Search Results

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
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Aging Texas Well: An Assessment of Denton's Aging-Friendliness

Description: The purpose of this research was to conduct a needs assessment for the city of Denton, Texas to learn how residents view Denton's aging-friendliness. The research design was based on the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services' Aging Texas Well Toolkit and was funded by a two year grant from that agency. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather data on six community indicators: demographics, housing, transportation, health care (including mental health and substan… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Wolfe, Julia Rachel Weinstein
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Anthropology of Aging: Assessment of Old Age Needs and Ethical Issues regarding the Use of Assistive Technologies

Description: The main goal of this research has been to investigate elderly people's needs, perceptions, fears, hopes, and expectation regarding elderly care, including ethical issues linked to assistive technologies. As faith seems to take an important place in how some elders face the aging process, the spiritual dimension was also included. Therefore, the research was conducted among 15 church congregants. Results show that most respondents fear the physical and mental decay due to aging, often resulting… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Atibaka, Sunday O
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Applying User-Centered Design to Build Trust and Enable Cross-Agency Data Sharing to Better Understand the Prevalence and Context of Human Trafficking in Alberta, Canada

Description: This thesis describes a research study to understand the current state of human trafficking data collection practices and reporting in the province of Alberta, Canada, and gather end-user design considerations for cyberinfrastructure that will enable data sharing between multiple and diverse stakeholders. The research also examines the barriers to change and the needs of stakeholders to improve the collective understanding of human trafficking in the province. Virtual semi-structured interviews… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Muyres, Natalie Suzanne
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
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Bodies of Evidence: A Qualitative Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Female Central American and Mexican Asylum Seekers in Dallas

Description: This work addresses the experiences of female asylum seekers from Central and Mexico currently living in Dallas, TX. The main purpose is to analyze how these women engage in the gendered processes of both migrating to and accessing legal resources and protection within the United States. As the women move through male-dominated spaces in their home country, the borderlands, and the asylum court they must challenge the patriarchal institutions that attempt to silence their narratives and crimina… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Kober, Ryan K.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Building a Vegan Community of Practice: An Outreach Analysis for Vegan Society of PEACE, Houston, Texas

Description: This research is focused on a group of vegan and vegan-curious individuals who are creating, building and maintaining a vegan community of practice in Houston, Texas. Through ethnographic methods, including participant observation, in-depth semi-structured interviews, surveys, quantitative analysis, and use of geographic information systems (GIS), this thesis considers motivations, group hierarchies, core and peripheral membership, practices, beliefs and construction of identity within the vega… more
Date: August 2021
Creator: McRae, Susan Elizabeth
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Building Relationships between a Free Clinic and Its Donors

Description: This thesis presents qualitative research conducted in summer 2017 at the Finger Lakes Free Clinic, which provides free medical and holistic care to people without insurance in upstate New York. The primary goal of this research was to strengthen the relationship between a free clinic and its donors by gathering donor concerns and perceptions regarding federal healthcare policy. Data from 32 interviews with donors, staff, board members, and volunteers, along with 100 hours of participant observ… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Nalin, Emma R
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Building Resiliency: The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in the Trauma-Affected Community of Santa Fe, Texas

Description: On May 18, 2018, a shooter entered Santa Fe High School, killing eight students and two teachers. Using ethnographic methods, this research examines the role of faith, rituals, language, and symbols in the trauma-affected community during the response, recovery, and resiliency efforts as perceived by the Santa Fe community and those impacted by the tragedy. Qualitative data collected from 100 individuals ages of 17-84 illustrated how historical trauma, community culture, and faith-based organ… more
Date: August 2021
Creator: Jordan, Mandy M
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"Come along, Floyd!" An Ethnographic Study of the Crystal Cave District at Mammoth Cave National Park

Description: Cultural landscape reports (CLR) are commonly utilized by the National Park Service to define the significance of cultural landscapes. This thesis explores the importance of documenting not only physical characteristics of cultural landscapes, but the cultural elements such as associated values, beliefs, ideas, and traditions. My applied research was conducted for Mammoth Cave National located in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky and focuses on the Crystal Cave District. Research explores data collected t… more
Date: August 2022
Creator: McClain, Elisabeth Ray
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Community Based Assessment: An Analysis of Community Based Tourism Cooperatives in Kalache and Hulgol India

Description: This study incorporated a community based assessment with a focus on community based tourism in Kalache and Hulgol, India. Kalache and Hulgol are two agrarian based communities located in the environmentally significant region of the Western Ghats. Each of these communities has considered community based tourism as a means to reduce urban youth outmigration, to diversify economic resources, and to encourage the empowerment of women. The primary goals of this study were to understand the commu… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Schutz, Michael
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Community First: An Ethnographic Approach to Understanding Local Perceptions of Sustainability in the Age of Neoliberalism

Description: This work describes ethnographic research completed in order to understand how local community members in Denton, Texas define, conceptualize, and speak about sustainability. The goal of this research is to encourage a more representative approach to sustainability initiatives within the City of Denton by uniting community ideas with local governance. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with residents, participant observation at community meetings, and quantitat… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: LeMay, Brittany Michelle
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Crafting Downtown Denton: An Exploration of Craft Beer Consumption as an Activity in Denton, Texas

Description: Craft beer as a cultural phenomenon coincided with the revitalization of downtown Denton, Texas. Much of the existing literature on craft beer and its relation to place focuses on breweries rather than bars. This exploratory study aims to explain why people consume craft beer, what factors influenced its popularity in Denton despite little beer production, and to explore considerations for the promotion of Denton as a craft beer destination and making downtown an inclusive space. Data was colle… more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Hooker, Jenny
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Digital Covens: An Ethnographic Examination of the Intersection of Paganism and Social Media

Description: This paper examines how does within the Pagan community uses social media, specifically Facebook groups, as a way of community building, knowledge gathering, and platform for digital ritual. The research was based on a combination of interviews and observational data gathered from various groups. To help analyze the data gathered, theoretical approaches of both mediatization and materiality are employed to understand how digital spaces are being used as a tool for those within the Pagan communi… more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Ferguson, Carlise Pamela
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Disaster Preparedness in Escambia County Florida: The Influence of Oral Narratives

Description: This work addresses hurricane preparedness in Escambia County, Florida. It explores preparing for hurricanes as an informal learning process occurring within personal networks and embedded in beliefs, values, and attitudes. Findings reveal that participants learned to prepare from their parents in childhood and improved upon that knowledge through direct experience in adulthood. Later, they passed this knowledge on to their children as well as co-workers. These preparations are embedded in beli… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Vanlandingham, Keith Marcel
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Ethiopian Coffee Stories: Applied Research with Sidama Coffee Farmers Combining Visual and Ethnographic Methods

Description: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of visual research methods to applied anthropology in the context of exploratory research with farmers in Ethiopia. The three methods of photo-elicitation, participatory photography, and ethnographic film, enrich and expand ethnographic methods to support the client's objective of supporting farmers. The applied project constructs a narrative from the local perspective to help consumers learn more about farmers' lives. The research focuses o… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Suter, Paula J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Ethnography of Direct-to-Consumer Genomics [DTCG]: Design Anthropology Insights for the Product Management of a Disruptive Innovation

Description: Direct-to-consumer genomics (DTCG) health testing offers great promise to humanity, however to date adoption has lagged as a result of consumer awareness, understanding, and previous government regulations restricting DTCG companies from providing information on an individual's genetic predispositions. But in 2017 the broader DTCG market which also includes genealogical testing demonstrated exponential growth, implying that DTCG is starting to diffuse as an innovation. To better understand the … more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Artz, Matthew
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
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Exploration of Coping Mechanisms, Motivations, and Treatment Strategies Among Those with an Opiate Use Disorder

Description: The opioid epidemic is an issue that has ravaged much of the United States, and specifically Appalachia. Many different academic disciplines have attempted to provide a solution to no avail. This ethnographic study investigates the social nature of addiction & recovery related to problematic opiate use. Through semi-structured interviews and participant observation with clients at a drop-in mental health and addiction services center, the study explores the social conditions which facilitate pr… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Jarrett, Zachary Mical
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Exploring Perceptions of Brand Loyalty and Consumer Identity among Millennial Males Living in Central Ohio

Description: Brand loyalty is a common theme throughout consumer and market research, yet it has not been a major topic among anthropologists. The research presented here is an anthropological exploration of the social and cultural influences on how a unique demographic - millennial males - view their own loyalty to brands. Through the use of qualitative interviews and online surveys, participants provided insight in to how they viewed their favorite brands and how those brands fit in to their lives. Aft… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Oates, Blake A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Geek As a Constructed Identity and a Crucial Component of Stem Persistence

Description: The fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have long been the bastions of the white male elite. Recently, academia has begun to recognize gender and ethnic disparities. In an effort to expand the recruitment pool for these STEM fields in college, various efforts have been employed nationally at the secondary level. In California, the latest of these efforts is referred to as Linked Learning, a pedagogy that combines college preparation with career preparation. The cur… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Liggett, Joshua B.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Giving Voice to Multiple Sclerosis: A Patient and Provider Investigation

Description: With the advent of the telephonic and technological healthcare revolution, pharmaceutical corporations seek to improve patient compliance and quality of life by contracting with services providers. As an employee of one such provider, working for more than three years on a medication for the neurologically degenerative disease, multiple sclerosis, this investigation utilizes a mixed methodological approach. In order to improve and diversify the clinical services provided to patients, I was cont… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Cutler, Alexander
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

High Driver Turnover among Large Long-Haul Motor Carriers: Causes and Consequences

Description: My thesis provides evidence supporting a theory asserting that the high level of competition that exists between motor carriers operating within long-haul trucking is the most significant factor contributing to the continuously high driver turnover rates affecting the entire logistics industry. I explore how long-haul truck drivers internalize the conflict between their identity and the aggressively competitive environment within which they work. Social science authors, industry reports, and tr… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Ferrell, Christopher Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Identifying Community Access to Veterinary Services in Southern Dallas

Description: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas in Dallas, Texas offers an array of services and programs to residents in southern Dallas and other areas. However, interest in the state of access to veterinary care has been questioned for southern Dallas residents. In an area that faces certain compounding stressors, such as food deserts and transportation difficulties, a lack of access to veterinary care for pet owners is considered an additional possible stressor. Pet owners in … more
Date: August 2019
Creator: O'Neill, Skye J
Partner: UNT Libraries
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