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It's Going to be Different, but It's Going to be Okay: Caregiver Perspectives on Autism, Culture and Accessing Care (open access)

It's Going to be Different, but It's Going to be Okay: Caregiver Perspectives on Autism, Culture and Accessing Care

Through ethnography influenced by public health and anthropological theory, I explored the cultural perceptions of autism among eight caregivers whose children received services from a local Dallas-Fort Worth autism treatment organization. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews with caregivers and program employees provided a rich and nuanced view into the state of care currently available in the DFW area while also highlighting areas for improvement. This research will be used to not only identify the barriers faced by North Texas Families while seeking out care,but also the strategies the organization uses when connecting with families from different backgrounds.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Otwori, Beverly N.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Understanding Perceptions of Community Gardens in the Dallas Area (open access)

Understanding Perceptions of Community Gardens in the Dallas Area

This exploratory research focuses on identifying the roles and perspectives of community gardens in the Dallas area. Results from semi-structured interviews reveal the social and political makeup of the neighborhoods where the garden projects in this study are located. While these findings highlight the benefits of gardening in the city, they can also be contested spaces. In advocating for the proliferation of garden projects in the city, community organizations would benefit from understanding the nuances of garden initiatives and the way in which they are perceived by members of the garden, nearby residents, and policy makers.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Ayyad, Raja
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Maximal Proposition, Environmental Melodrama, and the Rhetoric of Local Movements: A Study of The Anti-Fracking Movement in Denton, Texas (open access)

Maximal Proposition, Environmental Melodrama, and the Rhetoric of Local Movements: A Study of The Anti-Fracking Movement in Denton, Texas

The environmental problems associated with the boom in hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," such as anthropogenic earthquakes and groundwater contamination, have motivated some citizens living in affected areas such as Denton, Texas to form movements with the goal of imposing greater regulation on the industry. As responses to an environmental threat that is localized and yet mobile, these anti-fracking movements must construct rhetorical appeals with complicated relationships to place. In this thesis, I examine the anti-fracking movement in Denton, Texas in a series of three rhetorical analyses. In the first, I compared fracking bans used by Frack Free Denton and State College, Pennsylvania to distinguish the argumentative claims that are dependent on the politics of place, and affect strategies localities must use in resisting natural gas extraction. In the second, I compare campaign strategies that use local identity as a way of invoking legitimacy, which reinforces narrative frameworks of environmental risk. In the third, I conduct and analyze interviews with anti-fracking leaders who described the narrative of their movement, which highlighted tensions in the rhetorical construction of a movement as local. Altogether, this thesis traces the rhetorical conception of place across the rhetoric of the anti-fracking movement in Denton, Texas, while …
Date: December 2017
Creator: Hensley, Colton Dwayne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Artscapes: Community Perceptions of City Beautification through Murals in Denton, Texas (open access)

Artscapes: Community Perceptions of City Beautification through Murals in Denton, Texas

Keep Denton Beautiful (KDB) is inspired by Keep America Beautiful's model of community engagement to create a clean, beautiful, and vibrant city. The community mural initiative, Artscapes, aims to enliven public spaces, abate graffiti, and inspire community members to keep Denton, Texas, clean and beautiful. The goals of this research project are to understand the impact of Artscapes initiative, community perceptions of public art, and find ways KDB can better align future mural projects with the needs and desires of community members. By talking to artists that have worked with KDB, members of the mural art committee, and community members from the neighborhoods that have existing murals, this research provides input from these three populations to continue creating public art for the Denton community. I discuss the context of my work through Lefebvre's concept of "Right to the City," Rafael Schacter's opposition between sanctioned and non-sanctioned murals, Bourdieu's concept of symbolic and social capital, and David Harvey's work on neoliberalism and the entrepreneurial city.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Robertson, Lindsey
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
When Race Matters: The Influence of Race on Case Clearances in Capital vs. Non-Capital Homicides in Texas (open access)

When Race Matters: The Influence of Race on Case Clearances in Capital vs. Non-Capital Homicides in Texas

Texas leads the nation in the number of executions carried out since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Race was a key factor in the 1972 moratorium, and though the Supreme Court allowed for its return under new statutes, race continues to plague the capital punishment legal system. In this study, I examine the influence of race on case clearances in capital and non-capital homicides in Texas, using the extra-legal and non-discretionary theories from existing clearance literature. I find that race influences the probability of cases being cleared in non-capital cases but has no statistically significant effect in clearing capital cases.
Date: December 2017
Creator: Samaniego, Rebekah
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Drama at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary : The Dilday Controversy (open access)

Social Drama at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary : The Dilday Controversy

This study examines the events surrounding the firing of Russell Dilday at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as a social drama. The results suggest that, for application to post-industrial cultures, adaptations need to be made to Victor Turner's original method. The addition of Thomas Farrell's anticipation phase, identification of the breach with the transgression, and examination of unique facets of post-industrial cultures such as economic factors and the role of the media are recommended modifications. In light of these differences, the study concludes that the state of affairs at Southwestern is characteristic of schism in a post-industrial culture.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Drake, Webster F. (Webster Ford)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Statesman from Texas, Roger Q. Mills (open access)

Statesman from Texas, Roger Q. Mills

This is a biography of Roger Quarles Mills and his contributions to Texas history.
Date: August 1954
Creator: Purifoy, Russell Albritton, Jr.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Simulating Thermal and Chemical Spills in Coupled Cooling Reservoirs (open access)

Simulating Thermal and Chemical Spills in Coupled Cooling Reservoirs

Hot water discharges and potential chemical spills are factors that threaten water quality in cooling reservoirs of chemical and power plants. In this thesis, three models are used to analyze the impact of these factors in a particular case study.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Qiu, Bin
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Meal Size and Type, and Level of Physical Activity on Perceived Masculinity, Femininity, Likability and Attractiveness (open access)

Effects of Meal Size and Type, and Level of Physical Activity on Perceived Masculinity, Femininity, Likability and Attractiveness

Previous research indicates that women are judged on the amount of food eaten and that both men and women are judged on the type of food eaten. This study is an attempt to determine whether meal size or type predominantly accounts for these findings on the variables of masculinity, femininity, attractiveness, thinness, fitness, and likability. Physical activity was also included to determine its effect on these variable. Subjects used were 313 undergraduate students. Results indicate that meal type is more influential than meal size and that physical activity significantly influences judgements of others. The results are discussed in terms of future research and relatedness to socio-cultural theories of eating disorders.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Hill, Christie D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of a Constructed Wetland to Reduce Toxicity from Diazinon at the Pecan Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Denton, TX (open access)

Evaluation of a Constructed Wetland to Reduce Toxicity from Diazinon at the Pecan Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, Denton, TX

The City of Denton Pecan Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility has periodically failed effluent toxicity testing. A Toxicity Identification Evaluation has determined that Diazinon in the effluent is contributing to the observed toxicity. Chlorpyrifos is also implicated as a factor. The City of Denton constructed a half acre experimental wetland to remove Diazinon related toxicity. Results from spiking and microcosm experiments indicate that the wetland can reduce the Diazinon.
Date: May 1996
Creator: Baerenklau, Amy L. (Amy Lyn)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Predicted and Actual Trophic Status of Lake Ray Roberts, Texas Based on Chlorophyll A (open access)

A Comparison of Predicted and Actual Trophic Status of Lake Ray Roberts, Texas Based on Chlorophyll A

Two years before impoundment, the trophic status of Lake Ray Roberts was predicted by applying the total phosphorus input into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) eutrophication model. Predicted mean summer epilimnetic (MSE) chlorophyll a of Elm Fork arm, Isle duBois arm and Main Body were in the eutrophic category of the OECD model. Observed MSE chlorophyll a two years after impoundment of Elm Fork arm, Isle duBois and Main Body had not reached their predicted means and were at the mesotrophic-eutrophic boundary of the OECD model. Six years after impoundment, observed MSE chlorophyll a for Main Body, was closer to its predicted mean and in the eutrophic category of the OECD model. Six years after impoundment, Elm Fork arm was the most productive area of Lake Ray Roberts. Observed means of chlorophyll a, total phosphates, suspended solids and turbidity were often highest in the Elm Fork arm. Wastewater effluent from Gainesville and Valley View, TX, had an impact on productivity in Elm Fork arm.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Lytle, Lili Lisa
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bus Ride to Liberation: a Historical Video Documentary of the Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas (open access)

Bus Ride to Liberation: a Historical Video Documentary of the Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas

The Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas is Texas' first African American owned and operated bus company. Some say it is the first in the South. The company was developed during the height of the civil rights period. It serves as an establishment of economic empowerment during the oppressive civil rights era. The video is a historical visual documentation of the bus company from its beginning to its end. An accompanying written profile describes the research process, the pre-production, production and post-production stages, as well as future proposals for the documentary.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Childress, Doris (Doris Elaine)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Examining the Relationship between Variability in Acquisition and Variability in Extinction (open access)

Examining the Relationship between Variability in Acquisition and Variability in Extinction

Using the "revealed operant" technique, variability during acquisition and extinction was examined with measures of response rate and a detailed analysis of response topography. During acquisition, subjects learned to emit four response patterns. A continuous schedule of reinforcement (CRF) for 100 repetitions was used for each pattern and a 30 min extinction phase immediately followed. One group of subjects learned the response patterns via a "trial-and-error" method. This resulted in a wide range of variability during acquisition and extinction. Only one subject emitted a substantial amount of resurgent behavior. A second group of subjects was given instructions on what keys to press to earn reinforcers. This group had less variability in acquisition and extinction and resurgent responding was prevalent.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Neff, Bryon (Bryon R.)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
AIDS Preventative Behavior Among Taiwanese University Students (open access)

AIDS Preventative Behavior Among Taiwanese University Students

This study used the Health Belief Model to examine the predictors of AIDS preventive behavior. The independent variables were the variables of individual perception, modifying factors (psychological variables), and likelihood variables. The respondents, the Taiwanese students of the University of North Texas, were influenced both by Chinese sexuality and Western values in their AIDS-risk behavior. The results revealed that 90% of the respondents were misinformed on the availability of AIDS vaccine. In addition, a majority of the students were either abstaining from sex or practicing monogamy. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis, this study found that the psychological variables rather than cognitive variables significantly influenced the respondents' AIDS preventive behavior. Finally, suggestions were made for future research on AIDS, and for AIDS preventive behavior campaigns.
Date: May 1997
Creator: Wang, Ya-Chien
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Two Semester Life Science Syllabus for Use in Texas Public Schools with Seventh Grade Students (open access)

A Two Semester Life Science Syllabus for Use in Texas Public Schools with Seventh Grade Students

The problem of using a state adopted textbook written to apply to a large body of students with varying interests and needs was overcome by using a detailed syllabus that arranged course content in a meaningful sequence that appealed to student interest. The outlined syllabus prepared a two semester life science curriculum to be used by the teacher to guide lesson planning. Both semesters were divided into three units each. Materials included in the syllabus were given to actual student groups in real classroom settings. Since hands on learning was an important part of classroom instruction, two laboratory sections were included in the appendices to be used with the syllabus.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Edwards, Gail G. (Gail Graham)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Young Children's Awareness of Line and Line Quality in Art and Graphic Reproductions (open access)

An Investigation of Young Children's Awareness of Line and Line Quality in Art and Graphic Reproductions

The purpose of this study was to determine whether kindergarten children possess the ability to recognize, match, and discuss lines and line qualities. Using graphics and art reproductions, three matching tasks were constructed which examined young children's awareness of the line qualities of length, width, straightness, direction, movement, and uniformity. Graphics and art reproductions were also used to construct two tracing tasks employed to examine young children's awareness of actual and implied lines. The tasks were administered to 69 kindergarten students from four elementary schools in a public school district in the north central Texas area.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Young, Jeffry R. (Jeffry Ray)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Language Contact in the Inner City: the Acquisition of AAVE Features by Bilingual Hispanic Adolescents (open access)

Language Contact in the Inner City: the Acquisition of AAVE Features by Bilingual Hispanic Adolescents

Sociolinguists working in Northern urban areas have shown that Hispanics who come in contact with African Americans sometimes acquire features of African American vernacular English (AAVE). However, the acquisition of AAVE features by Hispanics in the South has yet to be documented. Specifically, no one has studied the kind of English that Hispanics in Texas are acquiring. The present study investigates this issue through research in an inner-city area of Dallas: Oak Cliff. During the past twenty-five years, the population of Oak Cliff has changed from a largely African American community to include a substantial number of Hispanics. Though their neighborhoods remain fairly separate, sports and gangs provide an arena for extended contact. This study investigates the extent to which AAVE grammatical features are being acquired by bilingual Hispanic adolescents who hang out with African Americans. The analysis for this paper focuses on the relationship between contact and depth of acquisition of AAVE syntactic constraints on the use the copula (is/are, be). Preliminary results show that be+V+ing as an habitual form has been incorporated into the grammar of these subjects, suggesting fundamental changes towards an AAVE grammatical system.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Coleman, Jeffrey Alan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Perception of Western Wear Status Symbols Among Western Wear Consumers (open access)

The Perception of Western Wear Status Symbols Among Western Wear Consumers

This study determined whether an association exists between the perception of western wear status symbols and demographic characteristics {i.e., gender, age, income, and education level) among Texas American Paint Horse Association members.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Lindsey, Julie E. (Julie Elizabeth)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Points Versus Sounds as Reinforces in Human Operant Research (open access)

A Comparison of Points Versus Sounds as Reinforces in Human Operant Research

Research shows that human operant behavior typically differs from non-human operant behavior on schedules of reinforcement. These differences in performance may be related to differences between the experimental preparations used to study human and non-human operant behavior. One such difference is the type of reinforcer used. This experiment analyzed the differential effects of points alone, points backed up by money, and sounds on schedule performance of human subjects. Results show that sounds generated moderate rates of responding, capable of change in either direction. When points backed up with money were the reinforcers, however, high rates of behavior were generated, disrupting the previously established baseline performance. This suggests that while points may be effective in generating high rates of behavior, they may be ineffective in producing sensitive baselines needed to study human operant behavior on schedules of reinforcement.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Rouse, Susan L.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Relationships among Relational Maintenance Strategy Usage, Communicator Style and Romantic Relational Satisfaction (open access)

A Study of the Relationships among Relational Maintenance Strategy Usage, Communicator Style and Romantic Relational Satisfaction

This thesis examined student-participants' self-reported use of romantic relational maintenance strategies and their partners' reports of relational satisfaction. Additionally, individuals outside the romantic relationship reported on student-participants' general communicator style. The research proposed that general style reports would be predictive of relational maintenance strategy usage and of romantic partners' relational satisfaction. The study found that general style behaviors may not be indicative of relational maintenance strategy usage or romantic partners' relational satisfaction. Tests of sex differences revealed that females' expression of various relational maintenance strategies and style behaviors are associated with male partners' relational satisfaction; however, no results were obtained indicating specific behaviors expressed by males result in female partners' relational satisfaction.
Date: August 1996
Creator: Hardin, Charla (Charla LeeAnn)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Public School Choice : An Impact Assessment (open access)

Public School Choice : An Impact Assessment

The goal of this thesis is to understand the consequences of educational choice in the public school system. The research takes place in San Antonio, Texas. The research encompasses meaningful comparisons between three sets of low income students and their families: 1) those who chose to remain in their attendance-zone school, 2) those who enrolled in the multilingual program, and 3) those who applied to the multilingual program but were not admitted because of space limitations.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Davis, Casi G. (Casi Gail)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Physical Facilities of Industrial Arts Metalworking Laboratories in the State of Texas (open access)

A Study of the Physical Facilities of Industrial Arts Metalworking Laboratories in the State of Texas

The purposes for conducting this study were to ascertain whether the housing for industrial arts metalworking laboratories was adequate, whether the enrollment of the school showed any correlation with the availability of a metalworking facility, and to what extent the physical facility for metalworking laboratories met current standards.
Date: December 1972
Creator: Teague, Ben W.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War (open access)

"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War

This study examines the social and economic characteristics of the men who joined the Confederate Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment during the Civil War and provides a narrative history of the regiment's wartime service. The men of the Fourteenth Infantry enlisted in 1862 and helped to turn back the Federal Red River Campaign in April 1864. In creating a portrait of these men, the author used traditional historical sources (letters, diaries, medical records, secondary narratives) as well as statistical data from the 1860 United States census, military service records, and state tax rolls. The thesis places the heretofore unknown story of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry within the overall body of Civil War historiography.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Parker, Scott Dennis
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Appeal of Fashion Retailing as a Career: Perceptions of Fashion Merchandising Students (open access)

The Appeal of Fashion Retailing as a Career: Perceptions of Fashion Merchandising Students

This study investigated the (1) relationship of students' family and educational background to their opinions of fashion retailing as a career, and (2) preferences for fashion retail job attributes in relationship the appeal of fashion retail job profiles. A sample of 131 fashion merchandising students from five state-funded universities completed a four-part survey which measured two independent variables: student background and preferences of fashion retail job attributes and two dependent variables: opinions of fashion of retailing as a career and the appeal of fashion retail job profiles. Analyses included multiple regression, t-test, and correlations. For opinions of fashion retailing as a career, parental background was not significant while attendance at a retailing course, semester hours completed and G.P.A. had limited relationships. Fashion retail job attribute preferences were related to the appeal of fashion retail job profiles; the most preferred attribute was high personal freedom.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Daniels, Susan Leigh
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library