This thesis builds upon several theoretical ideas. The first of which is the anthropologists’ transition into the corporate context and the particular type of skills and value that someone with anthropological training can bring to operations management. As anthropology is relatively new and unfamiliar to corporations, anthropologists are often hired without explicit knowledge of how they will address organizational problems. Frequently, this incremental relationship building between the anthropologist and the organization leads to shifting project goals which come only after the anthropologist is able to reveal initial findings to someone who has the power to grant the anthropologist further access to employees and company information. This refocusing comes from a building of trust that is crucially important for the anthropologist’s ability to identify social issues, which is the anthropologist’s expertise. In order to develop the context of this project the following paragraphs will explain in more detail and expand into particular cases in which anthropologists have helped organizations to identify and manage social, organizational problems. As a relationship needs to be built between the anthropologist and the organization, here I argue that there needs to be continual relationship building between anthropological, design, and management theories to optimally solve organizational problems.

American downtowns were once the place to see and be seen, but the introduction of the shopping mall in the late 1950s challenged this notion and gave the American consumer a different place to spend their time and money. The prevalence of shopping malls has slowly been declining across the country since the beginning of this century, leaving room in the American retail landscape for downtowns to reclaim their status as community and retail centers. Towns across the U.S. are turning to national and local organizations to assist them in revitalizing their downtown districts. Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc. (DBI), a non-profit organization located in the small town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, has been working since 2006 to revitalize its town’s downtown and main street area. The unique findings presented here were derived from a four month long ethnographic study of downtown Bloomsburg merchants and shoppers and are meant to be used by DBI as a supplemental guide for further revitalization of the town.

The worldwide maternal mortality rate is excessive. Developing countries such as Tanzania experience the highest maternal mortality rates. The continued exploration of issues to create ease of access for women to quality maternal health care is a significant concern. A central strategy for reducing maternal mortality is that every birth be attended by a skilled birth attendant, therefore special attention was placed on motivations and factors that might lead to an increased utilization of health facilities. This qualitative study assessed the perceptions of local population concerning maternal health services and their recommendations for improved quality of care. The study was conducted in the Karatu District of Tanzania and gathered data through 66 in-depth interviews with participants from 20 villages. The following components were identified as essential for perceived quality care: medical professionals that demonstrate a caring attitude and share information about procedures; a supportive and nurturing environment during labor and delivery; meaningful and informative maternal health education for the entire community; promotion of men’s involvement as an essential part of the system of maternal health; knowledgeable, skilled medical staff with supplies and equipment needed for a safe delivery. By providing these elements, the community will gain trust in health facilities …

Foreign-born providers make up over a quarter of the physician workforce nationally. Patients in south central Pennsylvania are primarily white with limited interaction with foreigners which can produce barriers to communication and trust. This study proposes practical steps for building positive relationships between patients and their foreign-born providers. Ethnographic methods were used to interview and survey patients and providers about the relationships between foreign-born providers and patients, primarily in the Summit Health system. The results of the study provide a framework of how trust is built between patients and providers in general, suggest additional actions for foreign-born providers, and propose ways patients can do their part to achieve a positive relationship with their provider. While much of the literature on cultural competence is in the context of patients who are from minority ethnicities, this study adds to the body of research by also considering the providers as part of minority groups.

Today over 1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States; over the last 4 decades mortality rates have decreased largely made in part because of advancement in awareness and treatment options. Treatment adherence has long been considered a vital component in decreasing HIV/AIDS related mortality and has proven to reduce the risk of transmission. However not all patients take their medicine as prescribed. This research study, sponsored by The North Central Texas HIV Planning Council explored how Patient and Provider communication impacted treatment adherence. By utilizing a mixed-methods approach survey data and semi-structured interviews were used to collect insights from both Patients and Providers. Data gleaned through the interview process provided a perspective that could not be captured by using quantitative methods alone. The results from this research yielded multiple themes related to patient and provider communication with recommendations as to how The North Central Texas HIV Planning Council could address treatment adherence, such as Providers focus on Patients perceived severity based on their understanding of disease and illness; that side-effects remain a concern for patients and should not be dismissed; and finally that the word AIDS is perceived to be more stigmatized and as such organizations …

Today breastfeeding is a common conversation with the ever-growing holistic movement and the effort to 'go green' as demonstrated by the proliferation of the organic food industry in recent years within the United States. Breastfeeding may reduce poor health outcomes including infant morbidity and mortality. Infant mortality is a priority in Tarrant County within southeast Fort Worth as defined by this project’s client Healthy Moms – Healthy Babies – Healthy Community. The purpose of this research was to identify the contextual factors that influence breastfeeding decisions among the zip codes in southeast Fort Worth in which infant mortality is greatest. In analysis of the data among breastfeeding mothers and stakeholders, support was the greatest contribution to successful breastfeeding.

This thesis contributes to research that informs the studies of organizational management and organizational anthropology. It examines the internal hierarchy and organizational practices of a Tech Company and describes how findings contributed to policy recommendations aimed towards supporting a “guild” model for organizational success. The data collecting and research were undertaken while working as an employee of the Tech Program and subsequent analysis continued past the end of that phase of work. Methods included semi-structured interviews which captured the sentiments and understandings of employees within the organization, and a questionnaire which revealed sentiments and experiences from former employees. These were buttressed with participant observation engaged through a participatory action research methodology. Findings add to the work directed towards understanding the effect of Founder’s Syndrome within organizations. Additionally, this thesis contributes to a growing body of research centered on best practices for fostering positive organizational growth by creating lines of communication from front-line employees to management level employers.

This thesis contributes to research that informs the design of autonomous vehicles (AVs). It examines interactions among various types of road users, such as pedestrians and drivers, and describes how findings can contribute to the design of AVs. The work was undertaken as part of a research internship at Nissan Research Center-Silicon Valley on the Human Understanding in Design team. Methods included video ethnography “travel-alongs” which captured the experience of travel from the point of view of drivers and pedestrians, analysis of interaction patterns taken from video of intersections, and analysis of road laws. Findings address the implications of what it will mean for AVs to exist as social entities in a world of varied road contexts, and how AVs might navigate the social act of driving on roads they share with a variety of human users. This thesis contributes to an emerging body of research and application on the subject of the AV in the world.

Utilizing a mixed methods approach in assessing cities and metropolitan areas with the highest rates of breast cancer disparities in African-American communities, this study presents the Affiliate perspective of the Susan G. Komen non-profit organization in combination with available socioeconomic data and academic literature. Analyzed through an anthropological lens, qualitative and quantitative data illuminate the lived experiences and dynamic circumstances in which breast cancer disparities are disproportionately experienced in 21 of the nation’s populations of African-Americans. Two main recommendations arose from this research: prioritization of granting to activities such as patient navigation, usage of patient narrative messaging, community-based participatory research methods of program development and implementation, mobile mammography delivery, usage of lay health educators, and self-advocacy education to alleviate barriers to healthcare and supplementation of the current educational activities of the Komen Affiliates through program sharing and leverage of current assets with consideration of current Affiliate capacity. These recommendations may help in alleviating breast cancer disparities present in African-American communities with the highest levels of disparities in the nation.

The Energy Assistance Fund (EAF) is a voluntary, nonprofit fuel fund that provides grants to income qualified utility customers in an effort to help those customers avoid electricity service disconnection. The administering utility and the energy industry as a whole is undergoing transformative change, resulting in a projected decrease of fundraising capacity for EAF among its most substantial donor pool - utility shareholders and employees. Utility customers represent a small percentage of EAF donors, despite the significant size of the customer base. Through a series of ethnographic interviews and secondary research, this thesis seeks to understand the demographics and motivations of utility customers who donate to EAF in order to help improve EAF’s fundraising strategy and donor solicitations to eventually grow customer donations. The goal of EAF is to maintain or grow donations from 2014 levels so the Fund can continue to serve income qualified customers facing energy poverty. This thesis provides a contextual review of fuel funds; challenges faced by the energy and utility industry; the politics and culture of energy; as well as nonprofit sector fundraising challenges and cultures/motivations of giving. This thesis includes client deliverables such as thick description of donor motivation, motivation themes and a donor …

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 using SPSS and also imported into ArcGIS for spatial analysis, and semi-formal, in-depth interviews with residents of the community regarding preparedness, response, and recovery. Residents fell into a middle category of preparedness, with the majority of participants considering or implementing a few recommended preparedness steps. Interview participants expressed respect for and trust of the city and first-responders, as well as a willingness to volunteer their help during response and recovery stages. Finally the American Community Survey showed that resident socioeconomic vulnerability was considerably low, and no action needed to be taken to advocate for at-risk individuals. Overall, the City of Highland Village showed a high resiliency to disaster. A wildfire likely will not have a major impact on the community as a whole, though the city may reduce …

Embarking on a quest to uncover the shared experiences of Latinos with diabetes in the Central San Joaquin Valley is the principal issue discussed in this body of work. Diabetes is estimated to become a serious public health problem, with a current estimate of more than 30 million already afflicted. Engaging in participant-observation at a local clinic serving patients in a Diabetes Education Program and semi-structured interviews with Latinos attending the program, this research explores cultural experiences of diabetes. The primary aim of this research is to answer how health education information is accepted and interpreted based on cultural definitions of diabetes to inform diabetes management strategies.

A key consideration in the human migration process to a destination country is the need to secure suitable and affordable housing. As housing costs have increased in the United States in recent decades, mobile homes – also known as manufactured housing or "trailers" – have become a significant source of affordable housing for people living in the United States. In rural communities, mobile homes have become a substantial portion of the available housing stock. This research project explored mobile home living specifically in relation to Mexican migrants who lived in a rural county in central North Carolina. Consideration was given to the practical issues of this type of housing, as well as any influence the American stigma of mobile homes might have had on the ways people experienced their homes and communities.

This study uses a mixed methods approach to investigate how individuals perceive nature and engage with Texas state park (TSP) programs and resources while also identifying major barriers that visitors perceive/encounter when visiting TSPs. This study looks through the anthropological lens by using theoretical frameworks such as habitus, presentation of the social self, space and place, as well as communities of practice (CoP), to better understand the factors that influence the establishment and maintenance of an individual's relationship to nature and participation in related practices. This study illustrates how an individual's relationship to nature is influenced by experiences in early life that involve activities, landscape or bioregion, and social factors. Relationships with nature are strengthened through social support especially when CoPs are involved. By understanding park visitor experiences through motivations and limitations to participating in the outdoors, parks can expand engagement tactics, foster existing and create new CoP related to nature that aid in the introduction and adoption of outdoor learning and experiences creating lifelong stewards. The study offers recommendations on how TSPs can address visitor barriers and increase nature affinity with the use of targeted outreach and engagement methods through agency interpretive resources and programs with the goal of …

This study explores the role Comunidad Milpa (Milpa) plays in implementing agroecology food systems in Comunidad Pacheco, Argentina. From teaching residents about food cultivation practices, to the importance of a healthy diet and developing relationship with local agroecology producers, the method builds upon the idea of food sovereignty and self-governance. Research conducted for this study focused on obstacles residents encountered while seeking to incorporate local agroecology foods into their diet. Incentives encouraging residents to support area agroecology efforts were also investigated, as well as barriers producers experienced while marketing their products. Design methods used for the investigation included both qualitative and quantitative methods in the form of surveys and interviews with members and participants of Milpa. Data gathered through both methods resulted in identifying the perspective Milpa participants have of the organization, their food practices and choices, and obstacles food producers encounter within the community.

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 were conducted with nineteen organizations including law enforcement and community serving non-profit agencies. While the research resulted in design considerations for a cyberinfrastructure prototype, findings revealed the complexity of the human trafficking ecosystem in Alberta and suggestions for how the community of stakeholders can shift towards a sustained collaborative data sharing culture. This study responds to the need to collect actionable data from multiple sources to reflect the prevalence and context of human trafficking more accurately.

Community based youth programs play a significant role in promoting positive youth identity development outside of the classroom. This can be particularly important for racialized groups such as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Based on ethnographic research conducted at Asian American LEAD, this thesis explores the effect of a five week summer program on AAPI youth identity development. Data collection methods include participant observation, a pre- and post- survey, and semi-structured interviews with staff, participants, and program alumni. The research findings highlight how ethnic and racial identity development is fostered through the creation of safe spaces, shared struggles with peers and staff, and recognition of one's AAPI identity.

At the Northwest Regional Learning Center (NRLC), an alternative high school in Arlington, Washington serving only at-risk youth, a new ethics course was conducted to assist students with their social-emotional learning development (SEL) and provide NRLC staff with greater insight into the lived experiences of students. Through semi-structured interviews, longitudinal ethical position surveys, and in-class observational ethnographic notes, this study presents shifts in student ethical positions over time as students engaged in this new course. By drawing from the knowledge at-risk students bring to school and focusing on behaviorism, progressive teaching theory, and constructivism, this course promoted open, student-led discussion that helped establish and build critical thinking skills, learn about perspectives in relation to others, and analyze various ethical positions. Through learning more about the lived experiences of their students, teachers at NRLC were able to contextualize and accommodate individual student behaviors, needs, and beliefs over their high-school experience. Drawing from student beliefs and experiences, the new course content was largely created by the students, providing at-risk youth an environment to openly share their beliefs while directly relating course content to their lives outside of school. As a representation of the power that social connection, redistribution of power dynamics in …

This study analyzed the social and emotional wellbeing of International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB DP) students in a North Texas school district. Students were asked about their feelings toward mental health through a short-answer questionnaire and a survey. Teachers were also able to give input about how they handle mental health in their classroom and where they would like to see their students grow in terms of understanding mental health. The data shows that while students in the IB DP have questions about mental health and have an interest in becoming more independent when dealing with their mental health, they have also come up with program-specific coping mechanisms such as relationships with teachers and peers in the program. This project suggests the idea of increasing student involvement with family engagement, a student-led mentor program, and an after school organization which covers topics such as mental health and learning skills.

This study was conducted to understand the motivations that drive participants to join user experience (UX) research studies at Red Hat (software company). Mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative nature were used to gather data and determine key insights that were supported by multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks. The findings were used to inform the client (Red Hat) on how to improve their UX research recruitment practices.

As stay-at-home mandates were put in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19, the extent to which today's youth has been affected by such efforts has gone largely under examined. Through a collaborative qualitative study with Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit geared towards empowering youth, we sought to answer how the social interactions and socioemotional wellbeing of their 2021 summer program participants were impacted, as well as how Big Thought was able to exhibit organizational resilience. Methods used for this study included digital and in-person ethnography, interviewing, and interactive media projects. Findings showcased noticeable adverse effects to the socioemotional wellbeing of youth (particularly among older cohorts), shifts in communication, gaps in learned practices of socialization, and coping through digital device use. Despite Big Thought's ability to display organization resilience, there is a clear need for additional concerted efforts to be practiced in reacclimating and guiding youth back into social environments and providing them with the resources and support to get there.

This project aims to explore the beliefs of international teachers regarding the students with whom they work, and the change in those beliefs over time. Participant observation, interviews, and questionnaires were used as tools of collection to address the following research questions: How did teachers' beliefs about students change over time? What variables were significantly associated with the rate of change in teacher beliefs about students? What types of challenges did teaches face while living and working in Thailand? Over the course of four months, I shadowed twenty-two U.S. teachers in thirteen different locations throughout Thailand. Participants were enrolled in an international teaching program in Thailand that provided a cultural orientation and teacher training. Participants were then assigned to teaching jobs throughout the country. Qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS and NVivo software. This project contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning, and anthropological and education research dedicated to exploring teachers' beliefs about students. Results of the study provide vital information about what variables or experiences may influence a critical analysis of beliefs among teachers working with students who they perceive as different from themselves. Due to some of the parallels between this study population and that …

Climate change is a growing problem for those living in the Himalayas, threatening water availability and livelihoods. This research seeks to explore the various factors contributing to water shortage and the factors leading to perceptions of water shortage in Himachal Pradesh, India. This thesis explores data collected from 50 interviews conducted in summer 2019 and seeks to understand why participants of these interviews indicated that they do not experience water shortage. The research highlights the importance of further research and needed action in terms of addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh.

This research project sought to holistically understand how educators in Texas understand educational policies that impact LGBT students, their practices, and interventions in the classroom. The project looks at two policies: anti-bullying and sexual education policies, and provides evidence that they are intrinsically linked through the discourse surrounding LGBT issues in Texas schools.