Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Rhetorical Modes Of Persuasion Used By Churches In The Proselytization Of Peoples Of Lower Economic Status In South Mississippi, Blake W. Houston

Honors Theses

This study provides insight into the persuasion techniques used by churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as the reactions of people of lower economic status to the persuasion techniques. Furthermore, this study provides a unique look at rhetorical persuasion strategies used by a religious organization. Results of this study indicate that church members relied on its own credibility, logical and emotional appeals to need, and appeals to humor to influence, it turned out, a person of lower economic status’ acceptance of persuasion via a peripheral route and being positively affected by the church’s credibility. The findings also suggest …

Impact Of Peer Praise Notes Issued During Recess: Effects On Office Disciplinary Referrals, Elise Ann Teerlink

Theses and Dissertations

School recess can be a problematic setting due to inadequate safety, supervision, and structure. Peer praise notes (PPNs) is a school-wide positive behavior support strategy that was implemented during recess to address these concerns at a Title I elementary school. An ABAB reversal design across all students was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of PPNs. Overall changes in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) in each phase of the design, an effect size that reflects a highly effective treatment, and a moderately strong and statistically significant negative correlation suggest that PPNs decreased ODRs. Results from social validity surveys completed by eight recess …

Is A Viable Theistic Program Of Psychological Research Possible?, Michael Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores whether a viable theistic program of psychological research is possible. The importance of this exploration has to do with naturalism's monopoly on psychological science, inasmuch as naturalism prevents other worldviews from competing fairly in psychology's scientific marketplace by controlling the criteria of psychological science. Because theism is naturalism's most complete rival, considering theism's scientific potential in psychology is crucial to dismantling naturalism's monopoly. Contrary to conventional wisdom, theism encompasses a unique set of understandings about the natural events that constitute the discipline of psychology. Therefore, a robust scientific conception of theism would change how psychological researchers understand …

Comparative Analysis Of Ceramics From Three Great Houses And One Small House Site In Southeast Utah, Rachel Marie Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Ceramics from three Utah great houses, Bluff, Cottonwood Falls, and Edge of the Cedars, were analyzed and compared with ceramics from Three Kiva Pueblo, which is not a great house site but was occupied contemporarily. Data on jar and bowl rim diameters were considered to understand great house feasting dynamics. Cooking jars with large rim diameters were more common at Three Kiva than they were at the great houses. This suggests that Three Kiva residents prepared large batches of food more frequently than great house residents. Distributions of Mancos Black-on-white bowl diameters were very similar at great houses and Three …

The Influence Of University-Related International Experience, Volunteer Service,And Service-Learning On Moral Growth , Parry F. Garff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis empirically tests whether university-related volunteer service, international experience, and service-learning have a positive moral impact on students and whether the peer reference group moderates this relationship. I use a measure of morality based on the recent work on values by Shalom Schwartz. A novel approach to measuring the social psychological phenomenon of the peer reference group is used in which the relative strength of the peer reference group is measured. The peer reference group was included in hypothesized models as a moderator between volunteer service, international experience, service-learning, and moral growth. Cross-sectional survey data of 633 engineering students …

Family Ties: A Profile Of Television Family Configurations, 2004–2013, Samantha Ann Wiscombe

Theses and Dissertations

This study provides a content analysis of television families portrayed in family-focused programs aired between 2004 and 2013. The analysis focuses on family configuration type, parent type and marital status, and the frequency and gender of children characters, as well as each program's genre, channel type, and target audience. The study uses cultivation theory as the basis of understanding and aims to anticipate television's potential effects and raise important questions that should be addressed in future studies. Results indicate that the traditional nuclear family configuration held the largest portion of the television family landscape. The study found an increase in …

Virtual Escapes And Intercultural Explorations: How Members Of Interpals Are Using Their Online Community As A Window To The World, Ryan Scott Bartlett

Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized in-depth, one-on-one interviews to examine the experiences, attitudes, and opinions, with regard to their use of the Internet for online intercultural communication (OIC), of a culturally diverse sample of 17 members of the global online social community, Interpals. The purpose of this study was threefold: first, the study sought to determine how OIC is shaping the intercultural perceptions of English-speaking Interpals members; second, the study sought to determine how OIC shapes and/or reinforces the cultural identities of English-speaking Interpals members; and finally, the study set out to examine the various ways that English-speaking Interpals members are using …

Republican Realignment: Building A Majority Coalition For Future Electoral Success, Anthony J. Del Signore

Honors College Theses

Since the election of President George H. W. Bush, Republican presidential candidates have had difficulty winning popular elections. Republican candidates lost five of the next six popular elections to their Democratic opponents. This paper investigates why. It outlines the growing demographic shift in electoral politics which is detrimental for future Republican success. The growing dissonance between non-white, non-male voters and the Republican Party hinders the Party’s success when its message does not resonate with a majority of voters.

Utilizing realignment theory as first espoused by political scientist V. O. Key, this paper analyzes nine essential battleground states and the growing …

Psychophysiological Predictors Of Working Alliance Among Treatment-Seeking Women With Complex Trauma Exposure, Ashley Doukas, Wendy D'Andrea, Jennifer Doran, Nnamdi Pole

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research has established that trauma-related symptoms may impede the formation of a strong working alliance (i.e., interpersonal connection, trust, and shared goals between therapist and client). As the alliance is critical in trauma-focused therapy, we studied how clients' pretherapy factors, including symptoms and psychophysiological arousal, predict treatment alliance. We examined symptoms and physiological responses in 27 women who had exposure to extreme interpersonal violence; all of whom were enrolled in therapy. All had symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. Clients completed measures of working alliance and were assessed before and after treatment on measures of symptoms and …

The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique Of Lgbt Characters And Themes In Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies, Robert Dallas Byrd Jr.

Dissertations

This analysis of primetime situational comedies feature LGBTQ characters argues that through heteronormative and homonormative constructions of sexuality, race, gender, and class, many LGBTQ people are rendered invisible in the mainstream. Through discourse analysis, the study describes how these programs work to normalize gay and lesbian identity, which then resembles the dominant heterosexuality, aiding in the advancement of white, middle class gays, who privatize sexuality and mimic dominant conventions of gender, race, sexuality, and class in the public sphere. This research is important in understanding the American public’s most recent shifts in public opinion on issues of marriage equality and …

The Effects Of Language Complexity On Natural And Emotion Concept Formation In Early Language Learners, Stephanie Eileen Jett

Dissertations

The present study investigated the role of language complexity in natural and emotion concept formation ability in young children (two- to five-year-olds). Language complexity was measured by selections from the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Childhood Development II, and concept formation was assessed at three levels of abstraction. The natural concepts were presented as two alternative discriminations on a touch-screen computer, as follows: subordinate level (lions versus tigers), basic level (cats versus dogs), and superordinate level (animals versus nonanimals). The following emotion categories were discriminated: subordinate level (anger versus sadness), basic level (positive [happiness and positive surprise] versus negative [anger …

Comprehending Male And Female Levels Of Engagement In Subsets Of The National Survey Of Student Engagement: Explicating The Dynamics Of Gender Role Conflict As A Mediating Factor For Males, Jacob Glen Arndt

Dissertations

Male enrollment and graduate rates in higher education have paled in comparison to female achievement since the early 1980’s, and explanations as to the reasons behind why males are falling behind have not been fruitful in addressing these issues. One area that has received very little attention in the literature is the role that gender role conflict may play in male student performance.

The purpose of this research is to explore male and female engagement levels, while attempting to understand if levels of male gender role conflict are a mediating factor of engagement for men. This study utilized the three …

The Relationship Between Racial Ambiguity And Self-Concept In Multiracial Lndividuals, James R. Jobe

Dissertations

The present study examined the relationship between racial ambiguity and self-concept in multiracial individuals. Research as to the experiences of multiracial people is limited both in frequency and in scope. As multiracial individuals continue to grow in number, understanding their unique experiences will become more important to social scientists (e.g., psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists) across disciplines. The current study examined two hypotheses and explored a series of additional relationships. The theoretical framework that was utilized for this study was Symbolic Interaction Theory. This theory provided an effective way to understand how people use and make meaning of their surrounding social contexts …

Three Essays On Gender Differences On Risk Preferences And Credit Market Constraints, Jyoti Rai

Dissertations

The disadvantages that women face in the financial market hamper their social and economic well-being. These disadvantages may arise from their own risk preferences or from financial market. The aim of this dissertation is to examine different aspects of the disadvantages that women face in the U.S Financial Market. In that light, I present three essays that analyze gender differences in risk preferences and credit market constraints. I use the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) data for all my empirical analysis.

In the first essay, I examine whether women exhibit greater financial risk aversion than men using attitudinal and behavioral …

The Neurobehavioral Consequences Of Gestational And Chronic Atrazine Exposure In Male And Female Sprague Dawley Rats, Jennifer L. Walters

Dissertations

The adverse health risks of exposure to the herbicide, atrazine, in humans are not fully understood. Although numerous studies have demonstrated atrazine to be an endocrine disrupter, the neurobehavioral consequences of atrazine exposure have not been thoroughly examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of environmentally-relevant levels

of gestational followed by continued chronic atrazine exposure on motor function, learning and memory, anxiety, and striatal dopamine content in rodents. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were treated by gavage with 100 µg/kg atrazine (ATZ low), 10 me/kg atrazine (ATZ high), or vehicle on

gestational day l through postnatal day …

Enhancing Training Motivation In The Public Sector In South Korea: The Value Of A Contingency Approach, Yong Hyun Kim, Ong, Madeline, Jang Hoon Chung

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Public sector organisations which invest in trainingprogrammes care about their employees’ successful application of learntknowledge and skills in the workplace. The present study finds that leadersupport positively influences public sector employees’ training motivation,specifically the motivation to transfer learnt knowledge and skills to theirjobs. However, this positive relationship is moderated by employees’ priorknowledge of training content. When employees have high levels of priorknowledge of training content, leader support is not a significant influence ontheir motivation to transfer learnt knowledge and skills to their jobs. Thesefindings are derived from a survey of 335 South Korean government officials whorecently participated in a training …

On The Limitations Of Using Situational Judgement Tests To Measure Interpersonal Skills: The Moderating Influence Of Employee Anger, Jerel E. Slaughter, Michael S. Christian, Nathan P. Podsakoff, Evan F. Sinar, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Many authors have suggested that situational judgment tests (SJTs) are useful tools for assessing applicants because SJT items can be written to assess a number of job-related knowledges, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs). However, SJTs may not be appropriate for measuring certain KSAOs for some applicants. We posit that using SJTs to measure interpersonal skills may lead to invalid inferences about applicants with higher levels of angry hostility (AH), and thus, AH should moderate the relation between interpersonally oriented SJTs and job performance. Three studies, using samples of healthcare workers (n = 225), police officers (n = 54), and …

Unpacking The Multicultural Experience-Creativity Relationship, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Was Singapore Airlines Liable For Business-Class Seats Sold At Economy Rates?, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Much has been reported about Singapore Airlines (“SIA”) mistakenly charging economy rates for around 900 business-class seats due to a computer input error. Yesterday, SIA said that it would honour those tickets at economy rates, reversing its previous position that it would not, and closing the episode on a note of goodwill. This blog entry explores the legal analysis behind the episode on the assumption that Singapore contract law applies, so as to maintain its general relevance to a Singaporean audience and its specific application to online retailers concerned about making similar pricing errors. Of course, the analysis would differ …

The Determinants Of The Salary In Nba And The Overpayment In The Year Of Signing A New Contract, Nuoya Li

All Theses

Based on lots of previous research, the salary in National Basketball Association is determined by both personal characteristics and on-court performance. However, which kind of performance seems more important? Furthermore, does signing a new contract have any incentive or effect on the player's performance which makes the player be overpaid or underpaid in the year of signing the contract? And which kind of contracts and what kind of players tend to be overpaid? In my paper I introduce the on-court performance, personal characteristics and salary. Then I build a connection between them and run 2 regressions to analyze the determinants …

Male Marriage Wage Premium And Marriage Market Competition, Da Deng

All Theses

Three main hypotheses are proposed to explain the male marriage premium. They are marriage selection hypothesis, male-female labor specialization hypothesis and simply discrimination. This paper tries to test if marriage selection hypothesis explains the male marriage premium. The effect of marriage selection, which means males with higher productivity have higher possibility to be chosen into marriage, should be positively correlated to the marriage market competition level in the area and thus in area with higher marriage market competition, a higher density of high productivity males should be observed among married males. On the other hand, the labor specialization is a …

Charitable Donations: An Analysis Of The Differences In Donation Patterns By Income Level, Elizabeth Ficklin

All Theses

This thesis examines the possibility of grouping charitable donors by income level to develop a set of models that can more accurately predict charitable donations. Previous work is inconsistent in predicting charitable donations. This work helps to determine if these inconsistencies are a result of methodological differences between researchers, or if group membership is an important factor in predicting charitable donations as suggested by some researchers. This research only found four variables that were common to all three income groups, frequency of church attendance, family income, age, and years of education. Results show that additional variables can serve as predictors …

Satisfaction With Work-Family Balance Among Employed Graduate Students: Why Support May Matter More Than Conflict, Brooke Allison

All Theses

Previous research suggests that work-family conflict is associated with negative attitudinal and health outcomes. However, few empirical studies have examined the ways in which employee work-family conflict may also decrease another important attitude, satisfaction with work-family balance. Drawing upon role theory and the Conservation of Resources (COR) model, the current paper examined prospective antecedents and outcomes of perceived satisfaction with work-family balance among 523 graduate student employees. Results indicated that work-family conflict mediated and moderated the demands-satisfaction relationship, and that mentor work-family support affected how work-family conflict influenced satisfaction with work-family balance. Results suggest that graduate student satisfaction with work-family …

Associations Between Travel Behavior And The Academic Performance Of University Students, Qianying Wu

All Theses

Purpose: Different travel behavior, particularly the choice of commuting modes, will have different impacts on students. On one hand, it has been suggested that active commuting (walking, cycling, and taking transit) will add routine daily exercise. Moreover, health benefits (improved cognitive function and reduced anxiety) from physical activity might increase students' academic performance. Nevertheless, too much physical activity may reduce the time for students to study. Travel time may shorten study time, and study time has been identified as positively contributing to academic performance. Considering that there is limited research examining travel behavior and academic achievement of university students, this …

Liminal, Nina Kawar

All Theses

Throughout life everyone experiences both physical and psychological pains and adversities. In time, the body, mind and spirit are capable of healing. It is within this liminal space between infliction and renewal that the self endures an elusive process that is part of the human condition. Within my installation I have constructed a metaphor for the physical and psychological stages of healing through form, materials, color and process. The spatial environment evokes the literal and metaphorical notion of restoration through a visual, olfactory and physical experience. As the viewer navigates the space, it is the fragmentation and suggestion of form …

Measuring The Environmental Cost Of Hypocrisy, Arthur J. Caplan, Charles Sims, Elliot Jordan Anderson

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

This paper provides an example of how to estimate the marginal environmental cost of hypocrisy using revealed-behavior and self-identification survey responses from coffee drinkers regarding their use of cardboard and plastic (i.e., non-reusable) cups. Coffee shops provide a convenient microcosm for assessing the impact of hypocritical behavior because of (1) readily available, cheap substitutes (i.e., reusable coffee cups), (2) a relatively accurate estimate of the environmental (in particular, carbon) cost associated with using non-reusable cups, and (3) the ability to delineate hypocritical behavior by observing a choice with relatively few potential confounding factors. Hypocritical behavior is measured as a geometric …

On Bias In The Estimation Of Structural Break Points, Liang Jiang, Xiaohu Wang, Jun Yu

Research Collection School Of Economics

Based on the Girsanov theorem, this paper obtains the exact Önite sample distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of structural break points in a continuous time model. The exact Önite sample theory suggests that, in empirically realistic situations, there is a strong Önite sample bias in the estimator of structural break points. This property is shared by least squares estimator of both the absolute structural break point and the fractional structural break point in discrete time models. A simulation-based method based on the indirect estimation approach is proposed to reduce the bias both in continuous time and discrete time models. …

Structural Change Estimation In Time Series Regressions With Endogenous Variables, Junhui Qian, Liangjun Su

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose to apply the group fused Lasso to estimate time series models with endogenous regressors and an unknown number of breaks. It can correctly determine the number of breaks and estimate the break dates asymptotically. Simulations and applications are given.

Business Time Sampling Scheme And Its Applications To Semi-Martingale Hypothesis And Estimating Integrated Volatility, Yingjie Dong, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Executive Overreach By Minority Governments, Madhav S. Aney, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection School Of Economics

A provision in the Indian constitution allows the executive to make laws in the event oneof the two houses of parliament is not in session. This provision was intended to allow theexecutive to act in case there’s an immediate legislative necessity and the parliament cannotbe convened. Using a bargaining model with asymmetric information we show how partieswithin the parliament may reach an agreement on legislations when the ruling party does notcommand a majority (minority government). The model makes predictions about lawmakingpatterns by the legislature when the parliament is in session, and ordinances by the executivewhen the parliament is not in …