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46
Department of Psychology
37
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33
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32
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21
Department of History
21
Department of Counseling and Higher Education
18
Department of Learning Technologies
17
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
17
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504 Matching Results
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Shared Norms, Hierarchical Maintenance, and International Hierarchy
The dissertation studies two aspects of international hierarchy. The world of international politics is not one of completely sovereign states competing in anarchy. Patterns of hierarchy, where a dominant state has legitimate control over some actions of a subordinate state, color the globe. First, I look at shared norms and hierarchy. Most studies concerning hierarchy focus on material maximization as an explanation for hierarchy--if hierarchy increases the wealth and security of two states, then hierarchy is more likely. I argue that shared norms held by two states facilitate hierarchy. Shared norms produce a common in-group community, generate common interests, create common ways of doing business, and give rise to common values that increase subordinate states' ability to persuade the dominant state. These factors ease the creation and maintenance of international hierarchical relationships. Second, I study interstate behaviors that can be explained as actions of maintenance by dominant states over subordinates to preserve or increase a level of hierarchy. I theorize that sticks and carrots from a dominant state (like economic sanctions, military interventions, and foreign aid) help sustain a dominant state's rule by convincing subordinate states to follow the dominant state's commands and expectations. Using data on U.S. hierarchies from …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Kurz, Aaron
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Selling Humans: the Political Economy of Contemporary Global Slavery
Human trafficking is a growing illegal crime, both in terms of numbers and profits. Thus, important to consider, as it is a human rights, political, criminal justice, national security, and economic issue. Previous studies have these examined these human trafficking factors independently, yet none have really taken into account how they work simultaneously. This study examines why human trafficker continues to occur, particularly at the domestic and transnational level, and also why some countries are better able to effectively deal with this problem in terms of criminalizing human traffickers. It is argued that at the domestic level, traffickers first must take into account the operating costs, illegal risks, bribery, and profits of the business. After considering these basic elements, they then need to consider the world, including economic, political, geographic, and cultural factors that may help facilitate human trafficking. However, human trafficking can occur across large geographic distances, though rare. This is more likely to happen based on the type of human trafficking group, available expatriate or immigrant networks, the origin-transit-destination country connection, or strength of the bilateral economic relationship between origin and destination countries. Finally, looking at why some countries are better able to criminalize traffickers helps us to …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Balarezo, Christine A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Social Exclusion and Green Consumption
Social exclusion has garnered much attention from researchers across the social sciences, especially among social psychologists. However, given the fact that social relationships and consumption are two of the central activities in daily life, there is surprisingly little research on the impact of social connection threats within the realm of consumer behavior. This study examines the effect of social exclusion on proenvironmental behavior and green consumption. More precisely, the objectives of this study are threefold. The first objective is to examine whether the findings in social psychology literature on how excluded individuals respond to exclusion when they are exposed to proenvironmental consumption behavior. The second objective of this research is to find the underlying mechanism and to rule out some of the possible explanations (e.g., mood) for this effect. The final objective of this study is to establish some of the boundary conditions (individual differences and situational factors) for the proposed effect. The hypotheses of this study were developed based on two main theoretical bases borrowed from social psychology literature: empathy-altruism hypothesis (Batson 1991) and social reconnection hypothesis (Maner et al. 2007). Overall, it was proposed that while social exclusion decreases individuals’ inclination to engage in proenvironmental activities, socially excluded …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Naderi, Iman
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Technology-enhanced Classroom Environments and English Language Acquisition Among Native Spanish-speaking, English Language Learners in the Preschool and Elementary Classroom
This qualitative study addressed the question: What are the perceptions of preschool and elementary bilingual and ESL teachers on how technology-enhanced classroom environments support native Spanish-speaking English language learners in the acquisition of English as a second language? With the support of six school districts representing three different regions and 15 schools in Texas, this research investigated technology-enhanced learning environments and the influence of emerging technologies on language acquisition by focusing on classroom interactions and learner engagement in preschool and elementary settings. Forty-six teachers completed the self-identified online questionnaire and from that initial group of participants, 10 were chosen for the face-to-face semi-structured interviews. A two-cycle progressive refinement coding technique was used for the analysis of the teacher interviews. In Vivo coding was selected for the first-cycle coding methodology to study teacher perspectives using their direct language. For the second-cycle methodology, focus coding was chosen as a continuation of the analytical process examining the developing patterns resulting in the initial codes being grouped to form salient categories. This process of reanalyzing and reorganizing coded data led to the creation of four emergent themes and in the views of the teachers interviewed describes how emerging technologies influences English language acquisition. The …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Miller, Gary
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Wanted: an Exploration of Journalism Skills Acquired Through Student Media Experiences
Collegiate newsrooms serve two functions: to provide news and information to their campuses and to provide hands-on career preparation for student journalists. Student media professionals face having to do the latter in a way that keeps up with changing demands on entry-level employees, influenced by evolving technology and role consolidation within professional media. This study provides perspective from recent graduates with student media experience on the skills they felt most confident in upon graduating, where they gained those skills, and how they feel their student media experiences prepared them for the workplace. Using Everett Rogers’ theory of innovation diffusion to frame the issue, results show that student media professionals must recognize their roles as the change agent in shaping and pushing the opportunities to develop digital skills expected of entry-level journalists.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Francesco, Beth
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Validation of a Short-cycle Formative Assessment Observation Protocol for Science and Mathematics Instruction
Over the years, teachers, administrators, and policy makers have been concerned with optimizing learning for all students. The No Child Left Behind Act put an emphasis on summative assessments, which measure what students have learned. In contrast, formative assessment has been shown in many studies to improve student achievement and motivation because it is applied while students are learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate, for middle and high school mathematics and science instruction, the validity and reliability of a newly developed observation instrument called AssessToday, which is used in a single class period to assess a teacher’s use of short-cycle formative assessment. The content validity of the instrument was supported through an extensive literature review, feedback from experts in the field of formative assessment, and an examination of 98 classroom observations. For assessing reliability of the instrument, inter-rater reliability coefficients were calculated using data collected by trained observers who independently rated teachers during the same class period using three measures: percentage of agreement between raters, Cohen’s kappa, and Fleiss kappa. Cohen’s kappa (N = 36 pairs) ranged from .62 to 1.00 for all observer pairs with an average kappa of .75 for mathematics (n = 16 pairs) …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Heitz, Layne
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Hispanic Representation in the Superintendency: Perceived Competencies and Organizational Outcomes That Benefit School Districts
This study assessed 40 factors often cited in literature to determine the extent that Hispanic superintendents perceive them as influential when accessing the superintendency. Eight Hispanic superintendents in Texas participated in this qualitative study, which was based on interviews as well as written responses to a survey. This study found that the factors considered most influential to these superintendents were their ability to communicate, self-perception/self-efficacy, and level of overall preparedness. These findings contrast with previous research indicating that race or ethnicity, mentoring, and career path are most influential. The study also identified factors related to race and ethnicity that most influenced a Hispanic's ability to access the superintendency, albeit to a lesser degree. These factors were the ability to serve as a Hispanic role model to students, ability to increase Hispanic students' academic performance, and the ability to speak a second language. Moreover, through analysis of a large number of survey responses the study examined the extent to which a superintendent's race or ethnicity is significant to addressing the needs of Hispanics. To assure this question a comparative analysis of Hispanics' and non-Hispanics competencies and organizational outcome was conducted. The results indicate that superintendents, in general, regardless of race or …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Medina, Fernando
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Factors Related to Teacher Retention: the Lived Experiences of Four Teachers in an Urban, Hard-to-staff High School
Retaining quality teachers is critical to the success of America's schools. How to retain quality teachers, especially in high needs schools, is a question of fervent debate among educational researchers, policy makers, administrators, parents, and students. This study examines the issue of teacher retention from an emic perspective, focused on understanding the perspective of those closest to the retention decision, teachers in hard-to-staff schools. This study examines the lived experiences of four teachers at a hard-to-staff, urban, secondary school as these experiences impact their decisions to remain in teaching and at their current campus. Research methods adopted an existential phenomenological perspective and focused on understanding deeply the perspective of participants and how participants make meaning of their lived experiences as they relate to the retention decision. Three hour-long interviews were conducted with each of the four participants utilizing methodology laid out by Seidman (1991). Data were analyzed using NVIVO 10 to apply a series of coding and recoding procedures to interview transcripts. Conclusions suggest four factors motivated these teachers to teach and remain in their current hard-to-staff, urban, secondary school. These factors include: belief in the power of education, relationships with students, mentoring and professional partnering, and remaining professionally challenged. …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Julian, Chris
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Funds of Knowledge in a Hispanic Household: a Case Study of Family Experiences, Values, and Connections to Education
Traditionally, the field of education has often adopted a negative perspective in their views of minority families’ contributions to the educational progress of their children. However, research embodying the theoretical framework of ‘funds of knowledge’ attempts to counter that model through its assertion that all families possess extensive bodies of knowledge that have developed through social, historical, and cultural contexts. Teachers carry out studies of familial funds of knowledge in order to understand how family experiences shape the knowledge that a child brings to the classroom. There is then, the potential to use that body of knowledge to create meaningful learning experiences that connect prior understanding and experiences to classroom practice. This research served as a case study of the funds of knowledge existing in the home of a Hispanic family and the connections that existed between that knowledge and literacy. The results indicated that the family possessed extensive funds of knowledge that developed through their historical, cultural, and social experiences. They often used family networks, as well as formal and informal literacy experiences to share this knowledge with their children. A key component of the literacy value system that they communicated resulted from a desire to maintain aspects of …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Feild, Kelly A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Internet Health Information and Patient-health Professional Relationship
The purpose of this study was to investigate patient use and presentation of Internet health information and its effect on patient-health professional relationship from a sample of residents at active adult communities in Texas. Five sites were used to recruit the 260 participants between November 2012 and January 2013. The data were received using a self-administered survey. Using Cronbach’s alpha, logistic regression and regression analysis through SAS, the data revealed that older respondents are less likely to discuss web-based information with health professionals. In addition, logistic regression analysis indicated that four of the variables, IHI Sharing, educational status (bachelor degree), marital status (married), and perceived health status (excellent and very good health) predicted varied of the 20 indicators making up the patient-health professional relationship scale. Further studies are needed to enhance this research.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Williams, TimMarie Chloe’ Uvonne
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of Standards-based Report Cards on Reading Development of Primary Grade Students
The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore the instructional changes in first grade classrooms and reading progress of first grade students in relation to implementation of standards-based report cards (SBRC). The goal of this study, conducted in a suburban Texas school district, was to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in reading progress between students enrolled in first grade classrooms in which traditional report cards were used in comparison to comparable classrooms in which SBRCs were used. Additionally, the instructional practices of teachers were examined to determine the types of changes that took place as the district moved from traditional report cards to SBRCs. A total of 709 students and 15 teachers were involved in the study. The study revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the reading growth of students assessed in SBRC classrooms and those assessed with traditional report cards. There were, however, significant differences in instructional practices employed by teachers in SBRC classrooms. These changes in practice included instructing with a greater degree of focus on specific objectives to be taught, more closely following the district’s scope and sequence, greater communication regarding the grading criteria and methods used for reporting progress, …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Newell, Suzanne Payne
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of Professional Development on Student Achievement As Measured by Math and Science Curriculum-based Assessments
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of teacher professional development on student achievement measured by scores on curriculum-based assessments, CBAs. The participants in the study included 260 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math and science teachers. Teacher participation in professional development courses was collected for curriculum, instruction, differentiation, assessment, technology integration, and continuous improvement credit types. Achievement data for 8,454 students was used: 2,883 in 3rd grade, 2,752 in 4th grade, and 2,819 in 5th grade. The dependent variable of student achievement was dichotomized at the median: half of the student participants scored above the median and half of the students scored at and below the median. A series of logistic regression models were fit to the data that included examining all main effects and interaction terms among all variables to determine the best fitting model. The results of this study indicate that for 4th grade science, teacher professional development participation in curriculum, instruction, and differentiation credit strands increased the chances for students to score above the district median on CBAs. The larger number of professional development hours in a variety of credit strands had a negative impact on student achievement in 4th grade science. In …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Parish, Deidre A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A New Era of Educational Assessment: the Use of Stratified Random Sampling in High Stakes Testing
Although sampling techniques have been used effectively in education research and practice it is not clear how stratified random sampling techniques apply to high-stakes testing in the current educational environment. The present study focused on representative sampling as a possible means for reducing the quantity of state-administered tests in Texas public education. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine if stratified random sampling is a viable option for reducing the number of students participating in Texas state assessments, and (2) to determine which sampling rate provides consistent estimates of the actual test results among the population of students. The study examined students’ scaled scores, percent of students passing, and student growth over a three-year period on state-mandated assessments in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. Four sampling rates were considered (10%, 15%, 20%, & 25%) when analyzing student performance across demographic variables, including population estimates by socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, and placement in special education classes. The data set for this study included five school districts and 68,641 students. Factorial ANOVAs were used initially to examine the effects of sampling rate on bias in reading and mathematics scores and bias in percentage of students passing these …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Brown, Stephanie N.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Multilingual Word Sense Disambiguation Using Wikipedia
Ambiguity is inherent to human language. In particular, word sense ambiguity is prevalent in all natural languages, with a large number of the words in any given language carrying more than one meaning. Word sense disambiguation is the task of automatically assigning the most appropriate meaning to a polysemous word within a given context. Generally the problem of resolving ambiguity in literature has revolved around the famous quote “you shall know the meaning of the word by the company it keeps.” In this thesis, we investigate the role of context for resolving ambiguity through three different approaches. Instead of using a predefined monolingual sense inventory such as WordNet, we use a language-independent framework where the word senses and sense-tagged data are derived automatically from Wikipedia. Using Wikipedia as a source of sense-annotations provides the much needed solution for knowledge acquisition bottleneck. In order to evaluate the viability of Wikipedia based sense-annotations, we cast the task of disambiguating polysemous nouns as a monolingual classification task and experimented on lexical samples from four different languages (viz. English, German, Italian and Spanish). The experiments confirm that the Wikipedia based sense annotations are reliable and can be used to construct accurate monolingual sense classifiers. …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Dandala, Bharath
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Long Distance International Caregiving to Elderly Parents Left Behind: a Case of Nigerian Adult Children Immigrants in Usa
The intent of this qualitative, grounded theory study was to understand why the Nigerian (Igbo) adult immigrants in the United States provide long distance international caregiving to their elderly parents left behind in Nigeria, the challenges they encounter, and their views on long-term service care. This study was grounded in semi-structured interviews of 20 Igbo adult immigrants residing in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolis. Analysis of the literature demonstrates a lack of existent topic on long distance international caregiving to elderly parents left behind in Nigeria. Findings show that reasons for Igbo adult children immigrants providing care to their elderly parents left behind stem from filial obligation, immigrant’s position in the family, perceived vulnerability of parents, and lack of government support. Also because of cultural expectations, the participants felt obligated to reciprocate to the care their elderly parents gave to them when they were growing up. While providing long distance international care, the participants encountered some challenges like adjusting to their new country, distance, financial constraints, being available for family procreation, issues with means of communication, and legal papers and parental adjustment to life in the U.S. This study also revealed that the participants would support the Nigerian government and private …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Okoro, Onyekachi
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Modeling and Analysis of Next Generation 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocols
Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocols are guidelines that a 9-1-1 dispatcher uses to evaluate the nature of emergency, resources to send and the nature of help provided to the 9-1-1 caller. The current Dispatch Protocols are based on voice only call. But the Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) architecture will allow multimedia emergency calls. In this thesis I analyze and model the Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocols for NG9-1-1 architecture. I have identified various technical aspects to improve the NG9-1-1 Dispatch Protocols. The devices (smartphone) at the caller end have advanced to a point where they can be used to send and receive video, pictures and text. There are sensors embedded in them that can be used for initial diagnosis of the injured person. There is a need to improve the human computer (smartphone) interface to take advantage of technology so that callers can easily make use of various features available to them. The dispatchers at the 9-1-1 call center can make use of these new protocols to improve the quality and the response time. They will have capability of multiple media streams to interact with the caller and the first responders.The specific contributions in this thesis include developing applications that use smartphone …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Gupta, Neeraj Kant
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Motivating Pre-service Teachers to Incorporate Technology Into the Classroom
Technology integration into the classroom is a multi-faceted and complex topic. One factor that can have an effect on a teacher's incorporation of technology into their classroom is pre-service teacher technology training. In this research study the ARCS instructional design model was applied to a pre-service teacher technology course in the hopes of motivating course attendees to both learn about technology incorporation and to incorporate technology into their future classrooms. The ARCS instructional design model that relies on the motivational sub-components of attention, relevance, confidences, and satisfaction to develop instruction that motivates to students to learn course content and goals. This study analyzed a group of pre-service teachers enrolled in a university technology training course to determine if the redesign resulted in the desired outcomes. Pre-test and post-test data was collected using both quantitative and qualitative instruments to analyze the potential effect of the redesigned course.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Gardner, David
System:
The UNT Digital Library
From Aspiration to Attainment: African American Community College Transfer Student Experiences Through Baccalaureate Degree Attainment
The purpose of this dissertation was to explore African American community college transfer student experiences through baccalaureate degree completion. The current study used qualitative methods to examine the experiences and perceptions of eighteen African American community college transfer students who recently graduated or were within 30 credit hours of graduating from a four-year university in Texas. Ten female and eight male students, ranging in age from 21 to 56 years old, with an average age of 28, composed the sample. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analyzed based on an integrated conceptual model of Padilla’s (1999) Model of Minority Student Success and Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model. Findings suggest that African American community college transfer student experiences are very similar to transfer student experiences revealed in current literature. However, findings indicate students perceive their experiences differ from student of other races/ethnicities when dealing with negative stereotypes, lack of role models, and racial bias. Findings also suggest African American community college transfer student persist by employing transfer student capital, familial, aspirational, and resistant capital to learn how the traverse transfer, transition, and persistence through baccalaureate degree attainment.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Wilson, Dawna
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Mexican Mothers’ Experiences with Depression, Intimate Partner Violence, and Immigration: a Mixed Methods Study of Maternal Self-efficacy
This study investigated the relation between maternal self-efficacy, depression, and intimate partner violence among Mexican immigrant and Mexican mothers. The research was conducted using a parallel mixed methods approach including both qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 136 mothers living in the United States and Mexico completed surveys, and 10 mothers participated in semi-structured interviews. In a regression on maternal depression, living in Mexico as opposed to the U.S., psychological violence, and maternal self-efficacy were significant predictors of maternal depression. In the qualitative data analysis, we found five main themes: perceptions, cultural influence, involvement, resources, and barriers. In this stage of the study, Mexican and Mexican immigrant mothers described in detail their experiences of being a mother, their perceptions of maternal self-efficacy, and the influence of intimate partner violence and depression on their effectiveness as mothers. Overall, Mexican immigrant families appeared to have healthier relationships and greater well-being than Mexican families.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Orozco Vargas, Arturo Enrique
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Masculinity Masquerade: the Portrayal of Men in Modern Advertising
The depiction of gender in advertising is a topic of continuous discussion and research. The present study adds to past findings with an updated look at how men are represented in U.S. advertising media and the real effects these portrayals have on the male population under the theoretical framework of hegemony and social cognitive theory. This research is triangulated with a textual analysis of the ads found in the March 2013 editions of four popular print publications and three focus group sessions separated by sex (two all-male, one all-female), each of which is composed of a racially diverse group of undergraduate journalism and communications students from a large Southwestern university. The results of the textual analysis reveal little ethnic or physical diversity among male figures in advertising and distinguish six main profiles of masculinity, the most frequent of which is described as the "sophisticated man." The focus groups identify depictions of extreme muscularity and stereotypical male incompetence as the most negative representations, while humorous and hyperbolic portrayals of sexual prowess and hyper-masculinity are viewed positively as effective means of marketing to men.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Harper, Savannah
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Measurement of the Third-order Elastic Constants for La3ga5sio14 (Lgs) and La3ga55ta05o14 (Lgt) Single Crystal
Recently, the development of electronic technology towards higher frequencies and larger band widths has led to interest in finding new piezoelectric materials, which could be used to make filters with larger pass band widths and oscillators with better frequency stability. Langasite (La3Ga5SiO14, LGS) and its isomorphs have enticed considerable attention of researchers as a potential substrate material for piezoelectric device applications because of its high frequency stability and fairly good electromechanical coupling factors for acoustic wave devices. Nonlinear effect including drive level dependence, mode coupling, force-frequency effect and electroelasic effect are critical for the design of these devices. Third-order elastic constants (TOEC) play an important role in a quantitative analysis of these nonlinear effects. In particular these elastic constants are of great importance when the BAW (Bulk Acoustic Wave) and SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) sensors of force, acceleration and so on are designed. Until now Langasite (LGS) and Langatate (LGT) crystal resonators have been qualified in terms of quality factor, temperature effect, isochronism defect and material quality. One of the most important advantages of those crystals is that they will not undergo phase transitions up to its melting temperature of 1450°. Presently there is no data on TOEC of LGT …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Karim, Md Afzalul
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Investigating the Relationship Between Internet Attitudes of College Students and Their Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Career Perceptions
Are our students just consumers of technology or do their interests in technology translate into positive perceptions about STEM majors and careers? This research aimed to describe the role of the Internet in undergraduate students’ academic and career perceptions in STEM areas. The purpose of the research was addressed in three parts. First, the attitudes of undergraduate students towards five functions of the Internet namely tool, toy, treasure, telephone and territory were described. Second, students’ STEM career-related perceptions were described in terms of their science and mathematics self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and attitudes towards a STEM career. Third, the relationship between the five Internet functions and the three STEM career-related perceptions was examined. The participants for this study were 566 undergraduate students from a large Southern university. The research design followed a mixed methods approach using multivariate analyses and content analyses. The findings of the research indicated that there was a small but meaningful relationship between undergraduate students’ Internet and STEM perceptions. In their daily lives, the students perceived the Internet more as a toy and a tool. For general career related purposes, they perceived the Internet more as a treasure and a tool. For STEM areas in particular, they perceived …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Periathiruvadi, Sita
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Miniature Mass Spectrometry: Theory, Development and Applications
As mass analyzer technology has continued to improve over the last fifty years, the prospect of field-portable mass spectrometers has garnered interest from many research groups and organizations. Designing a field portable instrument entails more than the scaling down of current commercial systems. Additional considerations such as power consumption, vacuum requirements and ruggedization also play key roles. In this research, two avenues were pursued in the initial development of a portable system. First, micrometer-scale mass analyzers and other electrostatic components were fabricated using silicon on insulator-deep reactive ion etching, and tested. Second, the dimensions of an ion trap were scaled to the millimeter level and fabricated from common metals and commercially available vacuum plastics. This instrument was tested for use in ion isolation and collision induced dissociation for secondary mass spectrometry and confirmatory analyses of unknowns. In addition to portable instrumentation, miniature mass spectrometers show potential for usage in process and reaction monitoring. To this end, a commercial residual gas analyzer was used to monitor plasma deposition and cleaning inside of a chamber designed for laser ablation and soft landing-ion mobility to generate metal-main group clusters. This chamber was also equipped for multiple types of spectral analysis in order to …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Fox, James D.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Minority Stress, Spirituality and Psychological Quality of Life in a Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Sample
Unique factors associated with the experience of spirituality and religiosity for many in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) communities include minority stress. Using structural equation modeling, we examined whether minority stress mediates the relationship between spirituality and psychological quality of life (QOL). Results indicate minority stress mediates the relationship between spirituality and psychological QOL for gay men and bisexuals. However, minority stress is not a significant mediator for lesbians. Therefore, lesbians may experience minority stress and its relationship to psychological QOL differently than gay men and bisexuals due to higher societal acceptance. This study provides support for examining lesbians, gay men and bisexuals separately rather than as one sexual minority group.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Purser, Megan M.
System:
The UNT Digital Library