Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cooperation Or Competition With China: Interest Groups And Us Policy On Climate Change, Lucia G. Green-Weiskel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the existence of two constellations of political forces, emphasizing their relationship to each other and the link between their interests related to China and climate change. It argues that two China-related alignments on climate issues are driven by their opposing approaches to US China relations in general in such a way that the latter predicts the former. These broad but opposing coalitions of political forces—one favoring and one opposing cooperation with China—are made up of think tanks, NGOs and industry groups, which have demonstrated a convergence in policy preferences over the course of two presidential administrations, democrat …

Pupil Responses To Emotional Images And Relations With Alexithymic And Autistic Traits, Margaret Grinshtein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Comprehending emotional states in others and oneself is a complex cognitive process. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication and interaction difficulties. Autistic individuals often show socio-emotional difficulties specifically in emotion recognition and understanding. However, it has been posited that these emotion processing difficulties may be due to alexithymia, a distinct co-occurring phenomenon typified by difficulty in identifying and describing feelings. Autism, alexithymia, and emotion understanding have been studied through behavioral, neural, and psychophysiological methods, and the current study examines how these characteristics are related in a non-autistic sample. Pupil diameter was measured in response …

Lactating Justice: Constructing A Society Economically Focused On Optimizing Health Through Human Lactation, Shadley Hobour

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper uses a qualitative research method to answer if a Universal Base Income would be a good economic policy to adopt to optimize Black chestfeeding. The key idea this thesis aims to clarify is how anti Blackness is killing Black people and how one economic policy could improve health. In this essay, I will break down the significance and importance of human lactation for lifelong better health, and investment in a UBI would especially work as a preventative measure for several health issues Black people experiences.

Expanding The Pronominal Account Of Tense: A Reexamination Of The Double Access Reading In English, Brynne E. Wilkinson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis I will argue that the double access reading in English is not limited to the present-under-past construction but is instead available in the present-under-future construction as well. Unlike the traditional present-under-past construction, however, the double access reading is not the only available reading in the present-under-future construction. I will present data that shows that any context which licenses the double access reading also necessarily licenses a simultaneous reading as a result of a Sequence of Tense rule. Additional data will show that, when interpreted de re, the embedded present tense in the present-under-future construction is constrained …

Navigating College While Homeless: A Phenomenological Inquiry Of The Young Adult Experience, Bertha Fountain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Purpose: The study aimed to understand the perspectives of students in college who were homeless. The research question guiding this inquiry was: How do young adults describe their experience of being homeless while in college?

Method: Qualitative research using a phenomenological approach guided this descriptive inquiry. Interviews were held with 10 students from three CUNY Community Colleges and the data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Resilience theory helped to understand the barriers along with the strengths and adaptive responses of the students.

Results: Students experienced unstable and inadequate sleeping arrangements and food insecurity along with their academic responsibilities. Homelessness …

The Impact Of Personal Resources, Job Resources And Job Demands On Nurse Engagement, Michael J. Kern

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In today’s VUCA (Volatile, Complex, Uncertain, and Ambiguous) world, the more we understand about how individual differences interact with the work environment to impact employee engagement the greater our chances are of making changes to lead to positive work outcomes regardless of the profession. There is no profession better suited for this type of investigation than that of nursing. Previous research has shown that more highly engaged nurses are able to provide better care and thus increase the chances of a more favorable outcome. There are many factors that can impact work engagement and one accepted model that helps to …

Genetic Circadian Mosaics And The Clock Network’S Contributions To Sleep, Lukasz Widziszewski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Circadian rhythms are physiological and behavioral changes which follow a 24-hour cycle. Drosophila Melanogaster’s circadian clock neuronal network (CCNN) has been identified and several subpopulations have been characterized based on previous studies; the classifications of subpopulations of neurons within the CCNN are based on a return of anticipatory locomotor activity preceding the two daily light transitions (Lights on = dawn/Lights off = dusk). The neurons responsible for the return of anticipatory morning locomotor activity have been referred to as the M-cells, the group of neurons known to rescue evening anticipatory locomotor activity have been termed the E-cells. In this …

"Queering" Age-Friendly New York City, Austin G. Oswald

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background and aims: The global population is aging and becoming more culturally diverse. As such, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers are expected to think critically about strategies to improve the quality of life of people as they age. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Age-Friendly Cities movement to improve the well-being and meaningful engagement of older adults living in the community. New York City (NYC) was the first city in the world to be designated “age-friendly” by the WHO, and is possibly viewed as a model for other cities to emulate. Few empirical studies have examined the age-friendly …

Protecting Peace? Analyzing The Relationship Between The Protection Of Civilians And Peace In Un Peacekeeping Settings, Jenna Russo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since 1999, the protection of civilians (POC) has become central to UN peacekeeping, included in the mandates of most multidimensional missions. In 2009, the Security Council designated POC as a priority among mandated tasks, in part because of the assertion that protecting civilians creates conditions that are conducive to peace. Yet, to this point, there has not been a thorough examination of the relationship between the protection of civilians in conflict settings and the broader peace process. The purpose of this research project is to investigate whether protecting civilians from violence serves to shorten conflict duration and/or create more durable …

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2022: National Scorecard, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

This scorecard summarises the results of the CSISG 2022 satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. CSISG scores are generated based on the econometric modelling of survey data collected from end-users after the consumption of products and services. Company scores (in black) are weighted based on a separate incidence study. This incidence study helps determine each company’s sample profile and the local-tourist weights. Sub-sector scores (in blue) are derived as a weighted average of company scores, in proportion to the local and tourist incidence interactions with the constituent companies. Sector scores (in gold) are derived by aggregating …

Commodity Marketing For High School Students, Fabio Mattos

Cornhusker Economics

Agricultural commodities play a major role in Nebraska’s economy and are central to the life of many families in the state. Learning the main concepts of commodity marketing becomes essential for young Nebraskans considering careers in the agricultural industry or in farming. Therefore, in the last 10 years, the Department of Agricultural Economics has been expanding its curriculum in commodity marketing and merchandising, as has already been discussed in this space a few years ago (“Commodity Trading Room Comes Online at UNL,” 6/29/2016). Following the same ideas, we are now expanding our efforts to offer a program in commodity marketing …

Recovery, Christopher V. Hollister, Allison Hosier, April Schweikhard, Jacqulyn A. Williams

Communications in Information Literacy

The Editors-in-Chief of Communications in Information Literacy discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on scholarly production and on the information literacy community more generally. They propose the need for a period of recovery, and they recommit to the values and the ethics of care that drive all facets of the journal's operations.

Meet Students Where They Are: Centering Wikipedia In The Classroom, Diana E. Park, Laurie M. Bridges

Communications in Information Literacy

There is a common classroom refrain, “Don’t use Wikipedia; it’s unreliable.” Unfortunately, this simple dismissal of the world’s largest repository of information fails to engage students in a critical conversation about how knowledge within Wikipedia is constructed and shared. Wikipedia is available in almost 300 languages, it is the top result in most Google searches, and it provides free, well-sourced, information to millions of people every day. However, despite these positives, there is uneven geographic, historical, and cultural representation; there are well-known information gaps related to women, gender, and sexual identity; and the majority of Wikipedia editors are white, …

Review: Envisioning The Framework: A Graphic Guide To Information Literacy, Jonathan D. Grunert

Communications in Information Literacy

Review of Finch, J. L. (2021). Envisioning the framework: A graphic guide to information literacy (ACRL Publications in Librarianship, no. 77), American Library Association.

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 5), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gap Between Research And Smallholder Farmers Through Community-Based Development Organizations, Nathan D. Fortner

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Food demand is expected to increase 30% to 62% by 2050 according to recent estimates. Yet, annual increases in agricultural productivity have slowed and plateaued since the green revolution increases of the 1960’s. Two strategies to help address future food demand are reducing post-harvest loss and consumer waste, and closing the yield gap between potential and farmer realized yields. Some of the largest yield gaps are those of smallholder farmers. While solutions may exist to close these gaps, delivering and integrating solutions into smallholder production systems is a complex process involving research, extension, cultural factors, government policy, NGOs, private industry, …

More Than Just Captions: Using Universal Design For Learning Principles To Create Accessible Videos, Rachel L. Edford

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Talk given for the Summer 2022 Stay Savvy with Scholarly Communication Series through UCF Libraries.

The Viking, June 2022, Town Of Veazie

Maine Town Documents

The Viking is the newsletter of the Town of Veazie, Maine and the Veazie Community School.

Preemptive Church-Based Marital Education And Counseling As An Intervention To Increase Marital Satisfaction And Reduce Divorce Rates, Shane C. Kreller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Marriage is a fundamental component of the Christian experience; it is an institution that ideally bonds two believers in a lifelong relationship through which they can grow spiritually and emotionally, support one another, and often create and raise the next generation within the warmth and nurturing of a united family. Unfortunately, marital dissatisfaction and divorce—common phenomena in the United States—can have a wide range of negative consequences not only for spouses but also for their children, parents, and friends. This Doctor of Ministry thesis examines how the author’s local church ministry, River of Life Fellowship Ministries, deals with issues of …

Gamer Girl Vs. Girl Gamer: Stereotypical Gamer Traits Increase Men’S Play Intention, Shay Xuejing Yao, David Ewoldsen, Morgan Ellithorpe, Brandon Van Der Heide, Nancy Rhodes

Communication Faculty Publications

The present study utilized two theories (the common ingroup identity model; expectation states theory) to examine male players’ intention to play video games with a female player. Consistent with the common ingroup identity model, male participants who were exposed to a pseudo Xbox profile presenting a woman as a stereotypical gamer showed stronger identification with the gamer category compared to those who saw a profile presenting her as a stereotypical female player. These male participants in turn showed stronger intention to play video games with the woman in the Xbox profile. Results also supported expectation states theory, suggesting that viewing …

Transportation-Enabled Urban Services: A Brief Discussion, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Nearly 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas or cities, and is expected to rise above 70% over the coming decades. Rapid urbanization brings steadily more residents and a growing freelancing workforce into cities. The developments of city infrastructure and technologies—for instance, mobile location tracking and computing, autonomous and connected vehicles, wearable devices, robotics and robots, smart appliances, biometric authentication, various internet-of-things devices, and smart monitoring systems—are creating numerous opportunities and inspiring innovative and emerging urban services. Among these innovations, complex systems of urban transportation and logistics have embraced advances in technologies and, consequently, been significantly reshaped (Agatz …

Flavor-Videos: Enhancing The Flavor Perception Of Food While Eating With Videos, Meetha Nesam James, Nimesha Ranasinghe, Anthony Tang, Lora Oehlberg

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

People are typically involved in different activities while eating, particularly when eating alone, such as watching television or playing games on their phones. Previous research in Human-Food Interaction (HFI) has primarily focused on studying people’s motivation and analyzing of the media content watched while eating. However, their impact on human behavioral and cognitive processes, particularly flavor perception and its attributes, remains underexplored. We present a user study to investigate the influence of six types of videos, including mukbang – a new food video genre, on flavor perceptions (taste sensations, liking, and emotions) while eating plain white rice. Our findings revealed …

The Rural Price Tag Of California's Clean Energy Transition, Sayd Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In the spring of 2019, residents of eastern California’s Owens Valley were on the fight. As is usual in that part of the world—where a century of aggressive water extraction by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has left the valley dry—they were angry about a water project dreamed up by some Southern Californians.

Information Sources, Perceived Personal Experience, And Climate Change Beliefs, Sonny Rosenthal

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study proposes and tests a model of serial mediation based on the norm activation model and value-belief-norm theory. It argues that beliefs about climate change are related to perceived personal experience, which is related to the use of different information sources. Structural equation modeling of survey data from 1084 adult residents of Singapore found mixed support for three hypotheses. Results showed that perceived personal experience of climate change was related to the use of traditional media (β = 0.20), social media (β = 0.16), and interpersonal sources (β = 0.13), but not institutional sources. Perceived personal experience of climate …

Linking Online Vaccine Information Seeking To Vaccination Intention In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Han Zheng, Shaohai Jiang, Sonny Rosenthal

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study examines how online vaccine information seeking is related to vaccination intention in the United States and China during the initial stage of their coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination programs. Analysis of the pooled sample showed a positive relationship between online vaccine information seeking and vaccination intention. There was also a negative indirect effect via perceived information overload, vaccine risk perception, and negative affective response. Multigroup analysis revealed differences between the United States and China. This study highlights the bright and dark sides of online health information during a global pandemic and has practical implications for communication campaigns to promote …

Balancing Learning And Enjoyment In Serious Games: Kerbal Space Program And The Communication Mediation Model, Sonny Rosenthal, Rabindra A. Ratan

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

When designed well, serious games can support effective learning. This study used the communication mediation model to examine the process and outcomes of playing serious games, in this case, the science-themed game, Kerbal Space Program. During a 4-h research session, 241 undergraduate students played through the game's tutorial missions and completed surveys to measure variables of interest. Results of structural equation modeling showed that game progress was positively related to self-efficacy in computer gaming (β = 0.26) and ordinary science intelligence (β = 0.13). Knowledge acquisition was positively related to game progress (β = 0.21) and positively predicted experiential attitude …

Dimensions Of Social Networks: A Taxonomy And Operationalization, Michael Genkin, Nicholas Harrigan, Rajalakshmi Kanagavel, Janice Yap

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What are the basic types of social network ties captured by name generators? While there have been several classifications proposed, and a large proliferation of name generators capturing various tie content has emerged, there is no clear way to map a given name generator to a particular tie type. Building on previous research, this paper proposes a framework for doing so in a principled way based on two studies. Study 1 is a dimension reduction of 24 common name generators. We find two dimensions (Valence and Social Distance), three positive tie types (Admiration, Closeness, Socialize), and three negative tie types …

Reconciliation, Restoration And Reconstruction Of A Conflict Ridden Country, Muhammad S. Riaz

Theses and Dissertations

Conflict has sadly been a constant part of history. Winning a conflict and making a lasting peace are often not the same thing. While a peace treaty ends a conflict and often dictates terms from the winners’ perspective, it may not create a lasting peace. Short of unconditional surrender, modern conflict ends with a negotiated cessation of hostilities. Such accords may have some initial reconstruction agreements, but Reconciliation, Restoration and Reconstruction (RRR) is a long term process. This study maintains that to achieve a lasting peace: 1) The culture and beliefs of the conflict nation must be continuously considered and …

Shaping The Witch: A Visual Art Thesis, Amanda Cobb

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the complex and interconnected nature of folklore, personal mythology, and re-enchantment as expressed through the lens of puppetry. I have drawn inspiration from the works of deeply reflective works concerning the psychological nature of mythologies of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, as well as the magical and beautiful work of artists Jim Henson, Brian and Wendy Froud, and Mercer Meyer. Through working in the medium of puppets, I have given consideration to the possibilities and limitations of these forms in expressing the complexity of narrative, personal mythology, the anxiety of disenchantment, lost and reclaimed …

Assessing The Accessibility Of The Judicial System's Arrest-To-Parole Timeline For People Who Are D/Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing, Evelyn G. Birnbaum

University Honors Theses

The judicial system is inaccessible to many groups of people for a variety of reasons, one of those populations being the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing community (DHH). This community faces prejudice and discrimination in many institutions because of their identity, but within the justice system, this prejudice is compounded and controlled by poor legislation and either the lack of, or barriers to, effective communication. At every point in the chronological timeline from getting arrested to achieving parole, individuals who are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing face discrimination and obstacles that their hearing counterparts do not. The discrimination they face …