Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Carving Out Our Past: Photogrammetry For The Study And Preservation Of Cleveland's 20th Century Inscribed Graffiti, Andrew R. Mancuso, Nina Herzog, Charlie Harper

Researchers, Instructors, & Staff Scholarship

Pilot research project for photogrammetry in the field with regard to cultural heritage preservation. Created for Research ShowCASE, Case Western Reserve University 2019.

A Comparative Analysis On Output Gap - Inflation Relation: The New Keynesian Approach, Oladimeji Tomiwa Shodipe

Masters Theses

The thrust of this research paper is to examine the inflation information that is contained in the output gap using the New Keynesian Phillips Curve framework. As informed by the model, the study also sets to investigate inflation persistence and the influence of forward inertia on the current inflation. This paper follows the Gali and Monacelli (2005) of the small open-economy type of model. However, the current study differs by introducing external factors (trade and real exchange rate) not only on the hybrid model, also on the backward, forward and the hybrid restricted models for time-series data (1971-2017) of all …

Pokemon Go And Mental Health, Nathaniel Ed

Masters Theses

Pokémon GO is a new type of game that emphasizes physical activity and social interaction. In the literature, both physical activity and social interactions have been shown to be positively correlated with mental health. Much research has been conducted on the effects of gaming on mental health, but to date no research has been done on the possible correlations of the game Pokémon GO and mental health. The present study was conducted to determine whether Pokémon GO players scored significantly lower than a control group of traditional garners on scales of depression, anxiety, and pathological gaming, and if they reported …

Parental Involvement And Academic Success During Emerging Adulthood, Michael V. Mendez

Masters Theses

Emerging adults are posited to experience their own life stage that differs from adolescents and adults in a variety of ways. This study explored the interaction between the parent-child relationship and emerging adult academic success. Participants were 275 university students who completed measures of their self-perception of adulthood including actual parental involvement and ideal parental involvement. These factors were examined among students who were academically at-risk and academically in good standing. Regardless of academic status, students indicated moderate to high levels of parental involvement, desired more parental involvement, and identified with the emerging adulthood stage more than any other life …

Export Performance Of Landlocked Countries: With Special Reference To Developing Economies, Kaushal Bhattarai

Masters Theses

The present research intends to find whether "landlockedness" has any impact on the exporting capacity of the landlocked countries. To meet that end, I carry out a panel data analysis of 104 countries including 30 landlocked countries. The Hausman test validates the random effect as an appropriate estimation strategy given the structure of the data and research questions in hand. A dummy variable is employed to capture the "landlockedness" and its impact on exporting performance of those countries. The variables openness and foreign direct investments are used to capture the economic health of the countries, other than penalized of being …

Government Expenditure And Unemployment: Empirical Investigation Of Sub-Saharan African (Ssa) Countries, Grace Ayiwah Fosu

Masters Theses

Over the years, there have been increasing trends in government expenditures in most countries in Sub-Sahara Africa, but some of the social-economic indicators such as health, unemployment, education, inflation, and the others paint a blurry image of the effect of the rising public spending. It is worrisome to see that pictures painted by the economic indicators show that budgets made by governments in Sub-Sahara Africa look good on paper than their actual effect in the economy (Andrews, 2010; Peterson, 2010). As a result of this, the question that keeps emerging is that “does government spending actually impact economic indicators in …

Women's Empowerment And Its Impact On Reproductive Health Outcomes: Evidence From Nepal, Samyukta Ghimire

Masters Theses

The percentage of women utilizing maternal health care services in Nepal is relatively less than women in other South Asian countries. Moreover, large socio-economic and regional disparities have been the root causes for lower utilization of health care leading to increasing maternal mortality. Using a national representative sample of 9,475 women (2011) and 9,875 women (2016) from Nepal, I examine the impact of women empowerment in relation to prenatal care, place of delivery and postnatal care (3Ps) outcomes. A composite Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) based upon responses is also constructed to include three empowerment domains namely, attitude toward violence, social …

I Am A Citizen: An Examination Of The Civic Lives Of Adults With Cognitive Disabilities, Jihed Ncib

Masters Theses

This project lays down a foundation to study the civic lives of people with cognitive limitations. Considering the lack of research on the issue, the findings lean more toward theory building. Drawing on in-person interviews conducted with institutionalized individuals with intellectual disability (ID), this work attempts to clarify the impact of their disability on their civic lives. The questions that will be answered relate to their issue preferences, voting behavior, partisanship and mobilization, political awareness, and the influence of their circle on their citizen participation. Getting input directly from people with ID, instead of their proxies, will improve our understanding …

Relationship Of Self-Construal To Perceived Availability And Seeking Of Social Support By International Students Studying Abroad In The United States, Yue Zhang

Masters Theses

This study was created to examine the relationship between different self-construals and the behavior of seeking social support or the perceived availability of social support. We recruited 84 international students who currently study abroad in the United States. Participants completed the Singelis Self-construal Scale (SCS; Singelis,1994) and a Social Support Scale created for the current study. The SCS measured the degree to which participants’ self-construals are Independent (IND) or Interdependent (INT). The Social Support Scale presented five different scenarios and asked participants to rate activities responding to two types of social support (tangible support and emotional support). I predicted that …

The Impact Of Dutch Disease: The Case Of Nigeria, Halimat Atinuke Laguda

Masters Theses

Nigeria, over the years, has been showing a rapid appreciation of the domestic currency, a rise in real wages and the service sector and a slow-down in the industrial production which are all signs of presence of Dutch disease which predicts that a country with large natural resource rents may experience a de-industrialization and a lower long term economic growth. This paper analyses the impact of Dutch disease in Nigeria Ordinary Least square method, Two-Stage Least Square and Autoregressive Distributed Lag with a system of equation from 1981 to 2017 and found that the real wage rate emphasizes on the …

Middle School And High School Teachers' Actual And Perceived Use Of Praise And Reprimand, Melissa Beaudoin

Masters Theses

This study aimed to examine teachers' natural praise and reprimand rates among 66 middle and high school teachers. In addition, teachers' perceptions of how often they praised and reprimanded were compared to their actual use of praise and reprimands. A total of 1,320 direct-observation minutes were collected using 20-min observations for each teacher. After teachers were observed they completed a survey rating their perceived use of praise and reprimand. Teachers were observed to use significantly more general praise compared to behavior specific praise. They were also observed to use significantly more mild reprimands compared to any other type of reprimand. …

Support From Above The Glass Ceiling: Narratives Of Women As University Student Leaders, Rebecca Schwartz

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology. the researcher examined motivations, social support networks, and challenges college women face in student leadership positions. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted at a midsized university in the Midwest with college women in various positions of organizational leadership. The researcher identified motivational factors for women to apply for leadership positions as well as described the social support network that exists for college women in positions of leadership. Challenges college women face in achieving higher leadership positions were also identified. Lastly, recommendations were made for student affairs professionals and women in leadership based on the research findings.

Middle And High School Teachers' Praise And Reprimand Delivery, Emma Riedesel

Masters Theses

The benefits of increasing teacher praise and decreasing teacher reprimand (for both students and teachers) is well-established in the literature. The purpose of this study was to expand the literature on teachers' natural use of praise and reprimand, specifically in terms of how teachers deliver praise and reprimand. Sixty-six middle (sixth through eighth grade) and high school (ninth through twelfth grade) teachers' delivery of praise and reprimand to individual (one student), small clusters (two to six students), and large groups (seven or more students) during a 20-minute observation were examined. Teachers delivered significantly more general praise to individual students, rather …

The Transition Of Male Student-Athletes To A Division I College, Tori Harrison

Masters Theses

Using a qualitative methodology, the researcher studied high school student-athletes transitioning to becoming college student-athletes at the Division I-level. The study was narrowed down to six, second-year male student-athletes. There were two participants from baseball, two from football, and two from men's track and field. These participants were interviewed and asked a range of questions about their high school experience, their legal guardians' involvement in high school and in college, what their recruiting process was like, and how they managed their transition from high school to college. The interview was broken up into three parts to better understand their transition: …

Construct Validity Of The Teate Depression Inventory (Tdi) With A Middle Eastern/Arab American Sample, Dalia Bunni

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the construct validity of a newer test used to measure depressive symptoms, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI). The primary focus of the study was on Middle Eastern/Arab Americans (ME/AA). Previous research has demonstrated that ethnic minority groups may experience and present internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety differently than the majority ethnic group, White/Caucasian (W/C) individuals. Further, research suggests that there is a disparity in mental health care among ethnic minority groups, starting with detecting and diagnosing mental health disorders. Inaccurate detection and diagnoses informs inaccurate treatment, further creating a disparity. …

Exploratory Factor Analysis Of The Canadian Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Fifth Edition For A Sample Of First Nations Students, Jessica Hanson

Masters Theses

Native Americans and First Nation students are overrepresented in special education and underrepresented in structural bias research of the intelligence measures that place them there. There are several empirical studies of test bias on the Wechsler scales due to their popularity within the school system, however there is little exploratory factor analysis research on these scales with the Native American Indian population. Further, the Native American Indian and First Nation population is a relatively small minority group compared to other racial and ethnic groups in North America and this group is underrepresented in government statistics and overlooked in funding for …

The Impact Of Academic Enablers Instruction On Academic Achievement Of Elementary School Children, Bryce Kirk

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the relationship between Academic Enablers (AEs) instruction and student achievement. Specifically, whether such behaviors and attitudes explicitly taught in a small group setting would improve students' academic performance. Students struggle academically and behaviorally for a variety of reasons, poor or lack of instruction, lack of motivation, or related to a disability, to recognize a few. Existing literature has identified several factors, (e.g., interpersonal/social skills, motivation, study skills, and engagement), known as AEs, that meaningfully contribute toward students' academic success. However, unlike previous studies that focused on such AEs in isolation, this study addressed this limitation and …

Income Inequality And Political Survival In Countries Around The World, Sahan Shrestha

Masters Theses

There are many factors that influence whether a political leader exits out of office or remains in power. In this thesis, we evaluate the impact of one important factor, income inequality, on the survival prospects of the leader using data for 152 countries for the period 1962 - 2015. We use a linear probability model, a logit model, and a Cox Proportional Hazard Model, all of which indicate that higher income inequality increases the probability of leader survival. To address the potential endogeneity of income inequality, I use a simultaneous equations model and the results hold. The results are also …

Social Anxiety And Fear Of Evaluation In Middle Schoolers, Leslie Hunt

Masters Theses

Social anxiety can have a significant effect on adults and adolescents alike, causing significant distress and impairment. Fear of negative evaluation has been found to be positively correlated to social anxiety in adults and adolescents. Thus, an individual who has social anxiety tends to worry that they will be judged negatively by others in social situations. More recently, fear of positive evaluation also has correlated positively to social anxiety in adults (Weeks, Heimberg, & Rodebaugh, 2008); thus, adults with social anxiety tend to also fear when they are given positive feedback, such as a compliment. This study examines the links …

Authoritarianism Both In Venezuela And Turkey, Furkan Burcu Yildiz

Masters Theses

In this paper, I undertake a comparative analysis of the authoritarian process in Venezuela and Turkey. In both countries, there are signs of political and economic instabilities. Therefore, I examine Turkey's and Venezuela's politics and economy to understand the reasons for authoritarian regimes. The comparison reveals that both countries are en route of authoritarianism; however, the motives are different. As for Venezuela. comparison grounds the argument that their authoritativeness relies on economic instability. On the contrary, Turkey has a stable economy while it has been struggling with political upheavals.

The result of this study pinpoints different ways for authoritarian regimes. …

A Journey Of Cross-Cultural Adaptation: An Autoethnography Of A Vietnamese Graduate Student In The American Classroom, Tram Nguyen

Masters Theses

Cross-cultural adaptation is not a new area of study, however, there is very little research focusing on the cross-cultural adaptation of Vietnamese students studying in America. The process of cross-cultural adaptation occurs naturally and necessarily regardless of the intentions of the individuals as long as they continuously engage in communication with the host environment and are functionally dependent on it. This research examines on the difference, the challenge and the way Vietnamese students have undergone throughout the process of adaptation from the original Asian culture to American culture, especially in the classroom context. The theoretical construct to guide the study …

Scott's Addition Green Space Plan: Small Changes Making A Big Impact, Sara J. Rozmus

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Scott’s Addition is a fast growing, postindustrial neighborhood situated on the north side of West Broad street and bordering Henrico county to the west. The current building stock in Scott’s Addition consists of industrial and manufacturing buildings, and warehouses, much of which have been converted into multi-family residential buildings, commercial businesses, office and restaurant space (Neighborhood History, 2018). As a consequence of its original land use and zoning most of Scott’s Addition is dominated by concrete surface area and sprawling, one to two story building structures. Adaptive reuse of existing buildings has brought new investment and residents into the neighborhood …

Country Snapshot Albania, Leonie Vrugtman

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A brief summary of the history and current status of religion in Albania.

Survey Report Montenegro, Nenad Zekavica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

During March and April 2019, a survey was conducted as part of the regional project that deals with the role of religion in Western Balkan countries. The survey was conducted as part of a research project and was conducted among members of the cultural and political elite of society. Its purpose is to give a sketch of the religious beliefs of different societies. The survey itself was developed as the result of the mutual cooperation among four partner institutions in the Balkans.

Ambulance Service Ownership And Management: How It Affects Quality Of Service Delivery For Medicare Patients, Sookti Chaudhary, Kenneth R. Troske, Suzanne Troske, Alison Davis

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

This study investigates how ownership and/or management affects ambulance services across the United States. We investigate whether ambulance quality, measured by patient transportation time, varies by organization type. We estimate the effect of ownership structure on response time variables using data from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) for the years 2010–2015, the most comprehensive data set on emergency medical services. Focusing on ground transportation (as opposed to air and water transportation) and on Medicare-eligible (age 65 years and older) patients, we find that, on average, ambulance services owned by fire departments respond faster than those managed by other types …

The Interactive Effect Of A Text Message Intervention And Connectivity Among Rural Adolescents, Kara Coldiron

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Social cohesion among peers profoundly influences decision making during adolescence. Despite this, the current research is very limited concerning the association of social cohesion and intimacy among rural adolescent peers with dietary intake and weight outcomes. This is problematic because social cohesion could be an unknown contributing factor in obesity among rural adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate how social cohesion and intimacy among rural adolescents in Kentucky and North Carolina affects the outcomes of a text message intervention aimed at improving fruit, vegetable, fast food and sugar sweetened beverage intake. Additionally, to determine if social cohesion …

Selective Mortality And Malnutrition In India, Pallavi Panda

School of Business

India presents itself as a paradox with low infant mortality and high malnutrition. This paper provides survival bias as an explanation of the paradox. Using pooled health surveys from 1993 to 2005 and a pseudo-panel selection model, this study finds that the change in Height-for-Age Z-Scores (HAZ scores) can be explained by mortality selection. Specifically, children with sample average characteristics that survive have 17.4% less HAZ scores than a child randomly drawn from the population indicating an overestimation of malnutrition in India. This is consistent with the hypothesis of weaker children surviving due to skilled delivery which pulls down the …

Shyness In The Classroom: A Study In Nonverbal Communication Codes, Nora E. Radway

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This study examined the experiences of shy, introverted, and apprehensive students in the college classroom. This study was framed by multiple goals theory to discover how these students use nonverbal communication to achieve their task, identity, and relational goals in the classroom. Shy, introverted, and apprehensive students face challenges in the classroom especially when asked to verbally participate or give presentations that their more outgoing classmates may not face. Participants (N = 16) participated in focus groups where they discussed their experiences, perceptions, and feelings about participation in their college courses. Results showed that these students do experience apprehension …

Kidled: A Colorful Approach To Children's Activity Awareness, Ankita Samariya, Anud Sharma, Margiawan Fitriani, Tucker Ferguson, Jerry Alan Fails

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Obesity in children is a growing cause of concern as it affects more than 18% of children in the United States. Sedentary behaviour is one of the contributors to childhood obesity. Technological interventions like activity trackers and fitness games have been introduced to motivate both children and adults to be physically active. Most of these technologies encourage activity by making them aware of their activity levels. While awareness of current activity levels may help motivating adults, it can be difficult for children to understand their activity levels in terms of number of steps (the most common method used by adults). …

Building And Maintaining Lgbtq+ Picture Book Collections, Alissa Droog, Danielle Bettridge, Alyssa R. Martin, Ashleigh Yates-Mackay

FIMS Publications

The LGBTQ+ community has had to continuously fight for their rights, including their right to be represented in the library. This toolkit provides instruction on how to develop and manage a library collection of LGBTQ+ children’s picture books. It is split into four sections that include a guide to evaluating materials, recommended picture books, a guide to fighting censorship, and a list of recommended resources.