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open access

Twenty-First Century Local Food Farmers in North Texas: An Evaluation of Farming Methods, Best Practices, and Common Struggles

Description: Research with local farmers and local food consumers in the North Texas area which captures a contemporary understanding of the challenges and successes present in North Texas local farm-and-food networks. Through ethnographic research methods, including participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, the network of producers and consumers around several farmers' markets were evaluated to understand where the strengths of local food lie, and where networks need development to promote a … more
Date: December 2019
Creator: McFarland, Kelly
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

That Isolation Creeps In: Exploring the Intersection of Public Transit and Mental Health in Dallas County, Texas

Description: The primary goal of the research project was to organize a community needs assessment, which culminated in a report attached in the appendix. Data from sixteen interviews with community leaders involved in mental health promotion throughout Dallas County, Texas was used as the foundation of the professional report. This data revealed several key barriers faced by those with mental illness in their ability to access mental health services in Dallas County. The information gathered prompted furth… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Sanderson, Brittney
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Laying Second Eyes: A Qualitative Assessment of Pediatric Tele-Specialty Programs

Description: This study aimed to create a holistic understanding of the physician experience in relation to telemedicine. This study examined a Tele-NICU and a Tele-ER program at a large metropolitan pediatric specialty hospital with a Level IV NICU that provides telemedicine consults to 16 remote sites across Texas. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians and nurses at remote hospitals, physicians who provide consultations from the pediatric specialty hospital, and managers of… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Deahl, Claire C
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

"We Do Not Wait for the Government": An Evaluation of a Disaster Rebuilding Program in Kathmandu Valley

Description: Five years ago, a massive earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks rocked the core of Nepal. Recovery from these quakes has been a long and difficult process. This thesis will explore findings from a qualitative evaluation of Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, an NGO in Kathmandu, Nepal that implemented a residential reconstruction program in four peri-urban communities in Kathmandu Valley. These findings are a culmination of 26 semi-structured interviews and document analysis. This research h… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Cronin, Shannon
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

M.I.S.S.I.O.N. (Making Inquiries into the Significance of Safety, Identity, Observations, and Needs) for Warfighters

Description: This paper examines the concept of safety as it encompasses the personal and technological spheres as imagined by a group of active duty service members, veterans, a police officer, and civilians, as well as the agency exercised by those with military or police backgrounds when it comes to safety technology. A group of seventeen individuals took part in a battlefield simulation to test a wearable junctional tourniquet created by ARMR Systems, LLC, an innovative advancement in tourniquet technol… more
Date: December 2020
Creator: Urdzik, Patricia Stadelman
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Sea-ing Blue: Community Responses to an Eco-Award in Galveston, Texas

Description: The Blue Flag program is a French international eco-award for beaches, marinas, and tour boats. With a set of 33 criteria required for obtaining the award, the Blue Flag program has sites all over the world, but none in the United States. The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) sought to change that and provided an opportunity for locations in the U.S. to apply for the award. One of those applicants was the Galveston Island Park Board of Trustees in Galveston, Texas. This … more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Butler, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Space in Space: Privacy Needs for Long-Duration Spaceflight

Description: Space exploration is a uniquely human activity. As humans continue to push the limits of exploring the unknown, they have sought knowledge supporting the sustenance of life in outer space. New technologies, advancements in medicine, and rethinking what it means to be a “community” will need to emerge to support life among the stars. Crews traveling beyond the Moon will rely on the development of new technologies to support the technological aspects of their missions as well as their quality of … more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Aiken, Jo
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Assessing Workplace Design: Applying Anthropology to Assess an Architecture Firm’s Own Headquarters Design

Description: Corporations, design firms, technology, and furniture companies are rethinking the concept of the ‘workplace’ environment and built ‘office’ in an effort to respond to changing characteristics of the workplace. The following report presents a case study, post-occupancy assessment of an architecture firm’s relocation of their corporate headquarters in Dallas, TX. This ethnographic research transpired from September 2013 to February 2014 and included participant observation, employee interviews, … more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Ramer, S. Angela
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Needs Assessment for Parent Literacy Program

Description: Latina/o students do not perform at the same level of achievement as their peers, and often lack of parent presence is mistaken for apathy towards their children’s educational success. This research examines the strategies Latina/o parents take in navigating the school system and advocating for their students. A local nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving educational equity for Latina/o parents will utilize these findings and recommendations to develop curricula for a parent literac… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: González, Miranda Andrade
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Participant Perspectives: Investigating the Experience of Low-Income Schizophrenics in Clinical Research Trials

Description: The continued investigation into the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia who participate in biomedical research trials is necessary in order to understand participants’ perspectives, motivations, attitudes, values, and beliefs. As important stakeholders in the clinical research process, participant feedback is significant and can help shed light on, not only their experiences, but also deepen understandings when it comes to clinical trial participants’ perceptions of informed consent … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Green, Asha M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Community Development at Heronswood Botanical Garden

Description: The overall main goal of this research is to assist with the planning and creation of an ethnobotanical addition at the Heronswood Garden, a botanical garden located in northwest Washington state recently purchased by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. Methods included a three month long ethnographic study of Heronswood Garden as an official intern, and conducting a needs assessment that primarily employed participant observation and semi-structured open-ended interviews with all garden employees… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Cherry, Levi Scott
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Burner Project: Privacy and Social Control in a Networked World

Description: As mobile phones become increasingly ubiquitous in today’s world, academic and public audiences alike are curious about the interaction between mobile technologies and social norms. To investigate this phenomenon, I examined how individuals use technology to actively manage their communication behaviors. Through a three-month research project on usage patterns of Burner, a mobile application, this thesis explores the relationships among technology, culture, and privacy. Burner is a service that… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Shade, Molly
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Ideal Learning Spaces: the Student Perspective

Description: Classrooms, libraries, student unions, and university campuses shape students’ learning experiences. These physical learning spaces set the stage for college student engagement and academic performance. Most of the research about the role of physical spaces in learning lacks the student perspective. The goal of this study was to offer a student-centered vision of ideal learning spaces. Students are the learners for whom learning spaces are designed, and this thesis examines the way students of … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Sidler, Elizabeth D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Intervention of Human Modifications on Plant and Tree Species in the Landscape of the LBJ National Grasslands

Description: An analysis utilizing both ArcGIS and ethnographic interviews from private land owners and environmental professionals examined how man-made landscape changes affected plant and tree species in the LBJ National Grasslands in Wise County, Texas north of Decatur. From the late 1800s to the Dust Bowl Era the land was used for crop production and cattle grazing resulting in erosion and loss of soil nutrients. The research indicated by 2001 that cattle grazing and population increase resulted in lan… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Lang, Brett M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

“Just Tell Me the Truth”: Understanding Health Risks and Community Perspectives in Karnes County, Texas, an Oil and Gas Community

Description: Using ethnographic research methods, I collaborated with the organization Earthworks to conduct a community assessment on the health issues related to the air quality in Karnes County, Texas, an oil and gas community. The research consisted of in-depth interviews with residents on their experiences and knowledge on the health issues associated to air quality. This research is going to be used to inform the community and develop strategies to empower community members in improving their environm… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Villa, Priscilla
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

In Defense of Wilderness: A Documentation of the Social and Cultural Aspects of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA)

Description: My thesis research provides an alternative argument for the protection of the wilderness that extends far beyond that of the purely biological and instead looks at wilderness for the intrinsic value, focusing on the social and cultural aspects. Through an ethnographic approach, I uncovered the how, why, and in what context people connect with wilderness and how people lean on these experiences. Through analysis of the interviews and data that was collected, I was able to identify tangible and i… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Brickle, Tyler A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Safe Routes to School Youth Voices

Description: Many communities are promoting physical activity and active transportation as ways to combat childhood obesity and change sedentary lifestyles of school-age children. Safe Routes to School Youth Voices is a mixed methods approach to understanding the experiences and perceptions of middle school students surrounding the use of active transportation. Student experiences are explored both independently and in comparison to parental perspectives of barriers to actives transportation. Data were coll… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Wright, Patricia Ann
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Telemedicine in Schools: Exploring Parent Perceptions and Desires

Description: School-based health clinics are on the rise while telemedicine is increasingly used to provide communities access to health care. Incorporating the two together poses to create healthier school communities. Parker County Hospital District collaborated with Weatherford Independent School District (WISD) to implement the district's first telemedicine school-based health clinic. This project is in partnership with Parker County Hospital District to explore parent perceptions and desires of telemed… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Smith, Bethany Noel
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Doing Our Work Better, Together: An Application of Relational Coordination Theory to Explore and Shape Excellence in Trauma Care

Description: I conducted a mixed-methods collaborative ethnography using the lens of relational coordination theory. This included a qualitative survey using an established tool to analyze the relational dimensions of multidisciplinary teamwork, participant observation, interviews, and narrative surveys. Findings were presented to clinicians in working groups for further interpretation and to facilitate co-creation of targeted interventions designed to improve team relationships and performance. I engaged a… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Purdy, Eve Isabelle
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Negotiated Meanings on the Landscape: Culture, Perseverance and a Shift in Paradigms in Klawock, Alaska

Description: The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of Klawock's Tribal Citizens' relationship to harvesting what is colloquially known as customary and traditional foods and/or native foods. The state and federal governments categorize these culturally specific goods as subsistence foods. An unearthed, 5,360-year-old basket potentially links modern day Klawock Tribal Citizens with their ancestral ties to the region. Throughout this time, families in this region of Southeast Alaska have been … more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Sopow, Catherine Ruby
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Silent Cry: Visualizing Data on Sex Trafficking

Description: In this era of globalization, human trafficking is emerging as a major theme, with rapid movement of information, capital and people across international borders. Despite the red alert over the issue, the crime of human trafficking remains highly unreported even in the most developed countries like United States of America. This silence over the issue in this country can be attributed to the lack of awareness about its prevalence in our own back yard and the measures available against it. This … more
Date: December 2012
Creator: Singh, Arvind Daman
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Public Health Response to an Ebola Virus Epidemic: Effects on Agricultural Markets and Farmer Livelihoods in Koinadugu, Sierra Leone

Description: During the 2013/16 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, numerous restrictions were placed on the movement and public gathering of local people, regardless of if the area had active Ebola cases or not. Specifically, the district of Koinadugu, Sierra Leone, preemptively enforced movement regulations before there were any cases within the district. This research demonstrates that ongoing regulations on movement and public gathering affected the livelihoods of those involved in agricultural… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Beyer, Molly
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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