in Indonesia. The study is divided into two periods. The first period covers the authoritarian rule of President Suharto(1966 to 1998) and the second period covers the new democratic government(1999 to 2010). I set out by analyzing the rules used in distinguishing democracy from dictatorship and discussing the process by which Suharto's regime was categorized as a dictatorship and the Indonesian government after …

Federal Tax Policy And Charitable Giving: Revisiting The 1985 Study By Charles T. Clotfelter, Mary Catherine Tinnon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study was inspired and given its basic research design by a study conducted in 1985 by Charles T. Clotfelter, which sought to explain charitable giving by both individuals and corporations in relation to federal tax policy. Clotfelter determined that federal tax policy did influence charitable giving by corporations. The issue to be addressed here is, do the Clotfelter findings still hold true today?

The focus of this current study is on charitable giving by corporations only and the dataset was built from the same IRS Statistics of Income that Clotfelter used. Additional data were added from the Bureau of …

Internal Consistency Of The Self-Perception Profile For Children: Using Covariance Structure Modeling To Overcome The Limitations Of Cronbach's Α, Ian Cero

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Self-perception is linked to a variety of psychosocial outcomes and its measurement has become a priority across a several disciplines. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPP-C) is commonly utilized to measure both global self worth and several important sub-domains of self-perception. Although much research has suggested this instrument possesses good internal consistency, previous investigations have primarily employed Cronbach's α; to estimate the stability of responding across items. This represents an important limitation, as α; is vulnerable to mis-estimation in the presence of correlated errors and non-τ-equivalent indicators, neither of which have been ruled out for the SPP-C. The present investigation …

The Backpack Food Program's Effects On Self-Reported Hunger And On-Task Behavior, Meghan E. Ecker

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Variations of the BackPack Food Program are implemented in cities and states throughout the nation, however little is known regarding the effects that providing this food has on student performance in school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the BackPack Food Program's effectiveness in combating student's hunger over the weekends and school breaks, thus decreasing student's self-reported hunger levels. Additionally, this study attempted to analyze the program's effects on student's on-task behavior in the classroom. Over the course of three semesters, hunger surveys were evaluated for 82 students and observations of on-task behavior were recorded for 52 students. …

Trust In The Mentor-Youth Relationship And Its Correlates With Frequency Of Contact, Parental Involvement, And Academic Improvements, Emily Jane Ness

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Community mentoring programs target at-risk youth with the aim of providing them with a positive, stable adult presence in their lives. Relationship quality of the mentors and mentees has been linked to multiple external factors and youth outcomes. This study investigated mentor-mentee relationship quality (i.e., youth's perceived trust in his or her mentor) and the associations between the amount of time the pair spent together per week, parents' level of involvement in planning activities between their child and their mentor, and youth's improvement in commitment to learning. The correlations between trust and time, and between trust and commitment to learning …

Teachers' Perspectives On Bullying: Understanding Educational Interventions, Ryan Dennis Buch

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

During the last number of years, middle school bullying has received wide spread attention across numerous media sources. Coverage of the most troubling accounts of bullying have even led to criminal charges and the introduction of legislation against acts of bullying. A substantial body of research has shown that bullying leads to negative social and emotional outcomes for both the victims and the perpetrators of such acts. The same body of research also shows how much difficulty there is for teachers and other school personnel who attempt to control these fluid acts of aggression on a daily basis in and …

We're "Fed" Up And Tea'd Off: Frame Analysis Of The Tea Party Movement, Daniel Peter Flaaen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a new wave sweeping American politics. Beginning in 2009 as the people's movement, the Tea Party is taking American politics by storm. Hoping to change the way the American public thinks about American politics, the Tea Party is using some innovative tactics. Utilizing the only official Tea Party publication, an analysis of the publication's first year was done to identify the frames that were being put forth by the organization to gain support. By using the cross over frame, the us vs. them frame and the threat frame, the Tea Party hoped to resonate with a large population …

Exploring The Two-Year College Faculty Work Experience: The Active Job, The Evolving Institution And The Changing Effort-Reward Bargain, Jacobs Wayne Hammond

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

While significant research describes the occupational experiences of four-year college and university faculty, two-year college faculty have received little attention from scholars. This study enters the existing void. Fourteen two-year college faculty members from a variety of institutions in Minnesota were interviewed utilizing a semi-structured depth interview technique. Questions were derived from sociological and interdisciplinary literature pertaining to the higher education faculty experience. Two-year college faculty were found to hold active jobs, work in evolving institutions and face a decreasing effort-reward bargain. Faculty were also found to be susceptible to experiencing role strain, stress derived from group-decision making processes and …

The Hyperactive Fan: Characteristics Of Online Fantasy Football Players, Christopher Patera

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines fantasy football players and their leagues because sports are a large and influential aspect of society, with fantasy football as an emerging form of sport spectatorship that has recently gained widespread popularity. From leagues we can learn more about the social identity of sports fans and the meaning behind identifying oneself as a fantasy football player. I also examine the presence of masculinities within fantasy sports along with their influence with respect to the significant population of women affiliated with sports. Further, I explore emotional elements that are embedded within sports and how those factors apply to …

Gender Differences In Cigarette Smoking: The Relationship Between Social Perceptions Of Cigarette Smokers And Smoking Prevalence, Juhee Woo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research is a descriptive study of gender differences in cigarette smoking. By comparing U.S college students with Korean college students, the researcher seeks to examine if there is a relationship between the extent of gender difference in social perceptions of cigarette smokers and the extent of gender difference in smoking prevalence. Results show that female smokers are more negatively evaluated than male smokers in both countries but the gender differences are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Likewise, the gender differences in smoking prevalence are greater in the Korean sample than the U.S sample. Consequently, this …

An Investigation Of Therapist Gender In The Intake Evaluation Of Male And Female Clients At College Counseling Centers, Harry Pitsikalis

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined gender as a potential contributing factor in the increase in psychopathology at college counseling centers. As university and college counseling centers are moving away from a developmental model and toward the medical model, the effect of gender and the increased use of the DSM-IVTR could influence the perception in an increase of psychopathology by mirroring DSM-IVTR base rates. This study attempted to discover if gender influenced therapists to diagnosed depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and adjustment disorders differently amongst the male and female clients. Results indicated that neither male therapists nor female therapists diagnosed depression, substance abuse …

The Impact Of Minority Faith On The Experience Of Mental Health Services: The Perspectives Of Devotees Of Earth Religions, Alison Niblick

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In response to an identified need in the psychological literature for research on minority religion, especially earth-centered religion, this dissertation was developed to 1) present an overview of the three main branches of contemporary earth religion, 2) illuminate the realities of minority religious identity in the United States of America, 3) collect data regarding the demographic and identity variables of devotees of earth centered religion, and 4) solicit feedback from the earth religious community regarding its understanding of psychological distress, preferred ways of coping with distress, and perceptions and experiences of professional mental health services. A total of 64 self-identified …

Focused Brief Group Therapy Treatment Manual, Jennifer Elaine Lotz

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Focused Brief Group Therapy (FBGT) was developed in a college counseling center in order to meet the mental health needs of the student population effectively within an 8 session limit. The model was developed to address pragmatic concerns by integrating best practice (AGPA, ASGW) and the local scientist model (practice based evidence). The goal of FBGT is measurable change in a focused area of interpersonal distress. The interpersonal circumplex, an empirically derived and scientifically validated model of interpersonal functioning, is used. Assessment is used to inform and guide treatment as well as to measure change. The model has been honed …

Development And Evaluation Of An Ecological Display For The Detection, Evaluation, And Treatment Of Cardiovascular Risk, Timothy Ryan Mcewen

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Ecological interface design (EID; Vicente & Rasmussen, 1992) is a discipline that emphasizes the necessity of understanding the laws and constraints of a domain in order to make meaningful design decisions. We applied EID principles to create an ecological interface aimed at helping physicians with the detection, evaluation, and treatment of cardiovascular disease risk (specifically for hypertension and hyperlipidemia) and then evaluated it in two exploratory studies. In the first study, twenty-three internal medical residents participated viewed data from twelve patients (in six blocks) in a repeated measures study that measured which risk factors participant felt required follow-up and if …

Birth Spacing And Family Planning Uptake In Pakistan: Evidence From Falah, Arshad Mahmood

Reproductive Health

The Population Council was the lead implementing agency for the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project in Pakistan. The project’s main objectives were to achieve a 10 percent increase in the use of moden contraceptives, to equip 80 service delivery points to provide family planning services, and to ensure birth-spacing understanding and ways to achieve it by three-quarters of the target population. The main conclusion of this research is that a sharp uptake of family planning is possible in a relatively short time, if certain investments are made to ensure better communication and greater access to quality family …

The Impact Of Water Supply And Sanitation On Child Health: Evidence From Egypt, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding, Hanan Radwan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, this working paper investigates whether access to improved sources of water and sanitation is an effective “treatment” for the incidence of diarrhea among children under five years of age in Egypt. Both components of the study indicate that widespread access to improved sources of drinking water and toilet facilities exists across Egypt; however, service quality remains a significant problem in many areas. In particular, cuts in water supply—and the resulting practice of storing water—are quite common; a sizable percentage of flush toilet facilities are not connected to the public sewer system; and …

Contraceptive Use Dynamics In Pakistan 2008-09, Arshad Mahmood, Syeda Saman Naz

Reproductive Health

This report looks at contraceptive use dynamics in Pakistan, focusing on contraceptive discontinuation, method failure, and contraceptive switching, as well as the reasons for discontinuation. The study found that almost one-third of discontinuations were due to side effects followed by one-fifth of them by the method failure. Side effects were the most common reason for discontinuing modern methods (IUDs and hormonal methods), while failure was the most common reasons for discontinuing barrier and traditional methods (condom, rhythm, withdrawal). Based on the findings of this study, this report suggests that better training of health providers and better information and counseling of …

Getting Real With Youth-Friendly Services In Africa: Report Of A Satellite Session At The Xix International Aids Conference, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

Overview of an AIDS 2013 satellite session which aimed to engage young people with and react to the study findings and in the light of the findings, discuss and share their perspectives, experiences and concerns about how responsive existing policies, programs and services are to the HIV prevention and impact mitigation needs of young Africans.

Assessment Of Management Information System [Mis] Of National Program For Family Planning And Primary Health Care [Lhw Program], Arshad Mahmood, Syeda Saman Naz

Reproductive Health

This assessment by the Population Council is based on a random sample of 154 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) from three provinces of Pakistan. The aim is to strengthen the routine LHW-MIS (management information system) in the districts so that it can contribute to the improvement of the district health system by providing reliable evidence. Further, based on the findings of the current assessment, the districts managers/decisionmakers should be able to continuously improve the LHW-MIS through applying a problem-solving approach. The report details recommendations for program management, including: 1) providing all necessary MIS tools to each LHW; 2) providing basic equipment …

Situation Analysis Of Behavior Change Communication Activities In Bihar: A Step Towards Developing A Comprehensive Bcc Strategy, M.E. Khan, Isha Bhatnagar, Avishek Hazra, Mukesh Kumar

Reproductive Health

A situation analysis undertaken by the Population Council in Bihar, India assessed a number of contributing factors to a behavior change communication (BCC) strategy. Social norms and practices can be changed if appropriate messages are delivered through a combination of communication channels including mass, mid-, and other media, coupled with improved interactions between frontline healthcare workers and target populations at family and community levels. The analysis notes that effective BCC strategy should be measured in terms of actual behavior change. Impact of BCC activities can be measured by immediate outputs and intermediate and final outcomes depending on implementation duration. The …

An Assessment Of Individual And Institutional Research Utilization By Policy-Makers And Programme Managers At State And National Levels In Nigeria, National Agency For The Control Of Aids

HIV and AIDS

This report undertakes a systematic assessment of the need for evidence by decision-makers working on HIV and AIDS funding and policymaking, and implementing organizations at the national and subnational levels in Nigeria. The assessment identifies barriers and constraints to data use, identifies best practices, and offers recommendations for the design and prioritization of strategic approaches to address barriers and constraints in data use and production. Tools to monitor the adoption of evidence in policy and practice are also offered. The need for evidence-based practice in the national response to HIV and AIDS has been widely acknowledged and incorporated into policy …

A Life Course Perspective On Social Protection Among The Working Poor Of Egypt, Maia Sieverding

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper employs a generational comparison to examine how increasing labor market informality has affected how poor households in Egypt gain access to and rely on social protection schemes. The results indicate that among the generation of Egyptians approaching retirement, the expansion of public employment and a policy allowing easy access to survivors’ benefits among female dependents served as important means of increasing social insurance coverage. However, many young households do not have even one member enrolled in the public pension system. Labor market instability and informality have also lowered the perceived value of social protection among this generation. The …

Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling: Results From A Baseline Survey In Rural Tanzania, Eunice N. Muthengi, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This research brief describes girls' experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in the Tabora region of Tanzania. Research shows that a considerable proportion of girls married early, have only limited discussions on health issues with their spouses, experience intimate partner violence, and have high unmet need for family planning. Tabora Development Foundation Trust, in partnership with the Population Council, is implementing strategies—including community awareness, support to get girls back into school and keep them there, and conditional transfers—to increase marriage age in the rural Tabora region. The goal is to identify effective, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to increase …

Evaluation Of The Population-Level Impact Of The Maternal Health Voucher Program In Uganda, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team

Reproductive Health

This report is based on an evaluation of the population-level impact of the maternal health voucher program in Uganda focusing on targeting of beneficiaries, health service utilization (four or more antenatal care visits, facility delivery, and postnatal care), out-of-pocket expenses, and equity. It further reviews the findings from an independent verification of the program that was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited in 2010. The impact of the program on the outcomes considered is determined through a simple comparison of changes in proportions between intervention and comparison groups before and after the program started as well as estimation of multilevel random-intercept logit …

Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council

Reproductive Health

This is a report on a technical advisory meeting that brought together 45 participants from the five country programs being evaluated through the Reproductive Health Voucher and Accreditation (V&A) project, which is implemented by the Population Council with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This group met for the first time as a newly emerging “voucher community” to learn from the successes and challenges faced in this early growth phase of emerging V&A programs that deliver maternal and reproductive health services. In addition to standardizing the collection of performance and financing metrics, who would use such data …

Leadership Des Filles Et Mentoring, Karen Austrian

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

GIRLS FIRST! Perspectives de programmation centrée sur les filles est une série de cinq comptes rendus thématiques qui fournissent des instantanés de la base de connaissances sur la programmation des adolescentes. Ils abordent les cinq priorités stratégiques définies dans la Déclaration conjointe des Nations Unies de 2010, «Intensifier l’action menée pour promouvoir les droits des adolescentes» et fournissent des recommandations fondées sur des preuves. Ce bilan politique décrit meilleurs moyens de cultiver les leaders féminines.

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GIRLS FIRST! Perspectives on Girl-Centered Programming is a set of five thematic reviews that provide snapshots of the knowledge base on adolescent girls programming. …