Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Does The Press Have A Right To Be Wrong?: Fake News, Press Freedom, And Defamation Law In 2021, Nathan T. Danielson

Journalism

The following study analyzes defamation lawsuits filed against Fox News and its on-air personalities by companies that manufactured and maintained voting machines used in the 2020 US presidential election. Smartmatic and Dominion accused Fox in court of broadcasting debunked allegations that the companies had rigged the election against incumbent president (and longtime Fox viewer) Donald Trump. The size of the sought-after damages, and the size of Fox itself, make this the largest “fake news suit” in history. This study explores the merits of the suits, defenses to defamation (particularly opinion, political speech, and retraction) and the potential ramifications of a …

The Opioid Crisis: A Nationwide Epidemic, Spencer M. Ammen Mr.

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Library Connection, V7n2, Spring 2020, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Library Connection

Inside This Issue:
--Theresa Westbrock Named New Dean of Library Services
--Responding to COVID-19 #unitogether
--Student Highlight: Sarah Fluegel

Physical Inactivity: A Behavioral Disorder In The Physical Therapist’S Scope Of Practice, Matthieu P. Boisgontier, Maura D. Iversen

SHU Faculty Publications

In health, the gold standard is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.This state is weakened by physical inactivity, which involves a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, depression, and obesity. Moreover, 6% to 10% of all deaths from non-communicable diseases worldwide can be attributed to physical inactivity. These adverse effects of physical activity provide evidence that physically active individuals are closer to the gold standard of health than inactive individuals. Therefore, physical activity – not inactivity – should be the standard reference behavior. In this framework, physical inactivity is a clinically significant disturbance in an …

Established Adulthood: A New Conception Of Ages 30 To 45, Clare M. Mehta, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Carlie G. Palmer, Larry J. Nelson

Faculty Publications

In developed countries, the years from Age 30 to 45 are, for many, the most intense, demanding, and rewarding years of adult life. During this period of the life span most adults must negotiate the intersecting demands of progressing in a chosen career, maintaining an intimate partnership, and caring for children. Successes or difficulties in meeting these simultaneous demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life. As such, we believe that it is of critical importance to better understand this developmental period that we call established adulthood. This article provides a new theoretical …

Journeying Into A New World: Constructing A New Identity Through Language Acquisition, Hyrum Hansen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The following portfolio represents the author’s experiences and studies while he has participated in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. It is the result of the author’s teaching experiences abroad and at Utah State University, his teaching observations of peers and colleagues, and insights from his studies in the MSLT program.

The portfolio is divided into three major sections, namely: teaching perspectives; research perspectives; and an annotated bibliography. The teaching perspectives demonstrate the author’s beliefs in regard to communicative language teaching and identity construction and their importance in the language acquisition process. The research perspectives further deal with …

Go Big With Economic Push To Fight Covid-19, David Fernandez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Economic policymakers need to focus on taking bold and immediate action in order to tackle the pandemic crisis.

A Data-Driven Analysis On The Impact Of High-Speed Rails On Land Prices In Taiwan, Joyce M. W. Low, Byung Kwon Lee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

High-speed rail (HSR) networks boost inter-city accessibility across a country and stimulate economic growth in inner cities. These economic gains, however, can often be accompanied by sharp increases in land and property prices along the lines that raise governmental concerns. This study examined the effect of the introduction of HSR on land prices in Taiwan and how the extent of such an effect varied with the stages of economic, societal, and infrastructural developments in different cities in Taiwan. Based on extensive published data, an empirical study was conducted using an integrated methodology comprising system dynamics, multivariate regression, and principal component …

Three Essays On Financial Economics, Jiangyuan Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Disagreement measures are known to predict cross-sectional stock returns but fail to predict market returns. This paper proposes a partial least squares disagreement index by aggregating information across individual disagreement measures and shows that this index significantly predicts market returns both in- and out-ofsample. Consistent with the theory in Atmaz and Basak (2018), the disagreement index asymmetrically predicts market returns with greater power in high sentiment periods, is positively associated with investor expectations of market returns, predicts market returns through a cash flow channel, and can explain the positive volume-volatility relationship.

Essays On Agricultural Commodity Processing, Bin Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation investigates two important issues in agricultural commodity processing: (i) biomass commercialization; that is, converting organic waste into a saleable product, from economic and environmental perspectives, and (ii) optimal procurement portfolio design using multiple suppliers and spot market, and the impact of by-product introduction on this optimal portfolio.

The first chapter examines the economic implications of biomass commercialization from the perspective of an agri-processor that uses a commodity input to produce both a commodity output and biomass. We characterize the value of biomass commercialization and perform sensitivity analysis to investigate how spot price uncertainty (input and output spot price …

Lost In Translation: Understanding Education Policy Implementation In Nepal, Sushmita Subedi

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the impact of the School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP), a national education reform in Nepal, on primary and secondary education. The study uses mixed-methods to analyze indicators of educational outcomes and identify the underlying environmental, organizational, and individual factors that affect reform implementation.

The first phase of the study is a quantitative analysis of annual, district-level data on 75 districts for 10 years, from 2006 to 2016 using regression models to predict dropout and promotion rates. The second phase of the study is a qualitative analysis of the perceived effectiveness of SSRP using in-depth interviews with 33 …

The Effect Of Signing Ballot Petitions On Turnout, Samuel Franklin Harper

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the Progressive Era, almost half of the U.S. states adopted the ballot initiative, the process by which citizens can petition to change their state’s laws or constitution independent of their state’s legislature. Many Progressives believed the initiative would have positive “educative effects” on voters, such as increasing voter turnout. Most studies show the Progressives’ hypothesis that the initiative would increase turnout was correct, but how and for whom the initiative increases turnout remains disputed. Using two Arkansas initiative petitions and the Arkansas voter registration file, I find that the act of signing a ballot initiative petition significantly increases the …

Financial Literacy For Justice-Involved Women, Melisande Holingue

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Financial literacy workshops taught to justice-involved women in Santa Cruz County in the jail setting and the transitional reentry setting

Assessing Effectiveness Of The Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Safety Procedures Education, Ernesto Verduzco

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Safe Ag Safe Schools (SASS) is a local pesticide reform organization with members at the state and local levels aiming towards sustainable agricultural practices. SASS focuses on serving agriculturally working families and community members who reside near agricultural areas. The problem addressed by the capstone is that too many marginalized, low-income communities are facing environmental injustices produced by large corporation’s methods of generating revenue. These injustices include high risk of pesticide exposure due to inadequate training and access to equipment. The project focused on assessing farm workers’ knowledge regarding pesticide safety and decontamination procedures. The Office of the Monterey Agricultural …

What Kind Of Resources Are There For Caregivers Of Patients With Mental Illness?, Candice Robertson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The capstone was implemented at Telecare, an agency that serves individuals who are on a psychiatric hold. The capstone’s macro-level problem is that caregivers are not receiving the support they need to adequately help their patients. The micro-level was that my agency works with the family so the social workers should be giving out appropriate resources for the caregivers. The capstone consisted of conducting research to assess the different resources that were available for caregivers online. I implemented this by conducting systematic GOOGLE searches and organizing top results by common themes that were in the articles found in the top …

Sylvan Dell Nature Preserve Project, Brian Quinn, Katie Wisotsky, Huthaifa Aladwan

Sylvan Dell Field Station Student Projects

The Sylvan Dell Nature Preserve and Farm in South Williamsport, PA. Sylvan Dell is a 229 acre plot of farmland that contains a wetland on the south section of the property. It lies just south of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The first humans we know of to settle on this land were the Susquehannock and later the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Native Americans. In the late 18th century, white settlers took the land away from the Haudenosaunee. In the 20th century, the famous ornithologist Robert Porter Allen was influenced by the broad range of bird species that would visit …

Improving The Take-Up Of Homecare Services Among Holocaust Survivors In A Jewish Charitable Organization, Olga Kondratjeva, Stephen Roll, Odelya Mantsura, Pini Miretski, Olga Statland-Vaintraub, Hannah Brumbaum, Ariel Tikotsky, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Social Policy Institute Research

This research brief is part of a series by the Social Impact Nudgeathon initiative. This initiative incorporated insights from behavioral economics into the design and delivery of social welfare programs. Developed through a partnership between the Joint Distribution Committee in Israel (JDC-Israel) and the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis, this initiative is among the first of its kind to launch in Israel. Working in close collaboration, research teams from the United States and Israel investigated whether using behavioral insights to make small changes in the delivery of social service programs in Israel and Russia would …

Improving Educational And Career Opportunities For Youth With Disabilities In The Future Trend Program, Yifat Klein, Osnat Elnathan, Mayzahav Itiel Barkai, Miriam Palachi, Anat Halevy, Yair Feingold, Ariel Tikotsky, Guy Hochman

Social Policy Institute Research

This research brief is part of a series by the Social Impact Nudgeathon initiative. This initiative incorporated insights from behavioral economics into the design and delivery of social welfare programs. Developed through a partnership between the Joint Distribution Committee in Israel (JDC-Israel) and the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis, this initiative is among the first of its kind to launch in Israel. Working in close collaboration, research teams from the United States and Israel investigated whether using behavioral insights to make small changes in the delivery of social service programs in Israel and Russia would …

Perception And Behavioral Changes Of Thai Youths Towards The Plastic Bag Charging Program, Sujitra Vassanadumrongdee, Dawisa Hoontrakool, Danny Marks

Applied Environmental Research

Thailand has one of the highest usage of plastic bags globally, with over 45,000 million plastic carrier bags used annually. Because of its high plastic consumption and mismanagement of plastic waste, Thailand was ranked sixth globally in terms of its contribution to marine plastic pollution in 2015. While many countries have introduced plastic bag charges or taxes to reduce consumption, the Thai government is reluctant to do likewise due to political concerns about whether the public will accept this. This study presents findings on perception and acceptance level of university students towards plastic bag charging program in their campuses. We …

Health Risk Assessment Of Pesticide Residues In Vegetables From River Basin Area, Supawat Chaikasem, Veerapas Na Roi-Et

Applied Environmental Research

Environmental contaminations with pesticides are considered as one of the major environmental pathways of human exposure leading to a potential threat to human health, especially if there is an accumulation in the trophic levels. This study purposed to investigate the level of pesticide residues and the potential health risk associated with vegetables, surface water, and sediment obtained from the river basin area. The concentrations of 87 pesticides from four main groups namely; organophosphate, organochlorine, pyrethroid, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were verified by triple quadrupole GC-MS/MS. The concentration of Parathion methyl, Methidathion, Bromophos methyl, Chlorfenvinphos, Triazophos, Azinphos ethyl, and D-trans-Phenothrin …

Prioritizing Diversity [Letter To The Editor], Elisa Rodrigues

Gleeson Library Faculty and Staff Research and Scholarship

Letter to the Editor for American Libraries magazine in response to their blog post covering a library technology conference session, "Disrupting Tech While Being Pro-Tech", that minimized the first billed presenter, a white-passing woman of color, in favor of her white, male co-presenter.

The Lotus, The Orchid, And The Dragon: An Examination Of One Country, Two Systems And Its Trajectory In Xi Jinping’S China., Eric M. Bush

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Xi Jinping has prioritized National Rejuvenation, a new pillar in the Chinese social contract based on the view that western powers exploited China during a Century of Humiliation and now, under the Communist Party, China is reclaiming its former glory. As China approaches its centennial in 2049, the CPC has prioritized fully reunifying and integrating Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau with the mainland. Through a comparative analysis of Hong Kong and Macau’s demographics and political and economic institutions, this thesis examines the current status of the One Country, Two Systems policy and anticipates its trajectory under Xi Jinping.

Reclaiming Images Of Black Women: An Investigation Of Black Womanhood In Visual Communication, Taylor Simone Thomas

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This thesis investigates how Black womanhood has been visually represented in hopes to either recognize Black women as full, nuanced, and legitimate participants of society or to reinforce monolithic representations built from the constructs of social, political, and economic oppression. It also gives an analysis of Black feminism and how Black feminist thought can be applied to the creative process in hopes of challenging visual misrepresentations of Black womanhood. The aim of this thesis is to show that artists and visual communicators do have a responsibility to be conscious of the messages conveyed in their work. In addition, they must …

Musicians’ Hairstyles: A Glimpse Into The Meanings And Messages Of Funk, Punk, And Rap Hair From The 1970s To 1990s In The Usa And France., Carolle Pinkerton

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is an introspective study of our culture by looking at the meaning and messages in hairstyles of popular musicians. It seeks to understand how popular musicians have shaped their sense of style by the political and social movements of the time especially focusing on punk rock, funk, and rap genres in the United States and France. The research also considers the similarities and differences found within the genres across the two countries. The paper studies and analyzes what hairstyles are dominant in each genre and why. Hairstyles that migrated from America to France within the genre, social and …

The Dimensions Of Secession In California., Jared J Thomas

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this research paper was to determine whether annual income is an indicator of a respondent’s level of support for the Californian independence movement. Ultimately, the analysis here determined that there is not a statistically significant relationship between the income of the participant and their support for secession in California. However, the data analysis did yield that there is a correlation between an index of ‘Support for Secession’, ‘Interest in Secession’ and ‘Seriousness of Claim’ and income. In addition, this research project determined that there is not a statistically significant relationship between the political ideology of the respondents …

Universalism And The Paradox Of Redistribution: The Case Of Norway., Madison Swingholm

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The social democratic model of welfare is manifested in Norway. The highly egalitarian and redistributive Nordic model is seen as one of the best, most successful welfare systems in the modern world. With radically high levels of happiness, social cohesion, trust, labor participation, and life satisfaction, it is easy to see why Norway draws so much attention. What is it about their welfare system that makes it so successful?

There are many unique circumstances and cultural factors that surely contribute to this success, which I discuss thoroughly in this paper. However, I argue that what allows for such favorable outcomes …

Does Aging Identity Moderate The Impact Of Experiences With Familial Ageism On Well-Being?, Emily E. Kinkade

MSU Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to begin investigating the effects of ageism in the family context. The current literature has documented the negative impacts that negative stereotypes and negative perceptions of aging has on older adults’ health, mortality, and well-being (Levy, 1996; Levy, 2003). However, the majority of extant research on ageism focuses on age discrimination in the workplace and in healthcare despite the majority of peoples’ time being spent in the family context. Therefore examining experiences of ageism sourced from family members merits study. Walker, Bisconti and Kinkade (in preparation) found evidence that the experience of ageism within …

Quality Child Care In Missouri: The Intersections Of Policy And Teachers' Perceptions Of Quality Child Care, Catherine Slade

MSU Graduate Theses

A child’s health and well-being is supported by the environment in which they learn and develop. For an average of 36,000 children in Missouri, their environment includes an out-of-home child care program. Child care regulations are designed to protect the health and safety of children in child care. Using a constant comparative method, this study examined the extent to which the child care licensing regulations in Missouri align with the 13 Indicators of Quality Child Care published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This study also examined how effective teachers working in child care programs felt …

Why Is My Heart Beating So Fast? Librarian Experiences With Teaching Anxiety, Britt Fagerheim, Kacy Lundstrom

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

No abstract provided.

From Anecdotes To Data: Leveraging Our Assessment Toolkit To Determine How A New Curriculum Measures Up, Rachel Wishkoski, Alex J. Sundt, Katie Strand, Deanna Allred

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

This presentation shared the design and results of a mixed-methods assessment of a new library curriculum for ENGL 2010, the required English Composition course at Utah State University. Piloted with two sections of the course in fall semester 2019, this new three-session curriculum was grounded in case-based problem-based learning (CBPBL), a specific type of problem-based learning (PBL) in which students work together to solve real life scenarios and immediately apply their skills to a relevant and complex problem. Student teams used case studies to practice source evaluation, topic development, and synthesis of research in writing. Multiple assessment methods afforded us …