View All Items

Title: CONSUMER PERSPECTIVESOF HEALTH DURING PRENATAL CAREIN THE USA AND ICELAND: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.
Creator: Wiseman, Claudia, Bushy, Angeline, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling...
Show moreABSTRACT Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi structured interview which included demographic questions. Results: Content analysis processes were used to analyze the transcribed narratives to identify common conceptual themes. Subsequently, the narratives of the women from the two nations were compared to identify cultural variations about PNC. In respect to the findings, demographically the two groups were similar. Respondents from both nations preferred a more supportive role from PNC providers with adequate time to explore important personal concerns and less emphasis on monitoring weight gain during the pregnancy. Variations between the two groups related to the health care delivery system of the nation in which respondents resided. These findings have the potential for expanding the definition of PNC to include consumer perspectives. Discussion/Implication: Additional research is needed with other groups of women to validate, clarify and expand identified themes, as they may improve PNC, and ultimately, perinatal outcomes. Improving PNC holds the promise of improving infant mortality while at the same time reducing healthcare expenditures for countries around the world.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002720, ucf:48180
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002720

Title: SEMANTIC BIAS AS AN APPLICATION OF THE UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR MODEL IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE.
Creator: Gural, Iryna, Modianos, Doan T., Villegas, Alvaro, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The theory of the Universal Grammar developed by Chomsky has been known for many years. The main idea behind the theory was that the processing of the language does not depend on the culture but it universal among all the languages. Further psycholinguistic studies developed the ideas about schematic comprehension of the language, giving rise to the idea of the "garden path effect". Research focused on the processing of the ambiguous sentences and found the tendency for readers to prefer...
Show moreThe theory of the Universal Grammar developed by Chomsky has been known for many years. The main idea behind the theory was that the processing of the language does not depend on the culture but it universal among all the languages. Further psycholinguistic studies developed the ideas about schematic comprehension of the language, giving rise to the idea of the "garden path effect". Research focused on the processing of the ambiguous sentences and found the tendency for readers to prefer interpretations of specific sentence areas as objects. The current study summarizes the ideas of psycholinguistic study and incorporates a novel language structure to study readers' syntactic preferences. In addition, conducting the study in Russian language accompanies previous research in other languages, also arguing in favor of the Universal Grammar model given the hypothesis was supported. It was hypothesized that readers would prefer the comparison of the two direct objects over the subjects, which would be reflected by faster reading times. Self-paced reading ask was administered to the participants in order to measure their reading times. The analysis found no significant differences in the reading times of the critical area, thus hypothesis was not supported. Possible explanations, limitations, and further directions are discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000513, ucf:45697
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000513

Title: SOCIAL COMPARISON, SELF-OBJECTIFICATION, AND OBJECTIFICATION OF OTHERS: INVESTIGATING THE VICIOUS CYCLE THAT LEADS TO BODY DISSATISFACTION AND DISORDERED EATING.
Creator: Lindner, Danielle, Dunn, Stacey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study was to test a new theoretical model that integrates self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison as contributors to the development and maintenance of body image disturbance and disordered eating behavior. Within the new theoretical model, self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison are conceptualized as a self-perpetuating cycle, rather than as processes that occur independently of one another. Four hundred fifty...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to test a new theoretical model that integrates self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison as contributors to the development and maintenance of body image disturbance and disordered eating behavior. Within the new theoretical model, self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison are conceptualized as a self-perpetuating cycle, rather than as processes that occur independently of one another. Four hundred fifty-nine female college students between the ages of 18 and 32 completed measures of self-objectification, objectification of others, social comparison, body shame, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology. Structural equation modeling with nested model comparisons was used to examine the fit of the new theoretical model relative to less complex models which contain only relationships which have received previous attention in the research literature (e.g., the relationship between self-objectification and body shame). Results indicated that the new theoretical model demonstrates good fit for the data and that the fit of this model is significantly better than the original model suggested by the literature. Hierarchical multiple regression and mediational analyses also provided support for the interplay between objectification and social comparison. Implications for clinical work as well as theory and measurement will be discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003492, ucf:48938
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003492

Title: A COMPARISON OF THE QUALITY OF CARE AND COST EFFICIENCY BETWEEN ANESTHESIA PROVIDERS.
Creator: Carter, Daniel A, Blackwell, Christopher, Decker, Jonathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The development of anesthesia has greatly contributed to the safety of surgeries, reduced the level of invasiveness of many procedures, and provided increased comfort for patients. The delivery of anesthetics has been primarily provided by one of two unique health care providers: a trained physician who has specialized in anesthesia, or an advanced practice nurse—the certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Both providers have a similar scope of practice, are nationally certified, and...
Show moreThe development of anesthesia has greatly contributed to the safety of surgeries, reduced the level of invasiveness of many procedures, and provided increased comfort for patients. The delivery of anesthetics has been primarily provided by one of two unique health care providers: a trained physician who has specialized in anesthesia, or an advanced practice nurse—the certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Both providers have a similar scope of practice, are nationally certified, and often work side-by-side. However, in recent years there has been some controversy between the two providers regarding autonomy, safety, and quality of services. The purpose of this study was to utilize current research comparing the two professions to determine if there is a difference in the quality of care and cost effectiveness between these two providers. This research was focused on studies performed in the United States after 1985. Results indicated no significant differences in quality of care between providers; however, a cost difference does exist. CRNA's provide a high quality of care equivalent to their physician counterparts, but at a reduced price. They additionally offer access to care in rural areas that lack anesthesiologists. Limitations include an inability to assess the impact of doctoral level programs for nurse anesthetists (required for entry into practice beginning in 2025) and how this may affect the main components of patient care assessed in this study (quality of care and cost). Future studies should look at ways to improve the relationship between the two providers and to remove barriers to nurse anesthetists' scope of practice in order to increase overall access to care.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFH2000389, ucf:45859
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000389

Title: THE CALIBRATION, VALIDATION, AND COMPARISON OF VISSIM SIMULATIONS USING THE TWO-FLUID MODEL.
Creator: Crowe, Jeremy, Radwan, Essam, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The microscopic traffic simulation program VISSIM is a powerful tool that has been used by transportation engineers and urban planners around the world. A VISSIM simulation is meant to depict the performance of the physical road network through the use of modeling tools and behavioral parameters. The process which gets the model to the point of matching real world conditions is called calibration and requires a means of relating the real world to the simulated world. The topic of this thesis...
Show moreThe microscopic traffic simulation program VISSIM is a powerful tool that has been used by transportation engineers and urban planners around the world. A VISSIM simulation is meant to depict the performance of the physical road network through the use of modeling tools and behavioral parameters. The process which gets the model to the point of matching real world conditions is called calibration and requires a means of relating the real world to the simulated world. The topic of this thesis discusses a new means of calibration using the two-fluid model. The two-fluid model is a macroscopic modeling technique which provides quantitative characteristics of the performance of traffic flow on an urban road network. The model does this by generating a relationship between the travel time, stopped time, and running time per mile. The two-fluid model has been used to evaluate the performance of road networks for decades but now it is possible to use it to calibrate a VISSIM model. For this thesis, the two-fluid model to be used for calibration was generated from data collected on the Orlando, Florida, downtown network in February, 2008, during three traffic peaks for three typical weekdays. The network was then modeled in VISSIM which required a large amount of data regarding network geometry, signal timings, signal coordination schemes, and turning movement volumes. A similar data collection exercise was conducted during November, 2008, to capture the effects of changes that took place in the network during the ten month period. Another VISSIM network was also made to match the conditions of the November network. The February field data was used to successfully calibrate the VISSIM model and the November data was used to validate the calibrated network. The validation proved that the two-fluid models from the November field data and VISSIM data are statistically similar. With the network calibrated and validated, it could be used to perform scenario tests to see how the network performance would be affected by changes to the network. The two-fluid model has often been used to compare two different physical networks or explore how the performance of a single physical network has changed over time. A similar comparison can be done with the two-fluid models from a calibrated, simulated network. By using the original calibrated models as base cases, scenarios ranging from lane closures due to traffic incidents to the addition of a whole new signalized corridor on the network can be modeled in VISSIM and compared with the corresponding base case. This would allow a governing agency to preview the effects of proposed changes.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002729, ucf:48152
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002729

Title: A CONTEMPORARY ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF KURDISH NATIONAL MOVEMENTS: SYRIA, IRAQ, AND TURKEY.
Creator: Lanza, Grayson, Sadri, Houman, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: As commonly understood, and particularly espoused by Kurdish nationalists, the Kurds are by far the largest ethnic group in the world without their own nation-state. An estimated 2 to 2.5 million ethnically Kurdish people inhabit portions of Syria. There are approximately 6.5 million ethnically Kurdish people in Iraq, 7.6 million in Iran, and 16 million in Turkey. Overall, there are about 30 million Kurds in the world. In the broader context of the Kurdish nationalist struggle, this paper...
Show moreAs commonly understood, and particularly espoused by Kurdish nationalists, the Kurds are by far the largest ethnic group in the world without their own nation-state. An estimated 2 to 2.5 million ethnically Kurdish people inhabit portions of Syria. There are approximately 6.5 million ethnically Kurdish people in Iraq, 7.6 million in Iran, and 16 million in Turkey. Overall, there are about 30 million Kurds in the world. In the broader context of the Kurdish nationalist struggle, this paper suggests that there is a growing bipolar hegemony for power over the control of Kurdish land and politics. Research was predicated around the question of why not all Kurdish groups pursue full independence. Standing in contrast to each other despite relatively similar goals is the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). The KCK movement is the more diverse of the two, with its member organizations being the dominant forces of the Kurdish movement in Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Within Turkey, the KCK is represented politically through the HDP and PKK, along with the armed wing of the PKK (HPG). In Syria, KCK is represented politically through the PYD and its armed wing YPG. In Iran, the KCK is represented by PJAK and in Iraq it is represented by the PÇDK. In Syria and Turkey, KCK affiliated groups are the dominant political and militia force. The only Kurdish inhabited region where this is not the case is in the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, which is dominated politically, economically, and militarily by the KDP and its affiliates. The two camps differ in a host of ways: the KCK espouses anti-state, anarcho-socialist sentiment while the KDP opts for establishing a traditional nation-state. The KCK has poor relations with Turkey universally, while the KDP and by extension the KRG has warm relations built off of growing economic interests. Most importantly, their end goals for Kurdish society are drastically different: KCK organization call for autonomous communities and do not advocate for a state, in direct contrast to the KDP's long iii term goal of an independent nation-state for the Kurdish people. Despite the common enemy of Islamic State, tensions between the two camps have only increased as each looks to become the voice for the Kurdish nation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFH2000196, ucf:45998
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000196

Title: TEXT-IMAGE RESTORATION AND TEXT ALIGNMENT FOR MULTI-ENGINE OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION SYSTEMS.
Creator: Kozlovski, Nikolai, Weeks, Arthur, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Previous research showed that combining three different optical character recognition (OCR) engines (ExperVision® OCR, Scansoft OCR, and Abbyy® OCR) results using voting algorithms will get higher accuracy rate than each of the engines individually. While a voting algorithm has been realized, several aspects to automate and improve the accuracy rate needed further research. This thesis will focus on morphological image preprocessing and morphological text restoration that goes to OCR...
Show morePrevious research showed that combining three different optical character recognition (OCR) engines (ExperVision® OCR, Scansoft OCR, and Abbyy® OCR) results using voting algorithms will get higher accuracy rate than each of the engines individually. While a voting algorithm has been realized, several aspects to automate and improve the accuracy rate needed further research. This thesis will focus on morphological image preprocessing and morphological text restoration that goes to OCR engines. This method is similar to the one used in restoration partial finger prints. Series of morphological dilating and eroding filters of various mask shapes and sizes were applied to text of different font sizes and types with various noises added. These images were then processed by the OCR engines, and based on these results successful combinations of text, noise, and filters were chosen. The thesis will also deal with the problem of text alignment. Each OCR engine has its own way of dealing with noise and corrupted characters; as a result, the output texts of OCR engines have different lengths and number of words. This in turn, makes it impossible to use spaces a delimiter as a method to separate the words for processing by the voting part of the system. Text aligning determines, using various techniques, what is an extra word, what is supposed to be two or more words instead of one, which words are missing in one document compared to the other, etc. Alignment algorithm is made up of a series of shifts in the two texts to determine which parts are similar and which are not. Since errors made by OCR engines are due to visual misrecognition, in addition to simple character comparison (equal or not), a technique was developed that allows comparison of characters based on how they look.
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001060, ucf:46799
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001060

Title: THE RELATIONS AMONG CULTURAL VALUES, ETHNICITY, AND JOB CHOICE TRADE-OFF PREFERENCES.
Creator: Isenhour, Linda, Stone, Dianna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Researchers in human resource management (HRM) have long been concerned with the attraction and retention of organizational members (Breaugh, 1992; Rynes, 1991; Vroom, 1966). However, as the U.S. work force has become more diverse (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), the need to consider how issues of cultural diversity are related to the recruitment process has become increasingly important. For example, although past research has investigated relations among individuals' values, personality, and...
Show moreResearchers in human resource management (HRM) have long been concerned with the attraction and retention of organizational members (Breaugh, 1992; Rynes, 1991; Vroom, 1966). However, as the U.S. work force has become more diverse (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), the need to consider how issues of cultural diversity are related to the recruitment process has become increasingly important. For example, although past research has investigated relations among individuals' values, personality, and job choice preferences, no research has examined the job choice trade-off preferences of culturally diverse individuals. Moreover, researchers have not examined explicit job choice trade-off preferences involving job and organizational factors, even though expectancy theory-based models of recruitment implicitly suggest that individuals make trade-offs among valent job and organizational factors. Therefore, the purpose of the current research was to examine the relations among individuals' (a) cultural values (power distance, Protestant Ethic-earnings, Protestant Ethic-upward striving), (b) ethnicity (European-American, Hispanic-American), and (c) their job choice trade-off preferences for organizational prestige over pay using Thurstone's (1927, 1931) law of comparative judgment method. Study 1 served as a pilot of the procedure and measures. Based on the results of Study 1, changes were made to improve reliability of measures prior to Study 2. Study 2 tested hypothesized relations among cultural values, ethnicity, and job choice trade-off preferences for organizational prestige over pay. Results from Study 2 showed that power distance cultural values were related positively to job choice trade-off preferences for organizational prestige over pay and that Protestant Ethic-earnings cultural values were related negatively to job choice trade-off preferences for organizational prestige over pay. In addition, Hispanic-Americans were more likely than European-Americans to prefer job choice trade-offs for organizational prestige over pay. However, Protestant Ethic-upward striving cultural values were unrelated to job choice trade-off preferences for organizational prestige over pay. Moreover, ethnicity was unrelated to power distance cultural values, Protestant Ethic-earning cultural values, or Protestant Ethic-upward striving cultural values. Study results suggest that including cultural values and ethnicity in future recruitment research can enhance the understanding of individuals' job choice preferences and provide practitioners with information to attract multicultural job applicants.
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001194, ucf:46858
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001194

Title: A Joint Econometric Approach for Modeling Crash Counts by Collision Type.
Creator: Bhowmik, Tanmoy, Eluru, Naveen, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Yasmin, Shamsunnahar, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In recent years, there is growing recognition that common unobserved factors that influence crash frequency by one attribute level are also likely to influence crash frequency by other attribute levels. The most common approach employed to address the potential unobserved heterogeneity in safety literature is the development of multivariate crash frequency models. The current study proposes an alternative joint econometric framework to accommodate for the presence of unobserved heterogeneity ...
Show moreIn recent years, there is growing recognition that common unobserved factors that influence crash frequency by one attribute level are also likely to influence crash frequency by other attribute levels. The most common approach employed to address the potential unobserved heterogeneity in safety literature is the development of multivariate crash frequency models. The current study proposes an alternative joint econometric framework to accommodate for the presence of unobserved heterogeneity (-) referred to as joint negative binomial-multinomial logit fractional split (NB-MNLFS) model. Furthermore, the study undertakes a first of its kind comparison exercise between the most commonly used multivariate model (multivariate random parameter negative binomial model) and the proposed joint approach by generating an equivalent log-likelihood measure. The empirical analysis is based on the zonal level crash count data for different collision types from the state of Florida for the year 2015. The model results highlight the presence of common unobserved effects affecting the two components of the joint model as well as the presence of parameter heterogeneity. The equivalent log-likelihood and goodness of fit measures clearly highlight the superiority of the proposed joint model over the commonly used multivariate approach.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007392, ucf:52740
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007392

Title: Comparing the Receptive Vocabulary Knowledge of Intermediate-level Students of Different Native languages in an Intensive English Program.
Creator: Alkhofi, Anas, Folse, Keith, Mihai, Florin, Purmensky, Kerry, Xu, Lihua, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Because most(-)if not all(-)intensive English programs (IEP) assign students to specific levels based on a placement test that does not involve any form of explicit vocabulary testing, some degree of variation in lexical knowledge of students within an individual class should not be surprising. However, very little research has ever quantified this variation. The current study fills the gap in this important area of TESOL research by investigating vocabulary variation among intermediate-level...
Show moreBecause most(-)if not all(-)intensive English programs (IEP) assign students to specific levels based on a placement test that does not involve any form of explicit vocabulary testing, some degree of variation in lexical knowledge of students within an individual class should not be surprising. However, very little research has ever quantified this variation. The current study fills the gap in this important area of TESOL research by investigating vocabulary variation among intermediate-level students at one IEP. Participants (N=79) were split into two main proficiency groups, high intermediate (N=28) and low intermediate (N=51). The 2K, 3K, and 5K levels from the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) were used as a vocabulary measure. In this study, VLT scores were analyzed by proficiency level and by students' original individual classes (N=7). The results revealed considerable vocabulary variation. In some instances, vocabulary size varied by 900 word families per student. First language influence was also investigated by comparing the largest two language groups in the sample, Arabic (N= 28) and Spanish (N=12). Spanish-speaking students significantly outperformed the Arabic speaking students in all vocabulary measures (except for the 2K level). The study, therefore, raises questions about the approaches used in teaching a class that has both Spanish and Arabic speakers. Implications and suggestions for further studies are discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005569, ucf:50281
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005569

Title: PREPARING ELEMENTARY TEACHERS TO TEACH STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: A COMPARISON OF PROGRAM STRUCTURES & ELEMENTS ACROSS TEACHER PREPARATION INSTITUTIONS.
Creator: Close, Jessica, Williams, Karri, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Students with disabilities have the right to the least restrictive environment (IDEA, 2004). Elementary teachers are teaching more of these students in the inclusive classroom because of this right. Elementary teachers are willing to take on this responsibility, but most feel they are not prepared to do so. In order to address this concern, elementary teacher preparation at the institution level must be addressed. This is a descriptive thesis which identifies and compares methods that...
Show moreStudents with disabilities have the right to the least restrictive environment (IDEA, 2004). Elementary teachers are teaching more of these students in the inclusive classroom because of this right. Elementary teachers are willing to take on this responsibility, but most feel they are not prepared to do so. In order to address this concern, elementary teacher preparation at the institution level must be addressed. This is a descriptive thesis which identifies and compares methods that different institutions across the country use to prepare teachers to teach students with disabilities. Institutions chosen for this thesis were recognized by either the U.S. News and World Report (2010) or the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel (2010) for effective preparation of preservice elementary teachers. This thesis addresses the University of Central Florida with the aforementioned institutions. A continuum with three main types of structures was used to identify programs ranging from "discrete" meeting minimum requirements, to completely "merged" programs between special education and elementary education. While "merged" results in dual certification and the most effective preparation according to Blanton and Pugach (2007), it is most often offered as a choice and not as a requirement. Through analysis of program requirements of elementary education and special education programs, course descriptions, and syllabi, this investigator concluded that there were inconsistencies across teacher preparation programs. Institutions are distributed widely across the continuum. If elementary teachers are required to teach to all students, then teacher preparation programs should address all students thoroughly. The investigator's hope is that the evidence presented and the suggestions made in this thesis will incite changes in institutions that are preparing elementary teachers to teach students with disabilities.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0004072, ucf:44781
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004072

Title: A SOCIAL COGNITIVE APPROACH TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF POPULAR POKER TELEVISION SHOWS ON COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Creator: Londo, Marc, Shaver, Dan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Tournament poker shows have become a leading ratings draw on American television. Since ESPN and the Travel Channel began airing their innovative poker shows in 2003, the game has reached a new following, particularly among college students. There are unique and psychologically significant factors that characterize the college population that make students particularly receptive to popular characterizations in media. This study investigates the potential exacerbating effect that these widely...
Show moreTournament poker shows have become a leading ratings draw on American television. Since ESPN and the Travel Channel began airing their innovative poker shows in 2003, the game has reached a new following, particularly among college students. There are unique and psychologically significant factors that characterize the college population that make students particularly receptive to popular characterizations in media. This study investigates the potential exacerbating effect that these widely popular poker television shows have on the gambling behavior of college students. 444 college students completed a survey designed to assess gratifications sought through media along with measures of attitudes, gambling behavior, and social systems. Using Social Cognitive Theory as a framework of influence, exposure to these shows – ranging from the individual student to the overall college environment – was assessed and evaluated. Results indicated that student gambling is strongly correlated to viewership of poker shows, particularly among younger students. This was especially seen among students who utilized the online gambling option. Gambling behavior of peers wasn't shown to be a strong influence for student gambling. However, excitement was shown to be a strong variable that should be looked at closer.
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001087, ucf:46781
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001087

Title: MEDIA EFFECTS ON BODY IMAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND INTERNAL INFLUENCES: WHAT MATTERS MOST?.
Creator: VanVonderen, Kristen, Kinnally, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Media effects on body dissatisfaction is a long-studied issue; however, aspects of the research - such as those regarding cultivation theory and its effects on body image - are unclear or incomplete. This study attempts to clarify the relationship between cultivation and body dissatisfaction. Besides cultivation, social comparison theory is also examined because upward comparisons with media images and peers can shape and reinforce body image attitudes as well. Additionally, the study...
Show moreMedia effects on body dissatisfaction is a long-studied issue; however, aspects of the research - such as those regarding cultivation theory and its effects on body image - are unclear or incomplete. This study attempts to clarify the relationship between cultivation and body dissatisfaction. Besides cultivation, social comparison theory is also examined because upward comparisons with media images and peers can shape and reinforce body image attitudes as well. Additionally, the study examines the connection between media and body dissatisfaction by looking at a broader social context - one that includes other social/environmental influences, such as peer and parental attitudes, as well as internal influences such as self-esteem. A sample of 285 female undergraduate students completed media exposure, parental influence, peer influence, and self-esteem measures, as well as internalization of the thin-ideal and body dissatisfaction measures. Overall, the study found that while peer comparisons and self-esteem are associated with internalization of the thin ideal, they are not as powerful as the most significant indicators - media attitudes regarding weight and body shape and media comparisons. Contrastingly, peer comparisons and self-esteem were observed to be the strongest indicators of body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that cultivation is directly associated with the internalization of the thin ideal. However, the cultivation of media messages may not have a direct effect on body dissatisfaction, as social/environmental influences and the internal variable of self-esteem proved to be the most significant indicators.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003995, ucf:48676
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003995

Title: Evaluation and Modeling of the Safety of Open Road Tolling System.
Creator: Abuzwidah, Muamer, Abdel-Aty, Mohamed, Radwan, Ahmed, Uddin, Nizam, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The goal of this thesis is to examine the traffic safety impact of upgrading Toll Plazas (TP) to Open Road Tolling (ORT). The ORT could enhance safety but could also pose some traffic safety concerns at Toll plazas. Crashes from eight years were investigated by evaluating the crash data before and after the implementation of the ORT.The study was conducted by using two approaches: 1) a simple before and after study and with a comparison group; 2) a modeling effort to help understand the...
Show moreThe goal of this thesis is to examine the traffic safety impact of upgrading Toll Plazas (TP) to Open Road Tolling (ORT). The ORT could enhance safety but could also pose some traffic safety concerns at Toll plazas. Crashes from eight years were investigated by evaluating the crash data before and after the implementation of the ORT.The study was conducted by using two approaches: 1) a simple before and after study and with a comparison group; 2) a modeling effort to help understand the relationship between the crash frequency and several important factors and circumstances such as injury severity, collision types, average daily traffic (ADT) and Toll plaza characteristics. The study investigated 11 Toll plazas on State Roads 408, 417, 528 and 429 that have been changed to the ORT design. Several maps showing the Toll plazas and identifying the relevant crash locations were generated. Negative Binomial (NB), Log Linear model and two-way contingency table were examined. Two log-linear models with three variables in each model with all possible two-way interactions were developed. Categorical data analysis of the 2009 and 2010 crash dataset was performed. In order to compare the differences in response between the crash frequency and a particular crash-related variable, odds ratios were computed. The effects of crash frequency and crash-related factors were examined, and interactions among them were considered. The results indicated significant relationships between the crash frequency and ADT, crash type and driver age.It is worth mentioning that the expressway network understudy was continuously experiencing constructions throughout the study period. There is indication that ORT reduced the total crash number; also there is indication of changing the crash types and locations; and the majority of crashes occurred at the diverging and merging areas and resulted in more severe crashes. More data may be needed to confirm these results especially after all constructions and upgrades are made.The Implementation of open road tolling, the locations of Toll plazas, Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) subscription rate, traffic demand, and plaza geometry all may have a high influence on traffic safety concerns at Toll plazas, as concluded from the negative Binomial Model's results. The changing of sign locations, reducing the speed limit, installing variable message signs, configuring plazas properly, and other considerations may be the solution to overcome the potential safety problems in the vicinity of Toll plazas.The change of design to ORT was proven to be an excellent solution to several traffic operation problems, including reducing congestion and improving traffic flow and capacity at Toll plazas. However, addressing safety concerns at Toll plazas should take priority.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004466, ucf:49330
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004466

Title: computational study of traveling wave solutions and global stability of predator-prey models.
Creator: Zhu, Yi, Qi, Yuanwei, Rollins, David, Shuai, Zhisheng, Zhai, Lei, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this thesis, we study two types of reaction-diffusion systems which have direct applications in understanding wide range of phenomena in chemical reaction, biological pattern formation and theoretical ecology.The first part of this thesis is on propagating traveling waves in a class of reaction-diffusion systems which model isothermal autocatalytic chemical reactions as well as microbial growth and competition in a flow reactor. In the context of isothermal autocatalytic systems, two...
Show moreIn this thesis, we study two types of reaction-diffusion systems which have direct applications in understanding wide range of phenomena in chemical reaction, biological pattern formation and theoretical ecology.The first part of this thesis is on propagating traveling waves in a class of reaction-diffusion systems which model isothermal autocatalytic chemical reactions as well as microbial growth and competition in a flow reactor. In the context of isothermal autocatalytic systems, two different cases will bestudied. The first is autocatalytic chemical reaction of order $m$ without decay. The second is chemical reaction of order $m$ with a decay of order $l$, where $m$ and $l$ are positive integers and $m(>)l\ge1$. A typical system is $A + 2B \rightarrow3B$ and $B\rightarrow C$ involving three chemical species, a reactant A and an auto-catalyst B and C an inert chemical species.We use numerical computation to give more accurate estimates on minimum speed of traveling waves for autocatalytic reaction without decay, providing useful insight in the study of stability of traveling waves. For autocatalytic reaction of order $m = 2$ with linear decay $l = 1$, which hasa particular important role in biological pattern formation, it is shown numerically that there exist multiple traveling waves with 1, 2 and 3 peaks with certain choices of parameters.The second part of this thesis is on the global stability of diffusive predator-prey system of Leslie Type and Holling-Tanner Type in a bounded domain $\Omega\subset R^N$ with no-flux boundary condition. By using a new approach, we establish much improved global asymptotic stability of a unique positiveequilibrium solution. We also show the result can be extended to more general type of systems with heterogeneous environment and/or other kind of kinetic terms.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006519, ucf:51359
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006519

Title: Comparison of Traditional Educative Delivery to Online Education in United States History as Measured by Florida's End-Of-Course Examinations in a Large Urban School District in Central Florida.
Creator: Wilson, William, Murray, Barbara, Murray, Kenneth, Baldwin, Lee, Holt, Larry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Student participation in online courses has been growing steadily for the past decade, and the trend appears to continue the growth in this form of instructional delivery method for the foreseeable future (iNACOL, 2012). To date, little research exploring student success rates exists in the social studies. This particular study was conducted to examine what differences, if any, existed in the End-Of-Course (EOC) scores of 11th grade United States history students who took the course in a...
Show moreStudent participation in online courses has been growing steadily for the past decade, and the trend appears to continue the growth in this form of instructional delivery method for the foreseeable future (iNACOL, 2012). To date, little research exploring student success rates exists in the social studies. This particular study was conducted to examine what differences, if any, existed in the End-Of-Course (EOC) scores of 11th grade United States history students who took the course in a traditional, face-to-face format versus students who took the same course online through Florida Virtual School. For this study, proper permission was received from all interested parties, and a sample of 9,339 End of Course (EOC) examinations were taken from 36 high schools in a large, urban school district in Central Florida. All identifiable data were scrubbed from the sample. Due to the extremely small sampling of online students, the One-Sample Wilcoxon test was used on four research questions to compare students in the traditional, face-to-face versus online format and based on ethnicity, gender, and free-and-reduced lunch status.Overall, none of the One-Sample Wilcoxon tests indicated the presence of a significant difference among any subgroup(-)overall, White, non-White, female, male, high socioeconomic status, or low socioeconomic status. Therefore, none of the null hypotheses presented were rejected. Recommendations included replicating the study on a broader scale and conducting a qualitative study to examine the characteristics of online students, their similarities and differences, to those of students who attend class in a face-to-face format.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005444, ucf:50391
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005444

Title: Institutionalizing Service-Learning as a Best Practice of Community Engagement in Higher Education: Intra- and Inter-Institutional Comparisons of the Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification Framework.
Creator: Plante, Jarrad, Cox, Dr. Thomas, Robinson, Sandra, Bryer, Thomas, Bowdon, Melody, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Service-learning, with a longstanding history in American higher education (Burkhardt (&) Pasque, 2005), includes three key tenets: superior academic learning, meaningful and relevant community service, and persistent civic learning (McGoldrick and Ziegert, 2002). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has created an elective classification system (-) Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (-) for institutions of higher education to demonstrate the breadth and depth of...
Show moreService-learning, with a longstanding history in American higher education (Burkhardt (&) Pasque, 2005), includes three key tenets: superior academic learning, meaningful and relevant community service, and persistent civic learning (McGoldrick and Ziegert, 2002). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has created an elective classification system (-) Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (-) for institutions of higher education to demonstrate the breadth and depth of student involvement and learning through partnerships and engagement in the community (Dalton (&) Crosby, 2011; Hurtado (&) DeAngelo, 2012; Kuh et al., 2008; Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos, (&) Korn, 2007). Community engagement (")is in the culture, commonly understood practices and knowledge, and (CCEC helps determine) whether it is really happening (-) rhetoric versus reality(") (J. Saltmarsh, personal communication, August 11, 2014). The study considers the applications of three Carnegie Community Engagement Classification designated institutions to understand the institutionalization of service-learning over time by examining the 2008 designation and 2015 reclassification across institution types (-) a Private Liberal Arts College, a Private Teaching University, and a Public Research University located in the same metropolitan area. Organizational Change Theory was used as a theoretical model. Case study methodology was used in the present qualitative research to perform document analysis with qualitative interviews conducted to elucidate the data from the 2008 and 2015 CCEC applications from the three institutions. Using intra- and inter-comparative analysis, this study highlights approaches, policies, ethos, and emerging concepts to inform how higher education institutions increase the quality and quantity of service-learning opportunities that benefit higher education practitioners as well as community leaders.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005864, ucf:50852
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005864

Title: An Analysis of Race and Gender in Select Choice Programs Within Brevard County Public Schools.
Creator: Doaks, Synthia, Murray, Barbara, Murray, Kenneth, Baldwin, Lee, Thedy, Elizabeth, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The focus of this research was to compare the student membership population proportions, by race and gender, of Brevard County Public School students with the actual participation in select choice programs offered to Brevard County public high school students. This study was based on an analysis of the scores of 1,152 eighth-grade students who received a score of 4 or 5 on the 2008 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) mathematics and a score of 4 or 5 on the 2008 Florida Comprehensive...
Show moreThe focus of this research was to compare the student membership population proportions, by race and gender, of Brevard County Public School students with the actual participation in select choice programs offered to Brevard County public high school students. This study was based on an analysis of the scores of 1,152 eighth-grade students who received a score of 4 or 5 on the 2008 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) mathematics and a score of 4 or 5 on the 2008 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) reading and their participation in high school advanced academic courses. The advanced academic choice programs selected for this study consisted of the four Florida articulated accelerated college credit seeking programs: Advanced Placement (AP), Dual-Enrollment (DE), International Baccalaureate(&)#174; (IB) Diploma Programme, and the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE). The proportion comparison consisted of student membership data and eighth-grade FCAT scores from 2007-2008 and the student membership data and high school course load data from the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012 academic school years. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were run to analyze the proportions by race and gender of the sample groups and student membership populations. For each respective year involved in this study, there was a statistically significant difference in the race and gender proportions of the samples and the student membership populations.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005325, ucf:50509
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005325

comparison (3)	+ -
Comparison (2)	+ -
body image (2)	+ -
online (2)	+ -
social comparison (2)	+ -

11th grade (1)	+ -
AICE (1)	+ -
ALIGNMENT (1)	+ -
AP (1)	+ -
Advanced Placement (1)	+ -
Analysis (1)	+ -
Anesthesiologist (1)	+ -
Before and After Study with a Comparison group (1)	+ -
Brevard (1)	+ -
Brevard Public County Schools (1)	+ -
CHARACTER (1)	+ -
COMPARISON (1)	+ -
CRNA (1)	+ -
Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (1)	+ -
Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (1)	+ -
Central Florida (1)	+ -
Chi square goodness of fit (1)	+ -
Choice (1)	+ -
Comparison exercise (1)	+ -
Comparison of Anesthesia Providers (1)	+ -
Conflict (1)	+ -
Crash types (1)	+ -
Cultural Values (1)	+ -
ENGINE (1)	+ -
EOC exam (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (14)	+ -
Honors Collection (4)	+ -

University of Central Florida (18)	+ -
Abdel-Aty, Mohamed (2)	+ -
Baldwin, Lee (2)	+ -
Murray, Barbara (2)	+ -
Murray, Kenneth (2)	+ -

Abuzwidah, Muamer (1)	+ -
Alkhofi, Anas (1)	+ -
Bhowmik, Tanmoy (1)	+ -
Blackwell, Christopher (1)	+ -
Bowdon, Melody (1)	+ -
Bryer, Thomas (1)	+ -
Bushy, Angeline (1)	+ -
Carter, Daniel A (1)	+ -
Close, Jessica (1)	+ -
Cox, Dr. Thomas (1)	+ -
Crowe, Jeremy (1)	+ -
Decker, Jonathan (1)	+ -
Doaks, Synthia (1)	+ -
Dunn, Stacey (1)	+ -
Eluru, Naveen (1)	+ -
Folse, Keith (1)	+ -
Gural, Iryna (1)	+ -
Holt, Larry (1)	+ -
Isenhour, Linda (1)	+ -
Kinnally, William (1)	+ -
Kozlovski, Nikolai (1)	+ -
Lanza, Grayson (1)	+ -
Lindner, Danielle (1)	+ -
Londo, Marc (1)	+ -
Mihai, Florin (1)	+ -

Search In

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Topical Subject

Collection

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner