Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Quantitative Easing On The U.S. Stock Market And Wealth Inequality, Griffin Phillips

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

My thesis will investigate and attempt to find a causal relationship between Quantitative Easing (QE) and the U.S. stock market since 2003. The secondary effects will then be explored to see if stock prices impact wealth inequality. To find the causal relationship between the QE and the stock market, a regression model will be used. It predicts the magnitude of effects of QE and other variables that may impact stock prices. Since 2007-2009, the Federal Reserve has used QE as a means to spur economic growth. This expansionary monetary policy has impacted many financial markets, including the U.S. stock market. …

The Effects Of Communication Differences On Listeners’ Attitudes Of Warmth And Competence, Credibility, Intelligences, And Social Distance, Rebecca D. Parks

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Prior research has shown that listeners may hold a variety of negative attitudes towards individuals with speech or language disorders, such as beliefs that they are lower in intelligence, friendliness, or competence (Allards & Williams, 2008; Bettens et al., 2020; Lallh & Rochet, 2000). These studies have suggested that attitudes tend to vary based on the type and severity of the disorder, but results are inconclusive on specific communication characteristics impacting perceptions. The present study measured participants’ attitudes towards an actor portraying either a language, fluency, articulation, or voice disorder. The between-subjects design involved participants being randomly assigned to listen …

Impacts Of Biased Scientific Covid-19 News Reporting On Mortality Salience, Jena Wilkinson

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

COVID-19 has made people aware of their own death, referred to as mortality salience. Mortality salience affects behavior. Public health uses reporting to inform the population, and many news reports reference the pandemic’s death toll. The current study investigated the difference in mortality salience between news supporting CDC-recommended guidelines and news not in compliance with CDC guidelines. It was hypothesized that CDC compliant news would induce higher rates of death anxiety. Additionally, non-CDC compliant news would influence lower perceived control of COVID-19. This was a mixed factorial design of 133 students at a small liberal arts university. Survey responses were …

Effect Of Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Misinformation On Conspiracy Belief And Anxiety, William Alexandr Yeager

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Over the past two years, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in long-lasting damage, an increase in mood disorder diagnoses, and an increased spread of misinformation. It was this study’s focus to determine whether exposure to misinformation about SARS-CoV-2 affected anxiety, conspiracy beliefs, and vaccine hesitancy. Participants completed a pre- and post-test State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for perceived anxiety measurement alongside the Perceived Stress Scale. Participants were also connected to biofeedback machines for physiological anxiety measurement. Participants completed the Conspiracy Mentality Scale, Conspiracy Belief Scale, Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale, and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale for conspiracy belief measurement. It was hypothesized that …

The Associations Between Closeness To Residential Mother And Father During Adolescence And Young Adult Depressive Symptoms And The Corresponding Moderation Of Biological Sex, Mckenna Quinn Farley

Theses - ALL

Past research has suggested that adolescent parent-child relationships may have an impact on adolescent and young adult mental health. However, there are gaps in the previous research regarding relationships between these areas. The goal of the present study is to examine the relationship between an individual's closeness to their residential mother and father in adolescence and their depressive symptoms in young adulthood. The study also looks at how the biological sex of the individual moderates this relationship, and further examines if parental closeness has any significant role in the relationship on young adult depression above the effect of adolescent depression. …

Adolescent Closeness To Parents And Young Adult Global Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role Of Natural Mentoring Relationship, Shuangyue Cui

Theses - ALL

Theories suggest that relationships play an important role in self-esteem. Close relationships with parents during adolescence revealed direct and long-term effects on self-esteem. The past research demonstrated that a natural mentor significantly positively affected adolescents' phycological outcomes. Whether it directly influences psychological well-being or is a protective factor for at-risk youths, a greater likelihood of favorable outcomes was demonstrated when adolescents are close to their parents or have natural mentoring relationships. However, there has been a gap in the literature about the moderating role of the natural mentoring relationships (NMRs) between closeness to parents and children's global self-esteem. To better …

Three Essays On Partial Identification For Applied Health Economics, Giuseppe Germinario

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three chapters which explore the usefulness of partial identification methods for estimating treatment effects in applied health economics research. Each one applies the methodology to different settings in which establishing causality has traditionally been difficult, and seeks to demonstrate when a bounding approach can—and cannot—aid researchers in learning about causal relationships.The first chapter studies the Housing Choice Voucher program in the United States and estimates bounds on the effect that receiving this form of housing assistance has on self-reported health status and the likelihood of hospitalization within the eligible population of renters. The second chapter aims …

Three Essays On Globalization, Structural Change, And Political Economy, Nam Seok Kim

Dissertations - ALL

Re-allocation of labor from less productive sectors to more productive sectors is essential in attaining economic growth. Because only some developing countries achieve productive labor re-allocation, it is important to address the determinant of productive labor re-allocation. Based on this motivation, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 focus on the role of unionization in structural change. In Chapter 1, I provide detailed dynamics by constructing an index for the degree of unionization for each sector in each region of South Korea and Taiwan. The magnitude of growth-enhancing structural change was lowered when a sector in a region had a higher degree …

Saint Jude's, May 15, 2022

Saint Jude's

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Waltham, MA

Saint Jude's Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, May 15, 2022

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Household Behavior And Taxation: A Focus On The Labor Market, Mariana Odio Zuniga

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The decision-making process within the household is a significant component to be taken into consideration for policy design in both developed and developing economies. Therefore, this dissertation focuses on understanding how joint-household behavior and taxation impact the labor market and intergenerational mobility. To this end, Chapters 1 and 2, focus on how joint-household behavior and taxation impact the formal-informal sector composition in Brazil. Meanwhile, Chapter 3 analyses the role of taxation, child expenditures, and family structure on intergenerational mobility of educational outcomes.

Among the most significant challenges of the labor market in developing countries is reducing high informality rates, which …

The Roles Of Time And Measurement In Within-Person Purpose Variability, Gabrielle N. Pfund

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sense of purpose can be understood as the extent to which one feels that they have personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them through life. Though the predictive value of this construct is well-established based on the robust research illustrating that it predicts a host of desirable cognitive, physical, and well-being benefits, the nature of sense of purpose is still under-researched. In particular, little is known regarding the extent to which this construct fluctuates within an individual and what is tied to those fluctuations. The current study addresses this gap by utilizing data from four separate studies (total N = …

Parental Help-Seeking Intentions For Childhood Adhd In Asian Indian American Parents: Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Nandini Jhawar

Theses - ALL

Background: Pediatric attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent, impairing disorder with significant public health burden. Unfortunately, there is considerable delay to treatment and a low rate of lifetime treatment contact for individuals with ADHD, especially among ethnic minorities. The Asian Indian American (AIA) population, one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States, has been ignored completely in ADHD help-seeking research. To fill this void, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework was used to examine how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control affect help-seeking intentions for ADHD in AIAs. Method: 191 parents (53% …

The Emergence Of Postcolonial Apologia: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Chinese Governmental Response To Western Accusation During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Yiqing Ran

Theses - ALL

In my thesis, I examine how the Chinese government developed postcolonial apologia throughout its dispute with the US government over policies related to COVID-19. I focus on the shifting rhetorical strategies used by the Chinese government to defend China from accusations by other nations, especially the US. I determine that the Chinese government's response to the Western accusation during the COVID-19 pandemic progressively shifted from participating in the Western system to questioning Western centralization and adding Chinese interpretations to the existing world order. I argue that China's self-defense strategies altered in light of the changing geopolitical context and became more …

Essays On Strategies For Increasing Repayment Rates Of Digital Microloans, Alain Rutayisire Shema

Dissertations - ALL

Access to credit can act as a highly effective tool for poverty reduction and economic growth. The ability to borrow increases the propensity of low-income people to start and maintain businesses, educate their children and withstand financial shocks. These factors, in turn, can help them to move out of poverty and lead to more sustainable economic development. However, traditional financial institutions have inherent limitations that have impeded their ability to serve the poor.

Digital lenders are able to leverage the widespread adoption of mobile phones and mobile money to extend credit quickly and conveniently to more people, especially in developing …

Liquid Consonants In Standard Turkish: Features And Phenomena, Utku Zobarlar

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to explore aspects of the phonology of liquid sounds - /l/ and /ɾ/ - in Standard (Istanbul) Turkish. The thesis focuses on two questions: i) what feature(s) is responsible for non-high vowel alternations triggered by liquid consonants in syllable codas, and ii) do liquid features play a role in affecting irregular suffixal allomorphy in verbs inflected for the aorist. While Turkish phonology, in general, and Turkish vocalic phonology, in particular, have been well studied (Lees 1961; Clements & Sezer 1982; Kirchner 1993; Kabak 2011, among others), the bearing that liquid consonants and their features …

Spanning The Auditory System: Subcortical And Cortical Auditory Processing Of Speech Sounds In Autistic And Typically Developing Children, Erin Stephanie Misato Matsuba

Theses - ALL

Autistic individuals often report atypical sensory processing, particularly in the auditory domain. However, the neural mechanisms that produce such symptoms are poorly understood. The Speech Auditory Brainstem Response (speech-ABR) and the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) are neurophysiological measures that capture different levels of auditory processing, such that the speech-ABR reflects processing at the subcortical level and the MMN measures cortical processing. The present study integrated both techniques in a multimethod approach, which spans both subcortical and cortical processing of speech sounds in a group of autistic children (n = 11) matched on chronological age and non-verbal IQ to their typically developing …

An Open Access Resource For Functional Brain Connectivity From Fully Awake Marmosets, David J. Schaeffer, L Martyn Klassen, Yuki Hori, Xiaoguang Tian, Diego Szczupak, Cecil Chern-Chyi Yen, Justine C. Cléry, Kyle M. Gilbert, Joseph S. Gati, Ravi S. Menon, Cirong Liu, Stefan Everling, Afonso C. Silva

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is quickly gaining traction as a premier neuroscientific model. However, considerable progress is still needed in understanding the functional and structural organization of the marmoset brain to rival that documented in longstanding preclinical model species, like mice, rats, and Old World primates. To accelerate such progress, we present the Marmoset Functional Brain Connectivity Resource (marmosetbrainconnectome.org), currently consisting of over 70 h of resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) data acquired at 500 µm isotropic resolution from 31 fully awake marmosets in a common stereotactic space. Three-dimensional functional connectivity (FC) maps for every cortical and subcortical gray matter voxel …

Ginanaandawi'idizomin: Anishinaabe Intergenerational Healing Models Of Resistance, Zoe V. Allen

American Studies Honors Projects

Since the early 2000s, the opioid epidemic has had a devastating sweep across Indian Country. The White Earth nation declared the epidemic as a public health emergency back in 2011. Since then White Earth has developed community-based harm reduction and culturally grounded models of intervention for substance use disorder that continue to influence Native Nations across the U.S. This project centers on Anishinaabe approaches to the ongoing opioid public health crisis but also elaborates on Anishinaabe forms of healing and resistance. My primary method was conducting oral histories with White Earth community youth workers and advocates. My research project asks: …

Food Reclamation And Redistribution: Addressing Grocery Store Food Waste, Insecurity And Accessibility Through The Introduction Of Food Pantry And Educational Space On Existing Grocery Store Sites, Diane Arista

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

Looking at Las Vegas, there is a lack of local agricultural systems. Due to its desert climate and current state of drought, there are insufficient resources to establish a traditional style of agriculture. With the lack of in-state or in-city agriculture, Las Vegas is seeing a rise in population of those who face food insecurity and lack of access to fresh food. In order to even consider food growth that would help to mitigate insecurities, there would need to be commitment to establishing an alternative agricultural process that would survive in Las Vegas' arid climate. These alternatives often look at …

The Effect Of Social Primes On The Perception Of Native- And Nonnative-Accented Speech, Drew J. Mclaughlin

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Listeners use more than just acoustic information when processing speech. Social information, such as a speaker’s race/ethnicity, can also affect listeners’ understanding of the speech signal. In some cases, these social primes can facilitate perception, while in others they may inhibit perception. Indeed, a picture of an East Asian face has been shown to facilitate the perception of Mandarin Chinese-accented English but interfere with the perception of American-accented English. The present dissertation builds on this line of inquiry, addressing novel topics including the generalizability and specificity of social priming effects, their relationship with implicit racial/ethnic associations, and their role in …

Law And Decisions In Corporations, Xinyu Hou

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies the impact of corporate laws and bankruptcy laws on decisions in corporationsfrom a theoretical perspective. Chapter 1 studies the impact of liability rules on firms’ choices of care (affecting the frequency of tort damages) and scale (level of output) at the extensive and intensive margins. Chapter 2 focuses on gambling using derivatives, made more available by recent changes in the bankruptcy law granting repos and other derivatives “superpriority,” which is exemption from the automatic stay and clawback in bankruptcy.

Limited liability is a birth right given by law to corporations, LLCs, and to differing extents specialforms of …

Interparental Conflict In Early Childhood As A Predictor Of Depression And Anxiety Symptoms At Age 15, Abigail Picinich

Theses - ALL

Research has continually demonstrated a number of adverse externalizing outcomes for children from conflictual families, though the impact of interparental conflict on adolescents' internalizing problems is less well understood. This study utilized longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child-Wellbeing Study, which is a stratified, multistage sample following 4,898 children from low-income families from birth to age 15. Self-report data from both the mothers and focal-teens was utilized to examine the impact of interparental conflict, at age 3, on both anxiety and depressive symptoms, at age 15. Findings indicated that there is a significant relationship between higher frequency of interparental …

How Race Impacts Political Ideology And Partisanship In The Queer Community, Sarah Shakeel

Theses - ALL

The impact of race on political ideology and partisanship has been studied for decades, with consensus on some things and debate on others. Similar literature on the queer community—while not as longstanding—certainly exists. However, there is not enough academic work on the intersection of race and sexuality and the way this impacts political behaviors. This paper has attempted to fill this gap. We found that queer POC's are not necessarily more liberal or more Democratic than queer Whites. Nevertheless, looking deeper at cross-racial trends, we do find some interesting relationships.

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, May 15, 2022

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Grocery Store Transitions To Multi-Own Ership - Opportunities And Challenges, Marilyn Schlake

Cornhusker Economics

Independent grocery stores, stores whose owners operate fewer than four outlets, play a vital role in Nebraska communities. These stores help ensure food access for residents, particularly in rural areas. The recent decline in Nebraska’s total number of rural grocery stores is attributed to the closure of these independent stores, which are often owned by individuals or small groups. Finding qualified, motivated owners to purchase and operate independent grocery stores presents pressing challenges for many rural communities. Despite challenges, research shows that rural Nebraska communities perceive their independent grocery store to be an important community amenity. This suggests rural communities …

Three Essays On The Economics Of Education, Rachel Jarrold-Grapes

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is comprised of three essays on the economics of education. The first and third chapters examine marijuana legalization and its effects on students, while the second chapter examines the impact of pension incentives on teacher quality.The first chapter examines the extent to which there are negative spillovers of recreational marijuana legalization on underage marijuana use and educational outcomes. I use two complementary identification strategies that rely on plausibly exogenous spatial and temporal variation in access to marijuana in Oregon. In November of 2014, Oregon passed Measure 91, a referendum to legalize recreational marijuana. Unlike other legal states, Oregon …

Fragmented Landscapes: An Archaeology Of Transformations In The Pra River Basin, Southern Ghana, Sean Hamilton Reid

Dissertations - ALL

This doctoral archaeological research examines the Pra River Basin in southern Ghana through lenses of landscape, temporality, and transformation. Drawing on the Annales school and the writings of Tim Ingold, this study moves away from binary constructions of natural and cultural landscape features toward a more integrated view of the landscape's long human history. The primary temporal focus of this research is the past three millennia but evidence recovered of even more ancient eras is also examined. The artifacts and features documented while surveying this landscape allow us to glimpse pre-Atlantic (pre-1450 CE) settlement patterns, subsistence, and technology, as well …

Common Law With Uncommon Regulations: The Influence Of Legal Tradition On Campaign Finance Regimes, Sky Berry-Weiss

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Americans spent $11.4 billion in their last federal election cycle but collectively, the United Kingdom and Canada only spent a little over $550 million in their last general elections. These three states have similarities in democratic governance, economic legacy, and common law legal system grouping but how did they become so separated in campaign finance regulations? Prior research in the field of international comparative campaign finance law is limited and primarily focuses on using political theories to describe the movement of laws toward deregulation or regulation. This research seeks to find what influences the creation, preservation, and deregulation of campaign …

Essays On Decision Theory, Edward Honda

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides three chapters on decision theory. The main purpose is to consider how economists can rationalize or explain the choices that are being made by decision makers in the economy. For example, when we observe certain substitution patterns among products in a market, we may be interested in questions like why such a pattern arises or what such behavior may tell us about substitution patterns among other similar products. Therefore, all of the chapters focus on writing mathematical models that can help explain the choice behaviors we may observe.The first two chapters focus mainly on what is sometimes …