UNT Theses and Dissertations - 139 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 24 next
open access

It's Going to be Different, but It's Going to be Okay: Caregiver Perspectives on Autism, Culture and Accessing Care

Description: Through ethnography influenced by public health and anthropological theory, I explored the cultural perceptions of autism among eight caregivers whose children received services from a local Dallas-Fort Worth autism treatment organization. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews with caregivers and program employees provided a rich and nuanced view into the state of care currently available in the DFW area while also highlighting areas for improvement. This research will be used… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Otwori, Beverly N.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Understanding Perceptions of Community Gardens in the Dallas Area

Description: This exploratory research focuses on identifying the roles and perspectives of community gardens in the Dallas area. Results from semi-structured interviews reveal the social and political makeup of the neighborhoods where the garden projects in this study are located. While these findings highlight the benefits of gardening in the city, they can also be contested spaces. In advocating for the proliferation of garden projects in the city, community organizations would benefit from understanding… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Ayyad, Raja
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Understanding Affluence through the Lens of Technology: An Ethnographic Study toward Building an Anthropology Practice in Advertising

Description: This thesis describes a pilot study for a new cultural anthropology initiative at Team One, a US-based premium and luxury brand advertising agency. In this study, I explore the role and meaning of technology among a population of affluent individuals in Southern California through diaries and ethnographic interviews conducted in their homes. Using schema theory and design anthropology to inform my theoretical approach, I discuss socioeconomic and cultural factors that shape these participants' … more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Garcia, Steven R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Artscapes: Community Perceptions of City Beautification through Murals in Denton, Texas

Description: Keep Denton Beautiful (KDB) is inspired by Keep America Beautiful's model of community engagement to create a clean, beautiful, and vibrant city. The community mural initiative, Artscapes, aims to enliven public spaces, abate graffiti, and inspire community members to keep Denton, Texas, clean and beautiful. The goals of this research project are to understand the impact of Artscapes initiative, community perceptions of public art, and find ways KDB can better align future mural projects with t… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Robertson, Lindsey
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Considerations for Global Development and Impact using Haiti as a Case Study

Description: As the world becomes more connected, issues surrounding sustainable development are coming to the fore of global discussions. This is exemplified in strategies such as the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), released in 2015, which created a framework for global development that defines specific goals for issues like poverty, climate change, and social justice. To complement the analysis that went into defining the SDGs, capital allocations around the world are becoming more i… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Clerie, Isabelle
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Emerging Ed-tech and Accessibility

Description: Recent developments in the field of education have led to a proliferation of educational technologies (or “ed-tech”), yet access to educational content for students with special needs remains a challenge. This research study aims to assess the current state of accessibility in emerging ed-tech and to identify barriers in enabling educational content to be born accessible. Detailed discussions with various ed-tech platforms revealed less of a need for technical tools, but a more prevailing need … more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Vora, Disha
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

In-store Event Needs and Technology Use Among Half Price Books Customers

Description: Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc. (HPB), fills a unique niche by selling a variety of new, used and rare merchandise primarily in their chain of 116 stores in sixteen states and online. The company has noticed increased mobile device use among customers in their stores while sales have declined in recent years. To remain viable HPB is attempting to adapt to market forces in a timely manner while remaining continually interested in growth and innovation. A major part of adapting, growin… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Wilson, Steven K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Grace After Fire: an Analysis of Table Talk: Color Me Camo-realities of Female Veterans

Description: Beginning May of 2013 and ending in September, I worked with Grace After Fire (Grace), a virtual nonprofit organization that focuses on issues related to female veterans. Grace’s mission is to provide female veterans with the means to gain knowledge, insight and self-renewal. Grace’s mission is accomplished through peer support and resource referral. The aim of my thesis project was to conduct an analysis of Grace’s peer support system, Table Talk: Color Me Camo (Table Talk). Because Table Talk… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Phillips, Jessica Laureano
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Product Management: the Decision Process

Description: This thesis builds upon several theoretical ideas. The first of which is the anthropologists’ transition into the corporate context and the particular type of skills and value that someone with anthropological training can bring to operations management. As anthropology is relatively new and unfamiliar to corporations, anthropologists are often hired without explicit knowledge of how they will address organizational problems. Frequently, this incremental relationship building between the anthro… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Pahl, Shane D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Identifying Opportunities for the Revitalization of Downtown Bloomsburg

Description: American downtowns were once the place to see and be seen, but the introduction of the shopping mall in the late 1950s challenged this notion and gave the American consumer a different place to spend their time and money. The prevalence of shopping malls has slowly been declining across the country since the beginning of this century, leaving room in the American retail landscape for downtowns to reclaim their status as community and retail centers. Towns across the U.S. are turning to nationa… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Schlieder, Victoria Mae
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Opening Doors for Excellent Maternal Health Services: Perceptions Regarding Maternal Health in Rural Tanzania

Description: The worldwide maternal mortality rate is excessive. Developing countries such as Tanzania experience the highest maternal mortality rates. The continued exploration of issues to create ease of access for women to quality maternal health care is a significant concern. A central strategy for reducing maternal mortality is that every birth be attended by a skilled birth attendant, therefore special attention was placed on motivations and factors that might lead to an increased utilization of healt… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: McLendon, Pamela Ann
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Evaluating a Sustainable Community Development Initiative Among the Lakota People on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Description: This thesis details my applied thesis project and experience in the evaluation of a workforce development through sustainable construction program. It describes the need of my client, Sweet Grass Consulting and their contractual partner, the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, in the evaluation of Thunder Valley CDC's Workforce Development through Sustainable Construction Program. My role involved the development of an extensive evaluation package for this program and data analysi… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Mosman, Sarah A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Oral History of Bonton and Ideal Neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas

Description: The Bonton and Ideal neighborhoods in Dallas Texas, developed in the early 1900s, experienced physical and social decay throughout the 1980s. Neighborhood organizations and resident activism were vital to the rebirth of the community in the 1990s. Current revitalization efforts taking place there have been a source of contention as the neighborhood continues to overcome inequalities created by decades of racialized city planning initiatives. This thesis focuses on how the structuring structu… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Payne, Briana
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Facilitating Positive Relationships between Patients and Foreign Born Providers in South Central Pennsylvania

Description: Foreign-born providers make up over a quarter of the physician workforce nationally. Patients in south central Pennsylvania are primarily white with limited interaction with foreigners which can produce barriers to communication and trust. This study proposes practical steps for building positive relationships between patients and their foreign-born providers. Ethnographic methods were used to interview and survey patients and providers about the relationships between foreign-born providers an… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Long, Janel Elaine Lehman
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Investigating the Impact of Patient-Provider Communication on HIV Treatment Adherence

Description: Today over 1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States; over the last 4 decades mortality rates have decreased largely made in part because of advancement in awareness and treatment options. Treatment adherence has long been considered a vital component in decreasing HIV/AIDS related mortality and has proven to reduce the risk of transmission. However not all patients take their medicine as prescribed. This research study, sponsored by The North Central Texas HIV Planning C… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Barnes, Shelly Marie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Why Breastfeed? Understanding the Factors that Influence Women to Breastfeed in Southeast Fort Worth

Description: Today breastfeeding is a common conversation with the ever-growing holistic movement and the effort to 'go green' as demonstrated by the proliferation of the organic food industry in recent years within the United States. Breastfeeding may reduce poor health outcomes including infant morbidity and mortality. Infant mortality is a priority in Tarrant County within southeast Fort Worth as defined by this project’s client Healthy Moms – Healthy Babies – Healthy Community. The purpose of this resea… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Jimenez, Lesley S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Developing Policy for a Tech Program Based on Understanding Organizational Practices

Description: This thesis contributes to research that informs the studies of organizational management and organizational anthropology. It examines the internal hierarchy and organizational practices of a Tech Company and describes how findings contributed to policy recommendations aimed towards supporting a “guild” model for organizational success. The data collecting and research were undertaken while working as an employee of the Tech Program and subsequent analysis continued past the end of that phase o… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Machado Perez, Luis Daniel
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Understanding Road Use and Road User Interaction: An Exploratory Ethnographic Study Toward the Design of Autonomous Vehicles

Description: This thesis contributes to research that informs the design of autonomous vehicles (AVs). It examines interactions among various types of road users, such as pedestrians and drivers, and describes how findings can contribute to the design of AVs. The work was undertaken as part of a research internship at Nissan Research Center-Silicon Valley on the Human Understanding in Design team. Methods included video ethnography “travel-alongs” which captured the experience of travel from the point of vi… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: McLaughlin, Logan M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Identifying Breast Cancer Disparities in the African-American Community Using a Mixed Methods Approach

Description: Utilizing a mixed methods approach in assessing cities and metropolitan areas with the highest rates of breast cancer disparities in African-American communities, this study presents the Affiliate perspective of the Susan G. Komen non-profit organization in combination with available socioeconomic data and academic literature. Analyzed through an anthropological lens, qualitative and quantitative data illuminate the lived experiences and dynamic circumstances in which breast cancer disparities … more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Morrissey, Natalie Noel
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Understanding the Culture of Giving among Utility Fuel Fund Donors in Southern California

Description: The Energy Assistance Fund (EAF) is a voluntary, nonprofit fuel fund that provides grants to income qualified utility customers in an effort to help those customers avoid electricity service disconnection. The administering utility and the energy industry as a whole is undergoing transformative change, resulting in a projected decrease of fundraising capacity for EAF among its most substantial donor pool - utility shareholders and employees. Utility customers represent a small percentage of EA… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Sauer, Ashley
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Addressing Social Elements of Wildfire: Risk, Response, and Recovery in Highland Village, TX

Description: Representatives of the City of Highland Village expressed concern over the risk of wildfires for their community. Anthropology provides many tools for and examples of disaster assessment of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. These tools combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can provide a holistic, cultural ecological look at how such a disaster may take place in the city. The project's methods included a detailed survey of preparedness steps which was analyzed usin… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: MacKinnon, Jessica
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Teacher Leadership Implementation: Change Agents in a Large Urban School District

Description: Education reform initiatives continue to push schools to improve methods of measuring accountability intended to improve student achievement in the United States. Federal programs like the Teacher Incentive Find (TIF) provide school districts with funds to develop and implement school accountability and leadership programs. Teacher leadership is one of the concepts being formally developed amongst these initiatives. My applied thesis project focused on work I conducted with a team of researcher… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Hickling, Alexandra K
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Exploration of College Attitudes among Sioux Falls High School Students

Description: Since the recession of 2008, there has been an increased scrutiny of higher education, with little research done on how this affects high school students' college search process. This study seeks to understand how college perceptions are formed and how they affect the college decision process of high school students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In order to gain a holistic perspective of this process, this study utilized a mixed method approach of analyzing public data, conducting interviews wi… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Duesterhoeft, Kristin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Sustainable Education: An Interfaith Climate Change Initiative

Description: This thesis is a study of religion and the environment in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and how participants define and interpret their religious duty toward nature. The literature is focused on the field of Christianity and Ecology from its historical development, culminating with a discussion of contemporary religious environmental activism. Utilizing a participatory action research framework, a sustainable education program was developed, focusing on the environmental ethics of Christianit… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Banis, Joshua Paul
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
Back to Top of Screen