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open access

Artificial Intelligence at Home: Alexa, Are You Influencing My Family?

Description: The purpose of this research is to measure the social shifts that take place in a home where artificial intelligent (AI) devices like Echo Dot and Google Home are fully integrated into their everyday life. Research is currently limited, being that the widespread use of these devices is roughly seven years old. Three main outcomes of this study were related to how often Alexa is being used in homes to solve everyday problems, the lack of overall privacy and security concerns users had, and the l… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Ra'oof, Jameelah
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Black and White Attitudes toward Interracial Marriage in the U.S.: The Role of Social Contact Characteristics

Description: This research advances the literature on interracial marriage by using variables that align with the social contact hypothesis. The purpose of this project is to accurately gauge the exact social predictors influencing current attitudes towards Black and White interracial marriage. Multiple regression models containing social contact predictors are analyzed using data from the 2018 General Social Survey. The conclusive review of the literature summarizes age, region, and education as essential … more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Coleman, Samuel
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Coercion and Consent among Employer-Sponsored and Dependent Visa Holders: A Study of Indian Workers in the U.S. Information Technology Sector

Description: Highly educated and skilled Indian nationals are the largest recipients of H-1B visas in the US. An employer must be willing to sponsor an H-1B work visa for the worker to continue to live and work in the US. This stipulation has granted US employers unprecedented power over H-1B visa holders, which can be understood as status coercion; employers have state-sanctioned power to threaten or discharge a worker from their status, i.e., visa status, which interconnects work and migration status. Whi… more
This item is restricted from view until June 1, 2028.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Jangeti, Neha
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Contradictory Attitudes towards Partisan Issues: Abortion and Gun Control

Description: In this study, I examine how self-reported religiosity predicts political opinion toward abortion and gun control. In particular, I examine how self-reported religiosity relates to individuals' inconsistent attitudes on these two issues where liberal attitudes are held toward one issue, but conservative attitudes are held toward the other. Most commonly, these inconsistent attitudes are found among individuals who hold pro-life (conservative) and pro-gun control (liberal) views. Using data from… more
Date: December 2021
Creator: Pinney, Sarah
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Cost of Higher Education: Impacts of Student Loan Debt on the Life Course for Hispanic Americans

Description: Student loan debt continues to be an issue in the U.S., with potential long-term effects on loan repayment and potential wealth accumulation. In particular, minorities face barriers in the educational system and accruing wealth. Hispanics occupy a middling position in the U.S. racial hierarchy. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 geocode data, in this study I examined how Hispanic-White differences in student debt change over time and how student debt influences wealth. In … more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Knudsen, Jennifer L
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Does Experiencing Discrimination in the Workplace Change Opinion? A Mediation Analysis of Identity and Support for Affirmative Action

Description: Affirmative action policies have been a popular topic in U.S. media since their inception in the Civil Rights Act 1964. Previous studies note that race, gender, and political identity are known influencers of support for affirmative action policies; however, this dissertation analyzes the mediating effects of perceived experiences of discrimination in the workplace on a person's level of support for the preferential hiring and promotion of Black Americans based on the intersection of the race,… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Jefferies, Shanae S
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Effect of Welfare Benefit Levels on Female Headship in the AFDC and TANF Eras

Description: The purpose of this study is to revisit the question of whether welfare benefit levels influence female headship, and whether the effect differs between the two main eras of welfare policy relevant to female headship, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). This study adds to the existing literature by including more up to date data allowing for a comparison between the AFDC and TANF eras. Results show that the effect of welfare benefits… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Degreve, Thomas Evan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Embodied Acts of Resistance: Portraits of Urban Breastfeeding Mothers

Description: This dissertation examines how breastfeeding mothers develop distinct geographies due to the stigma, symbolic and structural violence they encounter while breastfeeding if different spaces. I utilize multiple in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observation and photo elicitation to develop portraits of four urban mothers. My findings highlight the complexity of motherhood and demonstrate how distinct socio-spatial power dynamics situate and contextualize the experiences of breastfee… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Veselka-Bush, Alexandra V.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Essential and Flexible Expression: Strategies for Pronoun Use among Nonbinary-Identified Individuals

Description: Drawing on in-depth, semistructured interviews with 42 nonbinary-identified individuals in Texas, I examine both the relationship between pronouns and identity and how individuals use pronouns in interaction. Some individuals speak about their pronoun set as a crucial component of their gender identity, adopting what I refer to as an essential expression strategy, while others discuss their pronoun set as more loosely connected to their non-binary identity, adopting what I refer to as a flexibl… more
This item is restricted from view until June 1, 2024.
Date: May 2022
Creator: Moeder, Jessica Elise
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

An Ethnography of a Digital Archive: A Usability Study of the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA)

Description: Digital language archives are used for the preservation of documented language data, such as video and voice recordings, transcriptions, survey data, and ethnographic fieldnotes. This data is most often used for research and linguists and anthropologists are generally heavily involved in the creation of language archives. Ideally, Indigenous communities that are represented in the archives are also able to access their data, but this is not always the case, especially if poor internet access an… more
Date: December 2021
Creator: Ewing, Michael
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

An Explanation of Racial Attitudes Utilizing Intergroup Threat Theory and Group Empathy Theory

Description: This project examined the effects of threat perceptions and group empathy on racial outgroup attitudes. The relationship between threat perception and increased racial prejudice has been well established within the literature, but the effect of group empathy within this dynamic has been largely undocumented. The following study utilizes data from the American National Election Study 2020 Time Series to analyze racial outgroup attitudes among subsamples of Blacks (n = 726), Hispanics (n = 762), … more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Larrison, KayLynn Marie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Exploring the Transnational Meaning of Home Amid Insecure, Hazardous Housing

Description: This project examines refugees' experiences of insecure housing and perceptions of home in the U.S. Many scholars of migration have focused on the resettlement experiences of refugees, including access to housing, yet refugees' experiences with housing in the U.S. remain largely undocumented. The following analyzes a case study of an apartment fire that displaced 16 refugee families in Dallas, Texas. Based on 18 in-depth interviews with tenants and members of refugee support organizations and n… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Fessenden, Deborah June
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Framing a Sacred Fight: Framing Analysis and Collective Identity of the #noDAPL Movement

Description: The #noDAPL movement was an Indigenous-led environmental social movement occurring between 2015 and 2017, in which the Standing Rock Sioux and other American Indian tribes comprising the Oceti Sakowin garnered support to oppose the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. Pipeline opponents agreed that the pipeline's construction posed a threat to the health and safety of tribal members and other residents of the area and that the pipeline's path crossed previously-designated tribal treaty boundaries… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Gaston, Emilia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Gauging Gun-Based Social Movements Frames: Identifying Frames through Topic Modeling and Assessing Public Engagement of Frames through Facebook Media Posts

Description: The lack of success of the gun control movement and the success of the gun rights movement in the United States have prompted research into the root causes. Although the political infrastructure, organizational resources, and public interest prove to be important factors in a social movement's success, how each social movement frames their arguments is extremely important for proposing policy initiatives and garnering support. In order to understand how gun control and gun rights organizations … more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Prasanna, Ram
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Herb Users' Nondisclosure of Complementary-Alternative Medicine Use to Health Care Providers

Description: Various forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are increasingly being used in the United States and globally over time. Among CAM, natural products, including herbal medicines, are the most used type. However, the increase in the use of CAM has gone on with minimal or without a corresponding increase in the rate of disclosure of use to the health care providers. The theories of care-seeking behavior and the behavioral model of health services use guided most of the study. Data fr… more
Date: May 2022
Creator: Obiora, Justice Echezona
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

The Impacts of Urban Sustainability on Economic Prosperity: Sustainability in the Spotlight

Description: City officials are in the position to adopt and implement policies within their jurisdiction that can have lasting impacts for businesses, people, and the environment. Sustainability research has highlighted the need to protect the environment by adopting policies which support the three E's of sustainable development (environment, equity, and economy). Stepping aside from the traditional mechanisms for building a successful city focused on economy first can be challenging for policy makers. Th… more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Cooksey, Christy
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Increasing Mother and Child Safety: Social Factors Influencing Help Seeking Behaviors amongst Child Welfare-Involved Women Experiencing Family Violence

Description: The purpose of this study is to determine social factors that influence help seeking behaviors by mothers who are concurrently involved in two social service systems: Child Protective Services (CPS) and family violence advocacy programs. Through the application of the behavioral model (of service use) for vulnerable populations, this study seeks to determine predisposing, enabling and need characteristics that impact help seeking behaviors at a family violence agency after participation in an … more
Date: August 2021
Creator: Baker, Cassidy A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Intersectional Analysis of Perceived Racism as a Determinant of Children's Mental Health

Description: Youth in the United States are experiencing a steep increase in mental health issues. Concurrently, unique political, economic and social dynamics in the U.S. make the circumstances of nonwhite children's mental health partially contingent on experiences of racism. In this study, I examine the relationship between racial minority children's mental health and perceived racism, while also examining the moderating effects of gender on this relationship. I first review prior research which suggest… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Monasterio, Ronaldo
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Latinos for Trump? National Origin, Nativity Status, and Favorability for Trump in 2016

Description: In this study, I examine the relationship between national origin, nativity status, and favorability toward Donald Trump among Latinos in 2016. In particular, I examine the relationship between Cubans, Dominicans, and "other" Latinos to understand how differences in national origin and nativity status influence Trump favorability. The term "Latino" is a pan-ethnic term used to describe individuals with ancestry from Latin America who share a common language, religion and culture. However, studi… more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Moreno, Vianni Alyssa
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Leaving the Community: A Qualitative Study of Hijra Individuals in Bangladesh

Description: The hijra community individuals are one of the most neglected and underprivileged sexual minority groups in Bangladesh. Historically this community has been excluded from mainstream society and was compelled to live and work in separate communal spaces. However, new policies of inclusion implemented by government and non-government organizations have resulted in many hijra individuals leaving their communities. In this research, I focused on how the hijra individuals of Bangladesh come out of t… more
Date: December 2022
Creator: Anandita, Prapti
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Local Organization of Refugee Service Provision: A Qualitative Comparison of Two Resettlement Cities in Texas

Description: This comparative case study examines the organizational variations in refugee services in Dallas and Amarillo, Texas. Engaging sociological theories of organizations, migration, and the state, this study conceptualizes immigrant-serving organizations as brokers that operate within fields of similar entities that channel resources and services to refugees. Drawing on 60 in-depth interviews and over two hundred hours of participant observation, this study finds two distinct models of resource bro… more
Date: December 2023
Creator: Fessenden, Deborah June
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Not Just About a Piece of Cloth: Three Content Analysis of an Online Anti-Mandatory Hijab Movement in Iran

Description: This dissertation investigates the My Stealthy Freedom (MSF) movement, an online movement against mandatory hijab laws in Iran, building on two leading lead social movements' theories, political processes and framing processes theories. Study 1 explores the utility of a tactical approach for explaining the movement's pace of insurgency. I employ a conceptual repertoire focused upon the political process model's core concepts of tactical innovation and tactical adaptations, supplementing these o… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Basmechi, Farinaz
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation

Off the Gender Spectrum: Exploring Agender Experience

Description: With the proliferation of gender identity labels in the last twenty years, more individuals are identifying outside of a binary understanding of gender. Agender individuals are among this group, but we know very little about their experiences. Gender theorists have examined the ways that gender is performative and structural, but present theory does not provide the tools to understand the experiences of those outside of the binary, and even more so those who identify outside of gender altogethe… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Clupny, Loren
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Gender: Analyzing Gender at Raves

Description: Doing, undoing, and redoing gender debates have established the omnirelevance and performativity of gender. Yet, little is known about the ways that individuals "do" gender in spaces that provide the opportunity for norms to be disrupted, such as subcultures. This study offers an empirical investigation into the performance of gender within the subculture known as EDM (electronic dance music) culture. Using 20 in-depth interviews that were conducted virtually, I analyze the way ravers experienc… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Rivera, Zoriliz
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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