Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 15
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- All Subjects: Information Measurement Theory
- Creators: Kashiwagi, Jacob
Emerging Information Technology, Storage and Evaluation within Healthcare: A Discerning IMT Analysis
Description
The introduction of novel information technology within contemporary healthcare settings presents a critical juncture for the industry and thus lends itself to the importance of better understanding the impact of this emerging "health 2.0" landscape. Simply, how such technology may affect the healthcare system is still not fully realized, despite the ever-growing need to adopt it in order to serve a growing patient population. Thus, two pertinent questions are posed: is HIT useful and practical and, if so, what is the best way to implement it? This study examined the clinical implementation of specific instances of health information technology (HIT) so as to weigh its benefits and risks to ultimately construct a proposal for successful widespread adoption. Due to the poignancy of information analysis within HIT, Information Measurement Theory (IMT) was used to measure the effectiveness of current HIT systems as well as to elucidate improvements for future implementation. The results indicate that increased transparency, attention to patient-focused approaches and proper IT training will not only allow HIT to better serve the community, but will also decrease inefficient healthcare expenditure.
ContributorsMaietta, Myles Anthony (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper explores the intersection between principles of Information Measurement Theory (IMT) and sales techniques to identify a best value approach for sales professionals. Developed at Arizona State University and supported by numerous academic publications, IMT is a thinking paradigm that utilizes deductive logic and reasoning to understand how the world works and identify best value practices that minimize risk, decision making, and stress. One core concept of IMT is that individuals have no influence on the people around them, an idea that directly contradicts with traditional beliefs of the sales industry. The goal of this paper is to understand the qualities that make a sales professional successful from an IMT perspective, while outlining best value practices to apply in the real world. Comparison research for the sales industry was conducted by analyzing classic and modern sales literature, author participation in an industry-leading, professional sales training program, and input from sales professionals. The analysis identifies how top sales experts utilize techniques that allow them to efficiently uncover dominant information about their prospects' needs and then use that information to sell a valuable product to their customers. The analysis also outlines the common personality traits amongst well-aligned sales professionals. By adopting the practices and thinking paradigms outlined in this paper, individuals can maximize their potential in a sales career.
ContributorsFrelka, Benjamin (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The two authors completed the entirety of their schooling within the United States, from preschool to university. Both authors experienced loss of interest towards their education each successive year and assumed the nature of learning and education was to blame. The two students took a class on the Kashiwagi Information Measurement Theory their second years at Arizona State University and applied the concepts taught in that class to past experiences in the United States education system to determine the cause behind their waning interest in their education. Using KSM principles the authors identified that the environment produced by and ineffectual and inefficient educational system is what resulted in their, and the majority of their peers, growing dissatisfaction in their education. A negative correlation was found between GPA and control. As the control in a students environment increased, their GPA decreased. The data collected in this thesis also supports the conclusions that as a student is exposed to a high stress environment, their GPA and average amount of sleep per night decrease.
ContributorsKulanathan, Shivaan (Co-author) / Westlake, Kyle (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Gunnoe, Jake (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The story of Moneyball is an informative tale. It is the true story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in the 2002 season who managed to not only compete with teams who had nearly three times the payroll size and all the star players, but also won an American League record 20 games in a row. Their manager, Billy Beane, was able to achieve this by using sabermetrics, a newly invented term that describes the advanced statistics and metrics used to judge a player's contribution to the success of the team over traditional statistics and gut feeling, to draft and trade for undervalued players to create a competitive team under his small-market budget. This story is well known as a best-selling novel by Michael Lewis and later a film by the same name. Clearly it was successful in the field of baseball, but can it be used in other business industries? The idea of sabermetrics, or finding more information to predict the future of a player is very similar to the ideas of Information Measurement Theory (IMT) as theorized by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi, a professor at Arizona State University. The goal of this paper is to use Moneyball as a narrative to show how applying the concepts of IMT to businesses could allow them to better predict their performance and the future of their industry. Moreover, these same ideas can predict if the leadership of the company will be successful by analyzing their personal characteristics. This paper will act as a guide for businesses to start following the concepts of IMT and to better analyze themselves and their industry to increase performance and reduce stressful decision-making.
ContributorsKent, Austin (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The Performance Based Studies Research Studies Group (PBSRG) at Arizona State University aims to evaluate and provide solutions to problems by using concepts derived from deductive logic. The research group identified that problems in most industries are due to the traditional approach of management, direction and control, and offers a practical contrasting model. The author is a biological sciences major interested in the health care industry. As a volunteer at a local non-profit pregnancy clinic in Tempe, AZ, the author noticed characteristics of the clinic structure that resembled both the traditional approach of management, direction and control and the best value (BV) approach. Although the pregnancy clinic has existed for 30 years and has high patient satisfaction, it faces problems that jeopardize its long term sustainability. This study analyzes the stereotypical structure of non-profit health clinics through literature review and through a case study of a local non-profit pregnancy clinic in Tempe, Arizona. The study identified and analyzed the factors that contribute to inefficiency within non-profit health clinics. The conclusions of the research demonstrate that characteristics of non-profit health clinics that resemble the traditional model perform in a manner that is unsustainable. Recommendations were based on concepts derived from Information Measurement Theory (IMT) and aimed to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The study identifies sources of risks and examines the performance of such organizations; the study concludes that rejection of traditional models and adaptation of the new approach is preferable in improving performance and increasing patient, employee, and volunteer satisfaction.
ContributorsTran, Yvonne Ho (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
I began this thesis with one goal in mind: to discover which career path is best for me. The plan was to take a critical look at my life using deductive logic and Information Measurement Theory (IMT) to determine who I am and through that knowledge ultimately align my future with where I would be best suited career-wise. I was interested in this because I was fascinated with IMT and I wanted to apply it to something that I would find useful. I knew that I would be graduating and I also knew that I had no idea what I wanted the rest of my life to look like. For me, it was like killing two birds with one stone: delving deeper into a fascinating theory as well as determining what to do with my future. I began my project by analyzing my own life and creating a timeline of major events in my life. Then, I pieced together the characteristics of my family to gain perspective of their lives and how their lives have influenced mine. As I explored this information and the implications this knowledge had in my life, my thesis began to take a new direction. The more I began to understand myself, the more I realized that I needed to spend more time on this area of my project. I realized the importance of understanding who I am at the core in order to be the best person that I can be. To reach happiness, be fulfilled, be a good person, I needed to spend time understanding myself rather than just jumping forward into my future.
ContributorsCrepeau, Megan Grace (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The United States criminal justice system seemingly contradicts the staples of freedom that the country was founded upon. Given that the U.S. leads the world in rate of imprisonment, "the land of the free" is actually better described as "the land of the imprisoned". Yet despite such meteoric imprisonment rates, there is no evidence that United States citizens commit more crimes than citizens of other countries. This leads to the deduction that there is a fundamental difference between the United States criminal justice system and that of other countries. While different does not always mean worse, it is undoubtable that the United States is currently facing a financial dilemma due to housing so many criminals. Further, prosecution of such a large number of citizens has led to a dichotomy in society that perpetuates recidivism among those imprisoned. Thus, reform activists are growing in number as the incarceration problem continues to perpetuate. Information Measurement Theory, a modern school of thought, is applied in this paper in order to develop practical improvements to the American criminal justice system. Information Measurement Theory is aptly named because it proposes universal axioms based upon the various levels of information perceived by human beings. It has already improved performance dynamics in various areas of business; therefore it has a great opportunity for success in refining the American prison industry. Staples of Information Measurement Theory allow the individual to simplify complex situations. Hence, it can be applied to simplify the conditions that have led to the current U.S. incarceration predicament. Three different specific areas of U.S. criminal justice will be addressed, and solutions will be presented that are complimentary to Information Measurement Theory fundamentals.
ContributorsMcLeod, Ian Nicholas (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Mechanical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Del E. Webb School of Construction (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This abstract is intended to explain the main ideas and thoughts pertaining to the author's experiences over time while attending Arizona State University and how certain course teachings have created a more positive outcome in life for the author. The goal of this Independent Study Thesis is to convey the great significance that the Information Measurement Theory (IMT) courses' ideas and teachings have contributed to the author's life and how they have increased the author's overall quality and outlook on life, not only from an academic standpoint and setting, but also in every facet. Based on this, the author's intention is to convey the new skills obtained regarding The Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM) as they pertain to Information Measurement Theory (IMT), based on the author's own recent experiences in college with what he has learned, and to explain how they have helped tremendously. This is mainly comprised of information based on the external sources and writings of Dr. Dean Kashiwagi, and also direct resources and teachings by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi and Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi that have greatly contributed to the author's overall understanding of Information Measurement Theory (IMT), its revolutionary new ways of thinking, and the new skill sets developed from it as well. This will also focus on the benefits that can occur for anyone by applying the various aspects of The Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM), through the use of the concepts of Information Measurement Theory (IMT), and to convey the author's findings pertinent to helping mitigate stress in life, while also being able to enter into any situation or event with a more positive mindset in order to help conclude that event successfully and with the increased potential for a more positive outcome. This idea of always striving to have a more positive mindset in order to complete a task, goal, or event in life in a more positive and successful way is exactly what the author will focus on, mostly pertaining to the author's own life experiences, referred to as Mind Over Matter with IMT. This Thesis idea of Mind Over Matter with IMT stems from some of the main aspects that the author found to be most impressive and significant in the honors courses offered at ASU by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi and Dr. Jacob Kashiwagi, mainly because of the fact that they inform students of some new ways to help mitigate stresses and anxieties in their lives and to more accurately predict the outcome of future events based on using deductive logic and expertise. This leads to focusing more on dominant information in order to obtain the key ideas and main points of any situation, rather than requiring additional and superfluous details, data, and minutia. The fact that the courses also focus on natural laws and initial conditions of events have proven to be extremely useful because of their significant importance to determining the final conditions and concluding outcome of events, of which many people tend to not even be aware at first when initially learning about Information Measurement Theory (IMT). Because of this, the Deductive Logic and Information Measurement Theory courses offered at ASU have proven to offer invaluable insight, great knowledge, unique ideas, and alternative ways of thinking to the author, which have contributed greatly to the author's increased success as a student enrolled at Arizona State University over these past years. Keywords: Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM); Information Measurement Theory (IMT); Deductive Logic; initial conditions; final conditions; natural law; Mind Over Matter
ContributorsFranklin, Sean Donothan (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Over the past 3 semesters, I have been learning the theories of Information Measurement Theory and Kashiwagi Solution Model and implementing them into my life as a means of improving happiness and well being, and reducing stress and conflict. Before IMT and KSM, external control played a huge role in my life and my interactions with other people. I was judgmental, selfish, and lazy while using blame and deflection of responsibility to avoid self-control. This led me to become very unhappy and live in constant stress. Culminating in a difficult shortcoming that magnified the negative ways in which I had been living my life, I decided that I had to change. Since implementing IMT and KSM into my life and accepting self-responsibility, I have dramatically improved my happiness and reduced stress and conflict. I have lost 85 pounds, went from working 1 job to 4 to gain financial independence, made my best grades in college, stopped wasting time and valued free time more, improved my relationships with people in my environment, and learned more about myself. All of this change required me to commit to a new way of thinking and recognize that my previous way of thinking was inaccurate and unsustainable if I truly wanted to change. Upon making positive changes in my life, I believe that adapting IMT and KSM played fundamental roles in my ability to perceive information around me and I would not have experienced the change I did if it was not for exposure to the theories. Not only do I believe IMT and KSM served as catalysts for change in my life, but believe IMT and KSM can be applied to every aspect of life and be used by others in the same approach.
ContributorsSmith, Hunter Christian (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Information Measurement Theory (IMT) is a system created by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi to minimize subjective decision-making, the amount of data needed to understand situations, and optimize processes by removing risk. IMT uses the ideas of Kashiwagi Solution Models to identify high performing and low performing characteristics. IMT proposes the usage of Best Value Approaches to achieve high performance while minimizing risk through quality control. For my project, I prove how IMT can be applied to a long-term project to reduce stress, create a quality product, and minimize opportunities for failure. My project focuses on the creation and release of a vinyl record. IMT was developed for use with construction projects, so my goal is to apply IMT ideals to an industry where it has not been used whatsoever and show how IMT can be applied to any project that is either difficult, requires careful analysis of options, or is completed on a long-term basis. Since I am not an expert in music production or releasing physical copies of music, I also prove that IMT helps provide guidelines and measures of how to complete a project where not all information is known at the beginning. With the usage of dominant information and the alignment of expert assistance, a high quality product was produced and a successful release followed.
ContributorsPfisthner, Jess (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05