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The Impact of Commuting on Mental Health

Description: The purpose of this research is to explicate the relationship between commuting behavior, stress, and mental health. The overall results from the regression analysis turned out to be inconclusive given the researcher's initial hypothesis. The commute time reported by respondents did not have a statistically significant bearing on mental health outcomes. This was true for both the normal sample, and the sample that was split by gender.
Date: August 2017
Creator: Malek-Ahmadi, John H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Influence of Social and Cultural Factors on Alcohol Use and Abuse among a Sample of Young Males in the Army

Description: The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the social, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to or inhibit alcohol use and abuse in the Army among young males, unmarried or married without a present spouse. Seventeeen single, or separated, young male soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg Army Base were interviewed to provide insight into the research questions. Soldiers were largely located through face-to-face canvassing. The interviews, which lasted from 45 to 90 minutes… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Short, J. Rollin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Religiousness and Spirituality: How Are They Related to Moral Orientations?

Description: This dissertation examines correlations between religiousness and spirituality, to moral orientations using moral foundations theory as a framework. Using the 2012 Measuring Morality dataset, which provides a representative sample of the population of the United States, I create linear regressions which test associations between religiousness, spirituality, and each of the five moral foundations ((harm/care, fairness, in-group loyalty, respect for authority, and purity). I find that religiousne… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Gabhart, Elizabeth A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Determinants of Women's Autonomy in Nepal

Description: Nepal in recent times has witnessed a proliferation of community-based organization (CBOs). Established by local residents, CBOs are small level organizations that promote and defend the rights and interests of people especially that of minorities and the disadvantaged. One such minority group that CBOs greatly focus on are women. Despite dramatic increase in the number of CBOs in Nepal its impact on women is understudied. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the relationship between … more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Neupane, Diptee
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Drought: Construction of a Social Problem

Description: Drought is a complex subject that has varied definitions and perspectives. Although drought has historically been characterized as an environmental problem from both the meteorological and agricultural communities, it is not considered a sociological disaster despite its severe societal impacts. Utilizing the framework developed by Spector and Kitsuse (2011) and Stallings (1995), this research examines the process through which drought is defined as a social problem. An analysis of the data re… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Parham, Antoinette D
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Social Psychology of Social Media Reactions to Terrorism

Description: Columnists and social media users commonly stated that terrorist attacks resonate differently in the world and they speculated on some potential reasons such as familiarity, number of victims, and the difference in expectations of a country to be a stage for a terrorist attack to explain this difference. An academic perspective, more specifically a sociological one, is needed to bring light to this debate. In this study, I aimed to understand the discourse after terrorist attacks and to find o… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Demirhan, Emirhan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Dimensions of Acculturation and Sexual Health among U.S. Hispanic Youth

Description: Hispanic youth living in the U.S. share a disproportionate burden of risk for HIV, other STIs, and teen pregnancies. They also tend to report lower rates of condom use and higher rates of inconsistent condom use than other racial/ethnic groups. Furthermore, immigrant Hispanic adolescents experience a unique burden of sexual risk compared to their non-immigrant counterparts. These negative sexual health outcomes can severely derail the overall health, social mobility, and life opportunities of t… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Driver, Nichola D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Using Topic Models to Study Journalist-Audience Convergence and Divergence: The Case of Human Trafficking Coverage on British Online Newspapers

Description: Despite the accessibility of online news and availability of sophisticated methods for analyzing news content, no previous study has focused on the simultaneous examination of news coverage on human trafficking and audiences' interpretations of this coverage. In my research, I have examined both journalists' and commenters' topic choices in coverage and discussion of human trafficking from the online platforms of three British newspapers covering the period 2009–2015. I used latent semantic ana… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Papadouka, Maria Eirini
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Living arrangements of elderly widows in India: Family convention, bad luck and abandonment

Description: In India, issues of gender discrimination and female empowerment have become more prominent in the last several years. Elderly women, specifically widows, are often abandoned or not well cared for by family members and are typically marginalized within Indian society, vulnerable, and susceptible to poverty. This is an exploratory analysis with a research hypothesis asking, who are the caregivers of elderly widows? Statistics indicate that women may be taking on more of a care giving role with e… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Wilder, Ann C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Migration Information Gathering by Mexican-origin Immigrants in the Pre-migration Phase

Description: U.S. immigration procedures are complex and may elude the average individual seeking admission to the United States. Understanding this, the current study investigates how information resources are used by potential migrants to learn about the migratory process. Using a mixed-methods approach, I interviewed 30 Mexican immigrants with unauthorized immigration experience about the process of gathering migration information in the pre-migration phase. Qualitative data were coded using seven themes… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Hudson, Cassie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Role of Family in Alcohol Consumption Among Turkish Adolescents

Description: Alcohol consumption among adolescents is an important issue because of its link to many negative social and health problems, including depression, suicide, and aggression. Drawing from Hirschi’s social bonding theory and Agnew’s general strain theory, this study examines the effects of family relations on alcohol consumption among Turkish adolescents. Social bonding theory suggests that individuals with stronger social bonds are less likely to use alcohol than individuals with weaker social bon… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Gurbuz, Suheyl
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Can Akers’ Social Structure and Social Learning Theory Explain Delinquent Behaviors Among Turkish Adolescents?

Description: The aim of this study was to examine to what extent Social Structure and Social Learning Theory (SSSL) explains delinquent behaviors among Turkish adolescents. While Social Structure and Social Learning (SSSL) Theory have been examined quite frequently in the criminology and sociology literature, the present study is unique as it tests the theory in Turkey, a context with a mixed Islamic and Secular cultural structure. The data originates from a survey conducted in Istanbul in 2008 by the Icela… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Solakoglu, Ozgur
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Evaluating Semantic Internalization Among Users of an Online Review Platform

Description: The present study draws on recent sociological literature that argues that the study of cognition and culture can benefit from theories of embodied cognition. The concept of semantic internalization is introduced, which is conceptualized as the ability to perceive and articulate the topics that are of most concern to a community as they are manifested in social discourse. Semantic internalization is partly an application of emotional intelligence in the context of community-level discourse. Sem… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Zaras, Dimitrios
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Health-related Quality of Life and Social Engagement in Assisted Living Facilities

Description: This research project aims to clarify the factors that impact successful aging in Assisted Living facilities (ALFs) in Denton County, Texas. We hypothesize that social disengagement decreases physical and mental components of quality of life. This exploratory research project employed standardized questionnaires to assess residents in the following domains; HRQOL, social engagement status, level of cognition, depression, and the level of functioning. This study collected data from 75 participan… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Amini, Reza
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Healthcare Utilization and Health Outcomes: US-born and Foreign-born Elderly Asian Americans

Description: In order to better understand variations of health behaviors between US-born and foreign-born elderly Asian Americans (65+) in the United States, the research aims to explore relationships among health outcomes, healthcare utilization, and sociodemographic characteristics. Data from the National Health Interview Survey 1998-2012 is used to construct structural equation models for the US born group and for the foreign born group. The results found that there is a reciprocal relationship between… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Huang, Jacob Chao-Lun
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Sociological Applications of Topic Extraction Techniques: Two Case Studies

Description: Limited research has been conducted with regards to the applicability of topic extraction techniques in Sociology. Addressing the modern methodological opportunities, and responding to the skepticism with regards to the absence of theoretical foundations supporting the use of text analytics, I argue that Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), complemented by other text analysis techniques and multivariate techniques, can constitute a unique hybrid method that can facilitate the sociological interpreta… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Zougris, Konstantinos
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

An Application of Marxian and Weberian Theories of Capitalism: the Emergence of Big Businesses in the United States, 1861 to 1890

Description: This study was an examination of businesses that became big businesses in the United States during the time period between the years of 1861 and 1890, a period of time frequently referred to as the “big business era.” The purpose of the study was to identify actions taken by businesses that enabled them to become and remain big businesses. A secondary purpose of the study was to show that these actions were explained by theories of Karl Marx and Max Weber. The results of the study showed that … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Magness, Penny J.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effects of Neighboring, Social Networks, and Collective Efficacy on Crime Victimization: an Alternative to the Systemic Model

Description: The systemic model posits that informal social control directly reduces crime victimization and social networks indirectly reduce crime victimization through informal social control. While empirical testing of the systemic model advanced the theory, important analytical issues remain. First, social networks are inconsistently conceptualized and measured. Second, the conceptual relationship between social networks and informal social control remains unclear. This study addresses these issues by … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Soto, Anthony Jaime
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Peer Networks and Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents

Description: Adolescence is a time of great exploration and change. During this time, youth are transitioning both biologically and sexually into adults. Adolescents are also testing the boundaries of self-reliance and making choices about their personal relationships. Not surprisingly, aggressive urges are often driven by peers in pursuit of some form of identity (Masten 2004). Peers can have both positive and negative effects on the wellbeing on youth. Peer groups can provide emotional, physical, and soci… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Niño, Michael David
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Prosperity Belief and Liberal Individualism: A Study of Economic and Social Attitudes in Guatemala

Description: Globalization has facilitated the growth of “market-friendly” religions throughout the world, but especially in developing societies in the global South. A popular belief among these movements is prosperity belief. Prosperity belief has several characteristics which make it compatible with liberal individualism, the dominant value in a globalized society. At the same time, its compatibility with this value may be limited, extending only to economic liberalism, but not to liberal attitudes on so… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Huang, Lindsey A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Spiritual But Not Religious: Who Are They, and Who Is More Likely to Be One?

Description: The “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) are a rising social group in America in the past two decades, but social scientists and the general public know quite little about this group. Using the pooled 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 GSS data, this study examines who the SBNR are and who is more or less likely to be SBNR controlling for other variables. Descriptive analysis reveals that, compared to the general U.S. adult population, the SBNR group has slightly more males, is slightly younger, has f… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Gabhart, Elizabeth A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Exotic Femininity: Prostitution Reviews and the Sexual Stereotyping of Asian Women

Description: Studies on prostitution have typically focused on the experiences, problems, and histories of prostitutes, rather than examining men who seek to purchase sex. Race has also been overlooked as a central factor in shaping the sex industry and the motivations of men who seek to purchase sex. This study utilizes online reviews of prostitutes to examine the way men who purchase sex discuss Asian prostitutes in comparison to White prostitutes. This paper traces the history of colonialism and ideas of… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Dougherty, Devyn T.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Microcredit, Women, and Empowerment: Evidence From India

Description: Microfinance programs, by providing financial services to economically disadvantaged individuals, generally women, are intended to help poor self-employ and become financially independent. Earlier research in India has documented both positive and negative consequences of microfinance programs on women, from financial independence to domestic abuse. However, most of the research has been geographically limited to the southern states of the country, with a matured microfinance industry, and has … more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Singh, Swati
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Bundle of Joy: Pregnancy, Coping, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Girls

Description: Using the stress process model, the relationship between pregnancy and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls was investigated. This model posits that stress resulting from social location and related disruptive life events may indirectly affect health by eroding coping, mastery, or social support mechanisms. The effect of low income, minority status and pregnancy on coping processes in adolescent girls was hypothesized and tested. Communication with parents, involvement in activities, and … more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Kaiser, Karen Claiborne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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