Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Participation In Collision, Contact, And Noncontact Sports And Academic Outcomes At A United States Service Academy, Benjamin Thomas Showman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The present study seeks to determine whether significant differences exist in the academic outcomes, specifically grade point averages (GPA), between college students who participate in collision, contact, or noncontact sports. Additionally, this study seeks to understand whether sport contact levels are predictive of a student’s GPA when sport competition levels and demographic variables are also taken into account. Current research suggests links between sports participation, aggression, brain injuries, and academic outcomes. Along these lines, a significant amount of research has investigated relationships between student aggression and academic outcomes, between aggression and sport contact levels, and between sports participation and academic …

Operational Structures Forming Complex Feedback Loops In Health System / Accountable Care Partnerships – A Multiple-Case Study Investigation To Enable System Dynamics Simulation, Richard J. Pro

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 introduced accountable care organizations as a critical component in the transformation of the United States healthcare industry to a value-based care model. It also triggered an ongoing series of health system consolidations consistent with the theory of transaction cost economics. Consolidations included the alignment of health systems with accountable care organizations despite the assertions of some researchers that competing economic models rendered such partnerships financially unviable. The academic literature is silent on this issue, without any published studies of the effects of health system / accountable care organization interactions. The purpose …

An Analysis Of The Disenfranchised Grief Of Involuntary Childless Women, Neressa Darroux

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In society the grief associated with involuntary childlessness is often overlooked, minimized, and ignored. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the disenfranchised grief of involuntary childless women using the theoretical framework of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief to show how involuntary childlessness is an invisible loss that produces grief which is oftentimes invalidated. This study was guided by three research questions: (a) what is the lived experience of grief of involuntary childless women, (b) how can involuntary childless women grieve their losses in an environment where they experience disenfranchised grief, and (c) how do involuntary childless women make meaning of their …

Tiktok Cyberbully Responses: Communicating The Narrative, Wendy Sommer Zito

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study analyzed TikTok cyberbullying response videos to understand how content creators use verbal and nonverbal communication within their performance, creating audience engagement and awareness for cyberbullying and social advocacy issues. This study was conducted with 200 TikTok creator accounts analyzing communication, performance, engagement, and analytics narrative content analysis. Codes were separated into themes that represented the creator's emotional responses. These responses were analyzed to learn how the audience presented the content. The combination of narrative content analysis and analytics data was used to determine the effectiveness of the creators' ability to engage with their audience and create cyberbullying and …

Characterization Of Folic Acid, 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate And Synthetic Folinic Acid In The High-Affinity Folate Transporters: Impact On Pregnancy And Development, Ana M. Palacios, Rachel A. Feiner, Robert M. Cabrera

Department of Health Policy and Community Health Faculty Publications

Objectives:

Folates are B vitamins that are essential for several molecular, cellular, and biological processes, including nucleotide synthesis, methylation, and methionine cycling. The physiological impacts of these processes on health also extend to cell proliferation, folate deficiency anemia, and reduction of the risk of birth defects during pregnancy. The primary objective of this study was to characterize the binding affinities of different folate forms, folic acid (FA), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF), and folinic acid, to the folate receptors α and β, and to the bovine milk folate binding protein. These three dietary forms of folate are found in enriched grains (FA), various …

Anxiety Patterns In Gifted Adolescents From Parents' Perspectives, Felicia Moreschi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study explores the connection between giftedness and anxiety. Families of gifted adolescents were invited to participate in a survey to identify themes of anxiety within the school and home settings. The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale, parent report (Spence, 1999) was used as the survey instrument. A total of 18 participants responded. Several themes were revealed based on the responses to questions on the survey. The themes that emerged have been identified as patterns of anxiety, including separation anxiety, physical injury fears, and social anxiety.

America At A Glance: Occupational Injuries Among Rural Workers, Andrew Myers, Arin Leopold, Catherine Ipsen, Bryce Ward, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

RTC:Rural researchers led by Andrew Myers review data from the 2019 American Community Survey to explore differences in occupations and workplace injuries across rural and urban areas.

Reflections: Battling Body Image As A Dancer, Erika Shaffer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Reflections is a dance I choreographed and performed on February 25, 2022 in studio 205 Campus Center Building at East Tennessee State University. The dance explores the relationship between a dancer’s mind and body and uses mirrors and repetition to express the dancers’ perception of their flaws and insecurities. The following thesis, Reflections: Battling Body Image as a Dancer, analyzes the artistic elements of the choreographic process, my experiences as a dance student at ETSU from 2018-2022, as well as my training in my youth. My research for this thesis involves exploring the history and craft of choreography including the …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Restorative Justice Rehabilitative Services Available In Northeast Tennessee For Mothers Diagnosed With Substance Use Disorder, Claire Roberson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) has plagued families of rural Appalachia for many years, perpetuating involvement in the criminal justice system as well as generational trauma for people diagnosed with SUD and their children. This points to the necessity of a trauma-informed, restorative-justice based framework for rehabilitative services to most effectively heal families, address trauma, and re-integrate people diagnosed with SUD into society. A restorative justice-based program would provide health care services for addiction and any comorbid mental health disorders as well as teach parents how to properly provide for themselves and their families, manage finances, obtain employment, and further education. …

The Death Penalty: Recent Trends In Exonerations And Recommendations For Further Improvements, Brittany Wakefield

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The death penalty has had many regulations placed since its first use in America to make the process more equitable, but people are still being wrongfully sentenced to die. Using a data set of 139 exonerations over a period from 1980 to 2021, the current study examined some prominent factors in wrongful death penalty convictions and how these factors have changed or endured over time. The major findings revealed that racial disparity still exists in the legal process, but it is declining. Exonerees are more likely to have three or more contributing factors (perjury or false accusation, official misconduct, false …

The Dangers Of The Social Drinker: An Analysis Of Adolescent Drinking Habits At Social Gatherings, Mason Seitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adolescent alcohol consumption is a topic that has been well-researched to date due to the dangers it can pose. A variety of factors may work to contribute to the habits these adolescents develop. One factor that has not been extensively studied is the impact of locations on drinking decisions. Location provides a perspective on how various social factors can intersect to dictate where and when young people will choose to consume alcohol. Most previous literature has focused on the alcohol usage found at parties or bars, but the current research wishes to expand this idea to other locations, such as …

Associations Between Perfectionism, Parental Expectations, Self-Esteem, And Academic Achievement In Gifted Students, Hannah Scarbrough

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Intellectual giftedness can affect students in a variety of ways. Research often examines some of these potential effects, such as how giftedness impacts performance in school or attitude regarding academics. However, little research has been done on whether gifted students are more driven by internal pressures to succeed that they place on themselves or by external pressures to succeed that are placed on them by others. The present study examined how perfectionism (an internal pressure) and parental expectations (an external pressure) might affect a student’s self-esteem and achievement. Participants were 250 undergraduate students (M age = 20.35 years old, …

The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Academic Performance And Student Self-Perception, Emily Brown, Julia Dodd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Researchers have explored the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on academic performance from elementary years to young adulthood. In this study, we explored the relationship between ACEs and academic performance in high school and academic student self-perception, and the further role that community or high school extra-curricular involvement may play in this relationship. In this study, we hypothesize that participants with higher ACEs will have poorer academic performance than those with lower ACEs. Secondly, we hypothesize that students with higher ACEs will have a lower academic self-concept than students with lower ACEs. Thirdly, we hypothesize that community or extra-curricular …

College Student Utilizing Dating Apps During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarah Boll

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following study explores the effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the initiation and development of human relationships. During the early days of the pandemic, governments forced shutdowns of businesses and workplaces, and public health officials created social-distancing and facial covering mandates to protect the health of citizens. However, long periods of isolation can foster negative emotions and feelings, such as loneliness, anxiety, and depression. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, humans have an innate need for love and belonging, but the health risks of contracting the virus and social-distancing enforcements significantly threatened the “normal” methods of satisfying this …

Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault At The University Of Arkansas, Barrett Weidman

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This work was written to fulfill two main purposes. First, to help survivors of Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (DFSA) process their experience by compiling the toxicological, pharmacological, and distribution of the three most used date-rape drugs. Second, to gauge the knowledge and interest of University of Arkansas students regarding drug impairments, sexual assault education, and bystander intervention training. A survey was conducted for the latter and revealed that 91.6% of students believe the University’s existing sexual assault prevention education and bystander intervention training have room for improvement. Also, 37.1% of students who have received this education report that the programming does …

Quantification Of Slit-Like Pores Through Using Liquid Crystals As A Template, Dominique Savage

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to manufacture a membrane with slit-like pores to achieve particle filtration. Slit-like pore membranes are preferred over conventional membranes with cylindrical pores since slit-like pores have two length scales that can be manipulated to better control cut off and flux through the membrane. This project focuses on manufacturing slit-like pore membranes through the use of two liquid crystals, 1,4-bis[4-(6-acryloyloxyhexyloxy)benzoyloxy]-2-methylbenzene (RM257) and 4-Cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB). This method for making slit-like pores has not been widely investigated nor has the morphology of the membrane pores and mechanical properties of such a membrane been addressed. It was found …

Moral Distress, Burnout, And Moral Injury In Healthcare Professionals, Sophia Gibson

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

For doctors and other health care professionals, experiences of care too often involve burnout and moral distress. Making both visible to begin addressing them takes up the main concern of my thesis. Burnout and moral distress swallow a life. Suddenly you aren’t going on that shopping trip with friends, you can forget about going to that movie or play. You are too tired to drag yourself out of bed, instead getting caught in a cycle of sleep and work with no time for a break or even to process what happened last shift. Who’s going to have a nice relaxing …

Consumers Perception Of Quality For Ladies' Swimwear Based On Price And Brand, Jennifer Avila

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

Consumers shop at multiple retailers for different needs. It is understood that many choose a retailer for an experience and others will shop at large discount retailer for the better savings aspect. These two retailers are constantly working on improving customer experience as well as trying to increase their sales. In a time where E-commerce is at an all-time high, these two retailers also need to consider how other retailers compare against them in different sales categories. Since March of 2020, the retail world shifted with COVID-19 disrupting the supply chain. As retailers solve ways to keep consumers content and …

A Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Food Pantry Accessibility In Washington County, Arkansas, Coleman Warren

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food pantries are an essential resource for impoverished and food insecure communities. Washington County, Arkansas has a food insecurity rate of 14.3% as compared to the national average of 10.9% (Feeding America, 2019). The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank has a robust pantry network in Washington County to support families and individuals who struggle with food insecurity.

We conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of food pantry accessibility in Washington County, Arkansas to evaluate the effectiveness of the food pantry network in Washington County at supporting communities with the most need. This analysis was conducted using the Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (2SFCA) method …

The News And Social Media Algorithms: An Evaluation Of Serendipity In The Infosphere., Libby Petrie

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigates consumer responses to a theoretical solution to many of the problems facing today's infospheres, including but not limited to echo chamber behaviors, misinformation, and polarization. The solution, conceptualized as the “Architecture of Serendipity,” proposes that media platforms tweak their existing algorithms to introduce a threshold of “serendipity,” or random and varied content in order to diminish the effects caused by the over-personalization of today's most relevant information systems (Sunstein, 2017). While there is a belief among certain academics that the architecture can prove to be incredibly impactful at diminishing these negative consequences, there is no commentary on …

Effect Of Coastal Environments On The Post Mortem Interval Of A Pig Carrion: Implications For Human Decomposition, Morgan Hough

Honors Theses

Forensic taphonomy involves the use of forensic techniques to determine the post mortem interval of a corpse. There are many factors that are known to influence the rate of decomposition, such as the temperature, season, soil type, moisture potential of the soil, and presence of insects or other decomposers. Previous studies in this field have focused primarily on decomposition patterns in mountainous environments in terms of terrestrial habitats or strictly aquatic environments, leaving this particular aspect of coastal settings to be unexplored.

To study these effects, the superior portion of a female pig was buried in sandy soil in mid-October …

The Interplay Between Personal Responsibility And Social Determinants Of Health On Attributions Related To Covid-19 Infections, Emma Cox

Honors Theses

While health campaigns often convey that health-related behaviors are the primary causes of preventable illnesses, they ignore the strong relationship between social determinants of health (SDH) and health outcomes (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). Ignoring non-behavioral factors in health communication poses both practical and ethical concerns for people with negative health outcomes, as health is linked to many “uncontrollable” factors, including income, education, and employment (Guttman & Ressler, 2001). Several social and environmental factors are linked to covid-19 exposure risk, including neighborhood environment, housing conditions, and occupation (CDC, 2022). Given the associations between causal beliefs about health and policy support, experts …

The Future Is Female? Evaluating The Utility Of Female Professional Networking Organizations, Lily Arbuckle

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

In today’s competitive global market, harnessing the individual strengths of all organizational members is crucial for success. Organizations across all industries need diverse representation and contributions. However, women and other groups continue to be disadvantaged, lacking the same representation that majority and advantaged groups enjoy. The prevalence of gender bias in the workplace not only hinders professional success for women, but also the success of their organizations. To combat some of these issues, networking organizations are forming to help support women through mentorship and relationship building. Most studies in the academic sphere investigate female networking organizations at the professional level. …

Arclothmasks: A Pandemic Startup Journey, Adam Jackson

Information Systems Undergraduate Honors Theses

Covid-19 changed the way the world operated when it became a pandemic in 2020. The need for personal protection equipment was unexpected and suppliers were not prepared for the demand. The government mandate of masks furthered the need of PPE across the nation. To help fill this shortage, many companies began to retool their manufacturing processes from clothing to masks. This thesis will dive into one PPE company and its journey from the start of the pandemic. The business plan for the company will follow it along with graphs and charts that help tell the tale of the startup.

Gender Perceptions And Female Students' Academic Engagement And Success In Stem Fields, Rheanna Morgan

School of Social Work Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite an increase of females in higher education and the workforce, fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continue to be male-dominated. One explanation for this trend is the lack of gender representation and counterstereotypical role models to encourage female engagement in these fields at the university level. Previous research has looked at instructor gender, classroom gender composition, and involvement in extracurricular activities as possible factors influencing students' engagement and success in the classroom. However, few studies have investigated how gender perceptions influence female students in STEM fields. This study uses self-report data from a voluntary survey to …

Supply Chain Disruptions During The Pandemic And Ways Food And Beverage Companies Are Looking To Find Stability, Jacob Merz

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

In March 2020, the world was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and is still dealing with its repercussions. This paper examines how the pandemic has had an impact on the food and beverage industry. In this study, there are three disruptions highlighted by industry professionals and online articles. The professionals within the supply chain industry cited in this research are Jane Gringer-Flinn, Director of Customer Solutions at Coca-Cola, Whit Calhoun, Senior Director of Logistics at The Fishin’ Company, Judy Thorne, Senior Director Distribution Services at Tyson Foods, and Bill Carver, Senior Director at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. The three …

The Ethics Of Masking During A Pandemic, Mason Bennett

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous, approaching a million deaths in the United States alone, and has demonstrated the world’s lack of preparation for a severe airborne virus. Countermeasures to infection are important to implement in order to lessen loss of life, but also must be justified and shown to be ethical. A countermeasure which is especially viable is wearing masks because of their high efficacy in preventing disease transmission compared to their relatively low restriction of liberty; studies have shown that mask wearing effectively impairs the spread of airborne pathogens and creates little physical or social harm. I argue …

Implementing A Micro-Business Internship Program In Dangriga, Belize, Shaadee Shojai

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Over the Summer, I was able to work with Peacework in Belize through the University of Arkansas. While I was unable to physically go to Belize due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, I feel that I was still able to learn about the culture, in both the casual and business workplace, as well as help the people of Dangriga. The goal of my project was to help consult with the Tourism Department of Dangriga to help develop their small business into businesses that were more appealing to tourists. Unfortunately, most people who own small businesses in Dangriga can’t support themselves with …

College Students’ Perception Of Law Enforcement, Joseph Lyon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

There are many ways that people can form an opinion about law enforcement even if they have had a personal interaction with someone who works in the field. This idea has always been interesting as there needs to be some type of understanding when it comes to this certain viewpoint. There can be many factors that result in having a certain perspective on law enforcement in general like their background growing up, hearsay from close relatives, friends, and whatever they have seen up close in person. This study is going to aim at a specific area of how people view …

The Effects Of The Transition From Pre-Nursing To Nursing On Mental Health, Andrew J. Davis, Paige R. Mullins, Kimberly A. Sell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mental health is an ever-growing crisis among adolescents and young adults, with suicide as second leading cause of death and the number of those negatively affected continually on the rise. Transitions are one of the major stressors prevalent among these age groups, placing individuals at risk for mental health deficits. This quantitative voluntary response comparative study assesses the transitional mental health of pre-nursing students and students in the nursing program at East Tennessee State University. Emailed to all with a declared major of pre-nursing or nursing, this study measured mental health using evidenced based assessment tools. The PHQ-9 for depression …