Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Motivating Factors For College Students Involvement In Club Sports, Ryan Thomas Houselog

Graduate Research Papers

College club sports offer many positive benefits to students. Some of those benefits include: (a) an opportunity for college students to belong to highly organized and skilled teams; (b) development of good time management skills with multiple commitments, such as balancing time between a sport and school; (c) establishing an understanding of what it takes to be committed to something and the effort needed to be successful; (d) development and improvement of athletic skills; (e) social opportunities; and (f) an extension of one’s identity development. On average, 78% of college campuses offer club sports through the Rec Sports Department (Nirsa …

From College To The Nfl Playoffs: An Analysis Of Individual Contribution To Team Success, Elizabeth Mastalio

Honors Program Theses

This study focuses on NFL teams that have made the NFL playoffs following the 2007-2011 seasons. These teams will be analyzed to investigate relationships between characteristics of the college career of the top players on each of these teams and the teams’ achievements in the NFL playoffs.

Excavation And Stratigraphic Analysis Of A Late Nineteenth Century Boiler House, Ariel Marie Williams

Honors Program Theses

An archaeological excavation was carried out in November of 2013 on the block of 13th and Tremont Streets in the city of Cedar Falls, Blackhawk County, Iowa. The site examined was home to a late nineteenth century boiler house that powered several greenhouses on the property. Greenhouses occupy a distinctive industrial niche and have rarely been studied using an archaeological approach. The goals in excavating at the boiler house site were to determine what formation processes led to the creation of the stratigraphy as initially observed by the property owner, and what the layers and artifacts recovered from them tell …

What Variables Explain Differences In Coaching Salaries For Division I Women's Sports?, Tyler Lange

Honors Program Theses

This paper examines the possibility of discrimination based on gender and/or race in NCAA Division-I coaching. High-profile male coaches earn higher salaries than female coaches, which could reflect labor-market discrimination. This paper investigates the determinants of coaches’ compensation. Because the number of female coaches in men’s sports is trivial, this study is limited to women’s sports. Using salary data from the 2012 fiscal year for public universities in three Division-I conferences – Missouri Valley, Big 10, and Big 12 – I look at a variety of revenue and non-revenue generating women’s sports. I model head coaches’ annual salaries as the …

Study Abroad: An Essential Part Of Language Acquisition, Emillie Kenne

Honors Program Theses

The present qualitative study will demonstrate and provide evidence from personal interviews that other students had similar invaluable experiences after studying abroad. Two direct quotes from these interviews portray the impact studying abroad had on them. Lisa, a participant in the present study, stated, “It is impossible to explain to someone the emotions of living in a strange place with strange people and learning to love them in such a short amount of time.” Another participant, Rachel, expressed that, “You have lived experiences nobody here can ever understand, and you made memories you can try to share with people, and …

Idiots Savants, Retarded Savants, Talented Aments, Mono-Savants, Autistic Savants, Just Plain Savants, People With Savant Syndrome, And Autistic People Who Are Good At Things: A View From Disability Studies, Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

People identified as idiot savants have long comprised an identifiable group (a high level of skill in the context of perceived mental deficiency) whose story has mostly been told by psychiatrists and psychologists within a medicalized model of disability that assumes deficiency and seeks remediation and normalization. More recently, people identified as savants have become common figures of literary and cinematic representation. Both of these narrative frames have enfreaked them as alien Others, whose gifts and disabilities place them outside the normal run of human intelligence and creativity. With a focus on music, this article tries to see through these …

Proceedings Of The 1st Annual Cuny Games Festival, Robert O. Duncan, Joe Bisz, Francesco Crocco, Carlos Hernandez, Kathleen Offenholley, Leah Potter, Maura A. Smale, Cuny Games Network

Publications and Research

Proceedings of the CUNY Games Conference, held from January 17-18, 2014, at the CUNY Graduate Center and Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Topics in Game Design - Teaching with Virtual and Augmented Realities - Writing with Games - Breaking the Magic Circle: Games & Real Life - Interactive Game Design (What's Your Game Plan? - Designing Ethical Games - Games and Gender - Gaming English Language and Literature - Game, Narrative, Literacy - Teaching with Games - Games, Storytelling, and Narrative - Games and STEM - Learning by Design - Students as Game Designers - Experiencing Reality in Popular Games …

Black Gay Genius Interview With Lisa C. Moore, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

An interview with the publisher of Redbone Press, the small press, black lesbian owned and operated, that republished the archival material of Joseph Beam, excavating the work of the gay black male icon and writer of Brother to Brother and In the Life.

Measuring Benchmark Damages In Antitrust Litigation, Justin Mccrary, Daniel L. Rubinfeld

Faculty Scholarship

We compare the two dominant approaches to estimation of benchmark damages in antitrust litigation, the forecasting approach and the dummy variable approach. We give conditions under which the two approaches are equivalent and present the results of a small simulation study.

Policing Diversity With Diversity: Exploring Organizational Rhetoric, Myth, And Minority Police Officers' Perceptions And Experiences, Justin K. Szeto

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Police services are responding to the current realities of diversity. Specifically, police services attempt to adopt diversity policies, initiatives, and practices as a way to reflect community representation. The present study examines how minority police officers’ perceive and experience organizational diversity. While diversity is a broad term encompassing such variables as race, sex and sexual orientation, the present study focuses primarily on racial diversity. Through in-depth interviews with 12 Canadian police officers and 1 diversity trainer, as well as descriptive statistical data pertaining to the last 15 years of recruitment trends, the perceptions held by participants suggest that police services …

Positive Moral Emotions And Moral Identity Development: The Difference Between Authentic And Hubristic Pride, Victoria Casey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The goal of this study was to begin to fill a gap in the research on moral identity development in adolescence by investigating positive moral emotions (i.e., pride) for motivation in moral action in relation to moral identity development. Specifically, two forms of pride were analyzed: authentic pride, which is focussed on an action and its positive outcomes, and hubristic pride, which is focussed on an individual’s performance that reflects their greater capability in comparison to others. A new pride measure was developed for use in this study. Ten scenarios depicting moral behaviour were used, with eleven statements …

Interdependence And Interpersonal Influence Among Individual Sport Teammates, Blair Evans

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As an exploration of the nature of groups and interpersonal influence within individual sport teams, this dissertation combined qualitative, correlational, and experimental methods. A qualitative study was first conducted with fourteen elite individual sport athletes who participated in interviews exploring their sport experiences with teammates. Athletes suggested that teammates were a primary source of motivation, social facilitation, social comparisons, and teamwork. Athletes also described how concepts such as cohesion and competitiveness acted as determinants of interpersonal influence and commented on how these concepts related to group structures. Qualitative reflections formed the basis for the subsequent conceptual paper that identified four …

Emerging From The Wreckage: The Exploration Of Mental Health, Stigma, And My Experiences Of Living With Obsessive-Compulsive "Disorder", Katelyn P. Harrington

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study is an autoethnography exploring my experiences of living with Obsessive Compulsive “disorder” (OCD). The stigma surrounding mental health is one of the most devastating and problematic issues in Western society today. Many individuals with a mental “disorder” suffer in silence due to the shame and fear of being ridiculed and discriminated against within their intimate and wider social networks. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is currently one of the most prevalent anxiety “disorders” and is characterized by intruding obsessive thoughts and ritualized or compulsive behaviours. Individuals experience a great deal of distress and embarrassment in dealing with the stigma and …

The Structures And Practices Of Collaboration Among Environmental Organizations In Waterloo Region, Felix P. Munger

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Background: Studies investigating organizational collaboration report increased goal achievement in the case of collaboration but identify that developing effective collaborations is challenging. An increasing number of researchers and practitioners are applying emerging research tools such as social network analysis to study collaborations and many of those who have applied social network analysis suggest, anecdotally, that it is a useful process tool aimed at increasing understanding of collaboration and informed decision-making among collaborative members.

Aims: The main objectives are to: (1) Empirically study networking and collaboration among environmental organizations in Waterloo Region; (2) Contribute to theory and practice development by examining …

Vocabulary And Reading Comprehension Intervention: A Focus On Students In The Late Elementary Grades, Melissa L. Dol

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Literacy skills are key to success in school, career, and everyday life. Despite school curricula being strongly focused on literacy development (Ministry of Education, 2006), many children continue to fall behind the expected literacy skill levels for their grade (Education Quality and Accountability Office, 2012a, 2012b; National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). The present study evaluated a literacy intervention, Better Reading for School Success (BRSS), accompanied by a parent/guardian literacy workshop and weekly tips regarding how parents and/or guardians can promote literacy skill development at home. The BRSS was also evaluated as a subsection of family literacy afterschool programs, ‘Get …

Time, Perspectives, Verbs, And Imagining Events, Jeffrey P. Hong

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

During the processing of verbs, readers form internal representations of the events described by those verbs. Two key elements in the construction of event representations are temporal information, given by the verbs that describe the represented events, and the visual perspective from which the events are represented. The current study is composed of two experiments aimed at examining the roles these two factors play in event representation. Specifically, the study aimed to determine how temporal information and visual perspective are represented during event imagination.

Experiment 1 investigated the role of temporal information associated with verbs, given by grammatical aspect (GA) …

Juror Perceptions Of Eyewitness Identification Evidence, Timothy G. Wykes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Jurors rely on eyewitness testimony in deciding a defendant’s guilt or innocence. Archival analyses of hundreds of post-conviction DNA exonerations have identified eyewitness misidentification as the highest individual factor contributing to wrongful convictions (Innocence Project, 2014). Internationally, criminal justice systems have employed procedural safeguards (PSs) to educate juries on factors affecting eyewitness identification accuracy. Two such safeguards include the introduction of eyewitness expert testimony during trial proceedings and the reading of cautionary instructions by a presiding judge. In an independent factorial design, this research sought to examine the effects of a model judicial caution drafted by the Ontario Judicial Council …

Parent-Child Interaction In Shared-Computer Activities: An Exploratory Study Examining Parent-Child Interaction With A Mobile Device, Marjan Petkovski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present exploratory study examined the shared-computer behaviours of parent-child dyads in order to examine how (and if) parents interact with their children when using mobile digital devices and parents’ perceptions of their child’s technology use. Little is known about how technologies are used with young children and how to maximize and support young children’s learning when they are introduced to these technologies. In total, ­­104 parents (­­n = 72 mothers and n = 32 fathers; one parent per child) participated in an observation session where parent-child interactions using a mobile device (Apple iPad™) were recorded in order to observe …

Intersectional Exposures: Exploring The Health Effect Of Employment With Kaajal Immigrant/Refugee Women In Grand Erie Through Photovoice, Bharati Sethi Ms

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to understand the employment-health association for immigrant/refugee women from Korea, Asia, Africa, Japan, Arab world and Latin America (KAAJAL) in Grand Erie –a mid-sized urban/rural region in Ontario, Canada. The study utilized photovoice –a visual qualitative research methodology in which participants were given cameras to record their experiences. Intersectionality analysis of 525 participant-generated photographs, diaries, and in-depth interviews of twenty women revealed that various markers of difference such as nationality (i.e. native or foreign-born), immigrant status (i.e. family class sponsorship), geography (i.e. rural or urban residence), …

Through An Intersectionality Lens: Service Provider Views On The Sexual Health Needs Of Racialized Lgbtq Youth In Toronto, Shanshan Yan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis explores the needs and gaps in knowledge and service delivery in sexual health for racialized LGBTQ youth living in Toronto, Canada from the perspective of service providers. Through a grounded theory approach, data were analysed using an intersectionality lens with the intention that the complex identities of the youth be considered. The findings of this study shed light on the barriers that operate at the micro (ie. personal), meso (ie. community) and macro (ie. societal) levels that affect the sexual health outcomes of racialized LGBTQ youth. Key findings from this study point to: 1) the need to closely …

Bay Area Student Involvement In The Environmental And Food Justice Movements: A Narrative Of Motivations, Experiences, And Community Impact, Laura E. Solof

Doctoral Dissertations

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability to problem-solve, suffer from obesity, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, and unknowingly contribute to the ever-increasing problems of air and water pollution, land and habitat destruction, and other environmental injustices. Community organizations and university programs are filling this much-needed gap in student environmental education, as they …

Perspectives On Disability And Community Engagement In Albania: Developing Mutual Understanding Through The Sharing Of Individual Narratives, Lucia Murillo

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores current perspectives on disability in Albania by bringing into discourse the voice of families and community members in order to learn how history, tradition, and family values influence individual or community response to having or being in community alongside children with special needs.

Research Theory and Protocol

I carried out this research using critical hermeneutic theory. The protocol followed an interpretive approach as outlined by Ellen Herda (1999). This orientation brought the researcher and participants together and used narratives as a medium for participatory inquiry.

Research Categories

The critical hermeneutic concepts of narrative identity, mimesis, and communicative …

Pro-Anorexia/Bulimia Interactions Online: Problematizing Complex Cultural Phenomena, Nicole D. Schott

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the West, and increasingly globally, individuals, particularly women, are fixated on weight loss, driven by the goal of achieving a culturally-desired, and aggressively marketed, "skinny" female physique. There are online forums where individuals refer to themselves or their eating disorders as "pro-ana" and "pro-mia". Individuals who post on these sites both align with, and challenge, what medical and mental health professionals define as serious mental health problems that result in severe, sometimes fatal, medical complications. This thesis specifically focuses on interactions with, and within, the pro-ana/mia culture on the social media websites Tumblr and YouTube. Over sixteen months, and …

A Bittersweet Investigation Of Availability And Nutritive Value As Determinants Of Volitional Sucrose Consumption, Milan D. Valyear

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Rats given ~24 h access to a 4% sucrose solution every 3^rd day (E3DA) consume about 100 g more solution than rats with continuous, everyday access (EDA). Under the same EDA-E3DA conditions rats will consume similar amounts of a more concentrated 8 or 16% sucrose solutions (Eikelboom, Hewitt, & Adams, Unpublished). It maybe that with these more concentrated solutions rats hit a satiety limit that prevents a difference between EDA and E3DA consumption from being evident. Experiment 1 was conducted to investigate the effect of adding quinine to 4% and 8% sucrose solutions with the intention of reducing consumption …

Youth Recidivism: A Qualitative Study Of Risk And Resilience, Jesse M. Near Ms.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

The rates of reoffending for Ontario youth are high and come at a significant cost to both society and the youths involved. Research to date has explored risk and protective factors. Despite this progress, the relationships between these factors and recidivism are not well understood. Knowing that a youth is exposed to any of these identified risk or protective factors does little to explain why these factors do not affect all youth equally and why some youths reoffend while others do not. Resilience theory has increasingly been used as the framework to explore the concept of recidivism. The present …

Children's Cognitive Processing Of Abuse As Described In Investigative Interviews., Kayleen A. Willemsen, Kim P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A great deal of research has examined ways in which investigative interviewers can elicit accurate information from children. More recently, research has studied children’s own thoughts or comprehension of abuse, and how these types of statements relate to disclosure, others’ perceptions of child witnesses, and psychological trauma. However, little research has investigated multiple types of children’s thoughts about abuse as they occur in an actual investigative interview. The current study examined seven types of statements children made about their abuse in a sample of 86 transcripts of investigative interviews conducted by Child Protective Services and a police department in a …

A Heart-Based Sufi Mindfulness Spiritual Practice Employing Self-Journeying, Faruk Arslan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of the human evolution of consciousness. The heart occupies an important place in Sufism and is considered to contain the divine spark that leads to spiritual realization. Fethullah Gülen’s action-oriented Sufi methods described in his book series “The Emerald Hills of the Heart” provides the basis for a heart-based therapeutic intervention through self-journeying, which is the objective of this thesis. These self-purification and mindfulness-related transpersonal methods generate a form of treatment that is culturally sensitive. Through my reflections in this research, I transformed my personal experiences into …

Youth's Comprehension Of Environmental Justice Across Multiple Countries, Alexa L. Stovold

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Global climate change is an issue of environmental justice, because neither contributions toward the causes nor its consequences are equally distributed across and within countries (Roberts, 2001). Given the importance of framing climate change as an environmental justice issue, the present study sought to understand how youth conceptualize and engage with environmental justice across multiple countries. Youth are an important target population for engagement, because they often are active agents of social change by challenging the status-quo, and becoming civically engaged (Blythe & Harré, 2012; De Vreede, Warner & Pitter, 2014; United Nations, 2004).

The current research is a secondary …

Therapists' Experiences Treating Clients With Dissociative Identity Disorder, Alexandra E. Paull

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to collect qualitative data to examine what social workers describe as their experience working with clients who fit the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). This study interviewed twelve licensed therapists through in person, phone, and skype interviews. These interviews explored the experience of their clinical work and its impact on them personally. Seven major themes were identified from coding the narrative data: the challenges and rewards of treatment, characteristics of the population, characteristics of the clinicians, treatment structure, what treating their first client with this disorder was like, misconceptions, and places current …

What Does The 'Q' Stand For Anyway? : Queerness And Agency Competence, Eleanor C. Taylor

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study’s purpose was to explore queer identity in mental health practice through the question, "Does queerness emerge as a distinct cultural category through the language of conversation, clinical practice, and administrative policy in mental health agencies that serve queer people, and in what practices is this reflected?” This project was undertaken in order to begin to fill gaps in existing cultural competence literature, particularly regarding queer identity.

This project entailed semi-structured interviews with ten participants, who worked in direct service at mental health agencies that serve LGBTQIA+ populations. This study examines the meanings and effects of queerness in …