Matching Items (13)
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- Creators: Woodall, Gina
- Creators: School of Life Sciences
Description
Objective. Both the civic education literature and the political ambition literature leave a gap in addressing the impact of political science coursework on political ambition. I address this gap by specifying the relationships between civic education, political knowledge, and political ambition. Methods. I employ paired t tests, chi-square tests, and Fisher's exact probability tests on an original dataset of 174 paired pre- and post-test survey responses. My survey improves upon prior works in the ambition literature (Fox and Lawless 2013) by virtue of its field experiment design. Results. My findings indicate that political science coursework has a positive impact on political knowledge, but only among women, and that political science coursework has a negative impact (among women) on one of the most valid measures of political ambition—how likely one is to run for office in the future. Conclusions/Implications. The results have negative normative implications for those trying to use political education as an instrument to reduce the gender gap (see Lawless and Fox 2010, Fox and Lawless 2013) in political ambition. This suggests the need to explore further options for increasing political ambition, particularly among women.
ContributorsWiezel, Adi (Author) / Kittilson, Miki (Thesis advisor) / Fridkin, Kim (Committee member) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In Arizona's early history, Females garnered more independence than most other women in the United States because they were forced to build a completely new life in settlements with little to no infrastructure. Now, Arizona has achieved a level of equality that no other state has yet to achieve in regard to gender representation. Yet, we have yet to achieve total equity. This paper looks to analyze responses that female senators from the Arizona State Legislature gave while being interviewed by the author. With questions derived from previous research conducted on women in politics at the state and federal level, this paper will delve into the personal experiences of six female senators. Although their personal narratives differ, their stories seem to reflect a collective tie that unites the female members together, beyond party allegiance. Each of the responses given by the senators had some aspects that showed trends supporting the majority of the hypotheses. Moving forward, in order to achieve 50% equality, two more senators would need to be elected and replace male senators.
ContributorsMacdonald, James Nicholson (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Lyon, Jenna (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
We were interested in whether or not certain demographics, such as gender, age, education level, and academic major, would affect an individual's political awareness. In particular, we hypothesized that Political Science majors would have a higher level of political awareness than Non-Political Science majors. In an in-person survey, we asked participants on the Arizona State University, Tempe campus a series of nine questions measuring government structure and procedure, current politics, and policy issues. Our findings concluded that, within our sample: 1) on average, Political Science majors outperformed Non-Political Science majors 2) education level appears to be positively associated with political awareness 3) like education, age appears to be positively associated with political awareness, however, there seemed to be a peak at 21 years of age 4) males outperformed females, as suggested by research studying the gender gap in political knowledge. Because our sample population was not randomly selected, and this report focuses on descriptive statistics, we cannot generalize or comment on our findings' statistical significance. However, many of our findings are supported by current research and, with further specification, may be of interest to university officials who seek to measure the political knowledge and awareness of various demographic groups on campus.
ContributorsTaylor, Kaela (Co-author) / Leung, Emily (Co-author) / Lennon, Tara (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
A study on the effectiveness of different graphic design elements, such as color and shape, in political communication over a digital medium. The study was conducted through an online survey of young adults (18-25 years old). Participants' preferences for the design elements are compared to their online and offline political participation and their primary sources for political information.
ContributorsRyan, Daiquiri Ice (Author) / Lennon, Tara (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / Blyler, Lisa (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The aim of this study is to analyze the impact Arizona legislation has had on STEM education access, specifically for Latino students. Using socio-ecological systems theory, this study explores the relation between the macro and exo-systemic context of education legislation and the micro-systemic context of being a STEM undergraduate at a state university. In order to understand how STEM education is affected, legislation was analyzed through the Arizona Legislative Database. Additionally, current STEM undergraduates were interviewed in order to discover the factors that made them successful in their majors. Data from the interviews would demonstrate the influence of the Arizona legislation macro and exo-systems on the microsystemic portion of Latinos and their access to STEM education. A total of 24 students were interviewed as part of this study. Their responses shed light on the complexities of STEM education access and the importance of mentorship for success in STEM. The overall conclusion is that more efforts need to be made before STEM education is readily available to many, but the most effective way to achieve this is through mentorship.
ContributorsHernandez-Gonzalez, Rosalia (Author) / Herrera, Richard (Thesis director) / Casanova, Saskias (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This thesis explores a method of how political information could be distributed to the public and asks the question, what is the best way to provide voters with all of the information they need to cast an informed vote? It involved the creation of a website, www.azleglive.info, which republishes state legislative data in interactive and visually condensed formats and asked users to compare it to the existing Arizona State Legislature website on the metrics of depth of information, usability, and clarity. It also asked what resources users would utilize in order to cast a vote in the next election. Ultimately, the majority of users determined that the new website added needed usability and clarity to available legislative information, but that both websites would be useful when voting. In conclusion, the responsibility of disseminating useful information to voters is most likely to be effective when distributed among a variety of sources.
ContributorsJosephson, Zachary (Co-author) / Umaretiya, Amy (Co-author) / Jones, Ruth (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
As social media becomes a dominant tool in political campaigns, it is important to analyze how candidates and voters interact over social media and how this impacts elections. This study aims to uncover whether Instagram comments - a key tool voters use to interact with candidates - have an impact on voters’ perceptions and whether or not there are differences in these impacts based on the gender of the candidate. Due to bias against women in politics, I hypothesize that respondents will evaluate female candidates more harshly than male candidates after viewing negative Instagram comments associated with them. To test this hypothesis, I randomly separated a sample of 435 undergraduate students into four groups. Each group was assigned a hypothetical incumbent Senate candidate (male or female) and shown a candidate biography. The biographies were identical, save for the names/genders of the candidates. Additionally, the two experimental groups were shown negative Instagram comments associated with their candidate. Each group was asked to evaluate their candidate's viability, favorability, competency, leadership ability, and qualifications, in addition to scoring the likelihood that they would vote for them. I found that the male candidate had lower scores than his female counterpart for all six traits evaluated, meaning he was evaluated more harshly. This persisted in both the control and experimental groups, as well as both before and after the stimulus was presented to the experimental groups. However, the respondents’ evaluation scores for the female candidate dropped by a larger margin after viewing the negative comments than the scores for the male candidate did. This persisted for five of the six traits evaluated. Voters’ perceptions, then, are impacted by negative Instagram comments for male and female candidates, although there is some evidence to indicate that they have a larger negative effect on the perceptions of female candidates.
ContributorsDawson, Lydia (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This paper analyzes the factors that contribute to suicide using current literature, statistics, and research towards what affects suicidal tendencies. It was found that there are 5 main factors that contribute towards these tendencies: economics, social factors, geography, politics, and biology. Additionally, some of these factors included subcategories of factors and/or were connected to the other factors mentioned. It was concluded that there is not just one factor that may contribute to someone taking their own life, however a combination of different factors that may influence suicidal tendencies.
ContributorsGeorge, Rhys (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Hurtado, Ana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Western culture in the United States socializes men into traditional (hegemonic, toxic) masculinity (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Traditional masculinity remains largely unquestioned as “it’s just the way things are” (Best, 2001; Howes, 2017), unchallenged (Beauvoir, 1953; Migliaccio, 2009), and unreplaced. I conceptualize a novel solution to replace traditional masculinity by promoting visionary masculinity within visionary spaces. I then analyze two spaces by which men are attempting to question and replace traditional masculinity against my two concepts (visionary masculinity and visionary spaces). Lastly, I discuss how traditional masculinity impacts both male offenders and male victims of Domestic Violence.
ContributorsGardner, Kara Diane (Author) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis director) / Fedock, Rachel (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this project is to present research within three main categories of treatment and care such as exercise, socialization and alternative therapies (art, pet, and reminiscent therapies) for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). These categories will be examined in the following countries: United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, and China. Then, the synthesized material will be analyzed and placed into a comparison and contrast model showcasing what each country is currently using and the success of the particular resource within a heat map. According to the research found on the following categories of exercise, socialization and alternative therapies, I will conclude that a combination of aerobic and resistance training, routine support groups and art/pet therapies are the most effective treatment options against Alzheimer’s Disease.
ContributorsLew, Arianna Freedom (Author) / Lupone, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05