Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Gulf Cooperation Council's Policies Towards Iran, Mohammed Ahmed Al Sayed

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

As the world moves forward in its efforts towards maintaining global security and peace, we witness that many nations face challenges while forming alliances as they encounter threats from neighboring states. The study of alliance formation in the field of international relations is mostly centered around the concept of security, however this thesis will highlight the importance of considering other factors that influence alliance formation such as religion and economy. The thesis will discuss the case of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council in dealing with the neighboring Islamic Republic of Iran which is considered a threat to …

Representations And Perceptions Of Sexual Pleasure In Undergraduate Anatomy And Physiology (A&P) Courses, Brenda Kucha Anak Ganeng

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The World Health Organization defines sexual pleasure as an important part of positive sexual experiences and sexual health. Despite its importance, sexual pleasure is often omitted from sexual health programming and curricula. Undergraduate human anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses serve as avenues where students who intend to go into health care learn foundational knowledge about human body systems and health; however, to our knowledge, there has been no documentation of if and how A&P students learn about sexual pleasure. A&P textbooks serve as an important resource for curriculum design and learning. I sought to answer the following research question: How …

Understanding The Impact Of Collective Efficacy And Race/Ethnicity On Child Internalizing And Externalizing Symptomatology, Demy Alfonso

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Neighborhood collective efficacy has emerged as an important predictor of mental health problems, specifically internalizing and externalizing behaviors, among adolescents. Existing research has shown that the association between collective efficacy and mental health problems may differ according to the child’s racial or ethnic background. The present study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the direct associations between collective efficacy at age 9 and internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 15, while controlling for several demographic variables. Subsequently, a multigroup SEM approach was utilized to explore whether associations between neighborhood collective efficacy at age 9 and externalizing and internalizing symptoms …

Effect Of Cash Transfer On Household Fertility Choice And Children's Human Capital Accumulation In Uganda, Shaila Ahmed

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This analysis examines the effects of conditional and unconditional cash transfer on household fertility decisions and other indicators of human capital accumulation. To test my hypotheses, I rely on the UCT and CCT sub-arms of the Cash-Plus Program recently implemented in Uganda. The design of the Cash-Plus Program follows randomized control trials for intervention. My empirical findings show that the Cash-Plus Program have no discernible impact on beneficiary households' pregnancy incidence. The only effect on the primary outcomes of interest is a marginally significant effect for household heads aged 25 to 49, who received unconditional treatments. The results also show …

Public Health And Civic Engagement, Bryan M. Bulger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The research seeks to answer the question does civic engagement affect public health outcomes. Scholars have been theorizing and testing various ideas in this field for some time. Yet, much of the work is general in nature and does not look into a specific argument regarding a causal relationship between civic engagement and public health. A Cost of Voting Index (COVI) with state specific values is used as a measure of civic engagement in this study. The thesis draws from individual level survey data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with respondents from all 50 American states. …

Creating A Sense Of Belonging For Latinx Students In Community College: You Matter, You Fit In, And You Belong, Francisco Javier Bataz

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the perceptions of Latinx sense of belonging in a Midwest community college and how their academic and social experiences are impacted. Sense of belonging is meaningful to community college students because Latinx students are historically underserved in postsecondary education. The goal is to better understand the perceptions of Latinx students in a community college setting and to find out what factors impact sense of belonging. This study is significant because Latinx student retention outcomes in higher education are very low. The Latinx population is the fastest growing group in the United States. Therefore, providing support and an …

An Investigation Of The Sled-Push Exercise In Older Adults: Physiological Quantification, Perceived Enjoyment And Body Discomfort, Micheal A. Baumann

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Healthy aging is defined as the process of maintaining and developing functional ability that allows a state of mental and physical wellbeing. Physical activity, particularly exercise training, has been highly recommended for individuals of all ages, especially older adults, as way to maintain, improve or restore functional ability and health. Different modalities and types of exercise have been successfully tested in older adults but not much is known about the potential of the sled-push exercise in this population, a modality that has been highly used among athletes to improve cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and endurance, and core stability. PURPOSE: The …

The Political Power Of Religious Elites In Shaping Restrictive Reproductive Policies: A Comparative Analysis Of Poland And Indonesia, Patricia Buczynski

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Why do some religiously conservative countries advance in reproductive rights while others do not? Previous research emphasizes that religiosity, political institutionalism, and social movement strategies influence political actors, including members of the legislature, to shape preferred abortion policy outcomes. This thesis seeks to contribute to the literature by arguing that the political power of religious elites explains restrictive reproductive policy outcomes. In this thesis, I investigate the case of Poland and Indonesia. Despite differences in colonial history, religion, culture, and region, both countries share similar outcomes of restrictive reproductive policies and powerful religious elites, which makes for a unique and …

Collaboration Literacy In Technical Communication: Using Workplace-Based Teamwork Practices And Technologies To Teach Distributed Knowledge Work, Marcy Bock Eastley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Workplace changes and the continuing evolution of how we define and practice technical communication require that we consider collaboration in ways we may not have imagined ten, five or even two years ago. The unexpected COVID-19 pandemic pushed our world and collaboration into additional and unanticipated directions. Since one of our responsibilities as educators is to prepare our students for success in the workplace and beyond, we must take a closer look at how we understand and teach collaboration in our classrooms. While collaboration appears in existing technical communication pedagogical models, it has been viewed as an element of social …

Narratives Of Gendered And Racialized Carework: Feminist Faculty Of Color Organizing During The Pandemic, Analena Hope Hassberg, Araceli Esparza, Lori Baralt, Sabrina Alimahomed-Wilson

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Inspired by feminist narrative and the Latin American tradition of testimonio, this paper is grounded in the lived experiences of the four authors as academics, mothers, and organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on women of color feminisms and theorizing anti-racist feminist understandings of motherhood as a political identity, we examine how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated challenges faced by parenting and caregiving faculty, especially those positioned at the intersection of multiple structural vulnerabilities. The COVID-19 tipping point presented both unsustainable challenges for parenting and caregiving faculty and opportunities for collective support and organizing as parents and caregivers. We participated in …

Miss Lebanon: The Digital Age’S Way Of Maintaining The Gender Gap, Ali Badereddine

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Innovating During Times Of Disruption: A Project Management Framework For Transforming A Student Research Symposium To Serve Virtual Communities During Covid-19, Theresa G. Burress, Allison N. Symulevich

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Williamsburg Road Commercial Corridor Revitalization Plan, Rachael B. Thayer

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Sandston is the second oldest established neighborhood in the County of Henrico, and the commercial corridor found along Williamsburg Road has served this community for over a century. This corridor developed during a time when Williamsburg Road, or Route 60, was the primary roadway between the City of Richmond and Williamsburg. As seen with other American corridors that emerged before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the Sandston corridor has experienced a halt in the economic development and decrease in the vitality of the economic base in recent decades. The Williamsburg Road Commercial Corridor Revitalization Plan strives to identify key …

Revitalization Strategies For Downtown Elkton, Virginia, Gabrielle Dean

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Elkton is a rural Virginia town eager to revitalize its downtown. After years of decline, there is a newfound interest in developing the downtown commercial district. This plan addresses community goals and current market conditions to provide implementable recommendations for revitalization in a rural context. The recommendations are modeled after the Main Street America Community Transformation strategy and primarily focus on vacant property abatement and utilizing urban design tactics to create a walkable district.

The Reconstructing Randolph Project, Latoya Gray-Sparks

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

The Reconstructing Randolph Project is an in-depth historical case study of one of the last thriving and intact Black neighborhoods in Richmond to be disrupted by urban renewal. The case study utilizes a Black geographical lens, historic preservation practices and counter cartography to illuminate the rich history and people who made up the Randolph neighborhood. The plan also outlines policies and strategies that can be implemented to 1) amplify and preserve the history of Randolph and (2) protect long-term Black residents who wish to remain in a city that is quickly changing due to gentrification.

Sharing Vision For Shared Spaces: Mobile Immersive Planning And Community-Led Design Of Green Spaces In Richmond’S Southside, Maria T.E. Dougherty

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan seeks to demonstrate the potential of immersive technologies, specifically augmented reality, in strengthening public engagement and enabling the collaborative, community led design of local green spaces.

Community engagement, while now a focal point of urban planning education, is still implemented in uneven strategies that often further distance the public from the process and understanding of city vision; new paradigms of outreach and community-government knowledge sharing must be explored to overcome common constraints of time, expertise, and language that prevent public participation in projects that directly impact their health. Immersive urban planning offers a way to bring people into …

Courting American Capital: Public Relations And The Business Of Selling Ivorian Capitalism In The U.S., 1960-1980, Abou B. Bamba

History Faculty Publications

This chapter is an invitation to reimagine the roles assigned to players in the history of capitalism on the global stage. It challenges aspects of the historiography of capitalism in the twentieth century, which tend to center on historical actors and institutions of the Global North. Even when actors in the Global South are discussed, it is usually to portray them as passive victims of an intractable system. By focusing on the Ivory Coast and its economic diplomacy toward the United States, I seek to destabilize this general picture.

Investigating The Effectiveness Of The Positive Reinforcement Components Of Tootling, Kennedi J. Alstead

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Disruptive behavior in the classroom can have a negative impact on students’ academic and social outcomes. Additionally, teachers have expressed difficulty with implementing class-wide behavioral interventions that address this problem. Tootling is a class-wide, positive behavioral intervention that has been shown to increase prosocial behavior and academic engagement, as well as decreasing disruptive behavior in the classroom. Tootling is derived from another form of positive peer reporting and is considered the opposite of tattling. In tootling, students report on their peers’ prosocial behaviors. This intervention has multiple components that assist in its effectiveness. Specifically, there are three components with aspects …

Employee Satisfaction And Perceptions Of Organizational Leadership Accountability, Caroline M. Clancy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Leadership can truly make or break an organization with regard to virtually every work-related outcome. So, what characterizes an effective leader? Research suggests that leaders who embody organizational values and are held to same standards as their subordinates are related to optimal organizational outcomes. These values and standards start with an organization’s accountability practices. We hypothesize that perceptions of accountability will demonstrate a positive relationship with job satisfaction (H1) and a negative relationship with turnover intentions (H2). Additionally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our first hypothesis (H3). Finally, communication will moderate the relationship discussed in our second hypothesis …

In Search Of Unicorns: An Analysis Of Japan's Startup Ecosystem, Kaito Komoriya

CMC Senior Theses

While Japan previously dominated global consumer markets in innovative electronic products, the economy has failed to live up to this performance since the burst of the asset price bubble in 1992 and the subsequent lost decades. In the modern economy, startup companies have become synonymous with innovation. Most of these companies have emerged from Silicon Valley, as well as other startup hubs around the globe. However, critics have criticized Japan for the limited number of notable startup companies from the country.

My thesis seeks to answer the two following questions: First, what is the current state of Japan’s startup ecosystem? …

Does The Weapon Of Mass Destruction Impact Masses Equally? Examining The Disproportionate Impacts Of Nuclear Weapons, Carley Barnhart

CMC Senior Theses

Regarded as the most powerful weapon ever created, the nuclear weapon is associated with mass destruction and even total annihilation. This thesis aims to answer the question: does the weapon of mass destruction impact masses equally? The use of three theoretical lenses is employed to guide this thesis’ analysis: the lenses of internal colonialism, neocolonialism, and feminism. These lenses allow for previously marginalized experiences to be placed at the center of analysis. The entirety of the ‘nuclear web’, from nuclear scholarship and nuclear decision-making to weapons design, creation, production, and disarmament is analyzed to understand the total impacts of the …

Forest Offsets In The California Carbon Market: Challenges Of A Market Based Climate Solution, Eric Warmoth

CMC Senior Theses

Within California’s cap-and-trade program, forest offsets allow landowners to earn carbon credits for protecting forests that sequester carbon and sell these credits to polluters that can then emit one additional ton of carbon. The state’s top regulator, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), is tasked with overseeing cap-and-trade and the forest offset system. CARB is currently updating the state’s Climate Change Scoping Plan to set California on track to achieve its 2030 climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels. CARB is approving forest offsets that overestimate emissions reductions, while allowing companies to continue polluting in …

Before Witnessing A Crime, Eyewitnesses Possess A Negative Confidence-Accuracy Correlation, Trent Lindsey

CMC Senior Theses

The ability to determine the accuracy of eyewitnesses has been explored by many researchers. During the exploration, they examined the correlation between the eyewitness’s confidence and the accuracy of the identification. Wixted and Wells (2017) determined that the strongest confidence-accuracy correlation occurred immediately after identifying a suspect. However, are there other times that a “strong” correlation occurs? At least 120 participants (n 120) were assigned into one of three condition groups: post-identification only, pre-crime/post- identification, and pre/post-identification. Depending on the condition group, participants provided confidence assessments in their ability to identify the correct culprit at different times during the experiment. …

The Rising Power Of The Individual Investor: How Social Media Sentiments And User Activity Impact Stock Price Volatility And Trading Volume, Nandini Jayaram

CMC Senior Theses

This paper investigates the relationship between social media sentiments and user activity on the ability of online platforms like Robinhood, Reddit, and Twitter to drive volatility in stock returns and trading volume of shares. The research contributes to the existing literature by studying the potential power of social media communities to influence the stock market parameters. The dataset includes information for several stocks of daily Robinhood users, mentions in r/wallstreetbets, number of Twitter followers, as well as closing price and trading volume data. Using a fixed effects panel data model, the regressions yield statistically significant results that indicate higher WallStreetBets …

Economic Propaganda In The United States, Brooklyn Montgomery

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to identify and analyze three different forms of economic propaganda: cultural, structural, and political. I first examine ‘Do What You Love’ culture and its impact on the labor force. Chapter Two explores the propagation of neoliberal economics as an objective study, and the final chapter analyzes the use of Black capitalism as a political mechanism to quell Black radical sentiment. In detailing these phenomenons, I investigate the implementation, normalization, and effects, as well as the material repercussions of these ideas and structures.

The Mediating Effect Of Parental Involvement On Peer Influence And Belongingness On Adolescent Educational Aspirations, Thavy Van Garst

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Parental involvement has been found to be a significant influence in determining whether adolescents are more likely to succeed academically (Georgiou & Tourva, 2007). Amongst other influences, parental involvement has been shown to impact the ability to resist negative peer influence. Additionally, having a sense of belongingness influences the probability that an adolescent will aspire to achieve higher educational aspirations (Bouchard & Berg, 2017). However, researchers have yet to examine the combination of the importance of belongingness and the impact of positive peer influence on adolescents' educational aspirations. The present study aimed to investigate whether parental involvement had a significant …

Fp-22-05 Median Age At Last Birth For Fathers, Karen B. Guzzo, Katherine Graham

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-22-07 Marriage Rate In The U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2020, Krista K. Westrick-Payne

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-22-08 Divorce Rate In The U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2020, Krista K. Westrick-Payne

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-22-11 Childbearing Desires, Intentions, And Attitudes Among Childless Adults 40-49, Karen B. Guzzo

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.