Degree Level

Someone to Talk to: Conversations Between Friends in a Junior High Lunch Room (open access)

Someone to Talk to: Conversations Between Friends in a Junior High Lunch Room

Quantitative studies dominate early adolescence research, a field which also lacks an understanding of communication behaviors between early adolescents. This study uses the qualitative methods of participant observation and informal interviews to observe conversations between girls in a junior high lunch room. Friendship characteristics and group socialization are discussed as they emerged from the field data. First, friendship hierarchies (best friend, close friend, and friend) may be adult-imposed structures. Hierarchies are not prominent in the minds of friends as they relate to each other in daily conversation. Second, friendship groups serve to socialize early adolescent girls.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Adams, Brenda Inglis
System: The UNT Digital Library
Post-Traumatic Symptomatology in the Luby's Shooting (open access)

Post-Traumatic Symptomatology in the Luby's Shooting

The role of exposure to a human-made disaster and the subsequent development of post-traumatic stress reactions were examined. Subjects included 49 males and 30 females who were variously exposed to the Luby's shooting incident in Killeen, Texas in October of 1991. Post-traumatic stress symptomatology was measured by the SCL-90R. Exposure was operationalized by using a scenario-rating scheme with independent raters estimating each subject's level of exposure. A regression and commonality analysis revealed that exposure is an important predictor in post-traumatic symptomatology. Premorbid functioning and gender were also found to play important roles, with females expressing higher levels of symptomatology.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Adams, Pam, 1964-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Southern Genre Painting and Illustration from 1830 to 1890 (open access)

Southern Genre Painting and Illustration from 1830 to 1890

The purpose of this thesis is to give a concise view of stylistic, iconographical, and iconological trends in Southern genre paintings and illustrations between 1830 and 1890 by native Southern artists and artists who lived at least ten years in the South. Exploration of artworks was accomplished by compiling as many artworks as possible per decade, separating each decade by dominant trends in subject matter, and researching to determine political and/or social implications associated with and affecting each image. Historical documents and the findings of other scholars revealed that many artworks carried political overtones reflecting the dominant thought of the white ruling class during the period while the significance and interpretation of other artworks was achieved by studying dominant personal beliefs and social practices.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Akard, Carrie Meitzner
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alcoholism and the Family: The Destructive Forces in Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles (open access)

Alcoholism and the Family: The Destructive Forces in Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles

This study examines the forces which shaped the main character--Tess Durbeyfield--in Hardy's novel in terms of the effects which her alcoholic family had upon her mental and emotional potential and which ultimately become the determining factors in her self-destruction. Using the elements and patterns set forth in the literature regarding the dynamics of the alcoholic family, I attempt to show that Hardy's novel may best be understood as the story of a woman whose life and destiny are controlled by the consequences of her father's alcoholism. This interpretation seems to account best for many elements of the novel, such as Tess's destruction, and provides a rich appreciation of Hardy's technique and vision.
Date: December 1992
Creator: Alexander, Elizabeth Chenoweth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of Diet, Water, and Culture Size for Ceriodaphnia Dubia Laboratory Culturing (open access)

Evaluation of Diet, Water, and Culture Size for Ceriodaphnia Dubia Laboratory Culturing

Six reagent waters, eleven diets, and two culture sizes were evaluated for culturing C. dubia. Different filtration techniques were used to prepare the reagent waters. The eleven diets were comprised of two algae augmented with eight supplements. Reproduction and growth were assessed to discern differences among C. dubia raised in mass cultures and cultured in individual cups, during which, bacterial population densities, lipid, protein, and carbohydrate concentrations of the diets were measured. Results showed that a glass-distilled, carbon filtered, deionized reagent water and a Selenastrum capricornutum- Cerophyl® diet were optimum for culturing. Mass culturing supported the highest reproduction and growth, while no correlation was found between nutritional measurements and production.
Date: December 1992
Creator: Allen, Jerry D. (Jerry Dee)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Corporate Propaganda Analysis: a Case Study of Nike, Inc. (open access)

Corporate Propaganda Analysis: a Case Study of Nike, Inc.

This study seeks to show how Nike, Inc. has effectively followed a strategy to increase the sale of its products that can be characterized as propaganda. Regarding method, this is a qualitative study which applied the propaganda analysis plan developed by Jowett & O'Donnell (1992) to examine and describe (1) Nike's ideology, (2) corporate structure and culture, (3) purpose, (4) targeted audiences, (5) the dissemination of the propaganda, (6) techniques for increasing its effectiveness, (7) existing counterpropaganda and contradictions, and (8) the effectiveness of the campaign. The study provides evidence that Nike engages in propaganda through an organized, systematic, and deliberate attempt to influence the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and actions of specific audiences for the purpose of accomplishing fixed objectives.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Anderson, Christian S. (Christian Spencer)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of Employee Satisfaction within a Major Unit of a Worldwide Hotel and Resort Management Company (open access)

An Assessment of Employee Satisfaction within a Major Unit of a Worldwide Hotel and Resort Management Company

The purpose of this study was to assess the satisfaction level of 240 employees of a single hotel property. The questionnaire, administered by the Corporate Director of Training, determined if a significant difference exists between overall satisfaction and individual departmental satisfaction regarding 11 dimensions: customer satisfaction, employee involvement/teamwork, work environment, training/development/evaluation, communication, compensation/benefits, supervision, resources, planning/goal setting, general, and departmental interaction. Percentages and t tests were used to analyze the data. Results of the study will help management recommend courses of action needed to address identified problem areas.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Aranson, Anne (Anne Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library

Development of a Coaxiality Indicator

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The geometric dimensioning and tolerancing concept of coaxiality is often required by design engineers for balance of rotating parts and precision mating parts. In current practice, it is difficult for manufacturers to measure coaxiality quickly and inexpensively. This study examines feasibility of a manually-operated, mechanical device combined with formulae to indicate coaxiality of a test specimen. The author designs, fabricates, and tests the system for measuring coaxiality of holes machined in a steel test piece. Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (gage R&R) and univariate analysis of variance is performed in accordance with Measurement System Analysis published by AIAG. Results indicate significant design flaws exist in the current configuration of the device; observed values vary greatly with operator technique. Suggestions for device improvements conclude the research.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Arendsee, Wayne C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sinfonietta (open access)

Sinfonietta

Sinfonietta is a work of about 18 minutes for orchestra with an instrumentation of 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 4 timpani, percussion, harps, piano and strings. Three players are required for the percussion battery. The work is in four movements: Prelude, Theme and Variations, Largo and Finale. Movement I is in a tri-partite design. In the second movement, the theme is first enunciated by a solo violoncello in its high register followed by seven variations in the orchestra. In Movement III, there are three brief sections plus a longer coda which links to the Finale, the last movement of the Sinfonietta. This movement ends the work with a double fugal section where many of the important features used in the work recur. The movements are made coherent by means of cyclic treatment of the material.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Au, Siu-ming Stefan
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Angoff Method and Rater Analysis: Enhancing Cutoff Score Reliability and Accuracy (open access)

The Angoff Method and Rater Analysis: Enhancing Cutoff Score Reliability and Accuracy

At times called a philosophy and other times called a process, cutting score methodology is an issue routinely encountered by Industrial/Organizational (I/0) psychologists. Published literature on cutting score methodology appears much more frequently in academic settings than it does in personnel settings where the potential for lawsuits typically occurs more often. With the passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act, it is no longer legal to use within-group scoring. It has now become necessary for personnel psychologists to develop more acceptable selection methods that fall within established guidelines. Designating cutoff scores with the Angoff method appears to suit many requirements of personnel departments. Several procedures have evolved that suggest enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the Angoff method is possible. The current experiment investigated several such procedures, and found that rater accuracy methods significantly enhance cutoff score reliability and accuracy.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Baker, Charles E., 1957-
System: The UNT Digital Library
From Boyd City to the Big City and Beyond: Six Stories with a Critical Introduction (open access)

From Boyd City to the Big City and Beyond: Six Stories with a Critical Introduction

The critical introduction to this collection of short fiction argues that writing is reading and that reading is writing. The argument draws descriptions of writing as reading from such diverse sources as Sherwood Anderson, Roland Barthes, Neil Simon, J. Hillis Miller and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as well as from the author's own experience. Descriptions of reading from phenomenological and subjective criticism, including the theories of Georges Poulet, Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish and David Bleich, affirm the creative role of the reader, show that the reader, in fact, writes the text in the process of reading. The introduction concludes that reader, writer and text are all constructs of language, that both reading and writing are, ultimately and primarily, thought.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Barringer, Bobby D. (Bobby Dewayne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mechanism of Activation by Autophosphorylation of an S6/H4 Kinase Isolated From Human Placenta (open access)

Mechanism of Activation by Autophosphorylation of an S6/H4 Kinase Isolated From Human Placenta

A novel molecular mechanism of autophosphorylation-dependent activation of the ser/thr S6/H4 kinase isolated from human placenta is described. Phosphopeptide mapping of the enzyme was used to determine the rate and extent of site-specific autophosphorylation. These data were correlated to phosphotransferase activity of the protein kinase. The results indicated that a sequential phosphorylation of two sites in the catalytic domain is required for maximum activation. Kinetic analysis determined that site 1 is modified by an intramolecular phosphorylation, and site 2 is modified by an intermolecular phosphorylation. On the basis of these data a model is proposed in which autophosphorylation of the pseudosubstrate domain and on a serine residue in subdomain VIII are both required for maximum activation of the S6/H4 kinase.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Benner, Gretchen E. (Gretchen Evonne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A theoretical model of technical professionals in work teams (open access)

A theoretical model of technical professionals in work teams

A two-stage study was conducted which examined role strain and its correlates among technical professional employees in team settings in 14 companies in the United States and Canada. A questionnaire was constructed based on the results of interviews with engineers and managers, and the analysis of simple plot data.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Beyerlein, Susan T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
India Vaale in the United States (open access)

India Vaale in the United States

This documentary reveals the thoughts and feelings of seven Indian students at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. It portrays that better material comforts in the U.S. condition the decision of Indian students in not returning to India even after the completion of their studies. It also shows their feelings of nostalgia for the social and cultural milieu of their home country, India. For this project 18 Indian students at the University of North Texas were interviewed and seven of them became part of the final documentary.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Bhatia, Parul
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Stopping Power of Amorphous and Channelled Silicon at All Energies as Computed with the Binary Encounter Approximation (open access)

The Stopping Power of Amorphous and Channelled Silicon at All Energies as Computed with the Binary Encounter Approximation

This thesis utilizes the binary encounter approximation to calculate the stopping power of protons penetrating silicon. The main goal of the research was to make predictions of the stopping power of silicon for low-energy and medium-energy channelled protons, in the hope that this will motivate experiments to test the theory developed below. In attaining this goal, different stopping power theories were compared and the binary encounter approach was applied to random (non-channelled) and high-energy channelled protons in silicon, and these results were compared with experimental data.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Bickel, David, 1970-
System: The UNT Digital Library

Cure Kinetics and Processing Parameters of Neat and Reinforced High Performance Epoxy Resins: Evaluation of Techniques

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Kinetic equation parameters for the curing reaction of a commercial glass fiber reinforced high performance epoxy prepreg composed of the tetrafunctional epoxy tetraglycidyl 4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM), the tetrafunctional amine curing agent 4,4’-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) and an ionic initiator/accelerator, are determined by various thermal analysis techniques and the results compared. The reaction is monitored by heat generated determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The changes in physical properties indicating increasing conversion are followed by shifts in glass transition temperature determined by DSC and temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC), thermomechanical (TMA) and dynamic mechanical (DMA) analysis and thermally stimulated depolarization (TSD). Changes in viscosity, also indicative of degree of conversion, are monitored by DMA. Thermal stability as a function of degree of cure is monitored by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The parameters of the general kinetic equations, including activation energy and rate constant, are explained and used to compare results of various techniques. The utilities of the kinetic descriptions are demonstrated in the construction of a useful time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram for rapid determination of processing parameters in the processing of prepregs. Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Files: Thesis.pdf Special Conditions
Date: December 1999
Creator: Bilyeu, Bryan
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of the Influence of Evaluator Background on Appraisals of a Music Lesson Using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (open access)

An Investigation of the Influence of Evaluator Background on Appraisals of a Music Lesson Using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System

This study's purpose was to investigate the differences in scores and written comments given by two appraisal groups in their evaluation of a music teacher using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (TTAS). One appraiser group had musical training while the other group specialized in other subjects. Analyses of both group's appraisal scores showed no significant differences. An examination of the written comments revealed that both appraisal groups focused on the same aspects of the lesson and used similar vocabulary. The TTAS instrument was a consistent measure of generic teacher behaviors in the music lesson, but it did not measure specific music teaching behaviors or encourage suggestions for improving musical instruction.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Bohnstengel, Carol
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Priesthood: An Analysis of Official Church Statements Concerning Black Priesthood Denial (open access)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Priesthood: An Analysis of Official Church Statements Concerning Black Priesthood Denial

This study sought to determine whether the change in the LDS Church practice of black Priesthood denial on June 8, 1978, was voluntary or was a result of external and internal pressures against the Church. Four official statements given by the First Presidency of the Church were examined using Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's seven elements of rhetorical action. It was determined that external and internal pressures from the NAACP, civil rights activists, and dissonant LDS believers, against the Church's practice of black Priesthood denial, were the motivations behind the change in Church practice.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Bolen, Ingrid B. (Ingrid Britt)
System: The UNT Digital Library
"Marvelous Accidents": The Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra of John Cage (open access)

"Marvelous Accidents": The Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra of John Cage

John Cage’s Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1950-51) holds a unique position within the composer’s oeuvre as the first work based in part on chance-derived compositional procedures. Cage entered into such practice gradually, incrementally abandoning subjective taste and personal expression through the course of the work. Drawing from the philosophical framework provided by Cage’s "Lecture on Nothing" (1950) and "Lecture on Something" (c. 1951-52), this thesis explores the aesthetic foundations of the concerto and examines Cage’s compositional methodology throughout its three movements. Special attention is paid to the procedure underlying the first movement, whose analysis is based largely on the composer’s manuscript materials for the work.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Boutwell, Brett N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Performance Levels of Subject Matter Experts on Job Analysis Outcomes (open access)

Effects of Performance Levels of Subject Matter Experts on Job Analysis Outcomes

Much research has been undertaken to determine how Subject Matter Expert characteristics affect job analysis outcomes. The current study seeks to discover if performance levels are related to current incumbents ratings of their positions. A group of 114 corporate associates, from two administrative positions, served as Subject Matter Experts (SME) for this study. Separate job analyses for each position were conducted using the Job Analysis Task Checklist. The results for each job were analyzed to determine if SME performance levels affected job analysis outcomes. The results for both jobs showed that there were very few differences in job analysis results as a function of SME performance levels.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Boyd, Charlotte Friedersdorff
System: The UNT Digital Library
Transcendentalism and Intertextuality in Charles Ives's War Songs of 1917 (open access)

Transcendentalism and Intertextuality in Charles Ives's War Songs of 1917

This thesis examines a collection of three songs, "In Flanders Fields," "He Is There!," and "Tom Sails Away," written by Charles Ives in 1917, from primarily a literary perspective involving Transcendentalism and intertextuality. Ives's aesthetic builds upon the principles of Transcendentalism. I examine these songs using the principles outlined by the nineteenth-century Transcendentalists, and Ives's interpretations of these beliefs. Another characteristic of Ives's music is quotation. "Intertextuality" describes an interdependence of literary texts through quotation. I also examine these songs using the principles of intertextuality and Ives's uses of intertextual elements. Familiarity with the primary sources Ives quotes and the texts they suggest adds new meaning to his works. Transcendentalism and intertextuality create a greater understanding of Ives's conflicting views of the morality of war.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Brandt, R. Lynne (Rebecca Lynne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Long Term Modernate Ethanol Intake on Plasma Levels of ACTH, Beta Endorphin, and Corticosterone in Rats (open access)

The Effects of Long Term Modernate Ethanol Intake on Plasma Levels of ACTH, Beta Endorphin, and Corticosterone in Rats

The effects of single injections and daily oral administration of ethanol on plasma levels of ACTH, beta endorphin, and corticosterone in response to cold stress were examined. The long-term experimental animals were given 0.25 ml of 28% ethanol or water orally once a day, five days a week, for fourteen months. Plasma levels of ACTH, beta endorphin, and corticosterone were lower in alcohol-treated rats as compared with water-treated rats when exposed to cold stress. The effects of a single injection of ethanol significantly elevated plasma levels of all three hormones. Mortality in sham-treated males was higher than ethanol-treated.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Breedlove, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Booker T. Washington and the Myth of Accommodation (open access)

Booker T. Washington and the Myth of Accommodation

Since his rise to fame in the late nineteenth century, Booker T. Washington has been incorrectly labeled a compromiser and power-hungry politician who sacrificed social progress for his own advancement. Through extensive research of Washington's personal papers, speeches, and affiliations, it has become apparent that the typical characterizations of Washington are not based exclusively in fact. The paper opens with an overview of Washington's philosophy, followed by a discussion of Washington's rise to power and consolidation of his "Tuskegee Machine," and finally the split that occurred within the African-American community with the formation of the NAACP. The thesis concludes that, while Washington's tactics were different from and far less visible than those of more militant black leaders, they were nonetheless effective in the overall effort.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Brennan, Douglas C. (Douglas Carl)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Class and Freedom of Choice in the Marriage Patterns of Antebellum Texas Women (open access)

Class and Freedom of Choice in the Marriage Patterns of Antebellum Texas Women

Little scholarly analysis has been devoted to the hypothesis that antebellum Texas women generally married within their own socioeconomic (slaveholding) class, and thus had only limited choice in the selection of marriage partners. This quantitatively based investigation suggests that the popular image should be carefully qualified. This study reveals that although a majority of Texas women who married during the early 1850s chose men who had the same slaveholding status, a significant minority crossed class lines. By using marriage records of the period in correlation with information gleaned from the census, conclusions were reached. Contemporary women's diaries, letters and reminiscences were investigated, in addition to a historiography of marriage in the South, which created the background for this study.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Brown, Lisa (Lisa Christina)
System: The UNT Digital Library